Ranked mode is great. Sometimes you just want to play with your people. Private rooms are for that — invite-only games with your own house rules and no strangers dropping in.
Setting up a room
Create a room, set the rules, share the invite link. Your friends tap the link and they're in. No account juggling, no matchmaking, no waiting for a random fourth.
You can pick target score, whether Blind bids are allowed, how strict the shot clock is, and a handful of other house rules. Set them once and they stick for the whole session.
House rules that actually matter
Target score sets the length of a game. 500 is standard and takes about 45 minutes. 300 is a quick game. 750 is a whole afternoon.
Turn Blind Nil on if your crew likes drama, off if you don't want to lose a game to one wild call. Same with Boston / running the table bonuses — fun with the right group, unfair with the wrong one.
Running a long session
Four-hour sessions work best with fixed pairs and short target scores — 300 or 500 — so you can rotate seats between games without losing the flow. Break every hour, keep the group chat open on the side, and let people tap out for a game without killing the room.
The best sessions feel like a Sunday at somebody's house. Private rooms are the closest online can get.
