may exchange it for the turn-up at any time, provided he has already
won a trick. This need not be the trick immediately before exchanging,
and he need not wait to get the lead before making the exchange.
For instance: A player holding the Nine, and having to play to his
adversary’s lead, may win the trick with the turn-up card, leaving the
Nine in its place, provided he has won some previous trick. There is
no count for dix, as in Bézique and Binocle, and the player is not
obliged to exchange unless he wishes to do so. If the Nine is the last
card in the stock, it is, of course, too late to exchange it, and the
player drawing it must keep it.
_=Marriages.=_ If a player holds both King and Queen of any suit,
he may count 20 points towards 66 for the marriage, or 40 for royal
marriage, by leading either of the marriage cards. It is not necessary
for the King or Queen so led to win the trick; but the player declaring
a marriage must have the lead, and must have won a trick, or he cannot
count it. The pone may declare a marriage on his first lead; but
it will not count unless he wins some subsequent trick, and if his
adversary gets to 66 before the pone gets a trick, the marriage is
lost, and the pone is schwartz.
If the 20 or 40 claimed for the marriage is enough to carry the
player’s count to 66 or beyond, the marriage need only be shown
and claimed, without leading it, and the remaining cards are then
abandoned, provided the count is correct. Only one marriage can be
shown but not led in this manner.
In the ordinary course of play it is not necessary to show both cards
of the marriage unless the adversary asks to see them. The player
simply leads the King or Queen, and says: “Twenty,” or “Forty,” as the
case may be. If he leads a King or Queen without claiming any count, it
is evident that he has not a marriage. If he has simply forgotten to
claim it, he cannot amend the error after his adversary has played to
the trick, and the score is lost. To avoid disputes, careful players
leave one of the marriage cards face up among their cards, as a
reminder that a marriage was claimed in that suit, either by the player
with the card turned, or by his adversary.
_=Counting.=_ A player is not allowed to make any record of his
progress toward sixty-six, but must keep his count mentally. It is
highly important to keep both your own and your adversary’s count, in
order that you may always know how many each of you wants to reach
66. A player is not allowed to go back over his tricks to refresh
his memory, and if he looks at any trick but the last one turned and
quitted, he loses the privilege of “closing.”
All _=irregularities=_ in playing and drawing are governed by the same
rules as in Binocle.
_=The Last Six Tricks.=_ After the stock is exhausted, marriages may
still be led or shown, and scored; but the second player in each trick
must follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the trick
unless he chooses to do so. If all the cards are played, the winner of
the last or twelfth trick, counts 10 for it toward his 66.
_=Announcing Sixty-six.=_ If neither of the players has claimed to have
reached 66 until after the last trick is played, both turn over their
cards and count their points. If only one has reached 66, he counts
one or two points, according to his adversary’s count. If neither has
reached 66, which is possible if no marriages have been declared; or if
both have 66 or more, and neither has claimed it, neither side scores,
but the winner on the next deal adds one to whatever he may make. For
instance: A and B are adversaries, and the last trick is played without
either announcing that he is sixty-six. On counting, it is found that
A has 48 points and a marriage, 68 altogether, while B has 72 points
and the last trick, 82 altogether. Neither counts anything. On the next
deal let us suppose that A makes 66 before B gets out of schneider,
which will give A two points. To these he adds one for the tie on the
last deal, and scores three altogether.
_=Closing.=_ Closing is turning the trump card face down on the
remainder of the pack, which signifies that there shall be no more
drawing from the stock, and that the second player in each trick must
follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the trick.
A player can close only when he has the lead, but having the lead, he
may close at any time. The pone may close before leading for the first
trick; or after winning the first trick, and before drawing from the
stock. The leader may close after one or more tricks have been played,
and he may close without drawing from the stock; or he may draw, and
then close. If the leader closes without drawing, his adversary must
play without drawing.
When the stock is closed, the player holding the Nine of trumps may
still exchange it for the trump card, whether he is the closer or not,
provided he has previously won a trick. It is usual for the closer, if
he does not hold the Nine himself, to take up the trump card and offer
it to his adversary. This is an intimation that he is about to turn it
down if his adversary does not want it. It is sometimes better not to
exchange when the game is closed, as it may give the adversary a good
counting card if he can catch all your trumps.
There is no score for the last trick when the game is closed, because
the number of tricks played will then be less than twelve.
As closing gives peculiar advantages to the closer, there are certain
forfeits if a person closes and fails to reach 66. There are three
varieties of closing, which are as follows:--
If, during the play of the hand, either player thinks he has reached
66, he closes, and turns over the tricks he has already won. If he
is correct, he scores one, two, or three points, according to the
condition of his adversary’s count. But if he is not correct, and has
not quite reached 66, his adversary scores two points in any case, and
if the non-closer had not won a trick up to the time the stock was
closed, he scores three; because that is the number the closer would
have won if he had been correct in his count.
If a player thinks he would have a better chance to reach 66 first if
his adversary was compelled to follow suit, he may close the stock. For
instance: A’s mental count is 35, and he holds in his hand a marriage,
and the Ace of another plain suit; but no trumps. If he closes at
once, and leads the Ace, his adversary will have to follow suit, and
the 11 points will put the closing player to 46. He can then show his
marriage, without leading it, and claim 66. But if the adversary should
turn out to have none of the suit led, and should trump the Ace, A
might never reach 66, and B would count two points.
A player may close, hoping to make schneider or schwartz. For instance:
A knows his score is 13, while B has 32. A has royal marriage and Ace
of trumps in his hand, and the Nine is turned up. If A closes, and so
compels B to follow suit, he must catch the Jack or Ten of trumps by
leading the Ace. If he catches the Jack, that will put him to 26, and
showing the royal marriage will put him 66, and make B schneider. If
B has no trump, one of the marriage cards can be led without any fear
of losing it, and that will put A to 66, even if B plays a Nine to
both leads. But if A leads the ace of trumps without closing, B is not
compelled to follow suit, and might play the Nine of a plain suit to
the Ace of trumps. If A then closed or played on without closing, B
might win one of the marriage cards with the Ten, and not only get out
of schneider, but reach 66 in plain suits before A could win another
trick.
On the same principle, a player may think he can reach 66 before his
adversary can win a trick, provided he can compel him to follow suit.
With two plain-suit Aces and the royal marriage, the pone would close
before playing to the first trick, trusting to catch at least 4 points
with his two aces, and then to show the marriage, making his adversary
schwartz.
Some judgment is necessary in deciding whether or not to draw before
closing. If a player is allowed to draw, he may get a trump, or a guard
to one that you suspect he has. Suppose he has exchanged the Nine for
the Ten, and you have Ace and royal marriage; it is very likely that
the Ten is unguarded, and if you close without drawing you may catch
it, which will make your three trumps alone good for 68. This also
shows that the player should not have taken up the Ten until he wanted
to use it.
Nothing is gained by closing, except compelling the adversary to follow
suit; because if you close to make him schwartz, and he gets a trick,
you count two only; if you close to make him schneider, and he gets
out, you count one only. If you fail in the first case, he counts
three, and any failure will give him two points.
THREE-HANDED SIXTY-SIX.
This is exactly the same as the ordinary game, except that the dealer
takes no cards, but scores whatever points are won on the hand he
deals. If neither of the others score, either through each making 65,
or one failing to claim 66, the dealer scores one point, and the others
get nothing. The dealer cannot go out on his own deal. He must stop at
six, and win out by his own play.
There are two ways to settle: Each may pay a certain amount to the
pool, and the first man out take it all; or, after one is out, the two
remaining finish the game, and the loser pays both or settles for the
refreshments, as the case may be. If the first man goes out when it
will be his turn to deal, he must deal the next hand.
FOUR-HANDED SIXTY-SIX
This game is sometimes called _=Kreutz-mariage=_, owing to the German
fashion of dealing the cards in the form of a cross; but as the cards
are not dealt that way, and marriages are not scored in America, the
name is not appropriate in this country.
The pack is increased to thirty-two cards by the addition of the Sevens
and Eights. After the cards are cut by the pone, the dealer gives three
to each player on the first round, then two, and then three again,
turning up the last card for the trump. In Germany the dealer first
gives two cards to his partner, then two to his left hand adversary,
then two to his right hand adversary, and finally two to himself. This
is continued for four rounds, so that each player receives eight cards,
and the last is turned up for the trump. The turned-up trump belongs to
the dealer, and cannot be exchanged.
In this form of the game the players must not only follow suit, but
must win the trick if they can, and must trump and over-trump if
possible. A player is even obliged to win his partner’s trick. Owing to
this rule, a player with good plain suit cards will usually attempt to
exhaust the trumps as rapidly as possible.
The _=counting cards=_ are the same as in Sixty-six, and the winner of
the last trick counts 10. As there is no stock, there is no closing;
and as marriages are not counted in America, the 66 points must be made
on cards alone.
The scores for _=schneider=_ and _=schwartz=_ are the same as in
Sixty-six, and seven points is game. There are 130 points made in
every deal, so if one side gets more than 66 and less than 100, their
adversaries must be out of schneider, and the winners count one.
More than 100, but less than 130 is schneider, and counts two. If
the winners take every trick, making 130 points, they score three.
Sometimes an extra point is scored for winning the Ten of trumps: but
such a count is quite foreign to the game.
NATIONAL GAMES.
There are certain games of cards which do not seem to belong to any
particular family, but stand apart from other games, and have been
played since their first invention with only trifling variations,
giving rise to no offshoots bearing other names. These are usually the
most popular games with the middle and lower classes in the countries
in which they are found, and may be considered as distinctly national
in character. Games that become popular with the masses always last
longer than others, and the rules governing them are much better
understood, and more firmly established. In the course of a century
the English aristocracy have run the gamut of Quadrille, Ombre, Whist,
Écarté, Bézique, Piquet, Rubicon, and Bridge; while the middle classes
have stuck steadily to Cribbage for nearly two hundred years.
Six of these popular games are strikingly typical of the national
character, both in their construction, and in the manner of playing
them. These are: Skat in Germany; Cribbage in England; Piquet in
France; Conquian in Mexico; Calabrasella in Italy; and Cassino in
America. All these are excellent games, and have deservedly survived
much more pretentious rivals.
With the exception of Skat, little is known of the exact origin of
any of these games, although most of them may be traced by their
resemblance to more ancient forms. Skat is the most modern, and to-day
the most popular, many persons thinking it superior to Whist. The game
seems to have originated among the farmers of Thuringia, a province of
Saxony, and was probably a variation of the Wendish game of Schapskopf.
The first mention of Skat that we can find is in an article in the
“Osterländer Blättern,” in 1818. Thirty years later Professor Hempel
of Altenburg published the rules and principles of the game under the
title: “Das Skatspiel, von J.F.L.H.” It is said that he learned the
game from a friend, who had been taught it by a Wendish coachman in
his employ. The game spread rapidly, and soon became popular all over
Germany, but with many minor variations in the details of play. To
settle these, a Skat congress was finally held in Altenburg in 1886.
This was succeeded by others in Leipzic and Dresden, and the result of
these meetings has been to weed out all the minor differences in play,
and to settle upon a universal code of laws for the game, which is
called Reichs-Skat.
In America, Reichs-Skat is no longer played; the value of some of the
games is changed, and all the bidding is by Zahlen-reizen. In all the
text-books on Skat which we have examined, this fact has been entirely
overlooked.
SKAT.
The etymology of the word Skat, sometimes spelt Scat, is a matter of
doubt, but the most plausible explanation is that it is a corruption of
one of the terms in the parent game of Taroc; “scart,” from “scarto,”
what is left; or “scartare,” to discard or reject. “Matadore” is
another word from the game of Taroc, still retained in Skat. Others
attribute the word to “Skatt,” the Old-German or Anglo-Saxon for money;
the modern German, “Schatz,” a treasure, referring to the forms of the
game in which good counting cards are laid aside in the skat for the
count at the end of the hand. This derivation would account for both
spellings of the word, with a “k” and with a “c.”
The student is advised to make himself familiar with the German terms
in the following description, as they are in common use wherever skat
is played. Many American players who use the English language in
bidding by figures, still adhere to the German names for the suits and
positions at the table.
_=CARDS.=_ Skat is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, all below
the Seven being deleted. The rank of the cards differs according to
whether the players are attempting to win or to lose tricks. If the
object is to win tricks, it is known as a “game;” if the object is to
lose, it is called a “nullo.” In nullo the cards rank in their natural
order; A K Q J 10 9 8 7, the Ace being the highest. In the various
“games,” the four Jacks are always the best trumps, and are known as
_=Wenzels=_. The other cards follow the usual German rank; A 10 K Q 9 8
7, the Ace being the highest in plain suits.
The German names for the cards are as follows;--_=Jack=_: Wenzel,
Bauern, Bube, Jungen, or Unter. _=Ace=_: As, or Daus. _=Ten=_, Zehn.
_=King=_, König. _=Queen=_: Dame, Ober, or Königen. _=Nine=_, Neun.
_=Eight=_, Acht. _=Seven=_, Sieben. The most common terms are; Bube,
As, Zehn, König, Dame, etc. The words Unter and Ober for the Jack and
Queen, refer to the manner of marking the suits on the German cards.
In the Queens, the mark of the suit is always above the figure, which
has a single head; in the Jacks the suit mark is always under the
figure. This distinction is necessary, because in the German cards the
Queen is a male figure. The King has two suit marks, one on each side
of the head. When the French or American double-head cards are used,
with suit-marks in both corners, the words “ober” and “unter” have no
meaning; Dame and Bube being used instead.
_=Rank of the Suits.=_ In addition to the rank of the cards themselves,
the suits outrank one another, except in Nullo, clubs being always the
best, then spades, hearts and diamonds. The Germans have various names
for the suits, that first given in each instance being in common use
among modern Germans. _=Clubs=_: Kreuz, Trefle, Eicheln, Eckern, or
Braün. _=Spades=_: Pique, Schüppen, Laub, or Grün. _=Hearts=_: Hertzen,
Cœur, or Roth. _=Diamonds=_: Carreau, Schellen, Eckstein, Ruthen, or
Gelb. In the German notation of card games and problems, the suits are
indicated by the French terms: clubs, _=tr=_ for trefle; spades, _=p=_
for pique; hearts, _=co=_ for cœur; diamonds, _=car=_ for carreau. The
cards are indicated by the initials; A K D B Z 9 8 7, which stand for
As, König, Dame, Bube, Zehn, etc. The winning card in each trick is
always printed in full-faced type.
The cards of each suit are divided into two parts, known as
counting cards, _=Zahlkarten=_, and those having no counting value;
_=Fehlkarteten=_ or Ladons. The counting cards and their values are as
follows:--Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, and Jack 2. These are used
in reckoning up the value of the tricks won by each side in counting
toward 61 in all the “games,” but not in Nullo. The Seven, Eight and
Nine have no counting value.
The rank of the suits has no influence on their trick-taking powers,
nor on the value of the Zahlkarten; but it increases or diminishes the
value of the “game” played for. When any suit is made the trump, it
takes the precedence of the three others only in so far as trumps will
win other suits, and the suits which are not trumps are equal in value
so far as trick-taking is concerned. As the four Wenzels are always the
highest trumps, there will always be eleven cards in the trump suit,
and seven in each of the plain suits; so that if clubs were trumps, the
rank of the cards would be:--
[Illustration:
🃛 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃞 🃝
🃙 🃘 🃗
]
In any of the other suits the rank would be:--
[Illustration:
🂡 🂪 🂮 🂭 🂩 🂨 🂧
]
_=Matadores.=_ The club Jack is always the best trump, and every trump
card in unbroken sequence with the club Jack is called a Matadore,
provided the sequence is in the hand of the same player. This rule
holds whether the sequence was in the hand originally dealt to him or
part of it is found in the Skat, should he become possessed of the Skat
cards. For instance: Clubs are trumps, and a player holds these cards:--
[Illustration:
🃛 🂻 🃋 🃑 🃚 🃘 🃗
]
He has only one Matadore; but as the Skat cards will belong to him if
he has made the trump, he may find in them the spade Jack, which would
complete his sequence, giving him six Matadores, instead of one. As
one side or the other must have the club Jack in every deal, there
must always be a certain number of Matadores, from one to eleven. If
the player who makes the trump has them, he is said to play _=with=_
so many; if his adversaries hold them, he is said to play _=without=_
just as many as they hold. The difficult thing for the beginner at Skat
to understand is that whether a player holds the Matadores or not, the
number of them has exactly the same influence on the value of his game.
If one player held these cards
[Illustration:
🃛 🂫 🂱 🂺 🂷
]
and wished to make hearts trumps, he would be playing “with two.” If
another player wished to make the same suit trumps with these cards:--
[Illustration:
🂻 🃋 🂾 🂽 🂹 🂸
]
he would be playing “without two,” and the value of each game would
be exactly the same, no matter which player actually made the trump.
Matadores must be held; they do not count if won from the adversaries
in the course of play.
_=MARKERS.=_ Counters of any kind are not used in Skat, as the score is
kept on a writing pad, which should be ruled into vertical columns for
the number of players engaged.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Skat is played by three persons. If there are four at
the table the dealer takes no cards, but shares the fortunes of those
who are opposed to the single player, winning and losing on each hand
whatever they win and lose. If there are five or six at the table, the
dealer gives cards to the two on his left, and the one next him on the
right. Those holding no cards share the fortunes of the two who are
opposed to the single player.
After the table is formed, no one can join the game without the consent
of all those already in, and then only after a _=round=_; that is,
after each player at the table has had an equal number of deals. Should
any player cut into a table during the progress of a game, he must take
his seat at the right of the player who dealt the first hand. When six
persons offer for play, it is much better to form two tables, but some
persons object to playing continuously, and like the rest given to the
dealer when more than three play.
There are always three active players in Skat. The one who makes the
trump is called _=the player=_, or Spieler; the two opposed to him are
called the _=adversaries=_, or Gegners; while those who hold no cards
are called _=im Skat=_, or Theilnehmer. Of the three active players,
the one who leads for the first trick is called _=Vorhand=_; the second
player is called _=Mittelhand=_, and the third _=Hinterhand=_. The
person sitting on the dealer’s right, to whom the cards are presented
to be cut, is called the _=pone=_.
No person is allowed to withdraw from the game without giving notice in
advance, and he can retire only at the end of a round of deals. It is
usual to give notice at the beginning of a round, by saying: “This is
my last.”
_=CUTTING.=_ Positions at the table are drawn for, the cards ranking as
in play, Jacks being the best, and the suits outranking one another in
order, so that there can be no ties in cutting. The lowest cut has the
first choice of seats, and also deals the first hand. It is usual for
the player sitting on the right of the first dealer to keep the score,
so that one may always know when a round ends.
_=STAKES.=_ Skat is played for so much a point, and the single player
wins from or loses to each of the others at the table. A cent a point
is considered a pretty stiff game, half a cent being more common in
good clubs. Many play for a fifth, or even a tenth of a cent a point.
At half a cent a point, ten dollars will usually cover a run of pretty
bad luck in an evening’s play.
_=DEALING.=_ At the beginning of the game the cards should be counted
and thoroughly shuffled, and shuffled at least three times before each
deal thereafter. The dealer presents the pack to the pone to be cut,
and at least five cards must be left in each packet. The cards are
dealt from left to right in rotation, and the deal passes to the left
in regular order.
Only three persons at the table receive cards, no matter how many are
in the game. If there are four players, the dealer gives himself no
cards. If there are five or six players, the first two on the dealer’s
left and the pone receive cards. The other persons at the table are
said to be “im Skat,” because they are laid aside for that deal.
The cards may be distributed in several ways, but whichever manner the
first dealer selects must be continued during the game, both by the
original dealer, and by the others at the table. Ten cards are given to
each player, and two are dealt face downward in the centre of the table
for the Skat. No trump is turned. The cards must be dealt, three cards
to each player, then two to the Skat; then four to each player again,
and finally three.