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| Origin | England |
|---|---|
| Alternative names | Solo |
| Type | trick-taking |
| Players | 4 |
| Cards | 52-card |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
| Related games | |
| Whist | |
Solo Whist, sometimes known as simply Solo, is a trick-taking card game whose direct ancestor is the 17th-century Spanish game Ombre, based on the English Whist. Its major distinctive feature is that one player often plays against the other three. However, players form temporary alliances with two players playing against the other two if "Prop and Cop" is the current bid. It requires four players using a standard 52 card deck with no jokers. Aces are high and the deal, bidding and play are clockwise.
Solo Whist was first played in the Low Countries in the first half of the 19th century and in England somewhere about the year 1852 by a family of Dutch Jews. It was practically unknown outside Jewish circles until the end of the 1860s. From 1870 and 1872 it began to be played in the London sporting clubs in an attempt to supplant the card games formerly in vogue.
Solo Whist derives from an early variety of Boston Whist through a Flemish form of the game called "Ghent Whist" and became popular in Britain as a relaxation from the rigours of partnership Whist in the 1890s, just as Bridge was appearing on the scene. In the event, it remains an essentially informal game of home and pub, and is played for the interest of small stakes rather than for the more arcane pleasures of ingenious coups and complex scores.
Solo whist may have failed to attract the attention that it deserved because it did not develop a scoring system of comparable refinement, and were it not for the phenomenal expansion of Bridge, Solo might have developed further and occupied the social position now claimed by Contract. The game is now mainly played in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and also especially popular within the Jewish community.
The cards are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player to dealer's right. They can be dealt in ones but it is common practice to deal the cards in groups of three and then a single card for the last round (3,3,3,3,1). The last card is turned face up to indicate the trump suit for that game. The exposed card is part of the dealer's hand and he can pick it up once everyone has noted it. The turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.
A common alternative is to deal with a " rotating 4 " as follows : 4,3,3,3,3 4,3,3,3,3, 4,3,3,3,3,4 which has the advantage of concluding with 4 to the dealer to confirm a correctly dealt hand .
Trumps may also decided by a pre- determined sequence , usually H,C,D,S - and so differing from bridge .
In some variations the cards are not shuffled after every game, this creates the possibility of a hand having several cards of the same suit making Solo and Abundance hands much more likely.
Beginning with the player to dealer's left, each competitor may make one of the bids in the table below or pass. If someone bids, then subsequent players can either pass or bid higher. The bidding continues around the table as many times as necessary until the contract is settled. If everyone passes or there is a Prop without a Cop then the hands are thrown in and dealt again.
| Call | Description | Proposer Points | Further notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prop and Cop | Two players attempt to win eight tricks together. The first player calling Prop and the remaining players invited to call Cop | +/- 1 | Both proposer and accepter score. |
| Solo | One player attempts to make five tricks alone | +/- 3 (wins or loses one unit from other players) | |
| Misère | One player thinks they will win no tricks | +/- 6 (wins or loses two units from other players) | There is no trump |
| Abundance | One player thinks they can win nine tricks | +/- 9 (wins or loses three units from other players) | Proposer picks the trump |
| Royal Abundance | One player thinks they can win nine tricks in the current trump | +/- 9 (wins or loses three units from other players) | |
| Misère Ouverte | One player thinks they will win no tricks with their hand placed face up on the table after the first trick is complete | +/- 12 (wins or loses four units from other players) | There is no trump |
| Abundance Declared | One player thinks they can win all 13 tricks | +/- 18 (wins or loses six units from other players) | Proposer leads first. There is no trump |
The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick, except in the case of an Abundance Declared in which case the bidder leads. Any card may be led and the other three players must follow suit where possible. A player with no card of the led suit may play a trump. If any trumps are played, then the trick is won by the highest trump card. If there are no trumps, it is won by the highest card in the suit that was led. The winner of the trick gets to lead to the next, so that once a player has succeeded or failed in their bid, scores are adjusted. The deal then passes to the left and the next hand begins.
A common version of Solo played among the Jewish community in Essex and East London show the following differences:
Obs: A bid of Misère claims to be able to lose all 13 tricks, its value is equivalent to attempting to win 12 tricks. The suit order and no trumps have the same status order as in Bridge.
In Robert W Service's poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew", Dan McGrew is playing Solo in the back of the bar. His bid is "Spread Misère". Presumably that is the same bid as Misère Ouverte.