Whist History

As far as trick taking card games are concerned, Whist is among the most popular. While it has a lot of competition in this area, the game always seems to have a large following of players. Since the 18th century, the game of Whist has been commonly played in many different parts of the world. Most gamers believe that Whist was derived from a popular game of the past known as Ruff and Honours.

Whist has held up strongly over the years due to the fact that the rules of the game are simple, easy to learn, and allow for a lot of exciting play. To go along with this, many variations of Whist in history have been created as the game has evolved. This has led to even more people getting involved with the game.

In the 19th century, Whist became very popular. In fact, this was the most popular time period for the game. During this time, Edmond Hoyle wrote a comprehensive text book on the game of Whist. By the time the end of the century was closing in, a definitive set of rules was put into place. Although these have been altered a bit over the years due to different variations coming into play, they have held true for the most part.

During the first few years of the 20th century, Whist was still quite popular. But it was at this time that the game of Bridge began to take over as the most commonly played card game. Even though some began to play Bridge more than Whist, the game still managed to hang on.

Although Whist is no longer as popular as it was several hundred years ago, it still has a solid following. Whist is still one of the most popular card games in Britain. In fact, many tournaments, known as Whist drives, are played there on a regular basis.