Mighty♠

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Korean student tradition with hidden teams

Mighty is associated with Korean student circles and is often dated to the 1970s, although a single inventor is not securely documented. Its called partner and scoring cards connect it with Japanese Napoleon and the wider picture-capturing family. This guide follows the five-person profile with a three-card blind, a club-three Joker Hunter and the scoring formula below. Other tables change the hunter, bidding and payments; those rules must not be mixed silently. The friend is chosen anew every deal, not a permanent teammate.

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Five hands and a three-card blind

Exactly 5 players use 52 ordinary cards plus 1 joker: 53. Rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; every A K Q J 10 is worth 1 captured point, 20 total. First dealer random, right cuts. Deal clockwise in packets 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 to give 10 each, leave 3 hidden centrally. First auction starts with dealer; later with previous declarer. Next dealer is the called friend, or declarer after a solo. Keep a ledger for an agreed 10 deals; highest net total wins, ties share.

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Bid for point cards, not tricks

Bid 13–20 with a suit or no trump, or pass permanently. A larger number beats a smaller; no trump beats the same number with a suit. Suits have no internal bidding order. Continue until only one bidder remains. All pass means same dealer redeals. On your first bidding turn you may show a weak hand for redeal: A♠ counts 0, joker −1, other A K Q J +1, tens +½, others 0; total at most ½ qualifies. The requester deals and starts the replacement auction. This weakness scale is separate from captured points.

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Exchange, confirm trumps and call a friend

Declarer takes the 3-card blind, holds 13, discards any 3 face down and keeps 10. Buried point cards count for declarer’s side. To change suit to another suit or no trump to suit, raise bid at least 2; from 19, reaching 20 suffices. Suit to no trump costs at least 1; at 20 the change is free. You may raise without changing. Name any friend card, including Mighty or joker; holder stays silent until revealed by play. Calling your own or buried card gives a secret solo. Alternatives: first-trick winner as friend, or openly “no friend”. Winning that first trick yourself also gives solo. At 20 no trump you may additionally request a lead suit from friend.

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Following suit and the first lead

Declarer leads first, not a trump unless holding only trumps. Play clockwise, 1 each; winner leads next. Follow suit when possible, otherwise any card, with no compulsory trumping. Mighty and joker have the exceptions below. Priority: Mighty, powered joker, highest trump, highest led-suit card. Play 10 tricks. Potential defenders display captured point cards; keep other played cards and the discard together. Once friend is identified, move their captured points to declarer’s side. Count defenders and subtract from 20 to find declarer’s points, including buried cards. A magic card may be discarded to the blind but then cannot be called into play.

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Mighty, joker and the hunter

Mighty is A♠, or A♦ when spades trump. It always wins and may ignore follow-suit; if its suit is led and it is your only card there, you must play it. Leading Mighty demands its ordinary suit. Joker may ignore suit but is powerless in tricks 1 and 10: it can be played then, but loses. When led in tricks 2–9 name a suit for others to follow. If led powerless, second card sets the suit; trumps still win normally. Hunter is 3♣, or 3♠ with clubs trump. When led after the first trick, its owner may demand joker. Holder must play joker, except they may play Mighty instead if holding both. Hunter has no extra winning strength and cannot hunt its own owner’s joker.

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A zero-sum score from bid and capture

Let B be final bid, P captured points including discard. Success when P ≥ B: base S = 2 × (B − 13) + (P − B); failure: S = B − P. Exact 13 making 13 scores 0 here. Double S for each applicable case: no trump; openly no friend; all 20 captured by declarer’s side; or a back run, P at most 9. These doubles multiply. With a friend, success gives declarer +2S, friend +S, each defender −S; failure reverses signs. Solo gives declarer ±4S and each of four defenders ∓S; secret solo has no open-no-friend double. Use units, not card ranks, for this settlement.

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Mighty escapes the Joker Hunter

Diamonds trump, a middle trick. A leads 3♣ demanding joker. B holds joker and A♠: play A♠ instead, retaining joker. C follows K♣, D 2♣, E is void and plays 7♦. B wins despite the trump, capturing 2 scoring cards, A♠ and K♣. If A called A♠ as friend, B is now revealed. Separate final score: bid 15 diamonds, take 16. S = 2 × (15 − 13) + (16 − 15) = 5. Declarer +10, friend +5, defenders −5 each: total 0. A rule breach should be checked before the next lead; at a learning table restore the trick if possible, otherwise redeal without score by prior agreement.

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Common questions