Introduction

This game is known as Oh Hell! Or Up and Down the River.  This is our family variation of the game that we teach others.  Enjoy!!

Players and Cards for Single Deck (variations below)

2+ players, the game is ideal with 4 to 6

A standard 52 card deck is used with jokers (preferably three and we use the “ad” card for the third, otherwise use two). For more players, you need to use additional decks to have 13 cards for each player (see the multiple deck variation, below). The cards in each suit rank (from high to low) A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2.  For the trump suit it is Joker 1, Joker 2, Joker 3, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2.

Sequence of Hands

The game is a trick taking game consisting of a series of hands. The number of cards in each hand varies throughout the game starting with 2 up to 12 (evens up) and 13 back down to 3 (odds down). 

• Hands up the river: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 cards per player, and then
• Down the river: 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3 (12 hands in total)

Object of the Game

The object is to have the highest score! 

Each player bids the number of tricks they think they can take in each hand. Points are awarded for making exactly your bid and deducted for each trick you miss the bid, either over or under.

The hook is that at least one player will fail on each hand, because the total number of tricks bid by the players may not equal the number of tricks available in that hand.

Deal

To determine the first dealer, draw cards and the highest goes first (or for us… someone starts dealing).  The deal rotates clockwise with each hand.

The cards are shuffled including the two or three jokers (which are identified ahead of time for three jokers as the biggest, middle, and smallest) and delt until everyone has the appropriate number for that hand (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, 3). The dealer selects a card from the remaining deck and turns it face up which is the trump suit for the hand. The remaining undealt cards are placed in a face down stack with the turned trump on top of it and set to the side. If a joker is turned over as the trump suit, only jokers are trump (not an entire suit plus jokers). The trump suit beats any of the other suits played in that hand. The jokers are the highest three cards of the trump suit (so if trump is played and a player only has a joker, they must follow by playing the joker).

Bidding

The bidding for a hand begins with the player left of the dealer, continues clockwise, and ends with the dealer. Each player must bid the number of tricks they will try to take for that hand. Everyone must bid, but you can bid zero, in which case your goal is to take no tricks at all.

Remember the hook: the dealer may not bid the number that would cause the total number of tricks bid to equal the number of tricks available; a hand will always be “over-bid” or “under-bid”.

Play

The play begins with the player that bid the highest number of tricks (or the first bid of the highest number), and they lead a card. The lead may be any suit (including trump). Play follows clockwise and each other player must follow the suit led, if they can. If the player does not have the suit that was led, they may play any other card in their hand, including trump. If trump is led, and a player only has a joker, they must follow by playing the joker. Likewise, if a joker is led, all other players must play trump if they can. Note, this is a game where you can sluff, that is, you are not required to play trump if you don’t have the suit led.  This allows you to choose if you take a trick or not when you don’t have that suit.

The player that played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick (as long as there was no trump played). If trump was played, the highest trump card wins the trick (including the highest joker). The winning player takes the cards, then leads the next trick. Continue until all tricks have been played and collected for that hand.  It is helpful to keep each trick won in it’s own pile for counting how many tricks you took during scoring.

Scoring

The scorekeeper notes each bid and resulting scores.  If a player makes their bid for the hand, they win 10 points.  If a player misses (either over or under) they get minus 5 points for each trick they missed. 

Variation―Multiple Deck Up & Down the River

One variation is that you can also play multiple deck Up and Down the River.  This is necessary as you have more players so that you have 13 cards for each player. Now that you have multiples of cards there are a few changes. First, jokers are all the same level (just above the ace of trump), but are still considered part of the trump suit. Secondly, the last card of the same suit and rank played takes the trick. For example, if one person plays a joker and the next player plays a joker (and no one else does after that), the second joker takes. This is the same for duplicates of any other card. If someone leads the trick with an ace of diamonds, they can lose that trick to another later ace of diamonds (assuming everyone plays diamonds and no trump is played). It makes it surprising and fun!  

Variation―Partner Up & Down the River

The second variation we play is that you can also play partner Up and Down the River (with single or multiple decks).  You need to play with even teams (often we have four people and play 2 teams of 2 people).  Bids and scores for team members are added together for each hand and otherwise the game is the same.  Note that you still have the hook, so the dealer still cannot make the team bids add to the number of cards.  For scoring, you’re a team so you either succeed or miss together (you’re in the same boat…). 

Other Variations
This game works well with any number of cards and jokers. If you only have 1 deck and 6 players, just adjust the number of cards each time. Play hands with 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1 (though note that you are more likely to get ties with fewer decks and more players). Also we have played skipping by threes (2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 9, 6, 3), going up to 17 cards when you have 2 players and other variants to keep it fun and interesting. It is also great game to play a few quick hands when waiting for something (waiting for food at a restaurant, family or friends to arrive for dinner, appointments, etc).

Good luck!