Bid Whist with Magic

So I got the following email:

"Come out on Friday, December 10, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. to play bid whist with us!  Our special guest for the evening will be Earvin “Magic” Johnson!  We will be at Gregory’s Ice and Smoke, 2610 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., Lansing, MI. There will be live music, kitchen will be open as well as the bar!"  Playing cards with Magic sounds cool, but what the heck is bid whist?

I google'd it and found at http://www.pagat.com/boston/bidwhist.html that: "Bid Whist is a partnership trick-taking game that is very popular among African Americans. It is played with a standard 52 card deck plus 2 jokers, for a total of 54 cards. The two jokers must be distinct: one is called the big joker and the other is the little joker. There are 4 players consisting of two teams of two; each player sits opposite their partner. The game starts with each team at zero, and the object of the game is to reach a score 7 or more points, or force the other team to go negative 7 or more points. Points are scored by bidding for and winning tricks, which in this game are called books."  I have never played a card game with jokers it sounds intriguing.

I printed out the rules and we'll have to give it a try.  A couple nights ago I was playing a Michigan standby, Euchre.  I think the next time we are together I'll suggest we give bid whist a try.  Not sure I'll get the hang of it in time to play with Magic though. 

copyright:  Bloomberg Business Week