Pepper is a fast-paced and addictive card game for four players. It adds an element of bluffing to the standard bidding/trick-taking card game genre, resulting in heart-pounding gambles and spectacular victories or defeats. Its closest relative in the card game family tree is probably Euchre.
The game originates in Iowa and was taught to me by Brad Porter, who grew up there.
Pepper is a game for four people. Each player is partnered with the player sitting opposite from them at the table.
Pepper is played with a deck of 24 cards that consists of the 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A of each suit.
In non-trump suits, the ace is high and the 9 is low. However, in trump suits, the jack of the trump suit (the "right bower") is the highest card, and the jack of the other suit of the same color (the "left bower") is the second-highest card. For example, if hearts are trump, then the trump cards are (in descending order): JH, JD, AH, KH, QH, 10H, and 9H. The left bower is considered to be a card of the trump suit for all purposes; so, in this example, the jack of diamonds is considered to be a heart while hearts are trump.
You can make a Pepper deck by removing the lower cards from a normal deck, or you can buy a Pinochle deck, which is essentially two Pepper decks. If you take the former option, beware that the cards will soon be unusable as a full deck; after a bit of wear and tear, you'll be able to see the difference between the high cards (which you've been using) and the low cards (which you haven't).
Also, it's good to have two decks in circulation, since each hand only lasts a minute or two.
All cards are dealt in each round, so each player should have six cards in their hand at the beginning of each round.
Bidding proceeds in clockwise order, starting from the player to the left of the dealer. Each player gets exactly one chance to bid, and they must either pass or exceed the current highest bid.
Valid bids (in increasing order) are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Pepper With Help, and Pepper Alone. These bids indicate the number of tricks that the player believes he/she can take. The "Pepper" bids are essentially "6" bids; that is, they declare that the bidder is capable of taking all 6 tricks. The distinction between the two "Pepper" bids will be elaborated below.
After bidding is complete, the winner of the bid declares a trump suit (or "no trump"). For all bids except Pepper Alone, the winner must then exchange one card with his/her partner. Both the winner and his/her partner must pass one card from their hands before looking at the card that was passed to them and without exchanging any additional information. For Pepper Alone bids, no cards are passed.
If all players passed, the round ends immediately, and the deal passes to the left.
At this point, the partnership that lost the bid must decide whether to challenge the winner of the bid. In making this decision, the partners may only exchange a limited amount of information. Essentially, the two players may only say "yes", "no", or "maybe" when deciding whether to challenge. They may not explicitly reveal the contents of their hands. (The rules about how much can be said are admittedly vague, but it tends to work out in practice.)
If the opposing partnership decides to concede the hand, then the hand ends immediately, and the deal passes to the left. (As in Poker, players are under no obligation to show their hands in this situation.)
If the opposing team decides to challenge, then the hand is played out as described below.
If the opposing teams challenges, then the hand is played out between only three players: the winner of the bid and the two players on the opposing team. The partner of the winner of the bid does nothing, and his/her hand is not used.
The hand is played in standard trick-taking style. The winner of the bid leads by playing a card, and the other players each play a card of their own in clockwise order. The cards played must be of the same suit as the card that was led, if possible. The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest trump card, or, if no trump cards have been played, the highest card of the suit that was led. The winner of the trick then leads in the next round. Note that players are not obliged to trump whenever possible. Play continues in this manner until all cards have been played. The deal then passes to the left.
Recall that when there is a trump suit, the jack of the trump suit (the "right bower") is the highest card in that suit, followed by the jack of the other suit of that color (the "left bower"). The left bower is considered to be a card of the trump suit for the purpose of following suit. For example, if the left bower is led, then other player must follow suit in the trump suit. Also, if player A leads a trump and player B's only trump is the left bower, player B is obligated to play the left bower.
Recall that the possible bids are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Pepper With Help, and Pepper Alone. The 1-5 bids are worth 1-5 points, respectively. Pepper With Help is worth 7 points, and Pepper Alone is worth 14 points. For the remainder of this section, let X be the amount of the bid for the current hand.
If the hand is played out (i.e., the losers of the bid decide to challenge), then the scoring is as follows. The partnership that won the bid earns X points if they take the number of tricks that they bid or more. (They do not earn extra points for additional tricks taken.) If they fail to make their bid, they lose X points. The challengers get one point for each trick they take, but they lose X points if they take zero tricks. (It is possible--and actually common--to have a negative score.)
If the hand is conceded, then the partnership that won the bid earns X points, and the opponents neither lose nor gain any points.
Note that it is in the interest of the players who lost the bid to challenge if they believe they can take at least one trick. Note also that the winner of the bid has an incentive to keep taking tricks after the bid has been made, since each additional trick denies the opponents a point (and may eventually cause them to lose points, if they take no tricks).
The winner is the first partnership to have 31 points (or more) while also having a score that is greater than that of their opponents.
Note that if both partnerships break 31 points on the same round, then the one with more points wins. If they both break 31 points simultaneously and both have the same score afterward, then they continue playing until the victory conditions are met.
Winning bids is the key to winning a game of Pepper. Winning the bid gives you a significant advantage because it allows you to choose the trump suit, which can change a terrible hand into a fantastic one. It also allows you to lead first.
I tend to bid aggressively. I typically count the number of tricks that I'm sure I can take and then add one (for the card that my partner will pass). About half the time, your partner will pass a good card and you'll be all set. About a quarter of the time, your partner will pass a bad card, but it'll work out anyway (either because you take an extra trick that you didn't intend to take or because your opponents concede). The other quarter of the time, you get set--oh well!
Bidding tends to vary according to the current point spread. If you're way behind your opponents, you're likely to bid very aggressively. If you're way ahead, you're more likely to concede in the face of such bids. This aspect of Pepper makes spectacular comebacks possible.
Bidding gets really interesting at the end of the game. For example, if your opponents have 30 points, then they can win simply by challenging your bid and taking one trick. Also, if you let them win the bid with a low bid like 3 or 4, then they'll almost certainly be able to make it. It these situations, you might as well bid Pepper With Help or Pepper Alone even if you have no chance of making it, in the hopes that your opponents will concede (or that you'll get spectacularly lucky).
When passing cards, I typically pass my highest trump, if possible. Otherwise, I pass my highest card. If there are several highest cards, I pass the one whose suit has the fewest cards in my hand, figuring that it's more likely to match up with cards in my partner's hand.
Even if you don't follow the above rule, it's important to agree with your partner on what you will pass, because you can get some extra information this way. For instance, if you use the above system and you don't get a trump from your partner, then you know that all the remaining trump are held by your opponents. Also, it's nice to know that if you get a king, your partner has no aces.
Don't forget about the "no trump" option! If you have a strong suit but no jacks, bid "no trump" instead of bidding the suit.
Remember that each suit only has six cards. So, if you have a suit with A, K, and 9, then those three cards are almost guaranteed to win in a "no trump" bid, since it's unlikely that one of your opponents will have (and keep) all three remaining cards.
I like the version described here a bit better. In particular, I think that the option to concede and the corresponding scoring system are what make Pepper interesting and unique. Give it a try!
Jeremy Condit
May 30, 2004