Card Rankings Explained: How to Rank Hands in Twenty-Five
How card ranking works in 25 — trump vs. non-trump cards, the 'highest in red, lowest in black' rule, and the power of the Five of Trumps.
In Twenty-Five, card ranks are determined by whether they are trump or non-trump cards.
The strongest trump card is the Five of Trumps, followed by the Jack of Trumps, and the Ace of Hearts (regardless of whether Hearts are trump), and then the Ace of Trumps.
In trump suits, red-suited trumps follow with King, Queen, and 10 down to 2. For black-suited trumps, the order is the same except the 2 is the strongest card just below the Queen, with 3–10 after that.
Non-trump cards follow with red suits ranked in descending order — K, Q, J, 10 … 2 (Ace if Diamonds) — and black suits ranked K, Q, J, A, 2 … 10.
Remember: “highest in red, lowest in black.”
Quick Reference
Trump suit (in order)
- 5 of trump
- Jack of trump
- Ace of Hearts
- Ace of trump (if not Hearts)
- King of trump
- Queen of trump
- Remaining trump cards — high-to-low for red trumps, low-to-high for black trumps
Non-trump suits
- Red (Hearts, Diamonds): K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A (Diamonds only)
- Black (Spades, Clubs): K, Q, J, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
(The Ace of Hearts is always a trump, even when Hearts is not the trump suit.)
Frequently asked
- What is the highest card in 25?
- The 5 of trump is the highest-ranking card in any hand of Twenty-Five. It outranks every other card, including the Ace of Hearts.
- Why is the Ace of Hearts always a trump?
- It's a tradition inherited from the older Irish game Maw (also called Spoil Five), one of the ancestors of Twenty-Five. The Ace of Hearts is treated as a trump no matter which suit is turned up — and it sits third in the trump hierarchy.
- Why are black-suit cards ranked lowest-to-highest?
- It's the 'highest in red, lowest in black' convention: in red suits, higher pip values win; in black suits, lower pip values win — except for the face cards, which always rank K, Q, J at the top when not trump.
- Where does the Ace of Diamonds, Spades, or Clubs rank?
- When that suit is trump, the Ace ranks fourth — just under the Ace of Hearts. When that suit isn't trump, it sits below the Jack: K, Q, J in non-trump black suits, and it's the lowest non-trump card in Diamonds.