The general play of bid whist is similar to that of whist, with four notable exceptions. In whist, the trump suit for a given hand is determined at random by the last card dealt, whereas in bid whist, the trump suit (or whether there will even be a trump suit) for a given hand is determined by the outcome of the bidding process.

Secondly, whether a trick is won by the higher-ranking card of the winning suit, or by the lower-ranking card of that suit is also determined by the outcome of the bidding process. Thirdly, whether the ace is the highest-ranking card of the suit or the lowest-ranking card can change from hand to hand, depending on whether higher-ranking cards or lower-ranking cards win in that hand. And lastly, the scoring of the game is handled differently.