29 Card Points: What Each Card Is Worth

Jack 3, Nine 2, Ace 1, Ten 1. Kings and Queens score nothing.

The 29 card points are Jack 3, Nine 2, Ace 1 and Ten 1, and every other card is worth zero. Four suits make that 12 + 8 + 4 + 4 = 28 points in the 32-card pack. Bids, targets and the result of every hand are counted in these points, so learn the four numbers before anything else.

The point values

Half the pack, sixteen cards, carries nothing at all. A trick of four Kings and Queens is worth zero; a trick holding one Jack and one Ten is worth 4. That is why 29 players talk about points, not tricks.

Counting a trick

Hearts are led. The four cards that fall are the 9, the King, the 10 and the 7 of hearts. The 9 wins the trick (only the Jack of hearts ranks higher) and the trick is worth 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 3 points to the side that took it. After eight tricks the two sides' points always add up to 28.

Why the Jack beats the Ace

The order of the cards follows their value, and it is the same in every suit:

Belote and Klaverjas players will know this as their trump order. Twenty-Nine uses it for every suit, so the cards worth the most are also the hardest to beat, and you can't sneak points home with a King.

It also makes the Ace a weak card. It is worth a point, but two cards in its own suit beat it. Playing an Ace into a trick while that suit's Jack or Nine is still out is the usual way beginners hand points over.

28 points, or 29?

The deck holds 28. The name comes from an older count that gave one extra point for the last trick, making 29 in a hand. The rules on pagat.com say most players now leave that point out. Our tables do too: 28 points, nothing for the last trick, and bids run from 16 to 28. Where a table still counts it, the bids go up to 29 and the eighth trick becomes worth fighting for even when it holds no point cards.

Counting your hand before you bid

You bid on the points your side will capture, 16 at the least and 28 at most, having seen only four of your eight cards. You are bidding on what the hand could do, not what it is sure to do.

• Count your Jacks first. A Jack is 3 points and the top card of its suit. Two Jacks is a strong start before anything else.
• Count a Nine as nearly safe. Only the Jack of the same suit beats it.
• Mark down bare Aces and Tens. They carry points but lose to the Jack and Nine, and a point you drop into the other side's trick is a point you gave them.
• Length in one suit counts. If you mean to make it trumps, four cards of a suit with the Jack are worth more than the same points spread around.
• 16 is already a real bid. It promises more than half of the 28 points.

Taking points, not tricks

• Lead the suit where you hold the Jack. It draws out the smaller point cards under it.
• Don't throw a Nine or Jack onto a trick you can't win. That is up to five points given away.
• Throw Kings and Queens freely. They are worth nothing and cost nothing.
• Keep track of what has gone. With 32 cards and 8 tricks, following the four Jacks and four Nines is quite manageable, and it decides close hands.

When the target moves

Under the pair rule (also called the marriage), a player holding the trump King and Queen can show them after the trump is revealed, straight after their side wins a trick. Shown by the bidding side, their target drops 4, never below the minimum bid; shown by the defenders, it rises 4, never above 28. So a bid of 20 can become 16 or 24 halfway through a hand.

Not every table counts it that way. In Bangladesh, according to pagat's notes, the pair only helps a bid above 18: 19 or 20 drops to 16, 21 drops to 17, and 16 to 18 stay as they are. Our tables use the plain 4-point rule, and a Declare marriage button appears when you can show the pair. Computer players never show it.

Other 29 pages

• 29 Card Game Rules: the full rules, seat by seat.
• 29 Strategy: bidding, the reveal and partnership play.
• 29 Variants: 28, the single hand and regional rules.