Dealing / Bidding
Every player at the table has a responsibility:
• Dealer – Deals the main deck of cards. Deal rotates to the left after every hand.
• Shuffler – Shuffles the 2ndDeck and sets it to the side
• Scorekeeper – Records tricks, bags & penalties on approved scoresheet
• Scoreboard – Records score on scoreboard after each hand
Dealer Selection – Start the game timer. Cards are randomly placed on the table, and each player picks a card. Player with highest card is the Dealer. In case of a tie, pick additional cards until Dealer is determined.
Dealing Cards - Dealer shuffles cards at least three (3) times by separating cards into two stacks and shuffling. Person to right of dealer cuts the cards and cards are dealt to left of dealer.
Cutting Cards– divide the deck into two sections by placing the top section face down on the table, then placing the bottom section of cards on top of the top section of cards.
Two Decks - If two decks of cards are used, the player cutting the cards, will be shuffling the 2nd deck of cards to prepare the cards for the next Dealer, to keep games moving.
Misdeal - Occurs when any card is overturned during the deal. Place the card back into the deck, shuffle and continue dealing. If it occurs more than once, then it is a misdeal and cards need to be reshuffled and dealt again.
Bidding - Bidding starts to the left of the dealer. Each player bids verbally then writes the bid on a bidding chip. Bids are final and cannot be changed once made. Talking or signaling is not permitted during bidding phase. Valid bids are any number between 1 and 13, including Nil bids, which are labeled as “0” on bidding chips.
Bidding Time: After the last card is dealt, the first bidder has 40 seconds to bid their hand.
Note: If the first bidder is also the scorekeeper, the bidding timer will not startuntil after the score for the previous hand has been recorded.
If a player does not bid within 35 seconds, the opposing player/team will verbally state “Time”. The player will have an additional 5 seconds to bid (“5-second grace period”). The second, third and fourth bidders have 20 seconds to bid their hand. If a player does not bid within 15 seconds, the opposing player/team will verbally state “Time”. The player will have an additional 5 seconds to bid (“5-second grace period”).
Bidding Out of Turn - The out-of-turn bid stands as given and bidding proceeds as normal. Bidding out-of-turn can look like a signal to your partner which can result in a penalty if this is abused.