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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 playwithso many; if his adversaries hold them, he is said to playwithoutjust 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
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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:—
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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 around; 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 calledthe player, or Spieler; the two opposed to him are called theadversaries, or Gegners; while those who hold no cards are calledim Skat, or Theilnehmer. Of the three active players, the one who leads for the first trick is calledVorhand; the second player is calledMittelhand, and the thirdHinterhand. The person sitting on the dealer’s right, to whom the cards are presented to be cut, is called thepone.
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 shouldbe 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.
Irregularities in the Deal.If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which the error is discovered is void; but any previous scores or cuts made with that pack stand good. If the cards have not been cut, or if a card is found faced in the pack, or if the dealer exposes a card in dealing, any active player who has not looked at his cards may demand a fresh deal by the same dealer. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any player, he must shuffle and deal again. If the error is not discovered until the hand is partly played out, the deal is void, and the misdealer deals again. A misdeal does not lose the deal under any circumstances, but it is usual to exact a penalty of ten points for a misdeal.
OBJECTS OF THE GAME.The object of each player is to obtain the privilege of attempting to accomplish a certain task, which is known as his “game,” and which he must be able to carry through successfully against the combined efforts of the two other players. The more difficult the task undertaken, the greater the number of points scored for it, and the player who will undertake the game which is of the greatest value of those offered must be allowed the privilege of trying it. In order to determine which player this is, they may all bid for the privilege by naming a certain number of points, usually well within the actual value of the game they intend to play. If a bidder meets with opposition, he gradually approaches the true value of his game, and the player whose game is worth the most will of course be able to bid the greatest number of points, and must be selected as the player, the two others being his adversaries.
Games.These games are divided into two principal classes, those in which the player undertakes to win, and those in which he tries to lose. When he plays to lose, it is to lose every trick,there being no trump suit, and the cards in each suit ranking A K Q J 10 9 8 7. These games are calledNull, or Nullo, andNull Ouvert, the latter being played with the successful bidder’s cards exposed face upward on the table, but not liable to be called. The moment he wins a trick in a Nullo, he loses his game. Nullos are quite foreign to Skat, and appear to have been introduced as a consolation for players who always hold bad cards.
WhenRamschis played, the object is to take less than either of the other players; but the cards rank as in the ordinary game, except that the four Jacks are the only trumps.
In all other games the successful bidder undertakes to win; but his success does not depend on the number of tricks he takes in, but on the total value of the counting cards contained in those tricks. The total value of all the counting cards is 120 points, and to be successful, the single player must win at least 61. If he succeeds in winning 61 or more points, he wins his game, whatever it may be. If he can get 91 points, he wins a double game, which is calledschneider. If he can take every trick, he wins a treble game, which is calledschwartz. It is not enough to win 120 points, for if the adversaries win a single trick, even if it contains no counting cards, they save the schwartz.
If the single player fails to reach 61, he loses. If he fails to reach 31, he is schneider; and if he fails to take a trick he is schwartz. These various results increase the value of the game, as will presently be seen.
There are four varieties of games in which the successful bidder plays to win, the difference being in the manner of using the skat cards, and making the trump. These games are calledFrage,Tourné,Solo, andGrand, and they outrank one another in the order given, Frage being the lowest. The first three: Frage, Tourné and Solo, are each again divided into four parts, according to the suit which is trumps; a Tourné in clubs being better than one in spades; a Solo in hearts being better than one in diamonds, and so on. This is in accordance with the rank of the suits already mentioned in the paragraph devoted to that subject.
In aFrage, or Simple Game, the successful bidder takes both the skat cards into his hand, and then declares which suit shall be the trump; discarding two cards face downward for his schatz, or treasure, before play begins. The two cards thus laid aside count for the single player at the end of the hand, provided he takes a trick, and they cannot be won by the adversaries unless they make the single player schwarz. Frage is no longer played.
In aTourné, the successful bidder turns one of the skat cards face upward on the table before looking at the second card. He may turn over whichever card he pleases, but the one he turns fixes the trump suit for that hand. If the card turned over is a Jack, he may change to a Grand; but he must do so before he sees the second card in the Skat.
If the player does not like the first card he turns, he need not show it, but may put it in his hand and turn the other. This second one must be the trump; or a Grand may be played if the card is a Jack. In case the game is lost after taking the second card, it costs double. This is calledPasst mir Nicht.
In aSolo, the skat cards are not touched, the successful bidder naming the trump to suit the hand of ten cards originally dealt him. The Skat belongs to him, as in Frage and Tourné, but he must not see its contents until the hand is played out, when any points and Matadores it may contain will count for him.
In aGrandthere is no trump suit, the four Jacks being the only trumps in play. These four cards preserve their relative suit value, the club Jack being the best, and they are still Matadores. There are four varieties of Grand: A tourné player may make it a Grand if he turns up a Jack. This is called aGrand Tourné. A player may make it a grand without seeing either of the skat cards. This is called aGrand Solo. A player may announce a Grand and lay his cards face up on the table; exposed, but not liable to be called. This is called aGrand Ouvert. A Frage cannot be played as a Grand under any circumstances. A player may announceGucki Grand, which means that he will take both the skat cards into his hand at once, in order to get the privilege of laying out any two cards he pleases, but that Jacks will be the only trumps. If a Gucki Grand is lost, it costs double.
A player may announce aGucki Nullo, in which he takes both the skat cards into his hand and lays out any two cards he pleases. This loses double if it is not successful.
Revolutionis seldom played. It is a Nullo in which the adversaries put their twenty cards together as one hand to see if they can make the player take a trick.
UnoandDuoare Grands, in which the single player engages to take one trick in Uno, or two in Duo, neither more nor less.
GAME VALUES.Each of the foregoing games has what is called a unit of value, which is afterward multiplied several times according to the number of Matadores, and whether the game was schneider or schwarz.
These unit values are as follows, beginning with the lowest:
When one player takes no trick in a Ramsch, the player with the greater number of points loses 30. If two players take no trick, the loss is 50 points.
All Guckis lose double if they fail, so that if a player announces a Gucki Nullo and loses it, he will lose 30; but if he won it he would get 15 only. If a player has a Gucki Null Ouvert, he must announce that it is to be played open before he touches the skat cards. It is then worth 30 if won; 60 if lost.
Passt-mir-nicht tournées all lose double if they fail, but win the usual number of points if they succeed.
Multipliers.The foregoing are simply the standard counting values of these various games. In calculating the actual value of a player’s game, in order to see how much he may safely offer in the bidding, and how much he would win if successful in his undertaking, these standard values are multiplied as follows:—
Five classes of games are recognized, beginning with the lowest, in which the player gets the necessary 61 points, but does not make his adversaries schneider. This is simply called “game,” and as it must always be either won or lost, it is a constant factor. The value of the game is 1, and each better game is numbered in regular order, the five varieties being as follows:
The Game, 1. Schneider, 2. Schwarz announced or Schwarz, 3. Schwarz after announcing Schneider, 4. Schwarz announced, 5.
These numbers are added to the number of Matadores, and the total thus found is multiplied by the unit value of the game. For instance: A player has obtained the privilege of playing on a bid of thirty. His game is a Solo in hearts, in which he holds the three highest Matadores and announces schneider in advance. His game multiplier is therefore 3 (for the announced schneider), to which he adds 3 more for the Matadores, 6 altogether. The unit value of a heart Solo being 10, he could have gone on bidding to 60 had it been necessary, and he will win 60 from each of his adversaries if he succeeds in reaching 91 points in the counting cards he takes in in his tricks, together with what he finds in the Skat.
If his adversaries got to 30 with their counting cards, he would have lost 60 to each of them, although he bid only 30, because he announced his game as schneider, and did not make it. Had he not announced the schneider, and reached 91 or more in his counting cards, he would have won a game worth 50, losing the extra multiplier by not announcing the schneider in advance; for a schneider made without announcing it is worth only 2.
In reckoning the value of a game it is always safer to bid on playing “with” than “without” Matadores in a Solo or Tourné; because, although you may have a hand “without four,” you may find a Wenzel in the Skat, and if it is the club Jack you lose three multipliers at once.
BIDDING.The players must be familiar with the manner of computing the various games in order to bid with judgment, and without hesitation. Suppose you hold the three highest Matadores with an average hand, not strong enough in any one suit to play a Solo, but good enough for a Tourné. Your smallest possible game will be diamonds with three; which will be worth 5 multiplied by 4; 1 for the game, and 3 for the Matadores, 20 points. If you can get the game on any bid less than 20 you are absolutely safe, provided you can reach 61 in your tricks. But the opposition of another player may irritate you, [reizen,] and provoke you to bid 24, or even 28, in the hope of turning a heart or a spade. If you go beyond 20, and turn a diamond, you must either find the fourth Matadore in the Skat, or make your adversaries schneider, in order to secure another multiplier. If you fail, you lose 24, or 28, according to your bid.
The great difficulty in Skat is to judge the value of a hand, so as neither to under nor overbid it, and also to get all out of it that it is worth. A person who plays a Frage in hearts when he could easily have made it a Solo, reduces the value of his game just eighty per cent. A player with the four Wenzels, A K Q 9 8 of diamonds, and a losing card, would be foolish to play a diamond Solo with five, schneider announced, worth 72; while he had in his hand a sure Grand, with four, schneider announced, worth 140. Of course the schneider is not a certainty. The risk is that the Ten of diamonds will be guarded, and that an Ace and a Ten will make, both of them on your losing card, or one of them on the diamond Ten. A careful player would be satisfied with 100 on such a hand, for if he fails to make the announced schneider, he loses everything.
A player is not obliged to play the game he originally intended to, if he thinks he has anything better; but he must play a game worth as much as he bid, or the next higher, and having once announced his game, he must play it.
Suppose Vorhand has a spade Solo with two, and on being offered 33 says, “Yes,” thinking the bidder will go on to 36, instead of which he passes. It is very probable that the bidder has a spade Solo without two, and will defeat a spade Solo announced by Vorhand. If Vorhand has almost as good a game in hearts, he should change, hoping to make schneider, or to find another Matadore in the Skat. If he loses the game, a heart Solo with two costs 30 points; but as Vorhand refused 33, and the next best game he could have made with a heart Solo is 40, that is the amount he loses, although he refused only 33.
Method of Bidding.The Vorhand always holds the play, and the Mittelhand always makes the first bid, or passes, the Hinterhand saying nothing until the propositions made by the Mittelhandhave been finally refused or passed by the Vorhand. The usual formula is for the Vorhand to say, “How many?” or, “I am Vorhand,” thereupon the Mittelhand bids or passes. If Vorhand has as good a game as offered him he says, “Yes,” and Mittelhand must bid higher or pass. If Vorhand has not as good a game he may either pass, or bluff the bidder into going higher by saying, “Yes.” As soon as one passes, the other turns to the Hinterhand, who must either make a higher bid than the last, or pass. The survivor of the first two must either say, “Yes,” to the offers made by Hinterhand, or pass. The final survivor then announces his game. It is usual for the last one to pass to signify that he is done by pushing the skat cards toward the survivor, indicating that they are his, and that he is the player. If a player is offered a game equal to his own he may still say, “Yes;” but if he is offered a better game, and still says, “Yes,” he runs the risk of being compelled to play.
The old German way of bidding, adopted at the Skat Congresses in Altenburg, Leipzig and Dresden, was to bid in suits; a bid of club Solo outranking one of spade Solo, no matter what it was worth. This has long been obsolete, the objection to it being that a player might get the play on a game of much inferior value. A player with a spade Solo, six Matadores, and schneider announced could offer only a spade Solo, without mentioning its value, and although his game was worth 99, he could be outbid by an offer of Nullo, which was then worth only 20. This is contrary to the spirit of the game, which requires that the person offering the game of the greatest value shall be the player. The rank of the bids in the old German game was as follows, beginning with the lowest:—
The multipliers were the same as those used in the modern game, but the player had no means of using them in his bids. It will be observed that the modern value of the various games seeks to preserve the old rank by assuming the lowest possible bid on any given game.
In some parts of Germany it is still the custom to reckon Solos at the tourné values, simply adding one multiplier for “out ofhand.” Thus a spade Solo with two would be reckoned; “with two, one for game, one for out of hand; four times seven, or twenty-eight.” Note that seven is tourné value for spades.
THE SKAT CARDS.The successful bidder determined, the skat cards are pushed towards him, and the manner in which he uses them limits the game he is allowed to play. While the player must win or lose a game worth as many as bid, he may attempt to win as many more as he pleases. If he has got the play on a bid of ten, that does not prevent him from playing a club Solo, with schneider announced. But if he has bid or refused eleven, and plays a tourné in diamonds, he must make schneider or play with or without two Matadores in order to bring his multipliers up to three. It both these fail him he loses 15, the next higher game than his bid possible in a diamond tourné.
As Frage is no longer played on account of its small value, if the player takes both the skat cards into his hand at the same time, without showing them, his game must be a Gucki Grand, unless he has previously announced that it is a Gucki Nullo. His game announced, he lays out any two cards he pleases for his skat, so as to play with ten only.
If the player turns over either of the skat cards, his game is limited to a tourné. If he turns a Jack, he may change to Grand, but not to Grand Ouvert. Neither schneider nor schwarz can be announced in any game in which the skat cards are used. A tourné player must lay out two skat cards to reduce his hand to ten cards.
If the player neither turns over nor takes into his hand either of the skat cards, he may play any of the suit Solos, Grand Solo, Grand Ouvert, Nullo, or Null Ouvert. He may announce schneider or schwarz in any Solo.
Any player looking at the skat cards before the beginning of the play is debarred from bidding that deal, and is penalised ten points in the score. In addition to this penalty, either of the other players may demand a fresh deal. If a player looks at the skat cards during the play of a hand the play is immediately stopped, and if he is the single player he can count only the points taken in up to that time, exclusive of the skat. These points are deducted from 120, and his adversaries claim the difference. The game is then settled, according to this count, exactly as if the hand had been played out. If an adversary of the single player looks at either of the skat cards during the play of a hand, the single player may at once stop the game, and his adversaries can count only the points they have taken in in tricks up to that time. If they have no tricks they are schwartz; if they have not 30 points they are schneider.
When four or more play, any person holding no cards may be penalised ten points for looking at the skat cards.
METHOD OF PLAYING.The successful bidder having disposed of the skat cards and announced his game, the Vorhand leads any card he pleases for the first trick. Vorhand should be careful not to lead until the player has laid out or discarded for the Skat in a Gucki or a Tourné. Players must follow suit if they can, but are not obliged to win the trick. Having none of the suit led, they may trump or discard at pleasure. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of the first trick leads for the next, and so on, until all the cards have been played, or the game is acknowledged as won or lost, and abandoned. In a Grand, if a Jack is led, players must follow suit with the other Jacks, they being trumps.
Abandoned Hands.If the single player finds he has overbid himself, or sees that he cannot make as good a game as bid, he may abandon his hand to save himself from being made schneider or schwarz, provided he does so before he plays to the second trick. A Solo cannot be abandoned in this manner, as the rule is made only to allow a player to get off cheaply who has been unlucky in finding nothing in the Skat to suit his hand. For instance: A player has risked a Tourné with a missing suit, and turns up that suit. He can abandon his hand at once, losing his bid or the next higher game, but escaping schneider.
Irregularities in the Hands.If, during the play of a hand, any person is found to have too many or too few cards, the others having their right number, it is evident that there has been no misdeal if the pack is perfect and there are two cards in the Skat. If the player in error has too few cards, probably from having dropped one on the floor, or having played two cards to the same trick, he loses in any case, but the adversary may demand to have the hand played out in order to try for schneider or schwarz, and the last trick, with the missing card, must be considered as having been won by the side not in fault. If the player in fault is opposed to the single player, his partner suffers with him. If the player discovers his loss, he is not allowed to pick the card from the floor and replace it in his hand if he has in the meantime played to a trick with a wrong number of cards.
Playing Out of Turn.The usual penalty in America for leading or playing out of turn is the loss of the game if the error is made by the adversaries of the single player. If by the player himself, the card played in error must be taken back, and if only one adversary has played to the false lead, he may also take back his card. If both have played, the trick stands good. The single player suffers no penalty, as it is only to his own disadvantage to expose his hand.
The Revoke.If a player revokes, and he is one of the adversaries of the single player, the game is lost for the player in error;but he may count the points in his tricks up to the time the revoke occurred, in order to save schneider or schwarz. In Nullos, the game is lost the moment the revoke is discovered.
Seeing Tricks.The tricks must be kept separate as they are taken in, and any player is allowed to look at the last trick turned and quitted. Any player looking at any other trick but the last may be penalized ten points.
Playing Ouverts.The rules of the game require Ouverts to be exposed face upward on the table before a card is played.
SCORING.The score should always be kept by the player sitting on the right of the first dealer. This will mark the rounds. The score sheet should be ruled in vertical columns, one for each player at the table.
Each player is charged individually with his losses and gains, the amounts being added to or deducted from his score, and a plus or a minus mark placed in front of the last figure, so that the exact state of each player’s score will be apparent at a glance.
The score of the single player is the only one put down, and it is charged to him as a loss or a gain at the end of each deal.
If there are four players, a line is drawn under every fourth amount entered in each person’s account. If three play, the line is drawn under every third amount. This system of scoring will show at once whose turn it is to deal, if the total number of amounts under which no line is drawn are counted up. For instance: Three persons play; A dealt the first hand. In the first three columns are shown the amounts won and lost in the three rounds, while the last three columns show the manner in which these losses and gains were entered on the score sheet:—
At the end of the second round a line was drawn under A’s account, which then contained three items; and after the first game in the third round a line was drawn under C’s account.
If we suppose the game to be stopped at this point, the scores would be balanced as follows:
We take the three scores and bring them down on one line. We draw a line under them, and proceed as follows: First we takeA, who has lost 7 to B, and from whom B has also won 88. This gives us 95 minus for A and 95 plus for B. We then compare A and C, and find that A owes C 26; put down as minus for A, plus for C. We now compare B and C, and find that B wins the difference, which is 69 points; put down plus for B, minus for C. Then we add up to see that the scores balance.
The same method may be used when four play; but some prefer to call the lowest score zero, and so make all the others plus. Suppose the final scores were as follows:
If B is zero, his points are to be taken from those of each of the others, as B is plus. If the low score is a minus, the points must be added to each of the others. The three totals are added, and found, in this case, to be 520, which is the total of B’s loss. We now multiply the scores by the number of players engaged, in this case four, and from the product we deduct the 520 already found. Then the scores balance.
When Skat is played for the League stake, which is one-fourth of a cent a point, the results may be found in a still shorter way by adding up all the scores and taking an average, this average being the sum divided by the number of players. Take the results just given for example:—
The average is simply deducted from each score, and the remainder is the amount won or lost, in cents.
CHEATING.As in all games in which the cards are dealt in groups, the greek will find many opportunities in Skat. The clumsiest shuffler can usually locate some of the Wenzels at the top or the bottom of the pack, before presenting it to be cut, and if the players do not insist on the cards being dealt always in the same manner, the sharper can secure to himself two or more Wenzels, either in his hand or in the Skat. Any person who deals the cards sometimes three at a time, and again five at a time, should be stopped immediately, and no such excuses as changing his luck should be listened to for a moment. Any person who habitually picks up the cards with their faces towards him, and straightens them by lifting them from their positions in the pack, should be stopped at once, and requested to straighten the cards face down.
Dealing seconds is very difficult when the cards have to be “pinched” in threes and fours. A second dealer holding back a Wenzel on the top may give his adversary two underneath without knowing it. Marked cards are of advantage only when the dealer plays, and are of little use beyond telling him what he can turn up for a trump, or what he will find in the Skat. The rule for having four in the game, if possible, is one of the greatest safeguards, unless the dealer is in secret partnership with one of the players.
SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.The chief things to master in Skat are the values of the hands, the principles of bidding on them, the best methods of playing them, and the proper methods of combining forces with your partner for the time being, in order to defeat the single player.
Bidding.Some persons attach a great deal of importance to the odds for and against certain cards being in the Skat. If a player without three is forced to risk finding a Matadore in the Skat, it is usually enough for him to know that the odds are about 3 to 1 against it. It is much more important for him to consider what cards may make against him, and what they would count. It is often necessary to estimate very closely the number of points that must fall on a certain number of leads. For instance: You are Vorhand, and hold these cards:—
🂫 🂻 🃋 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 🃇 🂧
Even if you find the Ace and Ten with the best Wenzel in one hand against you, you have an almost certain club Solo, for if you lead a Wenzel, your adversary must either take it, or give you the Ace or Ten. If he wins it, and his partner gives him a Ten ofanother suit, and they then proceed to make both the Aces and Tens of your weak suits, that will give them only 56 points, and you will make every other trick. The only thing that could defeat you is for one player on the fourth trick to lead a suit of which his partner had none. This would require one player to have all the spades and the other all the hearts, which is almost impossible.
Another familiar example is the following: You are Vorhand with these cards:—
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Although you cannot possibly win more than six tricks, and must lose every trick in the red suits, you have an invincible Grand; because the adversaries have not a sufficient number of Fehlkarten to give you to avoid adding 16 points to the 46 you already have in your hand, which must make you 62 before they get a trick.
It is better to bid on a doubtful Solo than on a risky Tourné, and if you have a choice of two numerically equal suits, it is better to bid on a suit containing small cards in preference to one containing A 10. In bidding Tournés, you must remember that the more cards you hold of a suit, the less your chance to turn up one.
It is not good play to bid a Solo on four or five trumps unless you have some aces in the other suits. A Grand may be bid even without a trump, if you have the lead, and hold four aces, or three aces and four Tens. A Grand with any two Wenzels is safe if you have two good suits. A Nullo should never be bid unless the player has the Seven of his long suit.
A certain amount of risk must be taken in all bids, and a player who never offers a game that is not perfectly safe is called aMaurer; one who builds on a solid foundation. The player who offers the most games will usually win the most unless he is a very poor player.
Leading.The single player should almost always begin with the trumps, in order to get them out of his way. With a sequence of Wenzels, it is a common artifice to begin with the lowest, hoping the second player may fatten the trick by discarding a Ten or Ace, under the impression that the Hinterhand can win it. This style of underplay is calledWimmelfinte, and the Mittelhand should beware of it. With only one Wenzel and the Ace and Ten, it is better to begin with a small trump. If you find all the trumps in one hand against you, or tenace over you, stop leading trumps, and play forcing cards.
If you have no Wenzels it is usually best to lead your smallest trumps. If you have only Ace Ten and small trumps, and knowthe adversaries have one Wenzel and one trump better than your small one, lead your Ten, so that they cannot make both trumps. In playing for a schneider, it is often advisable to continue the trumps, even after the adversaries are exhausted, so that they shall not know which suit to keep for the last trick.
Laying out the Skat.In a Frage or a Tourné, some judgment is required in discarding for the Skat. It is often necessary to lay aside the Ace and Ten of trumps if there is any danger that the adversaries may catch them. Unguarded Tens should always be laid out, and it is a good general principle to get rid of one suit entirely, so that you can trump it. It is a common practice to put in the Skat the Ace and Ten of a suit of which you hold also the King. When you lead the King, if Mittelhand has none of the suit he is sure to fatten the trick for his partner, thinking he must have Ace or Ten. With the Ten, King, and small cards of a plain suit, lay the Ten and King in the Skat.
The Adversariesshould combine against the single player by getting him between them if possible. If you sit on the left of the player, lead your short suits up to him; but if you sit on his right, lead your longest suit through him. Try to force out his trumps on your plain-suit cards if you can, and avoid giving him discards of his weak suits. With a long trump suit, it is often advantageous to lead it through the player, but seldom right to lead it up to him.
In Solos, the adversaries should lead Aces and winning cards, and change suits frequently. If you are playing against a Grand, and have two trumps, one of them the best, lead it, and then play your long suit; but if you have the two smallest trumps, lead the long suit first, and force with it every time you get in.
The partners should always scheme to protect each other’s Tens by keeping the Aces of plain suits. For this reason it is very bad play to fatten with the Ace of a suit of which you have not the Ten, or to play an Ace third hand when there are only small cards in the trick, and the Ten of the suit has not been played and you do not hold it.
If the player is void of a suit, continue leading it, no matter what you hold in it. This will either weaken his trumps, or, if he is between you, will give your partner discards.
If the player leads a Wenzel, it is usually best to cover it if you can; but do not play the club Jack on the diamond Jack unless you want the lead very badly.
When the single player does not lead trumps, but plays his Aces and Tens, the Germans call it “auf die Dörfer gehen;” that is, getting to the villages, or getting home; equivalent to our expression, “getting out of the woods,” or “getting in out of the rain.” When the single player runs for home in this way, it is usually best to lead trumps through him at the first opportunity.
In playing against a Nullo, the great point is to give your partner discards. If you find that the player’s long suit is yours also, continue it until your partner has discarded an entire suit if possible. If you then have the small card of the discarded suit, you may defeat the Nullo at once.
Fattening.The Germans call this Wimmeln, or “swarming” the points together in one trick. It is always advisable to get rid of Tens in this way, or Aces of suits in which you hold both Ace and Ten; but it is bad play to fatten with the Ace of a suit of which you have not the Ten, unless the trick wins the game from the player, or saves a very probable schneider.
The followingIllustrative Handswill give the student a very good idea of the manner in which the various forms of the game are played, showing the difference in the play of a Tourné, Solo, and Grand.
A TOURNÉ.A, Vorhand, has refused ten with the following cards, Hinterhand having passed without a bid:—
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A concludes to play a Tourné, and turns the heart ♡ Q, finding the ♢ King in the Skat. He lays out the ♠ 10 and ♠ 9 in the Skat, and expects to make 12 points; a heart Tourné, with one Matadore. The play is given in the margin. A is the player, and is also Vorhand, with the lead for the first trick. Hearts are trumps.
The manner in which A exhausts the trumps, and makes both his Ace and King of diamonds, should be carefully studied. At trick 8, if he put on the ace of clubs, B might have the 8, and he would lose both his King and the Queen on the Ten, giving him only 60 points. It must be remembered that A knows every card out against him, because he has seen the skat cards. A wins his 12 points; a heart Tourné with one.
A SOLO.Vorhand has refused a bid of 18, and announces spade Solo with the following cards:—