Card rules · 2026-10-29
A Finished Hand Can Leave the Match Unfinished
Hand, deal and match are not always interchangeable labels. A valid finish can settle the current hand without settling the whole contest.
Hand, deal and match are not always interchangeable labels. A valid finish can settle the current hand without settling the whole contest.
Read the outer condition
Suppose a non-money teaching match consists of two completed hands. The first ends with an accepted declaration. Its result belongs in the record, but the agreed second hand remains. Calling the entire match finished would ignore its outer completion condition.
Another format might use a cumulative condition instead of a fixed hand count. That requires a different explanation. Do not import a fixed two-hand limit merely because the first example used one.
Keep totals attached to their level
A hand score describes that hand's result. A match total combines contributions according to the match rules. Neither a large first-hand score nor an animation marking success automatically ends the larger event.
A cancelled start does not become a completed hand merely because it appears in the history. In the two-completed-hand format, the match still needs two accepted finishes. A result screen for one hand settles that hand, not the remaining schedule.
Count completed hands rather than starts
For the two-completed-hand format, suppose the first hand finishes, the next is cancelled, and a replacement finishes. There were three starts but two completions. The cancelled hand occupies a place in the history without satisfying the completion requirement. Its treatment in the score needs its own stated rule; reaching the correct count does not settle that separate question.