revised rules for wysiwyg

7/29/2019 Revised Rules for WYSIWYG

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WYSIWYG

[Designer’s note: These are a revised set of rules for WYSIWYG. The original rulesrequire the use of a table to calculate the player’s base scores, which is inelegant and makes the game less portable. This revision alters the hand evaluation procedure so

that a table is no longer required. The rest of the game is identical. Hopefully, you’ll feel this is an improvement on the original rules. Enjoy!]

WYSIWYG (pronounced WIZ-ee-wig) is an acronym used in many computerapplications that stands for "What you see is what you get". Since in this two playercard game, the players get to see what cards they are playing for before they play to atrick, it's an appropriate title. WYSIWYG borrows some elements from a couple of oldgames called German Whist and Honeymoon Bridge, while adding in some new ideasof its own. It's a blend of old and new elements that's perfect for the computer age.

Description: WYSIWYG is a trick taking card game for two players. After each playeris dealt their cards, a hand proceeds in four separate phases. First, each playerevaluates their hand and announces the total. Then, a bidding session takes place toestablish the hand's trump suit and objective. Next, the players play to tricks, with the

winner of each trick replacing their card with their choice of one of two exposed cardsand the loser receiving the other card. Each trick is worth one mark. This continuesuntil the deck is depleted. Finally, the players play out the remainder of their cards totricks, each of which is worth two marks. If the player who set the trump suit hasearned marks at least equal to a goal based upon the two hand evaluations and hisbid, he wins the hand. Play continues until one of the players scores 50 points.

Equipment: WYSIWYG is played with a normal deck of 52 cards. The cards in each

suit rank from Ace high down to Two low. Pencil and paper will also be needed to keepscore.

The Deal: One player is selected to be the dealer of the first hand. She deals 13cards to each player and places the remaining cards between the two players.

Hand Evaluation: Each player now independently evaluates their hand. Thisprocedure will give a rough estimate of how good each player's hand is. Since a player

with a high hand evaluation must score more points in order to win the hand, thismeans the player who is dealt the better hand has to accomplish more in order tosucceed.

Here's how to evaluate a hand. Each Ace in the hand counts 3 points; each King, 2points; and each Queen, 1 point. Add up all the points for high cards in the hand.Then, add the length of the longest suit in the hand. This is the evaluation of that hand.

Here's an example of evaluating a hand:

S - K Q 7 Two Aces = 6 points



H - A Q 8 5 2 One King = 2 pointsD - A 9 Three Queens = 3 pointsC - Q J 3 Five card suit (Hearts) = 5 points

Total = 16 points

Each player must evaluate their own hand. They then announce their handevaluations. They should not state how the total was reached, just what the finalevaluation is.

Each player now determines their base score. This is equal to their hand evaluation,plus 10, minus their opponent’s hand evaluation. For example, let's say Amy is playingBen. Amy’s hand evaluation is 11 and Ben’s is 15. Amy’s base score is 11 + 10 – 15 =6. Ben’s base score is 15 + 10 – 11 = 14.

The scorekeeper should make a note of both players’ base score. Note that it’spossible for a player’s base score to be a negative number.

Bidding: Once the hand evaluations have been declared and the base scorescalculated, the players bid to name the trump suit. The player with the lower basescore starts the bidding. If both hands have the same hand evaluation, the dealerbegins the bidding.

Bids are simply numbers and are an indication of how well the player feels he will doduring the hand. The minimum opening bid is 0. Alternatively, the player starting thebidding can pass. Players alternate bids until one player wins the bidding.

Here's the bidding procedure in detail. If the opening bidder makes a numerical bid,

each player in his turn to bid has three options. He may make a higher numerical bid, which continues the auction. He may pass, which ends the auction. Or he may double,if he doesn't believe his opponent will be able to win the hand with her last bid. After aplayer doubles, his opponent has two choices. She may pass, which means she willplay the hand for doubled stakes. Or, if she is certain she can win the hand, she canredouble, and play the hand for quadrupled stakes. In either case, the bidding is over.

The last player to make a numerical bid is the declarer for the hand. The declarer mustname one of the suits to be the trump suit for that hand. Rather than name a trumpsuit, the declarer can state that this will be a No Trump hand, and the hand will beplayed without a trump suit.

The player that opens the bidding may pass. In this case, her opponent automaticallybecomes declarer with a bid of 0. The player that opened with a pass may respond bydoubling the bid, in which case the usual procedure is followed.

Finally, the declarer adds the last numerical bid she made during the auction to herbase score. This sum is called her goal . The declarer must meet her goal during theplay of the hand in order to win the hand. The scorekeeper should jot down both thedeclarer’s goal and her base score.



Let’s continue our example of the game between Amy and Ben. Amy makes a bid of11. Since she has a base score of 6, she is saying she thinks she can meet a goal of17 (11 + 6). (Determining whether a goal is met is explained in the section “Scoring theHand”.) If Ben wants to continue bidding, he has to bid at least 12. He must consider

whether he thinks he can meet a goal of 26 (12 + 14); if he thinks it unlikely, he may want to pass. He must also decide if Amy has bid too high herself; if the answer is yes,he may choose to double her rather than pass.

Play of the Hand: Once the trump suit has been named, the declarer exposes the toptwo cards of the deck. She then leads to the first trick.

The player leading to a trick may play any card in her hand. Her opponent also plays acard. He must play a card of the same suit as the led card if he can. If he cannot, hecan play any card in his hand.

If the second player plays a card of the same suit as the led card, the higher of the two

cards wins the trick. If, instead, the second player plays a card of the trump suit inresponse to a non-trump lead, then the second player wins the trick. Otherwise, thefirst player wins the trick.

During this phase of the game, the player who wins a trick takes one of the playedcards and places it face down in front of her. The cards placed in front of her form hertrick pile for the hand. She takes the other played card and places it face down, awayfrom both players, in a common discard pile. (It doesn’t matter which card she keepsand which she discards; the cards are only a counting device.) Finally, she takes oneof the two exposed cards (her choice) and adds it to her hand. The player who lost thetrick takes the other exposed card and adds it to his hand. The winner of the trick then

exposes the next two cards from the deck and leads a card to the next trick. Thisprocess continues for 13 tricks, until the deck is exhausted.

The second half of the hand then begins. This proceeds exactly as the first half, exceptthat the players do not replenish their hands. Moreover, when a player wins a trick, hetakes both of the played cards and places them face down in front of him.

The reason for the different procedures when winning a trick in the two phases is thattricks won in the second half of the hand are worth twice as much as tricks won in thefirst half of the hand. The players are trying to maximize the total number of cards intheir trick pile. Consequently, it's a good idea for each player to gather up cards intheir trick pile in groups of five and place them crosswise, so that it's easier to see howmany cards are in each pile.

The second half of the hand ends after 13 more tricks, when the players have playedthe last cards from their hands. The player who wins the last trick takes the two playedcards as usual and then adds one of the cards from the discard pile to her trick pile.Now that 26 tricks have been played, the hand is over. The players are now ready toscore the hand.



Scoring the Hand: The players now see if the declarer has made her bid. Each trick won by the declarer gives her a certain number of marks. Each trick won in the firsthalf of the hand is worth 1 mark. Each trick won in the second half of the hand is worth2 marks. In addition, winning the last trick of the hand is worth an additional mark(making the last trick worth a total of 3 marks). The declarer adds all these up to gether mark total for the hand. Note that the highest possible score for a hand is 40 marks(13 + (13 x 2) + 1). Note also that the declarer's mark total is equal to the number ofcards in her trick pile.

The declarer's objective is to have a mark total at least equal to her goal. (Recall thatthe declarer's goal is equal to the sum of her base score and her bid.) If the declarer'smark total is at least equal to her goal, she wins the hand and scores points. If hermark total is less than her goal, her opponent scores points.

Here's an example. Suppose Amy, with a base score of 6, makes a winning bid of 11and names Diamonds the trump suit. During the hand, she wins four tricks during thefirst half and seven tricks during the second half, including the last trick. Her mark total

is therefore 4 + (2 x 7) + 1 = 19. Since this is at least equal to her goal of 17 (6 + 11),Amy wins the hand.

If the declarer wins the hand, she subtracts her base score from her mark total andscores that many points. In the example given above, the declarer would score 13points (19 - 6). Notice that a winning declarer must score at least as many points asher bid.

If the declarer loses the hand, her opponent scores 2 points if the declarer was onemark short of her goal; 5 points if the declarer was two marks short; 10 points if thedeclarer was three marks short; and five additional points for each additional mark the

declarer was short by. Thus, if the declarer is at least two marks short of her goal, theformula for the points scored by the declarer's opponent is 5 x (Goal - Marks -1). Forexample, if a declarer with a base of 13 bids 11 and only gets 18 marks, she is 6 marksshort of her goal and her opponent scores 25 points.

All these points are doubled if the hand was doubled and quadrupled if the hand wasredoubled. This is true regardless of which player scores points.

Winning the Game: After the hand is scored, another hand is played. The player whodid not deal the previous hand deals this hand. The game continues until one player’stotal score reaches 50 points or more. That player wins the game.

revised rules for wysiwyg

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