Vira

Vira Rulebook

Table of Contents

Seating

A game begins with the players taking their places at the table. If any player asks, the seating is drawn again. The draw is prepared by placing one card at each player's place. The cards must be of different suits, and one of them must be hearts. Then an identical set of cards is taken from the deck, with the same number of cards and the same suits as on the table. This set is shuffled, and each player draws one card from it. The players sit at the place of the suit they drew.

The player who drew hearts becomes forehand (förhand) for the first deal. The player to the left of forehand is called middle-hand (mellanhand), and the player to the right of him is called rear-hand (efterhand). Rear-hand always deals, which is why rear-hand is also called the dealer (givare or giv). With four players, the player to the right of the dealer sits out the deal being played.

If the seating is not drawn, each player takes a place at the table on the principle "first come, first served" (först till kvarn får först mala). The lot must still always decide who becomes the first forehand. One of the players takes one deck, shuffles it, and lays the cards out one at a time, face up, in front of the players at the table. The cards are laid out clockwise, starting with the player nearest to the left. The player who first receives a heart card becomes forehand.

Players and Equipment

Vira is played by three or four people. In each individual deal, however, only three active players take part, so when playing with four the players take turns to sit out. Besides the players, you need two ordinary decks of fifty-two cards each and a bid table for every player. It is also customary to use a so-called vira pulla (a pot) for payments. The equipment is a small tin containing four bowls of coloured markers.

The Deal

The dealer shuffles one deck and gives it to the player on his right for cutting. The cards are dealt clockwise, starting with forehand: first one round of four cards to each player, then three rounds of three cards each, until every player has thirteen cards. The remaining thirteen cards form the stock (talong), which is placed face down in the middle of the table.

While the dealer deals, the other deck is shuffled. With three players, it is shuffled by the player who cuts; with four players, it is shuffled by the player sitting opposite the dealer. When it has been shuffled, the player who shuffled it places it upside down to the right of himself, with the bottom card visible. With four players, a memory rule is used: "shuffle in, cut out" (blanda in sig och kupera ut sig). The player who shuffles is always the one who sat out the previous deal, and the player who cuts must sit out the deal being played.

The upside-down deck always lies to the left of forehand. This placement has the advantage that it is easy to keep track of who is forehand.

Ranking of the Suits

The suit of the visible bottom card of the upside-down deck determines the highest suit in the current deal. This must not be confused with trump, which is decided later.

If one of the black suits, spades or clubs, becomes the highest suit, the other black suit is called färg (the second suit), and the two red suits are called ofärger (off-suits). If a red suit becomes the highest suit, the other red suit is called färg and the black suits are the ofärger. The highest suit and färg are together called färger (the colours).

This temporary ranking of the suits is used in the bidding and in settling the payment for the game.

Bidding

When the cards have been dealt and the highest suit has been determined, bidding begins. It is an auction in which the players bid for who shall become the declarer (spelförare). Each bid is an offer to step in as declarer in the game bid and to try to go home by meeting the conditions the game sets.

There are forty different games to choose from. The games can be divided into two main groups: high games (högspel) and low games (lågspel). In a high game the declarer must take at least a certain number of tricks to go home. The number of tricks required varies from game to game, but it always lies between six and thirteen. All high games are played with trump, that is, a suit that counts as more valuable than the others when the cards are played. The way trump is chosen varies: sometimes the declarer may choose freely, and sometimes trump is chosen from cards turned up from the stock. In low games the declarer must take not a single trick to go home. Low games are always played in sang, that is, without a trump suit. There is a small number of games in which the declarer himself may choose whether to play high or low.

High games are often also called trump games (trumfspel), because they are always played with trump, and low games are called misär games, after the French word misère, meaning poverty.

The bidding is opened by forehand, and the turn to bid continues clockwise round the table. Each bid must be followed by a higher bid or by a pass, which means withdrawing from the bidding. It is customary that forehand may not open the bidding with a pass but must make a bid. The relative ranking of the bids (that is, the games that may be bid) is set out in a bid table. The games are ordered by how difficult they are considered to be to win and by which payments apply. The last page of this booklet shows the table used by Stockholms Wirasällskap.

A trump game with a free choice of trump suit may be outbid by the same bid made in a suit. By doing so, the bidder undertakes to choose either the highest suit or the other suit (färg) as trump. For example, if hearts is the highest suit and a bid made in a suit becomes the final bid, the declarer may only choose hearts or diamonds as trump. A bid made in a suit may in turn be outbid by the same bid made in the highest suit. The bidder must then choose the highest suit as trump if that bid becomes the final bid.

A player may outbid a bid with exactly the same bid if he sits in forehand in relation to the previous bidder. Forehand can in this way outbid both middle-hand and rear-hand, and middle-hand can outbid rear-hand. When the seat in the better hand is used, this is usually marked by adding "in forehand" (i förhand) after the bid. A bid in a better suit takes precedence over a bid in a better hand. If rear-hand has bid 7 in a suit, forehand may outbid with 7 in a suit and in forehand, but not with 7 in forehand alone.

A player who has passed may not re-enter the bidding. When two players have passed, the remaining player has had his bid passed (avpassat). He then becomes the declarer and must try to go home in the game that was bid. The two other players, the opponents or defenders, temporarily form a pair that tries to set the declarer, that is, to prevent him from going home.

Buying and Choice of Trump

When the bidding is over and a declarer has been determined, the players may exchange cards with the stock. Exchanging for better cards from the stock is traditionally called buying (köpa kort), even though no payment is made in tokens or money.

Games are divided into high and low games depending on whether the declarer must take a certain number of tricks or none to go home. The games also differ in how the stock is distributed among the players in the buying. There are three kinds of game:

Gask games. The declarer takes the whole stock.
Buying games (köpspel). Both the declarer and the opponents may buy.
Solo games. Only the opponents may buy.

In connection with the buying, the declarer must, where applicable, also decide trump. In gask games trump is chosen after the buying, but in buying games and solo games it is always chosen before the buying. The choice of trump suit in gask games and solo games is entirely free, unless the bid was made in a suit or in the highest suit.

Buying games can be divided into four subgroups depending on how trump is chosen: ordinary trump games with a free choice of trump suit; turnéer, where trump is decided by turning up the top card of the stock; vinglar, where trump is chosen from the two top cards; and tringlar, where trump is decided from the three top cards. A more detailed description of each game follows below.

Gask Games

In all gask games the declarer keeps a certain number of cards from his original hand, between zero and thirteen depending on the game. The other cards are set aside. He then takes up the whole stock and combines it with the cards he chose to keep. At this stage he temporarily holds between thirteen and twenty-six cards. The declarer then selects the thirteen cards he wishes to play with and sets the rest aside among the discards (kastkort).

A gask bid in a suit or in the highest suit may not be played low.

To go home in a high gask the declarer must take seven tricks plus one trick for each card he kept in his hand before the stock was taken up. A gask on 0 therefore requires at least seven tricks to go home, a gask on 1 eight tricks, a gask on 2 nine tricks, a gask on 3 ten tricks and a gask on 4 eleven tricks.

To go home when a gask is played low, the declarer must take exactly zero tricks. Even though the conditions for going home are the same in all low games, the other circumstances for the declarer often differ. The smallest misère means that the declarer may set aside two unwanted cards before the first lead; eleven cards then remain in the declarer's hand and only eleven tricks are played. (This is often described as the misère being "played with eleven cards.") The opponents are not allowed to set aside any cards and will each receive two cards over when the game has been played. In a small misère (a game with twelve cards) the declarer may in the same way set aside one card, while in a big misère (a game with thirteen cards) there is no opportunity to set aside dangerous cards before the first lead. If the misère is open, the declarer must lay his cards face up on the table before the first lead; this does not apply to any discards. A closed misère means that the cards are held in hand in the usual way.

The difficulty of the gask misères rises with the level of the game, by changing the conditions to the declarer's disadvantage. A gask on 0 in misère is played with eleven closed cards, a gask on 1 with twelve closed, a gask on 2 with thirteen closed, a gask on 3 with twelve open, and a gask on 4 with thirteen open.

If the declarer holds all four aces in a low gask, these may be counted as ones. This must be announced before the first card is played; otherwise the aces keep their normal value.

Gask Games Played High (with Trump)

Gask on 6 and 5. The declarer keeps the number of cards that the gask number states, sets the rest aside and takes up the whole stock. From the cards in his hand he selects the thirteen most suitable and then decides trump. To go home he must take at least twelve tricks.

Vira. The declarer takes up the whole stock, combines it with the cards in his hand, selects the thirteen most suitable and then decides trump. To go home he must take all thirteen tricks.

Gask Games That May Be Played High or Low

Gask on 0–4. The declarer keeps the number of cards that the gask number states, sets the rest aside and takes up the whole stock. From the cards in his hand he selects the thirteen most suitable, decides whether the gask is to be played low or high and, if it is played high, then chooses trump.

Gask Games Played Low (in Misère)

Gök (cuckoo). The declarer takes up the whole stock, combines it with the cards in his hand and selects the thirteen most suitable. The gök is played open, which means that before the first lead the declarer must lay his cards on the table, visible to the opponents. To go home the declarer must not take a single trick.

Buying Games

In buying games the declarer always begins the buying. He sets aside the cards he wishes to exchange and takes up the same number of cards from the stock. If he is content with this exchange, it is called a simple buy (enkelt köp). In every buying game the declarer has the right to make one further exchange, a so-called repurchase (omköp). If he chooses to repurchase, however, the payment for the game changes considerably to his disadvantage.

When the declarer has finished buying from the stock, the turn to buy passes clockwise. First the player to the left of the declarer buys, and last the remaining player buys. An opponent who is next to buy from the stock may always buy as many cards as he wishes. If the stock runs out after the first opponent's purchase, his partner cannot buy.

Buying Games Played High (with Trump)

Begär (6-spel), 7-spel, 8-spel, 9-spel. The declarer chooses trump and then buys any number of cards from the stock. If he is dissatisfied with the cards, he may make a repurchase, which proceeds in the same way as the purchase. The declarer may not change trump at a repurchase. To go home in begär the declarer must take at least six tricks; in the other games the number of tricks required is what the game states: seven tricks for 7-spel, and so on.

Turné 6, turné 7, turné 8. The declarer turns up the top card of the stock. The suit of that card is trump. The declarer then buys. He must always buy the turned-up card, but the number of cards beyond that is optional. If he is dissatisfied, he may buy again, or turn again (turnéra om). When turning again, trump is decided anew by turning up the top card from the stock. At least two cards must remain in the stock for the declarer to turn again, since the bottom card may become visible when the cards are dealt. To go home the declarer must take at least the number of tricks the game states: six for turné 6, and so on.

Vingel 6, vingel 7, vingel 8. The declarer turns up the top two cards of the stock and chooses one of their suits as trump. The declarer then buys any number of cards; however, the two turned-up cards must always be bought. If the declarer re-vingles (vinglar om), two new cards are turned up from the stock and trump is chosen anew. At least three cards must remain in the stock for the declarer to re-vingle. To go home the declarer must take at least the number of tricks the game states.

Tringel 9. The declarer turns up the top three cards of the stock and chooses one of their suits as trump. The declarer then buys the three turned-up cards plus any further number he wishes. On a re-tringle, trump is decided anew from the top three cards of the stock. At least four cards must remain in the stock for the declarer to re-tringle. To go home the declarer must take at least nine tricks.

Buying Games Played Low (in Misère)

Köpmisär on 1–6. In köpmisär the declarer must buy exactly the number of cards that the number in the game states: in köpmisär on 1 one card is bought, and so on. The declarer first sets aside the corresponding number of cards from his own hand and then takes up the same number of cards from the stock. If he chooses to repurchase, he must buy exactly the same number of cards as in the first purchase. When the purchase and any repurchase are finished, the declarer may set aside any one card from his hand (in köpmisär on 1, two optional cards). He then plays with twelve closed cards (in köpmisär on 1, eleven closed cards) and may not take a single trick.

Solo Games

In solo games only the opponents buy. The opponent to the left of the declarer buys first, and then the turn to buy passes clockwise to the other opponent. The player whose turn it is to buy may always buy any number of cards of those that remain in the stock.

Solo Games Played High (with Trump)

Solo 6–12, solo vira. The declarer first chooses trump. Then the two opponents buy. To go home in solo 6–12 the declarer must take the number of tricks the game states, and in solo vira he must take all thirteen tricks.

Solo Games Played Low (in Misère)

In these games the declarer may not take a single trick to go home. The games are so rare that their names have been given a range of French terms: petite (small, that is, a game with twelve cards), grande (big, that is, a game with thirteen cards) and ouverte (open). Royale (royal) means that the cards must be laid out before the opponents buy.

Solo petite misär. The declarer sets aside one card and plays with twelve closed cards. The opponents buy after the declarer has set aside the chosen card.

Solo grande misär. The declarer plays with thirteen closed cards. The opponents buy in the usual way.

Solo petite misär ouverte. The declarer first sets aside one card, hidden from the opponents. Then the opponents buy. After the purchase the declarer lays his remaining twelve cards face up on the table.

Solo grande misär ouverte. The declarer lays his cards face up on the table when the opponents have finished their purchases.

Solo petite misär ouverte royale. The declarer sets aside one of his cards, hidden from the opponents, and lays the remaining twelve cards face up on the table. The opponents then buy after the cards have been laid out.

Solo grande misär ouverte royale. The declarer lays his cards face up on the table. The opponents then buy after the cards have been laid out.

What the Numbers Mean

It is not always easy to remember what the numbers of the games mean, since they stand for different things in different games. In gask games the number always states how many cards the declarer keeps from his original hand, for example one card for gask on 1. For köpmisärer, by contrast, the number states how many cards the declarer must buy away, for example one card for köpmisär on 1. In buying games and solo games played with trump, the number has nothing to do with the buying; it states the number of tricks the declarer must take to go home, for example seven tricks for 7-spel, turné 7, vingel 7 and solo 7. One must take particular care not to confuse köpmisärer with gaskar in this respect. Playing köpmisär on 1 with a single low card in hand, in the belief that one may buy as in gask on 1, can prove quite problematic.

Bidding Without a Stated Level

Gaskar, köpmisärer and solo games are in practice bid as "gask", "köpmisär" and "solo", without any particular level of the game being named. If an unspecified bid is passed, the declarer himself may choose how high he wishes to take it. He must of course choose a level so that the game is higher than the previous bid in the bidding. For example, if the declarer has bid gask after turné 8, gask on 0 and gask on 1 are no longer possible (see the bid table). Note that "solo" may not be played as a solo misère; it refers only to the solo trump games solo 6–12 or solo vira. If the bidding continues, an unspecified bid is automatically treated as if it had been bid at the lowest possible level that still outbids the previous bid. A gask after turné 8 is therefore treated as gask on 2 if the bidding continues.

If a player wishes to bid a gask (köpmisär, solo) without naming a level, when a player in a better hand has already made the same unspecified bid, it is customary to make this clear by bidding "higher gask" (higher köpmisär, higher solo). For example, if forehand opens the bidding with "solo", middle-hand may outbid with "higher solo". If you sit in a better hand than the previous bidder and wish to outbid an unspecified bid, you naturally use your position and make the bid in forehand.

Turnés and vinglar may also be bid without the bidder naming a level. Unlike gask, köpmisär and solo, these bids give the declarer no freedom in choosing the level if they are passed. Instead they must always be played at the lowest possible level that outbids the previous bid. "Vingel" after 7-spel therefore refers to vingel 6.

Playing or Laying Down the Hand

When the declarer has finished the first buying, he may choose between playing the hand, laying it down and (in buying games) making a repurchase. After any repurchase only the first two options remain.

If the declarer gives up and lays down the hand, the payment is the lowest possible sum he could have lost had the hand been played instead. Solo games are, however, more expensive to lay down, because the declarer is entirely independent of the stock and cannot blame bad luck in the buying.

A player may always look at his own discards before the first lead. The declarer often uses this while he considers his options.

Playing the Cards

If the declarer chooses to play the hand, the opponents first complete their part of the buying. The play of the cards then follows the usual whist principles. Forehand always leads to the first trick. Remember: forehand is the player who has the upside-down deck to his left. Play continues clockwise, and each player in turn adds one card to the trick.

One must always follow suit if one can, that is, play a card of the same suit as the card first played to the trick. If one cannot follow suit, one may play any card. If any player has played a trump, the highest trump wins the trick; otherwise the highest card of the suit that was led wins it. The ace is normally the highest card of a suit, followed by the king, queen, jack and so on down to the two.

There is one exception to the normal order of the cards: a gask on 0–4 played low in which the declarer holds all four aces. In that case the aces count as ones and are therefore lower than the twos. This applies only if the declarer has announced before the first card is played that he holds all four aces; otherwise the cards keep their normal value.

The player who wins a trick leads to the next. Thirteen tricks are played in each game, except in misères where the declarer has been allowed to set aside one or two cards from his hand.

Pins, Rounds and the Pulla

To keep track of each player's gains and losses in a vira session, tokens are traditionally used. At the start of the game each player receives a bowl of coloured tokens, which he places to his left. The bowls normally contain three kinds of tokens: pins (pinnar), which are elongated; rounds (runda), which are round; and bets (betar), which are short and rectangular. A bet is worth eight pins and a round is worth two pins. Sometimes triangular tokens are also used, each worth five bets. Each player has his own colour of tokens.

Between sessions the tokens and bowls are normally kept in a small tin called the pulla. The pulla also comes into use during play, when it functions as a common kitty. To make it easier to control the tokens going to and from the pulla, the lid is always kept on, but upside down.

The payment for a game consists of two parts: the declarer exchanges bets with the pulla, and the declarer and the opponents give pins directly to one another. In all low games the payment to the pulla is the stake one is essentially playing for. Payment in pins can be likened to a kind of tip, except in the really high games, where it can amount to considerable sums.

Markings

In trump games the opponents often try to show strength and weakness in the side suits by making markings during play. This is particularly important in high trump games such as gask on 6, gask on 5 and vira. Stockholms Wirasällskap uses the so-called Ågren markings.

Markings are always made in the first two tricks in which a player can no longer follow suit and is forced to discard (saka). A high card followed by a low card shows strength in the suit or the two suits discarded on, and a low card followed by a high card shows weakness. For example, the three of clubs followed by the seven of spades shows weakness in clubs and spades, while the eight of spades followed by the two of spades shows strength in spades.

Payments

When the last trick of the deal has been played, the number of tricks the declarer has taken is counted. In high games he must take at least a certain number of tricks to go home. If he takes one trick too few he has gone bet (gått bet), and if he misses by two tricks or more he is said to have gone kodilj. In low games the declarer may not take a single trick to go home. If he takes one trick he goes bet, and if he takes two tricks or more he goes kodilj. A laid gask or buying game is always counted as if the declarer had gone bet, while a laid solo game is counted as kodilj.

Bets

If the declarer goes bet without having repurchased, he must put one bet into the pulla. The lost bet is placed on the upside-down lid and then slipped down into the pulla by one of the other players. If the declarer goes kodilj, it costs him two bets. Payments after a repurchase are considerably harder: a bet costs three bets, and a kodilj costs five bets in the pulla.

If the declarer goes home without a repurchase, he may lift a bet, that is, he is given a bet from the pulla by the pulla keeper (pullvakten). Going home after a repurchase gives nothing. Surplus tricks give nothing extra, whether at a simple buy or at a repurchase.

Some games have bet amounts that differ from those given above. See the table below. Hem gives the bets won on going home; Bet and Kodilj give the bets lost after going bet and going kodilj respectively.

Before the first deal, all players usually put one bet each into the pulla as a joint starting capital. This is called åla (to ante), and the bets put in are called ålar or stambetar (base bets). During play it may happen that the pulla is empty when someone goes home, and the players must then åla om (ante again). When playing with four players, a bet is also put in by the player who sits out the deal. If the bets run out for a player, pins and rounds may be put in the pulla instead. Every round and pin in the pulla counts as one bet when the pulla is divided up. If pins and rounds also run out, pins may be placed under the pulla, so-called sexmastare, each of which counts as six bets. The pins are pushed in halfway under the pulla, so that half of each still sticks out.

Payments To and From the Pulla

Game	Simple buy: Hem	Bet	Kodilj	Repurchase: Hem	Bet	Kodilj
Ordinary games	1	1	2	0	3	5
Gök	1	2	4	–	–	–
Vingel 6, 7	1	2	4	0	6	10
Vingel 8	2	2

Payment of Pins

The number of pins to be paid to or from each opponent in each game is given in the bid table. The payments may seem somewhat irregular at first sight. This is due to rounding errors that crept in. Originally the point was the lowest unit of payment in vira: one pin was valued at six points. The payment in a suit was always twice as large, and the payment in the highest suit four times as large, as the basic payment in an off-suit. The points were eventually dropped and the point totals rounded to the nearest number of pins. For begär, the payment in an off-suit (1 point) became 0 pins, in a suit (2 points) also 0 pins, and in the highest suit (4 points) 1 pin.

The name "pin payment" does not mean that the players must give each other pins. Both rounds and bets may be used when needed. Normally, however, the payment is so small that it is mostly pins that are exchanged.

Pin payments are made as follows. If the declarer loses or gives up, he gives each of the two opponents a set number of pins. If he takes the game home, he receives the same number of pins from each opponent. The pins should always be placed next to the payee's bowl, so that the amount can be checked easily. The pin loss for the declarer is the same whether he goes bet or kodilj, but it depends on the game. In general the payment is larger for higher-ranked games. In trump games the choice of trump suit also matters: the highest suit is always the most expensive, followed by a suit, and the cheapest is when an off-suit is trump. If a gask or a solo game is laid down, the hand is paid as in an off-suit, unless it was bid in a suit or in the highest suit. When a laid buying game is paid, the trump suit chosen before the buying always applies.

If the declarer has repurchased, he must first pay pins to each opponent as if the hand had been laid after the first purchase, that is, the opponents receive pins for the suit chosen as trump in the first purchase. Payment for the game itself then proceeds in the normal way after the repurchase: the winning side pays pins to the losing side according to the current tariff for the suit chosen as trump in the repurchase. Thus, when the repurchase has no change of trump, the pin payment is doubled if the declarer loses, while the payments cancel out if he wins.

Passing on a Gök

Players who pass on a gök are expected to hold cards that give a reasonable chance of setting the declarer, since otherwise the game becomes very easy to take home. To define what is meant by a reasonable chance, the term låggard (a low holding) is used. To have a low holding in a suit means that one will sooner or later be left holding the lowest card if one plays the suit from the bottom. The declarer is assumed to be forced to creep under the card that is led in order to avoid taking a trick. The reasoning therefore disregards both partner's unknown holding and the risk that the declarer turns out to be void (renons), which in many cases can cause a problem for the opponents in an otherwise winnable suit.

The low holdings are: a two; a four and a three; a six and two cards lower than six; an eight and three cards lower than eight; a ten and four cards lower than ten. Note that the highest card in a low holding is always an even card. One can easily convince oneself that, for example, six, five and three at the bottom of a suit form a low holding: when the three is played, the declarer must creep with the two, and when the five is played, the four is forced out. The six is then the lowest remaining card and can be used to set the declarer, if he still has cards left in the suit. The value of a low holding decreases the longer it is, because the risk that the declarer has in practice become void when the setting card is played increases. Note that a queen and five cards lower than the queen are not counted as a low holding for this reason, even though the queen may in theory become the lowest card if the suit is played from the bottom.

The player who bids first after a gök has been bid, the so-called first hand (första handen), must have a low holding in at least two suits in order to pass on the bid. The player who bids next, the second hand (andra handen), must have at least one low holding. If a gök is taken home, an opponent who has not met these requirements must put one bet into the pulla as a penalty. If both opponents have passed on the bid without meeting the requirements, however, no penalty bet is set.

Continuing Play

When a deal has been finished, the deal passes clockwise. The player who was forehand in the finished deal therefore becomes rear-hand and dealer in the next. The dealer takes the upside-down deck to the left of himself, gives it to the player on his right for cutting, and deals the cards. At the same time, the cards just played are collected, shuffled and placed face down with the bottom card visible to the right of the player who shuffles. With four players this is the player opposite the dealer, and with three players it is the player to the right of the dealer. The bottom card sets the new highest suit.

Betting In

A player who joins a session already in progress must bet in (beta in sig). He must put in one third of the number of bets in the pulla. If one bet is missing for the number to divide by three, the figure is rounded up. If two bets are missing, it is rounded down, but the player who joins must give one pin to each of the other players.

Settlement and Ending the Session

The players should agree in advance how long the session will last. When the time has run out, the deal in progress is finished. Sometimes it is instead agreed at what time the last round is to begin, so that each player sits in forehand one last time after the stated time. The very last deal of a session is traditionally called Borup.

The session ends when the players add up how much each has won or lost. The bets lying in the pulla are shared equally between the players. If the number of bets cannot be divided evenly by the number of players, some of the bets are exchanged for pins or rounds. If the number of pins after the exchange still cannot be divided evenly by the number of players, the player who has lost most takes the last pin or the last two pins.

There are some rare special cases that require a small adjustment in dividing the final remainder of pins. If a remainder of two pins is left and two players have lost equally, or the player who lost most has lost only one pin more than the player who lost second most, each of the two losers receives one pin. If a remainder of one pin is left and two players have lost equally, the players draw lots for the last pin.

Each player's result is the difference in value between the tokens won (all tokens in the opponents' colours that are in his own bowl) and the tokens lost (all tokens of his own colour in the opponents' bowls). If the players are playing for money, the players buy back to their opponents the tokens they lost, at an exchange rate agreed in advance. The typical amount that a player wins or loses in a vira session of four hours lies between zero and ten times the value of a bet, and in rarer cases can reach twenty times the value of a bet.

Bid Table (Budtabell)

The table is headed "Budtabell för Stockholms Wirasällskap (1999)" in the source document, although the booklet itself is the third edition of 2008. Each game's name is given as printed; the abbreviations "ouv" and "roy" in the source are written out as "ouverte" and "royale".

The "Tricks" column gives the number of tricks needed to go home. For gask games the figure is written as high/low: for example, 7/0 means seven tricks to go home when played high and zero when played low. The "Misère type" column gives whether the cards are played closed or open, and the number of cards the declarer plays with. The three payment columns give the pins paid to each opponent: off-suit or misère, suit and highest suit. A dash means that the payment does not apply to that game.

No.	Game	Tricks	Off-suit / misère	Suit	Highest suit
1	Begär (6-spel)	6	0	0	1
2	Turné 6	6	0	0	1
3	7-spel	7	0	0	1
4	Vingel 6	6