General Rules for Estimation
Estimation is a card game that is played with a total of four players, each player is on their own
Estimation is played with a complete standard deck of 52 cards and no jokers
Each hand in Estimation is preceded by a round of bidding, during which every player bids the number of tricks they plan to "eat" during the hand and the Tarneeb suit
The Tarneeb suits are ranked according to their power in bidding:
No Trump (no Tarneeb)
Spades
Hearts
Diamonds
Clubs
The person to start the bidding (and the bidding itself) moves counterclockwise
After each round of bidding, the players that did not win the bid must go through a round of estimation, during which they estimate the EXACT number of "eats" they will take during the next round
The player who takes the exact estimated "eats" (whether by estimation or bidding) wins the round and gets the points, therefore a single round can have more than one winner
The game consists of 13 rounds where "normal" bidding takes place, and 5 rounds where "accelerated" bidding takes place
The person with the highest score after 18 rounds wins the game
Normal Bidding
The bidding begins with the first player to the right of the dealer and moves counterclockwise
If a player lacks one (or more) suit, then they choose to either re-deal the cards or "avoid". Avoiding means that the round continues but the player declares that he lacks at least one suit
All players are then asked if they want to enter the round of bidding or "blind dash". Players who "blind dash" are not allowed to bid in the coming bidding and are assumed to have estimated zero "eats"
After all four players have chosen to "bid" or "blind dash", normal bidding takes place EXACTLY like Tarneeb Egyptian (i.e. bid and suit). The minimum bid is 4
After bidding is settled, then each player except the bidder (and starting from the right of the bidder) is asked to "estimate" his "eats". Note that any player who "blind dash" is not asked to estimate (assumed to have estimated zero) and is ignored
No more than 2 players can estimate zero (whether in the estimation round or by "blind dash"). If a player estimates zero in the estimation round, it is called a "dash"
The total estimated "eats" CANNOT equal 13. This means that the last person to estimate (called the "risk") is not shown the number that would make the total estimated "eats" equal 13
Players can estimate up to and including the current bid number (but not higher). If a player estimates the same as the current bid, he is labeled as "with"
Playing the Game
When bidding is over, game play is exactly like Tarneeb
If no one "wins" (i.e. no one gets their estimated "eats") then then no scores are added or subtracted at the end and players move to the next round (called "sa3aydeh" round) where the score is doubled (x2) if you have a winner. If this is repeated, then the next round is tripled (x3) and so on
Accelerated Bidding
Round 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are accelerated rounds during which players are only asked for "avoid" (if applicable) and go straight to estimation (i.e. no bidding)
Tarneeb suits are pre-determined:
Round 14 => No trump
Round 15 => Spades
Round 16 => Hearts
Round 17 => Diamonds
Round 18 => Clubs
There is no "with", but "risk" still applies. Also, the maximum estimation is always 13 since there is no bid
Scoring
A "win" is when a player gets EXACTLY the number of "eats" he estimated or bid
If the bidder (or the "with") wins, he earns points = Round# + eats + 10
If any other player wins, they earn points = Round# + eats
If the player that wins is the "only" player, he earns a bonus of 10 points
If 1 or 2 then R = 1
If 3 or 4 then R = 2
If 5 or 6 then R = 3
If 6 or 7 then R = 4
If the "risk" wins, he earns a bonus of 10xR points, where R ranges from 1 to 4 based on how far his estimate is from the estimate that would have made the total estimates 13:
If a "kabooot" is won (i.e. the player bids and "eats" all 13) then he gets a 50 point bonus and each other player loses an additional 25 points
If a player wins with a "blind dash" in a round where total estimates are over 13 (overbid round), he earns points = Round# + 20. If the round had total estimates less than 13 (underbid round), he earns points = Round# + 10
If a player wins with a "dash" in an overbid round, he earns points = Round# + 10 and earns points = Round# + 20 in an underbid round
A "loss" is when a player does not get EXACTLY the number of "eats" he estimated or bid. "diffeats" means the difference between a players "eats" and his estimate
If the bidder loses, he loses points = Round# + diffeats + 10
If any other player loses, they lose points = Round# + diffeats
If the player that loses is the "only" player, he loses an additional 10 points
If 1 or 2 then R = 1
If 3 or 4 then R = 2
If 5 or 6 then R = 3
If 6 or 7 then R = 4
If the "risk" loses, he loses an additional 10xR points, where R ranges from 1 to 4 based on how far his estimate is from the estimate that would have made the total estimates 13:
If a player loses with a "blind dash" in an overbid round, he loses points = Round# + diffeats + 20 and loses points = Round# + diffeats + 10 in an underbid round
If a player loses with a "dash" he loses points = Round# + diffeats + 20
Note that in the last 5 rounds, the highest "estimator" is treated as the bidder for scoring purposes
