Oh Hell Card Game
Play Oh Hell (Puppies, Judgement) online free against smart AI. Bid exactly how many tricks you'll win each round, watch the hand size climb and shrink, and nail your contract for points. No download, no sign-up.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is Oh Hell?
Oh Hell is a classic trick-taking card game for 3-7 players, also known as Puppies, Up and Down or — in its Indian form — Judgement (Kachuful). Each round players receive a different number of cards, bid exactly how many tricks they will win, and score only if they land on that exact number.
How does scoring work in Oh Hell?
Scoring is strict: if you win exactly as many tricks as you bid, you score 10 points plus your bid (a bid of 2 made scores 12). Win one trick more or fewer and you score zero for the round. Across the nine-round ladder, the highest total wins.
Why can the dealer sometimes not bid a number?
Bids are public and the dealer bids last. To keep the game honest, the dealer may not make the sum of all bids equal the number of tricks available — one specific number is forbidden. This forces the dealer into a contract they may not want, which is where much of the game's tension comes from.
How does the trump suit work?
At the start of each round, after the cards are dealt, the next card of the deck is flipped face up and its suit becomes trump for the whole round. A trump card beats every non-trump card; between two trumps, the higher rank wins.
What is the difference between Oh Hell, Judgement and Kachuful?
They are members of the same bid-and-win family. Judgement (popular in India as Kachuful) uses the same exact-bid scoring, often without a fixed trump or with the trump changing each hand. Oh Hell is the western classic with the round ladder and the flipped trump card. This page plays the classic Oh Hell rules.
Is this Oh Hell game free?
Yes, this Oh Hell game is completely free to play in your browser — no download, no account and no real-money gambling. You play a full nine-round ladder against three AI opponents, and it works on both desktop and mobile.
Game overview
- Four players (you against three AI opponents) play a ladder of nine rounds with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 cards per hand.
- Cards rank A high down to 2 low. Each round, one card is flipped from the deck to fix the trump suit.
- Bid exactly how many tricks you will win each round, then win precisely that many — no more, no less.
- The total of all bids never has to match the tricks available — that gap is where Oh Hell gets its reputation.
Card ranking
A > K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2
Within a trick: trump beats everything; otherwise the highest card of the suit led wins.
Bidding
Bidding starts to the dealer's left and goes around once. Bids are open — everyone hears them.
You may bid from 0 up to the number of cards in your hand.
The dealer bids last and may not make the total bids equal the number of tricks in the round. That one forbidden number is what makes the dealer's seat so tricky.
How a round plays
Turn order
- The player to the dealer's left leads any card.
- You must follow suit if you can; if void, play any card — a trump wins the trick.
- The highest trump — or highest card of the led suit — wins the trick and leads next.
- After all tricks are played, only players who won exactly their bid score: 10 points plus their bid. Everyone else scores nothing.
Strategy tips
Zero bids are gold
A successful 0 bid scores 10 with the least exposure. In one-card rounds, a low card is a free 10 points — most of the time, bid 0.
The dealer's dilemma
As dealer you bid last with one number off-limits. Watch the other bids: if they push your best bid into the forbidden slot, you must reach for a contract you cannot quite make.
Count the voids
Once you are void in a suit, trumps become live ammunition. Spend them on the tricks you still need, then throw away the rest.
Made is all that matters
Winning 4 tricks on a bid of 3 scores zero — identical to winning none. As soon as your contract is safe, start giving tricks away.
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