Call-ace whist (Esmakker whist) is the most popular card game in Denmark and also popular in Greenland. The game is a combination of several whist versions including Solo whist, and the separate game Esmakker.
Deck: 52 cards + 2 or 3 jokers
Deal: 13 cards to each player and 2 or 3 face down on the table, sometimes called the "kat" (cat)
Bidding:
Forehand starts the bidding by naming a number of tricks he expects to be able to win with a partner or a nolo bid. He bids against the player to his left until one of them has won. The winner then bids against the next player and so on. Whoever bids the highest becomes the declarer and names a trump suit and calls an ace other than the trump suit as his partner. Declarer can exchange up to three cards from the "kat". The player with the called ace is traditionally expected to play it as soon as its suit is led. The declarer can also name an ace from his own hand and play solo. Bidders can also choose to join a solo bid, in which case multiple players will be playing to take no or few tricks.
Bidding order:
7, 7+, 8, 8+, 9, solo-nolo, 9+, 10, pure nolo, 10+, 11, open nolo, 11+, 12, 12+, 13, 13+
The +bids are so called attachments, that qualifies the basic bid. The possible attachments are: good ones/strong (clubs), sans/trumpless (NT), halfes (partner chooses trump suit) and vip (tournee). The latter implies that the suit is determined by the cards face down on the table in the cat, one card is turned at a time until the bidder accepts the suit, or no cards remain. There is no formal hierarchy between the attachments and each school of players has its own rules, except sans usually is the strongest being the hardest to play, but some schools treat all the attachments as equal and only a higher number can outbid them.
Nolo-bids:
Solo-nolo: Declarer plays solo at no trumps and are allowed to win 1 trick.
Pure Nolo: Declarer plays solo at no trumps and are not allowed to win any tricks. Equivalent to Misère in Solo whist.
Open nolo: As pure nolo, but after the first lead declarer puts his cards face up on the table. Equivalent to Misère' Ouverte' in Solo whist.
Play:
As in all whist games