Updated Features

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Choose Your Watermark

Pick between a few new watermarks for the center of your table while playing. Or upload your own watermarks as a.

Change your watermark by opening the main menu, going to “Settings”, then choosing “Watermark” at the end of the “Theme” section.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Pinochle Shoot the Moon

Based on requests, we’ve added the ability for Pinochle players to “Shoot the Moon.” To enable this, set the rule option “Ask to shoot” to Yes.

When Ask to shoot is on, we ask the declarer if they want to shoot the moon after trump is chosen and passing is complete. If they choose to shoot, they must take all tricks or lose the game. If they do take all tricks, the game over score is added to their score, typically causing them to win.

Pinochle Mercy & Bidder Goes Out

Two other new Pinochle options are “Mercy rule” and “Bidder goes out.” Mercy rule allows the game to end when a player or team goes too far negative. Bidder goes out ensures that the bidding player or team wins if both teams go over the game over score.

Pitch Called Partner Response

Based on feedback, the Pitch bot has been updated when playing call your partner games. It will now lead back its lowest, most valuable point card, expecting that the player who called them will be able to take it.

500 6NT with Joker

The 500 bot now bids 6NT when holding the Joker based on requests for this common convention.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Open Misère? Maybe Not

The 500 bot now defends better against open misère (and misère in general).

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Rotating Challenges

In addition to the two daily challenges, we’ve added a new rotating challenge for most of our games. This challenge changes daily and cycles through a collection of unique and interesting rules.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Watch Replays of Challenges

Players with a VIP Pass can now view replays of challenges played by any player listed on the Challenge Results page. Click on a player name in the results and choose “Watch Replay.”

Friday, September 1, 2023

Pitch Bot Improvements

The bot now does a better job avoiding playing low point cards when opponents might take the trick. It also takes the trick with the lowest winning point card when playing last.

Finally, the bot treats more cards as “potentially low” until a lower card has been played in games where not all cards are in play.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Bridge Bot Bidding Fixes

Based on your reports, we’ve been able to fix some incorrect bidding by our Bridge bot.

If you notice questionable behavior from the Bridge bot, please send us feedback immediately (while still in the game) with the category “Computer player (bot) feedback.” Our system will attach information about the game so that we can investigate further.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Custom Practice Deals

You can now edit the deal in Practice games to help you work on specific hands.

Click your player name during a game, choose “Edit Deal”, then click cards to select/swap them. Once you have everything in the right place, choose “Use This Deal” to play your custom hand.

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Bid Tips in 500

We’ve added bid tips in 500 that show the points of a bid. These tips appear when you hover over the bid or press and hold on the bid button. Misère and Nullo bids include the points in their button.

You can turn these off in Settings by setting “Show Bid Tips” to “No.”

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Retry a Challenge

We’ve added a “Retry” button on the Challenge Results page so you can practice the hands again. Retrying a challenge does not change your results.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Pitch Called Partner Leads

We learned some Pitch players play call-your-partner with the called partner leading the first trick instead of the highest bidder. So we added it as a “First lead” option under “More Games / Rules”.

Monday, July 17, 2023

Privacy Policy Update

We’ve updated our Privacy Policy to clarify we only save files that you explicitly upload (e.g. if you choose an image to use as a custom card back/face).

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Sales Tax in More States

Due to changes in regulations regarding the collection of sales tax on internet sales, we now add sales tax on Trickster Chips and VIP Pass purchases in more US states.

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Bid Whist without a Kitty

Thanks to some feedback, we’ve added an option to play Bid Whist without a kitty, dealing all 13 cards instead of 12. To try it out, go to “More Games / Rules” when setting up a Bid Whist game and set the new “Kitty” option to “No”.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Privacy Policy Update

We’ve updated our Privacy Policy to include a list of the Cookies and Storage items we use along with an explanation of why we use them.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Bot Boost

Based on feedback, we’ve improved how our bots handle a few special situations in 500, Euchre, and Pitch.

For 500, the bot defends better against Misère bids. This includes playing high in 3rd seat if the Misère bidder is already under the trick.

For Euchre, the bot “protects the left” on defense, avoiding trumping in if doing so would leave the off-Jack vulnerable. On offense, the bot now leads the off-Jack to their partner instead of a low trump.

For Pitch, the bot defends the first trick of “call your partner” games better by playing a low card instead of trying to win the trick.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Harder Games

By customer request, we’ve added a rule option called “Hide player points” that hides the hand score displayed after each player’s name. This makes it harder to know when a player has taken enough points/tricks to make their bid.

Faster Euchre

Euchre has a new game option “Autoplay forced cards.” When “yes,” the computer automatically plays when there is only one legal card to play. This is like the user setting “Autoplay forced cards” but applies to all players in the game.

High Bid Leads Spades

A new “High bidder leads” option has been added to Spades. When “yes,” the high bidder (or first of multiple high bidders) leads the first trick.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

More Bridge Defense

Based on feedback, we’ve continued to refine the defensive play of the Bridge bots. Most notably this update fixes some issues with the bot not always playing as high as necessary when playing 3rd to the trick.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Continue Challenge

Challenges have been enhanced so you can leave mid-game and continue where you left off by choosing the challenge again. Challenges started but not finished are indicated by “in-progress” after the game name.

Thursday, April 13, 2023

You vs Bot

We’ve enhanced the Daily Challenges results page to include a “You vs Bot” section along with a list of your friends who’ve played the challenge.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

New Challenges Menu Item

We’ve added a new menu item, Challenges, that lets you view the results of challenges you’ve played and find challenges created by your friends and our new Daily Challenges.

Beat the Bot in a Daily Challenge!

Each day we create two Daily Challenges for each of our games. Each challenge has different rules and are created by having a bot play with and/or against other bots.

To see if you can do better than our bot (and other real players), choose a challenge from the list of Daily Challenges, finish the game, and choose “Results” from the final scorecard.

Friday, March 24, 2023

Better Bridge Defense

With advice from experts, we’ve continued enhancing the defensive play of our Bridge bots (computer players). Changes include better leads after the first trick, smarter discards when they can’t follow suit, and pushing the declaring team to play high to win the trick.

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Better Bridge Bot Opening Leads

We’re kicking off a series of updates to our Bridge bots to make them better players and partners. This first update improves opening leads on defense. Keep an eye out for further improvements to both play of the hand and bidding behavior in future updates.

Export Hand to PBN

In Bridge Practice and Join games you can now export the current hand to PBN. This includes the current deal, auction, and played cards. We’ve been using this to easily create test cases for our bots as we continue to work on improvements.

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Large Cards

Have trouble telling which card is which? Try flipping the new “Suit and Rank Size” setting to “Large” to help. Find it in “Card Suits” under the Settings menu item alongside options to change the shape and color of suits.

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

More Boards

Based on feedback, we’re now splitting leaderboards by team vs. solo and number of players. For games with many options, you will now see sections such as 2v2, 3v3, 3-player, 4-player, etc. We made this change because a 2-team game has a different expected win percentage than, for example, a 3-player game.

The Leaderboards menu item now contains a drop-down menu at the top to select the game you’re viewing. Below the game, select the leaderboard play mode: Play, Join, or Compete.

Thursday, October 27, 2022

VIP Watch Replays

A new feature of the VIP Pass is the ability to watch face-up recordings of games you have completed in the last 28 days. To try it, choose “Watch Replays” from the menu and click or tap a game.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Qualify for Compete

Starting today, players who have never played a “Compete” mode game must qualify before doing so. To enter your first “Compete” mode game, your account must be more than 24 hours old, and you must have completed 7 games in the “Play,” “Join,” or “Practice” mode sections.

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Why Block?

Our “Block” feature now asks for a reason. With this change, blocking not only helps you but also helps improve Trickster Cards for everyone else. Behind the scenes, we use block and report data to help us monitor and take action against players who spoil the game for others.

To block someone from playing games with you in the future, click on their player name during a game and choose “Block.”

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

New Zealand 500

We’ve added a “Bid after pass” option that allows players to continue bidding after passing when a player’s bid is changed. This new option in conjunction with existing options, allows a 500 game with rules popular in New Zealand.

Joker as Best Card in 500

By request we’ve also added a “Joker low in Misère” option which makes the Joker the lowest card (and non-trump) when playing a Misère/Nullo contract. Basically, the Joker effectively loses any trick to which it is played.

Thursday, September 15, 2022

Become a

Enhance your Trickster Cards experience with our new VIP Pass! Buy 1, 3, or 12 months of access to these premium features:

• Ad-free access to all games
• Receive 2,500 each month
• Wait for a player in Play games
• Friends join your games ad-free
• Exclusive status icon

Anything else you’d like as a VIP? Let us know!

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Spades Allowed Bids

We’ve added two new Spades rules options. One lets you set when you can bid Nil: anytime, losing by 50, or losing by 100. Another requires that the total of the bids not equal the number of tricks available. See the updated Spades Rules form.

Clear Statistics

Players who wish to clear their historical play statistics can now do so either for a specific game or for all games. See the new “Clear” links and “Clear All Statistics” button in the Statistics menu item. Leaderboard data is not affected.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

500 for 3

We’ve added a 3-player variant of 500. Our game uses a 33-card deck (7–Ace plus Joker). Ten cards are dealt per player and there’s a 3-card kitty.

Use the “More Games/Rules” button to access the 500 Rules form and choose this option.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Call Trump Easier/Harder

Based on feedback, we’ve added a “call trump” option to Euchre. This option lets you decide whether you can call trump anytime, with any trump in your hand (today’s rule), or with only “natural” trump in your hand (“natural” trump does not include the off-Jack).

See the new “Call trump” option on the Euchre Rules form (accessed with the “More Games/Rules” button).

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Cornish Euchre

As requested by a player in Cornwall, we’ve added three new options to Euchre: 1) dealer bids first; 2) defend alone anytime, and 3) dealer bids blind when the Joker is the up card.

Try these in your next Euchre game by using the “More Games/Rules” button and setting the game rule options the way you like.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Show Bids During Play

Bridge players can now choose to view the bid history during play of the hand. Click on your player name and choose “Show Bid History” from your player menu. The bids will be shown until the end of the hand or you choose “Hide Bid History” from your player menu.

Wednesday, August 3, 2022

New Bot Names

We occasionally update the names used for our bots (computer players). Today, we update the list with the US Census Bureau’s top 2,000 baby names (1,000 each male and female) from 1956.

Friends’ Game Letter Key

We’ve added a key for the game letters shown after friends’ names in the Friends menu item.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Invite-Only Compete

By request, we’ve added the “Must be invited” option to Compete games. This allows you to limit your Compete game to just those friends you invite. Use the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Must be invited” to Yes when creating your next Compete game.

Friends’ Games Played

Based on feedback, the Friends menu item now indicates the card games your friends like to play. For example, you will see a B icon for a player who plays Bridge.

The Invite Friends menu item now organizes friends into two parts: those who play the game you’re inviting them to and those who don’t.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Customize Oh Hell

The Oh Hell “More Games/Rules…” form has been reorganized to offer a “Custom Deal Pattern” choice in its “Deal pattern” option. Choose that and you’ll see a new section where you can specify the first hand’s number of cards, the last hand’s number of cards, and the switch point.

To try these new options, use the “More Games/Rules” button when creating your next game.

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Score More in Oh Hell

Based on customer requests, we’ve added new scoring options to Oh Hell. With the “Trick points” option you can control whether 1, 2, or 3 points per trick are added for a successful bid. The “Failed bids score” option lets you give no points when players miss their bid.

To try these new options, use the “More Games/Rules” button when creating your next game.

Monday, May 23, 2022

Show Off Your Score, Too

All players can now share their scorecard with others by using the “Share” button on the final scorecard of any style game – Play, Join, Compete, or Practice. Practice mode players can challenge others to play the same game.

The “Share” button replaces the “Challenge” button previously available only in Practice games.

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Bids are Blind

Spades players may now choose to offer blind bids other than Nil. Use the “More Games/Rules” button to view the Spades Rules form and the new “Blind bids” and “Min blind bid” options.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Watch Face Up

“Join” games can now be set to allow watchers to watch the game with cards face-up. Create your next game using the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Allow watching” to “Face Up.”

Play Face Up

“Join” and “Practice” games can now be played with all hands face-up. Set the game rule option “Show all hands” to “Yes.” Suggestions and the bots’ play does not change when playing face-up.

Friday, April 22, 2022

Don’t Give Up

Players who don’t want the new Pinochle “throw in” option can turn it off. When creating your next game, use the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Ask throw in” to No.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Give Up in Pinochle

We’ve added the ability for the Pinochle declarer to “throw in” if they don’t think they can make their bid. If you want to play out the hand, just lead a card.

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Euchre Misdeal

We’ve added an “allow misdeal” rule option to Euchre. This option allows you to let players with “Ace, No Face” and/or “No Ace, No Face” to call a misdeal. Use the “More Games/Rules” button when creating your next game and try this option.

Show Off Your Score

The Challenge feature (see Bragging Rights, below) has been enhanced to display a scorecard that you can copy and share. Choose “Challenge” on the final scorecard of a Practice game.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Colorful Trump

By customer request, we’ve added more colors you can use to highlight the trump cards. See the new “Trump Highlight” option in the Theme section of Settings (in the main menu).

Play and Stay

To improve the overall experience in “Play” mode games, we encourage all players to stay and finish the games they join. If you leave a “Play” game too quickly without finishing, you must wait before joining a new “Play” game.

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Faster Melds

We’ve added a Pinochle game rule option to control the speed of the meld display. Players creating Join, Practice, and Compete games can choose from five settings ranging from Very Fast to Very Slow. To try it, create your next Pinochle game using the "More Games/Rules" button and set the "Meld display speed" rule option.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Lead Trump in Oh Hell

We’ve added the popular “Lead trump” option to Oh Hell. This option allows you to specify that trump cannot be led on the first trick or until trump has been broken. Use the “More Games/Rules” button and try this on your next game.

Saturday, April 2, 2022

Dealer Display Before Start

We now show who will be the dealer of the first hand when you are waiting for the game to start. This allows you to position yourself relative to the dealer.

Bragging Rights

We’ve added a feature to Practice games so you can challenge your friends to replay the same game. On the final scorecard, choose “Challenge” and then share a link with friends. They will get to play the same cards from the same seat as you. See who plays it best.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

No First Blood

By customer request, we’ve added a “Lead trump” option to Euchre. This option allows you to specify that trump cannot be led on the first trick or until trump has been broken. The default behavior is that trump can be led anytime.

Failed Nil Nada

Also by request, we’ve added a “No Bags/No Help” option to Spades’ “Failed Nil” option. When chosen, the overtricks from a failed Nil are neither added to the failed Nil bidder’s score nor added to the team score.

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Work Harder for One

For those who think taking 3 tricks in Euchre is too easy, you can now make it so you have to take 4 tricks to make your bid for 1 point. Use the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Take 4 for 1 pt” to Yes.

Alone for Less

Euchre players can now choose to score just 2 for an “alone” bid when taking all 5 tricks. Set “Alone worth 2 pts” to Yes.

Spades Like Hearts

We’ve added a new Spades option “Low ♣ first trick” that requires players to play their lowest club on the first trick. The player holding the low club leads first.

Play It Safe

The new Spades option “No ♠ first trick” makes it so a spade cannot be led or dumped on the first trick.

Friday, March 11, 2022

Spades Pass More

Based on customer requests, we’ve increased the number of cards that can be passed on Nil/Blind Nil to four.

Double-deck Kitty

Double-deck Pinochle players can now choose to play with a kitty. Create your next game using the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Kitty” to Yes.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Love Your Rules

We’ve added the ability to mark rules as favorites. Favorite rules appear at the top of the list in each game section. To make a rule a favorite, simply click or tap the open-heart icon in the upper right corner of the rule tile. Favorites are indicated by a solid heart, as shown below.

Example of a favorite rule

You can also mark favorites on the game rules form next to the rules summary at the top. Use the “More Games/Rules” button to access.

Friday, February 25, 2022

Leaderboards Account for Ties

Based on customer feedback, starting tomorrow the leaderboard categories % Games Won and # Games Won will count ties as half a win. We round up halves so that 3 ties count as 2 wins.

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Trickster Bots Now Open Source

Based on players’ interest in enhancing our bots, we have made our Trickster bots open source. Programmers with experience in C# are invited to visit our GitHub repository TricksterCards/TricksterBots.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Bidder Goes Out in 500

We’ve added a “Bidder goes out” game rule option to 500. When set to yes, the bidder team wins if both teams go over 500.

To try this option in your next 500 game, use the “More Games/Rules” button and set “Bidder goes out” to Yes. Ensure the other options are as you want them and create the game using the “Create” button at the bottom of the form.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Upload Decks for Bridge

Based on customer requests, we’ve added the ability to upload decks for use in Bridge Join and Practice games. See the new help topic Uploading Decks to learn about this new feature.

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