Just Help Me to Understand Trivia Quiz

Answer: Spades

Spades and hearts are major suits and the other two are minor suits. From high to low they go spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs and if a player wants to bid diamonds after someone else bids hearts, they need to go up a level - two diamonds over one heart for example. I understand that the various bids communicate facts about one's hand to one's partner, and that the winning bid decides which suit (if any) is trump and how many tricks the bidder thinks they can win. What I don't understand is how it is actually done!

Answer: The hand is worth zero points.

Nineteen is an impossible score using the standard cribbage counting system, and has come to mean "No score" colloquially. A perfect hand totals 29 points, and some cribbage boards are produced in the shape of that number.

Answer: Jack of trumps and same-colour jack

Once trump has been decided, the jack of that suit becomes the "right bower" and the Jack of the other suit of the same colour is the "left bower". These are the two highest trump cards, and the left bower no longer belongs to its own suit. That last bit is what often gets me in trouble, as I think I'm following the suit that was led, but I'm actually trumping my partner's king!

Answer: Taking all the hearts, and the queen of spades

Failing at an attempt to shoot the moon can be disastrous, as your score will rise significantly, in a game where a low score is a good score. If successful, however, you can reduce your score by a full 26 points (or add the same amount to each opponent's score if you play that rule).

The game ends when one player exceeds an agreed upon number of points, with the player with the lowest score winning.

Answer: Dix

Pronounced as if it is the French word for ten, the dix (deece) is the nine of trumps or the seven of trumps, depending on the size of deck being used. Melds and marriages involve laying specific groups of cards down on the table, after having taken a trick, scoring points for the various combinations. Pinochle is a very specific type of meld. Points are also scored for cards taken in tricks. I think I'll leave this game alone.

Answer: The river

First two hole cards are dealt (face down) to each player, followed by a round of betting. Next, three shared cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table. This is the flop, after which players assess their hands and either bet or fold. Next comes the turn, one more face up shared card, more assessment and finally the river is revealed and the hand is played to a conclusion.

Answer: Get rid of all my cards

In order to get rid of one's cards, the idea is to put together sequences of at least three cards (in suit) or three or four of a kind, which can be placed on the table during one's turn. Melds (sets) on the table can be built upon by any player, so you could be helping someone else to go out! Rummy can be played by several players (sometimes with more than one deck) while its cousin, gin rummy is best as a two-player game.

Answer: Spider

Most games of solitaire require only one player (unless someone is looking over your shoulder saying "Red queen on the black king!" or otherwise annoying you), but some, like Spider, require two decks to play. The eventual aim is to get all the cards in one suit in order so they can be removed from the tableau. Easy online variations restrict the number of suits to one or two, whilst still using 104 cards in total.

Klondike is the game that most people learn when very young, and that came with the early versions of Windows for hours of computer fun. Clock is laid out like the face of a clock, and Canfield is a bit more complex, but all three use a single pack of cards.

Answer: Spades is always trump

As the name implies, the spade suit is trump, no matter what. Bidding is done to determine the number of tricks a player thinks they can win in that hand, and points are awarded based on whether or not the bid is achieved. The game finishes when one player reaches an agreed upon score, often 500 points.

Answer: Bridge

Whist, which was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, has not died out completely, but is less prevalent now than its offspring, bridge. Whist does without the bidding that so confuses me in bridge, by making the last card dealt the "trump card" (making its suit trump) and awarding points for any tricks taken over six. Pairs play as partners, as in bridge.