In trick-taking card games like bridge, the beer card is the 7♦ playing card when it is agreed that, if a player wins the last trick of a hand with the 7♦, his partner must buy him a beer. It is not considered as part of the rules of these games, but is merely an informal side-bet between players.
The additional requirements vary depending whether the beer card trick winner is the declarer or one of the defenders. For the declarer, the requirements are generally that:
- He must make contract
- He must win last trick with the 7♦
- Diamonds must not be trumps (though some people play that only diamond part scores are excluded)
- He must take a justifiable line on the contract to win as many tricks as possible (i.e. not lose tricks to set up the beer or in order to keep the 7♦ until the last trick)
For a defender, the requirements are generally that:
- Contract must be defeated
- He must win last trick with the beer card
- Diamonds must not be trumps
- He must try to win as many tricks as possible (i.e. not lose tricks to set up the beer or in order to keep the 7♦ until the last trick)
If the contract is doubled then two beers are earned. If the contract is redoubled then four beers are earned.
Read more about Beer Card: Examples
Famous quotes containing the words beer and/or card:
“prohibition makes you
want to cry
into your beer and
denies you the beer
to cry into”
—Don Marquis (1878–1937)
“What is the disease which manifests itself in an inability to leave a party—any party at all—until it is all over and the lights are being put out?... I suppose that part of this mania for staying is due to a fear that, if I go, something good will happen and I’ll miss it. Somebody might do card tricks, or shoot somebody else.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)