A “Super suit”: Trumps

1. Discovering the idea of a trump
You’ve just learned what a trick is, and now you encounter a very common situation: what should you do if you don’t have a card in the led suit?
In some deals, there is a trump suit (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, or Clubs), determined during the first phase of the game, the bidding. When a suit is declared as trumps, it becomes special: a trump card automatically wins the trick if you don’t have a card in the led suit.

2. Ruffing: winning the trick without the led suit
Let’s take an example: Freda leads the Ace of Clubs; Prince looks at his hand and has no more Clubs. What can he do?
If a trump suit exists – say Diamonds – Prince may play any Diamond and win the trick automatically, even with a small card like the 2 of Diamonds.
This action is called “ruffing”.
However, another player may also be void in the led suit and hold a higher trump. In that case, they may – though they are not required to – overruff to win the trick, just like David playing the 3 of Diamonds, higher than the 2.

3. When there are no trumps… or no trumps left
Some deals have no trump suit at all: this is called playing in No-Trump.
Another possibility: you simply have no cards left in the trump suit.
In both cases, if you are void in the led suit, you must play a card from another suit… but you cannot win the trick. Only a card in the led suit can win the trick.
You now know the principles of tricks, trumps, and what to do when you can’t follow suit: you’re ready to discover the different roles you can have during the play!