How to Play Nine Card Don

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Nine Card Don is a trick-taking card game for four players, typically played in partnerships of two. Each hand centres on winning tricks that contain specific scoring cards, with the five of the trump suit, known as the Don, carrying the highest point value of all. The blend of bidding, partnership play and the hunt for that single card makes each hand genuinely tense.

The game is popular at kitchen tables and in card-playing clubs across Ireland and parts of Britain, where it has long been a staple of informal home play. Its accessible rules make it easy to teach, yet the partnership dynamic and the elevated status of the Don give experienced players plenty to think about.

A little history

Nine Card Don belongs to a family of Don games that are traditionally associated with Ireland, where variants under names such as Don, Twenty-Five and Forty-Five have been played for generations. The precise origins of Nine Card Don as a distinct form are unclear, but the wider Don family is generally considered to derive from the old Irish game of Spoil Five, itself a descendant of Maw, a card game documented in sixteenth-century Scotland and England. The ranking peculiarities shared across these games, particularly the elevated rank of the five of trumps, are widely regarded as inherited from that older tradition.

Setting up

1. Seat four players at a table; partners sit opposite each other.
2. Choose a dealer by any agreed method, such as cutting for the highest card.
3. The dealer shuffles the deck thoroughly and offers it to the player on their right to cut.
4. Deal nine cards to each player, one at a time, clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left.
5. Place the remaining cards face down as a stock; they are not used during play.
6. The player to the dealer's left leads the bidding.

How to play

1. Bidding begins with the player to the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. Each player may bid or pass; a bid states the number of tricks the bidding partnership promises to win (minimum bid is typically three out of nine).
2. Each successive bid must be higher than the last. A player who has passed may not re-enter the bidding.
3. The player who wins the bid names the trump suit. Their partnership must then win at least the number of tricks they bid, or they are set (penalised).
4. The player who named trumps leads to the first trick. Any card may be led.
5. On each trick, players must follow suit if they are able. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card, including a trump.
6. Trump suit ranking (high to low): 5 of trumps (the Don), Jack of trumps, Ace of hearts (always third-highest trump regardless of the trump suit named), Ace of trumps (if hearts is not trump, otherwise this position is vacant), King of trumps, Queen of trumps, then remaining trump cards in standard order downward from 10.
7. For non-trump suits, cards rank in their standard order: Ace high, then King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 low. Note that the Jack and five of the trump suit have left their home suit for the trump ranking, so they do not count as members of their original suit during play.
8. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins.
9. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick.
10. Play continues until all nine tricks have been played.
11. Count scoring cards in each partnership's won tricks (see Winning section) and record the scores.
12. The deal passes clockwise and a new hand begins. Play continues until one partnership reaches the agreed target score.

Winning and scoring

Points are scored for specific cards captured in won tricks. The Don (five of trumps) is worth 5 points. The Jack of trumps is worth 1 point. The Ace of hearts is worth 1 point. The Ace of trumps is worth 1 point (when hearts is not the trump suit). Each trick won is also worth 1 point, giving a maximum of 9 trick points per hand plus the card bonuses. The total number of points available per hand varies with the trump suit named, but typically falls between 13 and 15. If the bidding partnership meets or exceeds their bid, they score all points they have taken. If they fall short of their bid, they are set and score nothing for that hand; their opponents score the points they themselves captured. The first partnership to reach an agreed target, commonly 41 points, wins the game. Agree the target before play begins.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the obligation to follow suit when holding the Jack or five of trumps. Because the Jack of trumps and the Don belong to the trump suit for ranking purposes, they are not considered members of their original suit. A player holding the Jack of spades when spades is trump is not required to follow suit when spades is led as a non-trump matter; that card is now a trump. Equally, if hearts is not trump, the Ace of hearts still ranks as the third-highest trump, so it is treated as a trump card and a player is not obliged to play it when hearts are led if they also hold a heart of lower rank and wish to follow suit with that instead. Clarify this before play if any players are unfamiliar with the game.

Another frequent question arises when a player is void in the suit led but also holds only the Don or the Jack of trumps among their trumps. There is no obligation to trump a trick; a player who cannot follow suit may play any card they choose, including discarding rather than trumping. However, if they choose to trump, they must beat any trump already played if they are able to do so. Agree this point explicitly at the start, as local custom varies.

How to win more often

• Protect the Don: if you hold the five of trumps, consider leading it early to claim its 5 points rather than risk it being overtrumped, which is impossible by definition since it is the highest trump, but leading it clears the way and secures the points immediately.
• Communicate through your leads: in partnership play, leading a high non-trump card signals strength in that suit; leading a low card suggests you want your partner to take the trick and lead back through your holding.
• Count the scoring cards: keep track of whether the Jack of trumps and the Ace of hearts have already fallen. If they have not, the tricks containing them are still live and worth chasing aggressively.
• Bid conservatively when your hand is borderline: being set costs you all your points for the hand, so a cautious bid of three tricks on a moderate hand is often more profitable over a session than an ambitious bid that fails.
• Control the trump suit: if you hold three or more trumps beyond the Don, consider using them to exhaust your opponents' trumps early so that your non-trump winners can take tricks cleanly in the later play.

Variations

Auction Don

In Auction Don, the bidding is extended so that players may bid in units of one trick all the way up to nine, and a bid of nine (a claim to win every trick) doubles the score for that hand if successful or doubles the penalty if the bidding side is set. This variant rewards aggressive play and raises the stakes considerably in the final rounds of a game.

Three-Handed Don

With three players, each receives nine cards and one player acts as a solo player against the other two who form a temporary partnership for that hand. The solo player names trumps after winning the bid and must achieve the number of tricks bid alone. Scoring is adjusted: the solo player scores double if successful and loses double if set. Rotate the potential solo position with the deal to keep the game balanced.

Fixed Trumps

A simpler version often used when introducing the game to younger players removes the bidding phase entirely. Instead, the trump suit is determined by turning the top card of the stock face up after the deal. No bid is required and the player to the dealer's left always leads first. Partnerships simply try to capture as many scoring cards as possible, and the first to reach the target wins. This version plays faster and is well suited to teaching the card rankings before introducing bidding.

Individual Play

In the individual scoring variant there are no fixed partnerships. Each of the four players scores for themselves, claiming points only from tricks they personally win. The player who bid leads and must reach their bid alone; all others play to stop them and to maximise their own card captures. This variant suits groups where players prefer not to rely on a partner and produces a livelier, more competitive atmosphere at the table.

Nine Card Don: frequently asked questions