Up and Down the River
Up and Down the River is a card game you may already know as Oh Hell. It is the same exact-bid trick-taking game; the name comes from the hand schedule that climbs up to a maximum and rides back down again. Common in Australia and New Zealand — and you can play it free online right now.
Where the name comes from
Most names for this game describe a groan (Oh Heck, Oh Pshaw) or a score-sheet mark (Blackout, Blob). Up and Down the River is different: it names the shape of the game. Rather than only dealing fewer cards each hand, the deal rises to a peak and comes back down — up the river and down again. It is one of the most common names for the game in Australia and New Zealand, and the closely related name Elevator captures the same idea of the hand size riding up and down. Under the hood it is exactly the same game as Oh Hell.
The up-and-down schedule
A game of Oh Hell is a fixed series of hands with changing hand sizes. Up and Down the River uses a two-way schedule instead of a one-way countdown:
- Down the river: start at the biggest hand the deck allows for your player count and deal one fewer card each hand, all the way to single-card hands.
- Up the river: then climb back up, one more card each hand, until you return to the top. Some tables run it the other way — up first, then down.
Because the deal turns around at the ends, the game plays roughly twice as many hands as a plain descending game, and every player gets a turn at both the delicate one-card hands and the big, information-rich full hands. The variants guide covers the descending and ascending schedules too.
The rest of the rules are just Oh Hell
Apart from the schedule, everything follows the standard Oh Hell rules:
- One card is turned up each hand to set trumps.
- Every player bids the exact number of tricks they will win before any card is played.
- Follow suit if you can; the highest trump, or the highest card of the led suit, wins the trick.
- Hit your bid exactly to score 10 plus the tricks you took; miss it and you score only the tricks you won. Guessing right is everything.
For accurate bidding across the long up-and-down game, the strategy guide is worth a read, and the glossary explains any term you are unsure of.
Play Up and Down the River online
OhHell.app plays the full up-and-down game in your browser — free, no download, no account:
- When you create a room, turn on the Full Up-and-Down Schedule option: the game starts at the maximum hand size, descends to one-card hands, and climbs back up.
- Play now against bots to learn the flow, or invite 3 to 10 friends with a single shared room link.
- Playing with real cards at the table? The printable score sheet and the in-person score keeper track the long schedule for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Up and Down the River the same as Oh Hell?
Yes. Up and Down the River is a regional name for Oh Hell — common in Australia and New Zealand — named after the hand schedule that climbs up to a maximum and back down again. The rules are otherwise the same exact-bid trick-taking game.
Why is it called Up and Down the River?
The name comes from the hand schedule. Instead of only counting down, the number of cards dealt rises hand by hand to a peak and then falls back, so the game travels up the river and down again. The name Elevator describes the same up-and-down motion.
Can I play Up and Down the River online?
Yes. Create a room and turn on the Full Up-and-Down Schedule option: the game starts at the maximum hand size, descends to one-card hands, and climbs back up. It plays free in your browser with no download, against bots or 3 to 10 friends.