Bill's Up and Down the River Game

Fun card game played online by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 players.

How many tricks can you take? This is a fun game where the number of cards dealt to each player changes each round, increasing or decreasing by one depending on whether you are going "Up the River" or "Down the River". Each round players bid how many tricks they can take. Winner is the player with the highest score after all rounds have been played. The game uses a single deck with no jokers.

Guests always play FREE. Guests are players who have been invited to play by the Table Host.

Who pays? Table hosts pay $48 for a full year to host a table. Host then invites guests to play online. Try 2 weeks for only $2 to see if you like the game. Host fee allows you to host 1 table, which can be used to play any of our games (Hand and Foot, Pinochle, 6 Card Golf, Up and Down the River, and TallyHo the Marble game). Only 1 game of any type can be played at a time. Contact HostaGame @ northwestpages.com for details.

Game supports many options:

• Will game include a No Trump option or just the standard Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, and Hearts?
• Will Trump be chosen randomly each round or will it be in a fixed order?
• What will be the maximum number of cards dealt to each player? Host can choose from 3 - 10 or "max" based on the number of players (8 cards for 6 players, 10 cards for 5 players, 13 cards for 4 players, etc).
• Will game be Up the River, Down the River, Up and Down the River, or Down and Up the River. Up the River starts with 1 card dealt to each player, and then increases until the maximum number of cards to be dealt has been reached. Down the River starts with the maximum number of cards to be dealt and then decreases until 1 card is dealt to each player.
• How many bonus points to award for players making their bid?
• How many points for each trick taken?
• How many penalty points for missing bid?
• How many penalty points for each trick under or over a missed bid?
• Host has the ability to set bonus/penalty points based on bids equal to zero vs bids greater than zero.
• Do players need to follow suit?
• Do players need to play trump if unable to follow suit?
• Do players need to win trick if possible?

Play on almost any device. Requires online internet connection and a browser (Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Firefox, Samsung Internet, Chrome, etc.) The browser needs to have Javascript enabled on it (this should be a browser setting). We have played this game using desktops and laptops, Chromebooks, iPads, tablets, iPhones, and Smartphones but we recommend using devices with a minimum of 8 inch screens to avoid too much scrolling. We have found that a 10 inch tablet/iPad display screen works quite well. Some users have reported that very old devices are not able to play Bill's games. Generally if your device can still be updated then you should have no problem playing the game.

What's missing, different, or difficult?
1) Each player should have their own device (PC, laptop, tablet, iPad, etc), and that device MUST have an online internet connection (no solitair or stand-alone play).
2) The game does not include any form of chatting, texting or messaging between players. Players need to use a separate audio connection (such as phone, facetime, discord, zoom, etc) to chat with other players.

No ads. And there are no ads, pop-up or otherwise.

For a more detailed look at how the game works, check out the Game Help.