Solo 66 At the start of the game, the dealer shuffles the cards and offers them to be cut, he then deals six cards to each player. The remaining two cards are placed face-down in the middle of the table as the talon. The soloist is determined through a bidding process or auction. The player who bids the highest suit as trumps wins the auction. The suits rank, from highest to lowest, in the order: Clubs , Spades , Hearts and Diamonds . In the auction the player to the left of the dealer (forehand) is the first to bid or pass.
History of contract bridge to the rules of the game dates from 1886 and calls it "Biritch, or Russian Whist". The game featured several significant developments from whist: dealer chose the trump suit, or nominated his partner to do so; there was a call of no trumps (biritch); and the dealer's partner's hand became dummy. There were other similarities to bridge: points were scored above and below the line; the score could be doubled and redoubled; scoring a game in one deal required 3 in no trumps, 4 in hearts, or 5 in diamonds (although it could not be done at all, undoubled, in