‘World’s greatest card game’ has its origins in Chicago

The Rundown | Chicago News

Lamont Jones wanted to give his daughter a book about bid whist, his favorite card game, but couldn't find one. So he wrote it himself, with the goal of saving a pastime popular in the Black community from generational indifference.

"Bid whist is the ultimate card game," Jones said on the Rundown podcast, "and I believe that if you've not yet experienced bid whist, the world's greatest card game awaits you."

In this episode from earlier this year, Jones talks about his book, "The Gist of Bid Whist: The Culturally-Rich Card Game from Black America." He explains the game's "diabolical components" and traces the history back to the Pullman Porters, the African-American railcar attendants who helped establish a Black middle class and fuel the Great Migration in the era after the Civil War.

“I think Chicago has a strong claim to being the spiritual home of bid whist," Jones said, "in part because the Pullman Porters were headquartered here, and we know the vital role that the Porters played in popularizing the game throughout the country.”