Two-Person Symmetric Whist

Abstract

We introduce a two-person perfect information model of trick taking games. A set of cards is distributed between two players, and play proceeds in tricks with the obligation to follow suit, as in many real-world card games.

We assume that in each suit, the two players have the same number of cards. Under this assumption, we show how to assign a value from a certain semigroup to each single-suit card distribution in such a way that the outcome of a multi-suit deal under optimal play is determined by the sum of the values of the individual suits.