How to Play Hoffer | a NEW precision bidding card game | Skip Solo

Description provided by Riffle Shuffle & Roll on YouTube:

Hoffer is a precision bid trick taking card game for 2 - 4 players. While playing through a series of rounds, players will bid on how many tricks they think they can capture. The more accurate a player is, the more points they will score. Think carefully when bidding. Two of the Jacks will change rank depending on what suit is called trump. Have high ranking cards? The HiJo might just ruin your day. Check out the written rules below. 0:00 - Intro 1:20 - Materials 4:25 - Setup & Bidding 5:50 - How to Play 6:20 - Keeping Score 7:38 - More example hands Print the rules: https://www.riffleshuffleandroll.com/ ===RULES=== GAME OBJECTIVE Be the player or team with the most points at the end of the final round. PLAYERS 2 - 4 Players CARDS 26 Cards RANKING LoJo 9 10 J Q K A, (9 10 Q K A Little-Jack Big-Jack) HiJo The 26 card deck requires a 9 10 J Q K A from each suit as well as two Jokers. The Jokers need to look different in some way. The simplest way to bid simultaneously is for players to use their hands. The dealer counts to three, and each player reveals their bid using their fingers. A second deck can also be used. Give each player cards A - 8 in a single suit to form their bidding deck. Players can choose a card that matches the number of tricks they think they can take. Each player reveals their card at the same time. Keep the card face down to bid zero. Determine a dealer to shuffle the cards and deal the first round. As the game progresses, hand sizes will go up and down the river. This means that Round 1 will be played with a hand size of 1, Round 2 will be played with a hand size of 2 and so on. Players are finished going up the river once they have reached the maximum hand size allowed for the game’s player count (except in a 2 player game). At that point, the hand size heads back down the river. Players are dealt 1 card for the final round. For two players, it is recommended that the deal only go up the river to a hand size of 8. It is important to remember that Jokers are not part of any suit. They can be played at any time regardless of whether or not the player is able to follow suit. The HiJo is the highest ranking card. It always wins the trick. The LoJo is the lowest ranking card. It always loses the trick. After the cards are dealt, the dealer decides trump for the round. They may name one of the suits or say no trump. The suit that becomes trump ranks above the other three suits. A trump suited card will always beat a card from the other suits. Depending on the trump suit, two of the Jacks will move up in rank. The trump suited Jack becomes the Big Jack, and it is only beaten by the HiJo. The Jack that is the same color suit as the trump suit becomes the Little Jack, and it can only be beaten by the Big Jack and the HiJo. If no trump is called, the Jacks do not change rank. Aces remain high, and they can only be beaten by the HiJo. After the dealer has named the trump suit, each player looks at their hand and determines how many tricks they think they can capture. When everyone is ready, bids are revealed simultaneously. If using fingers, the scorekeeper should document the bids for the round. If a player bids zero, they will only score points for capturing zero tricks. They will not earn any points if they go over their bid. When playing a partnership game, bidding does not happen simultaneously. Rather, the player left of the dealer bids first, and the bid continues around the table. Partners combine their bids, and they try to capture that total together. The player seated left of the dealer leads the first trick with any card from their hand. Continuing left around the table, players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they may play any card. The highest ranking card in the suit that was led or the highest trump card wins the trick. The trick-winner collects the cards and leads. Remember, the HiJo always wins the trick regardless of what suit is led. Play continues until all of the tricks for the round are captured. If a player or team captures a number of tricks equal to their bid, they earn 10 points plus the value of their bid. If a player or team captures more tricks than their bid, they earn 1 point per trick captured beyond their bid. If a player or team captures fewer tricks than their bid, they earn 1 point per trick. If a player or team bids zero and does not capture any tricks, they earn 10 points. Failure to capture zero tricks results in zero points earned for the round. After all of the cards have been played, and the points have been tallied, it is time to start the next round. Deal passes left from the previous dealer. Continue playing until the final round is completed. The player with the highest score at the end of the final round wins the game. If there is a tie, begin moving up the river again until there is a winner.