Revoke
Encyclopedia
To annul by withdrawing.
In trick-taking
card games, a revoke (or renege) is a violation of important rules regarding the play of tricks serious enough to render the round invalid. A revoke is a violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, with the status of a more minor offense only because, when it happens, it is usually accidental.
Trick-taking games normally have several rules regarding which cards may and may not be played to a trick. For example, most games require a player to follow suit or play in the suit led, if possible. Rules of this sort are sometimes called "honor rules", because there is no way to detect a violation at the moment of its commission. However, the irregularity will normally be discovered later, and there are usually strict penalties for revokes.
Some "honor rules" in different trick-taking games
Penalties for revokes vary:
Normally revokes are given a penalty equal to the most severely negative outcome of the round possible. The intention is to discourage the practice, which upsets other players' strategies
to the point where the only acceptable resolution may be to declare the round void.
Therefore, a revoke rarely has a strategic advantage, except in king-maker scenarios.
Since hands are (usually) concealed, a player can revoke (accidentally or intentionally) without being caught immediately. For example, if a player does not play a spade to a trick where spades were led, other players will simply assume that player has no spades and note the fact in future play decisions. However, most trick-taking games play a hand until exhaustion, and attentive players will soon notice the violation when a spade is played to a subsequent trick.
In trick-taking
Trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card game or tile-based game in which play centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as Whist, Contract Bridge, Napoleon, Rowboat, and...
card games, a revoke (or renege) is a violation of important rules regarding the play of tricks serious enough to render the round invalid. A revoke is a violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, with the status of a more minor offense only because, when it happens, it is usually accidental.
Trick-taking games normally have several rules regarding which cards may and may not be played to a trick. For example, most games require a player to follow suit or play in the suit led, if possible. Rules of this sort are sometimes called "honor rules", because there is no way to detect a violation at the moment of its commission. However, the irregularity will normally be discovered later, and there are usually strict penalties for revokes.
Some "honor rules" in different trick-taking games
- SpadesSpadesSpades is a partnership trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s, in which the object is for each pair or partnership to take at least the number of tricks they bid on before play began. Spades is a descendant of the Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge,...
, EuchreEuchreEuchre or eucre, is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards. It is the game responsible for introducing the joker into modern packs; this was invented around 1860 to act as a top trump or best bower...
and 500500 (card game)500, Five Hundred, is a game devised in America shortly before 1900 and promoted by the United States Playing Card Company, who copyrighted and marketed the rules in 1904. The game can be played by two to six players but the most common form is for four players in partnerships although some sources...
require that players play to the suit led, unless void in it. - HeartsHearts (game)Hearts is an "evasion-type" trick-taking playing card game for four players, although variations can accommodate 3–6 players. The game is also known as The Dirty, Black Lady, Chase the Lady, Crubs, and Black Maria, though any of these may refer to the similar but differently-scored game Black Lady...
requires that players follow the suit led. In some variants, a player holding the Queen of Spades and void in the led suit is required to play it. - PinochlePinochlePinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
requires players to- play to the led suit unless void in it, with a potentially winning (higher than the highest-so-far) card if possible;
- if void in the led suit, trump with a potentially winning card;
- if unable to do any of those things, play anything.
- BourréBourréBourré is a trick-taking gambling card game primarily played in the Acadiana region of Louisiana in the United States of America. And also in the Greek island of Psara with the name Boureki...
requires players to- play to the led suit unless void in it, with a potentially winning (higher than the highest-so-far) card if possible;
- if void in the led suit, trump with a potentially winning card;
- play to bourré as many other players as possible.
Penalties for revokes vary:
- In BridgeContract bridgeContract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
the penalty for a revoke is normally one or two tricks scored against the offending partnership, depending on the exact circumstances, but if the non-offending side is more seriously damaged than that (typically because the revoke made a critical entryEntry (cards)An entry, in trick-taking card games such as bridge, is a means of gaining the lead in a particular hand, i.e. winning the trick in that hand. Gaining the lead when some other player led to the previous trick is referred to as entering one's hand; a card that wins a trick to which another player...
worthless), then they are compensated accordingly. - In PinochlePinochlePinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
and many other bidding trick games, a revoke results in an automatic set, or failure at the bid, normally precipitating a penalty. - In HeartsHearts (game)Hearts is an "evasion-type" trick-taking playing card game for four players, although variations can accommodate 3–6 players. The game is also known as The Dirty, Black Lady, Chase the Lady, Crubs, and Black Maria, though any of these may refer to the similar but differently-scored game Black Lady...
a revoking player receives 26 penalty points (all of them) and other players receive none. - In BourréBourréBourré is a trick-taking gambling card game primarily played in the Acadiana region of Louisiana in the United States of America. And also in the Greek island of Psara with the name Boureki...
a revoking player must forfeit an amount of money equal to the pot. - In EuchreEuchreEuchre or eucre, is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards. It is the game responsible for introducing the joker into modern packs; this was invented around 1860 to act as a top trump or best bower...
a revoking player/team loses bid and receives a 2 point penalty. The opponents are also awarded two points. - In Bid EuchreBid EuchreBid Euchre, is the name given to a group of card games played in North America based on the popular game Euchre. It introduces an element of bidding in which the trump suit is decided by which player can bid to take the most tricks...
(Pepper), a revoking player playing the bid loses the bid and receives a 2 point penalty. The opponents are awarded the bid. A revoking team playing against the bid forfeits the bid to the player playing the bid. They also receive a penalty in the amount of the bid being played.
Normally revokes are given a penalty equal to the most severely negative outcome of the round possible. The intention is to discourage the practice, which upsets other players' strategies
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
to the point where the only acceptable resolution may be to declare the round void.
Therefore, a revoke rarely has a strategic advantage, except in king-maker scenarios.
Since hands are (usually) concealed, a player can revoke (accidentally or intentionally) without being caught immediately. For example, if a player does not play a spade to a trick where spades were led, other players will simply assume that player has no spades and note the fact in future play decisions. However, most trick-taking games play a hand until exhaustion, and attentive players will soon notice the violation when a spade is played to a subsequent trick.