The object of Oh Hell is to bid the number of tricks you think you can “win” from each hand. Then you turn the other way, and start adding a card per hand back up whatever level you started at. In traditional Oh Hell (that’s a weird way to start a sentence) each hand after the first is played with one card fewer, all the way down to a hand of just one card each. Regardless, the first hand is played with between 7 and 10 cards per player, depending on the number of players: Depending on the variation of Oh Hell that you play, the number of cards goes up or down as the game progresses. The game of Oh Hell! consists of a series of individual hands of different sizes. What’s in a name? Oh Hell! Decks and CardsĪnywhere from 3 to 7 people can play Oh Hell, although in my experience the game is best when it is played with four to six players.Ī standard deck of 52 cards is used, with the cards in each suit ranking from high to low - Aces high, deuces low.

Heck, in parts of China they call this game “German Bridge”.

In college, we called it “Oh _” (insert your own naughty word), while at my grandparent’s house it was called “Oh Darn!” Adapt the name to your own needs - it isn’t important. “Oh Hell!” is one of the more polite names of this game.

Oh hell card games