Our Family Modifications to "Oh Hell" card game;

Point of  Modifications:

1. Eliminate Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, No Trump sequence which is sort of foolishness with a random deck
    Spades, Spades, Spades, Spades, No Trump would be the same game.
2. Introduce an interesting decision for the dealer to make. Other players won't know what the objective might be -- win or lose more tricks.
3. A greater reward for hitting your estimate with a higher estimate. Discourage a lot of bids of zero.
4. Allow a much greater chance for a comeback by above (3) and starting with minimal cards and working up instead of maximum and working down.

Rules of newly named "Tahoe Tessie" card game

4 to maybe 7 players works well.
Game is played with a standard 52 card deck (no jokers)
Anyone can be the first dealer or draw cards and let the high card be the dealer.
First game starts with 3 cards dealt to each player.
Successive games add one to the number of cards to each player until the maximum number of cards is dealt.
If that is less than 6 games, the number of cards dealt for successive games is decreased by 1 until six total games have been played.
The person with the highest total points across all games wins.
The dealer for the next game is the person to the left of the dealer of the previous game.
All players look at their cards and organize them as they like.
The dealer then declares one suit (spades, hearts, clubs, or diamonds) as the TRUMP SUIT or declares there will be no TRUMP SUIT.
Understanding the rules of the game, each player makes their estimate of the number of rounds they will win.
This is made in consideration of the scoring system below and the possible need for a comeback.
The score for any player in the current game who did not get exactly their estimate is the number of rounds they won.
The score for any player who did get exactly their estimate is 10 points plus three times their estimate.
Example: estimates 3, gets 3 exactly, bonus is 19 points: 10 + (3*3)
Players extend their fists towards the center of the table.
The dealer says 1,2,3,GO! On "Go,"  each player extends the number of fingers that correspond to their estimate. That number is noted for each player.
Note: The cards accumulated from rounds won are left in front of the player until the score keeper says so! Mistakes and memory failures happen.
The first card of the first round is played by the person to the left of the dealer.
It may not be a trump card, unless the player has no other suit.
Going around the circle of players, each player puts a card into the center.
If a player has the suit played, they must follow suit.
If not, they may play any card they like including a trump.
The winner of the round is the highest trump card played if there is one. Otherwise, it's the highest card in the original suit played for the first card.
The winner of that round plays the first card for the next round. A trump card can be played as the first card only if the this person has no other suit OR if a trump card has already been played in a previous round.
Again, all players must follow the suit played in the first card of the round unless they do not have such a card.

Evolving Terminology:

An "Oliver" is defined as a game where a player estimates 3 or more rounds won and gets it exactly -- not easy to do!

Scoresheet To Download (print with your browser, select landscape mode with your printer)