rookgame

From the table

Strategy, tournament stories, and family game nights — articles from the rookgame.com archive, going back to 2010.

  • Aggressive Bidding Scenario

    Here’s a real game scenario.  We were playing set partner rook the other day as we usually do and my partner and I found ourselves relatively close in score with our competition at 240 pts to 210 pts in the middle of a heated rook game to 500.   During this next had, the bidding was…

  • Table Talk

    Table talk is a term used to refer to partners giving clues about their hands through comments they say across the card table. For the most part, these are passing comments that are not necessarily meant to give away their hand, but by deduction, a partner can gain information. This might be something like asking…

  • Using the Kitty or Nest

    One of the major uncertainties with playing rook is dealing with the kitty.  These 5 cards can sometimes make or break your hand.   There is no real way to know whether or not the kitty is going to help or hurt your hand when bidding, this is what makes rook so fun.  There is some…

  • Bidding Strategies

    It is wise to remember that the more information you have from your partner, the more you can expect help or not having any help at all.   For example, if you are the first person to bid, you can often give your partner a bit of information about the strength of your hand by your…

  • Pulling Trump

    It is highly recommended that if you are the bid taker, you should attempt to pull all trump from your opponents and ensure you get the bird in the process. Pulling trump can be done simply by leading high trump early in the round. The strategy behind pulling trump is that you as the bid…

  • Counting Points

    Counting points can sometimes be the key to winning or loosing. When you are looking to set an opponent or simply make your bid, being aware of how many points you have, how many points are still out there, and how many you are wiling to loose is what will make you win or lose…

  • Choosing Trump

    In the game of rook, choosing your trump color after getting your 5 card kitty is usually fairly obvious.  For the most part, you are going to choose the color you have the most cards in, unless they are very low (like to the 10 or something).   Otherwise, if you have 7 or more of…