Each player receives 12 cards in batches of 4. The remaining 4 cards form a "widow", to be taken up by the player who makes a contract. Starting with eldest hand, the players bid (in multiples of 5) for the privilege of taking up the widow and making trumps. The minimum bid is 100, and there are 165 points in the game. A player who does not want to overbid the previous bid may pass, but cannot bid again later in the same round. The highest bidder becomes "declarer", takes up the widow, and discards 4 cards face down to return to the original number of cards (12). The discarded pile becomes the declarer's team's first trick (including any points).