a three-handed trick taking game
Skat was originally played with german suited cards, and these are still in general use in South and East Germany, including Altenburg. elsewhere, Skat is played with French suited cards
32 cards are used: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 in each suit
| french | german | |
|---|---|---|
| clubs (Kreuz) | acorns (Eichel) |
| spades (Pik) | leaves (Grün) |
| hearts (Herz) | hearts (Rot) |
| diamonds (Karo) | bells (Schellen) |
| K | king (König) | king (König) |
| Q | queen (Dame) | ober (Ober) |
| J | jack (Bube) | unter (Unter) |
in Suit games and Grand games, the cards have the following values:
| J | A | 10 | K | Q | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| 2 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | ||
the total value in the pack is 120 points
the ranks of suits (from highest to lowest) :
the J and any top trumps in unbroken sequence with it are called Matadors
if declarer has such a sequence in hand (plus the skat), s/he is With that number of Matadors
if there is such a sequence in the opponents' combined hands, then declarer is Against that number of Matadors
for example (here Hearts are trumps):
| declarer has: | declarer is: | |
|---|---|---|
| J, J, J, A, 10, Q, 9 | "With 1" (J) | |
| J, J, J, J, A, 10, K | "With 7" (all of them) | |
| J, J, A, K, Q, 7 | "Against 1" ( J ) | |
| J, A, 10, K, Q, 7 | "Against 3" ( J, J, J ) |
note that for the purposes of Matadors, cards in the skat count as part of declarer's hand, even though in a Hand game declarer does not know what is in the skat when choosing the game
the first dealer is chosen at random; thereafter the turn to deal rotates clockwise
the dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right cuts
the dealer deals a batch of three cards to each player, then two cards face down in the centre of the table to form the skat, then a batch of four cards to each player, and finally another batch of three cards each
if there are four players at the table, the dealer deals to the other three players only, and takes no further part in the hand at all
roles:
| Forehand | F | the player to the dealer's left | |
| Middlehand | M | the player to forehand's left | |
| Rearhand | R | the player to middlehand's left |
throughout the bidding F is senior to M who is senior to R (according to mnemoic rule: alphabet order). the principle is that a senior player only has to equal a junior player's bid to win the auction, whereas a junior player has to bid higher than a senior player to win
each bid is a number which is the value in game points of some possible game (see deatails). the possible bids are therefore:
9*2 = 18 10*2 = 20 11*2 = 22 Null Skat = 23 12*2 = 24 9*3 = 27 10*3 = 30 11*3 = 33 Null Hand = 35 12*3 = 36 9*4 = 36 10*4 = 40 11*4 = 44 Null Ouvert Skat = 46 12*4 = 48 9*5 = 45 10*5 = 50 11*5 = 55 Null Ouvert Hand = 59 12*5 = 60 9*6 = 54 10*6 = 60 11*6 = 66 12*6 = 72 etc
if you bid or accept a bid it means you are prepared to play a contract of at least that value in game points
the first part of the auction takes place between F and M
M speaks first, either Passing or bidding a number. there is no advantage in making a higher than necessary bid so M will normally either Pass or begin with the lowest bid: 18
if M bids a number, F can either give up the chance to be declarer by saying Pass or compete by saying Yes, which means that F bids the same number that M just bid
if F says Yes, M can say Pass, or continue the auction with a higher bid, to which F will again answer Yes or Pass
this continues until either F or M drops out of the auction by passing - once having passed the player gets no further opportunity to bid on that hand
the second part of the auction is similar to the first part, but takes place between R and the survivor of the first part (i.e. whichever of F and M did not pass)
as the junior player, R either passes or bids a succession of numbers, the first of which must be higher than any number mentioned in the first part of the auction. to each number bid by R, the survivor must answer Yes or Pass
the winner of the second part of the auction becomes the declarer, and the bid is the last number the declarer said or accepted
if both M and R pass without having bid, then F can either be declarer at the lowest bid (18), or can throw in the cards without play or just saying Pass. if the cards are thrown in there is no score for the hand, and the next dealer deals
* * *
to remember whose turn it is to start the bidding, German players sometimes say
if Middlehand forgets to begin, Forehand can start proceedings by saying "I'm Forehand" or "I'm listening", or "Speak to me!"
F M R
18
yes 20
yes pass (F wins first part)
22
yes 23
yes 24
pass (R is declarer in 24)
F M R
pass (F wins first part)
18
yes pass (F is declarer in 18)
F M R
18
pass (M wins first part)
20
pass (R is declarer in 20)
if you win the bidding you are entitled to pick up the two skat cards, add them to your hand without showing them to the other players, and discard any two cards face down. the cards discarded may include one or both of the cards picked up, and their value counts along with your future tricks
having discarded (without showing to the other players), you declare your game
* * *
the value of a Suit or Grand contract is obtained by multiplying together two numbers:
the base value depends on the trump suit as follows:
| suit | base value |
|---|---|
| Diamonds | 9 |
| Hearts | 10 |
| Spades | 11 |
| Clubs | 12 |
| Grand | 24 |
the multiplier is the sum of all applicable items from the following table:
| Skat game | Hand game | |
|---|---|---|
| Game (which always applies) | 1 | |
| Matadors (With or Against) (which always applies) | 1 for each | |
| Schneider | 1 | |
| Schwarz | 1 | |
| Ouvert | 1 | |
| Hand | n/a | 1 |
| Schneider announced | ||
| Schwarz announced | ||
note that all applicable multipliers count in sum
the Game multiplier is always counted as 1
the Matadors multiplier is always counted as at least 1 (because the J must be somewhere)
so the declarer is always With or Against at least 1 Matador and Game is always 1
so the smallest possible multiplier is (1+1),
and the smallest possible game value is 9
so the lowest possible bid is 18 = 9 * (1 + 1)
* * *
each possible Null game has a fixed value unaffected by multipliers. these Null fixed values are:
| contract | fixed value |
|---|---|
| Null Skat | 23 |
| Null Hand | 35 |
| Null Ouvert Skat | 46 |
| Null Ouvert Hand | 59 |
these rather eccentric looking numbers are chosen to fit between the other contract values, each being slightly below a multiple of 12. so if you are going to take skat then max bid for your Null contract should be 23 and so on
in Ouvert Skat game you count:
in Ouvert Hand game you count:
* * *
so before the lead to the first trick the declarer anounces
after that declaration the suitable notes in score table are made
the ranking of the cards depends on the game the declarer chooses to play, so in case of game ...
J - J - J - J from highest to lowestJ - J - J - J pay attention to 10's place in these sequences!
play is clockwise. no matter who is the declarer, but Forehand always leads to the first trick
players must follow suit if they can. a player with no card of the suit should play with any trump and only if a player has no suit no trump s/he may play any card
note that in Suit games and Grand games the all four Jacks belong to the trump suit, not to the suits marked on them. for example if Hearts are trumps, the J♣ is the highest Heart, and has nothing whatever to do with the Club suit
a trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, unless it contains a trump, in which case the highest trump wins it
the winner of a trick leads to the next
if you are declarer in any Null game - you win the game if you manage to lose every trick. and if you take a trick, you have lost and the play of the hand ceases at that point
if you are declarer in any Ouvert game - you have to spread out your hand face up on the table before the lead to the first trick. play then proceeds normally, and you play from your exposed hand. in this case the opponents are not allowed to discuss tactics
if the value of the declarer's game turns out to be less than the bid then the declarer loses - it does not matter how many card points were taken by him in tricks. in that case the amount subtracted from the declarer's score is twice of the base value of the game played
if the declarer
the declarer in Suit game or Grand game wins if the cards in his tricks plus the skat cards (in other words, all cards which are not in his opponents tricks) contain at least 61 card points
AND
the value of the game is equal or more than bid
if the declarer
the opponents win if their combined tricks contain at least 60 card points
if the declarer's opponents
the same applies to the declarer - as declarer,
note that Schwarz depends on tricks - not on cards points - if a side wins just one trick and it has no card points in it (say 7-8-9 in the trick), that is sufficient to get them (or him) out of Schwarz
if as declarer
the typical calculation of the value of a game sounds something like this:
M holds J J 10 K 9 8 A A 10 7 and decides to play Clubs Hand
this should normally be worth 48 game points ("Against 2, Game 3, Hand 4 . 4 time Clubs is 48")
R has a Null Ouvert and bids up to 46, to which M says Yes and R says Pass
M plays Clubs Hand and takes 74 card points (including the skat cards), but unfortunately the skat contains J Q
M is therefore "With 1" Matador (not "Against 2" as expected), and the game is worth only 36 ("With 1, Game 2, Hand 3 . times Clubs"), which is less than the bid
M therefore loses 96 game points (twice the minimum value in Clubs which would fulfill the bid)
had M taken (say) 95 card points, the Schneider multiplier would have increased the value of the game to 48 ("With 1, Game 2, Hand 3, Schneider 4 times Clubs") and M would have won 48 game points* * *
it is unusual, but occasionally happens that the declarer in a Suit or Grand contract takes 30 card points or fewer. in this case the opponents have made the declarer Schneider , and the Schneider multiplier applies
in the practically unknown but theoretically possible case where the declarer in a Suit or Grand contract loses every trick, the Schneider and Schwarz multipliers would both be counted
the declarer plays "Spades, Without 2" and takes only 28 card points
result: "Without 2, Game 3, Schneider 4. time Spades"
the base value of Spades is 11 and 4×11=44, so the declarer scores -88 points
a running total of each player's score is kept on paper
at the end of a session (to be fair, each player should have dealt an equal number of times), the players settle up according to the differences between their scores
between each pair of players, the one with the lower score pays the one with the higher score the difference in their scores multiplied by the presettled stake
A, B and C are playing for 5 Pfennig a point
at the end the scores are A: 96, B: 30, C: -8
than
B pays to A 96-30=66 x 0.05 = 3.30
C pays to A (96 - -8)=104 x 0.05 = 5.20
C pays to B (30 - -8)=38 x 0.05 = 1.90
so the net result is that A wins 8.50 Marks, B loses 1.40 Marks and C loses 7.10 Marks
a side effect of the method of scoring is that if there are four players at the table, the dealer of a hand is effectively against the declarer, winning or losing the same as the declarer's opponents
this variation is very widely played in social games
either opponent of the declarer, at any time before they play their card to the first trick, may say Kontra. this doubles the score for the contract, whether won or lost. the declarer may immediately answer with Rekontra, which doubles the score again
note that it is the score that is doubled, not the value of the contract
for example suppose I bid up to 20, look at the skat, and play in Diamonds. I am only with one Matador, but am hoping to make the opponents Schneider. one of the opponents says Kontra, and in the play I win 85 card points. as I am with 1, the game value is 18, so I have overbid (the Kontra does not affect this). so I lose based on the lowest multiple of Diamonds which would have been sufficient, namely 27. I lose double because I looked at the skat and the score is doubled again for the Kontra, so I lose 108 game points altogether
there is some variation as to when Kontra and Rekontra can be said
some play that Kontra can only be said before the first lead (and a declarer who is Forehand must wait before leading to give the opponents an opportunity to Kontra)
a variation occasionally met with is that you are not allowed to Kontra if you passed an opportunity to bid 18 or say Yes to 18
for example, A is Forehand, B bids 18 to A and A passes; C also passes. A will not now be allowed to Kontra B's contract, because A failed to say Yes to B's 18 bid. on the other hand, C can Kontra , because C would have had to say at least 20 to enter the bidding - C never had an opportunity to bid 18
the thinking behind this variation is that a player with a good hand should bid - they should not be allowed to pass and lie in wait, ready to Kontra another player
this is also very widely played
if Middlehand and Rearhand pass, and Forehand also does not want to play a contract, the cards are not thrown in, but a game of Ramsch is played
Ramsch can be thought of as a punishment for a player who does not bid with good cards. the rank and value of the cards is the same as in Grand, but the object is to avoid taking card points. players keep their tricks individually, and whoever takes the most card points loses
there are many varieties of Ramsch. the players need to agree in advance on the following rules:
if you like playing Ramsch, it is possible to play it as a game in its own right. that is, you just play Ramsch on every hand
a Bockround is a round (i.e. three consecutive deals when there are three players; four deals when there are four players) played for double stakes (i.e. double scores)
note that this doubling only affects the final scores on the scoresheet; the bids and game values are unaffected
it is usual to play a Bockround after some special event; the events which cause a Bockround should be agreed before the game. possibilities are:
note that if you have too many of these, you will end up playing for double score all the time, and you might as well have just agreed to double the stake and not have bothered with the Bockrounds
if you play with Bockrounds, you also need to agree the following rules:
some people like to play a round of compulsory Ramsch after each Bockround, or after every third Bockround. Ramschrounds are played according to the rules of Schieberamsch, including the possibility of playing Grand Hand. a Ramschround consists of as many hands of Ramsch as there are players; a Grand Hand does not count towards completing the Ramschround, and after a Grand Hand the same player deals again
if the opponents decide at the start of the play that they cannot defeat the declarer, they can give up (Schenken)
if the declarer accepts, the score is as though the game was won simply (i.e. with 61...89 card points)
the declarer can insist on playing on, but in that case has to make the opponents Schneider to win. the score in this case is as for an announced Schneider (but without the Hand multiplier if it is not a Hand game)
if the declarer goes on the opponents can Schenken again, giving the declarer the Schneider. the declarer can accept Schneider or insist on playing on for Schwarz
the normal way of giving up is for one opponent to say "Schenken". the other then either agrees, in which case they are offering to give up, or disagrees, in which case play continues as though nothing had happened
there are some tricky ethical problems about this variation, for example:
some people play that if the bid is 18 and the contract is Diamonds, or the bid is 20 and the contract is Diamonds or Hearts, then the hand is automatically conceded by the opponents and won simply by the declarer, unless the opponents Kontra or the declarer makes some additional announcement (such as Open or Spitze)
this is an announcement that the declarer will win the last trick with the lowest trump - the Seven in a Suit contract or the Jack of Diamonds in a Grand contract
it is announced verbally, or by reversing the card in your hand so that the face is visible to the opponents
Spitze increases the value of your game by one multiplier. in order to win, you have to win the last trick with the lowest trump in addition to taking 61 or more card points. if you fail in either, you lose
you can announce more than one Spitze - in fact you can produce any unbroken sequence of trumps including the lowest and contract to win an unbroken series of tricks with them at the end of the hand. this is worth one extra multiplier per card - for example contracting to win the last 3 tricks with the 9-8-7 of trumps is worth 3 extra multipliers
some people play that declarer's cards are not exposed until after the first lead, or after the first trick
some people allow the declarer to play any contract open, adding an extra multiplier to the game value
some score contracts played open as double value
some play open contracts as double value if exposed before the first lead, but adding one multiplier if exposed after the first trick
gamblers may like to play with a pot. this can work in various ways
a common scheme would be that everyone puts a small amount in the pot at the start or when it is empty. any declarer who loses a contract (or a Ramsch) pays to the pot as well as to the other players. the contents of the pot are won by a player who wins a Grand Hand. but if you play and lose a Grand Hand you have to double the pot
in this variation, the declarer can score an extra multiplier when using the skat in a Suit or Grand games by showing the skat cards to the opponents before picking them up. ("Der Skat geht rum")