The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (109 page)

Non-trumps † K (Fuil) beats only the Ober of the special suit

† O

beats nothing

(Hiratä)

†7

wins only if led to a trick, and even when led is beaten by

†U

Note that only the top six cards are full trumps. The next four are only partial trumps, and the King, Ober and Seven of the special suit are not trumps at all.

Example: Assume trump. The cards played to a trick are O 3 K 6. Of these:

O Establishes the suit led

3 Beats it, because it is an Ober-beater

Beats 3, because the King is of the suit led, and the Three is not a King-

K beater. Had a different King been played, the Three would have beaten it for

not being of the suit led.

6 Takes the trick, as it is a King-beating trump. It would have beaten any other King.

Initial deal Before the deal, the player at dealer’s left cuts the cards

and shows the bot om card of the top half, which wil be at the

bot om of the pack and so out of play when the cut is completed.

This is for information only. If it is a Banner, he must cut again

elsewhere until some other card appears. Each player receives

seven cards, but not al at once. First, deal one card face up to the

right and to partner, then pause. If either card is a Banner, its owner

should immediately declare it to be a Kaiser, otherwise it remains a

commoner. Then deal a card face up to the left and to self, and

pause again for making Kaisers and raising the game value.

Raising the game value At the start of a hand, the value of the game

is 4 points. During the deal, this may be increased in either of two

ways.

1. Whenever a Kaiser is declared, the captain of the team

declaring it must of er to raise the game value by 1 or 3

declaring it must of er to raise the game value by 1 or 3

points. The second captain may either accept the raise and

play on, or resign, losing only the game value that obtained

before the raise was announced. If a 1-point raise is accepted,

the first captain may increase the raise from 1 to 3, with the

same consequence. (It is usual to raise by 3 immediately.)

2. At any point during the deal, either captain may announce

‘Three up’ (Spieldrei), thereby of ering to raise the stake by 3

points. The other captain may accept and play on, or resign

for the previously existing value. Three up may be cal ed any

number of times, but not by the same team twice in

succession.

Trump With four cards dealt, one to each player, the special suit is

now declared to be that of the lowest card so far showing, other

than Banners (Kaisers). Of equal y low cards, it is that of the one

dealt first.

Remainder of deal Al additional cards are dealt face down. Deal

two to the right and to partner, then pause, then two to the left and

to self and pause again. The pauses are to al ow for any declaration

of Kaisers and for any raising of the game value that may ensue.

Banners need not be declared immediately: their holders may delay

declarations until the dealing is finished. Next, deal four more cards

each, in two rounds of two, and without pausing for raising, until

everyone has seven cards in al . Final y, each player reduces his

hand to five by throwing out any two unwanted cards, face down.

More Kaisers Each in turn, starting with eldest, may now promote

any unannounced Banners they hold into Kaisers, and the team

captain may accordingly raise the game value by 1 or 3 points for

each. A player holding two or more should promote them one at a

time, enabling the opponents to resign after each one if they wish,

or to accept the game without knowing that another may be

declared against them. This continues until one side resigns or

everyone has declared their Kaisers.

Play Eldest leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick leads

to the next. Any card may be played: there is no need to fol ow suit.

It is usual to play each card in front of oneself rather than to the

centre of the table. It is also usual to play a losing card face down,

but if it is a Kaiser this fact must be announced, though its actual

suit need not be stated. (It is legal to play any card face down, but it

can never win a trick.)

If a common suit is led, or the King or Ober of the special suit,

the trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, unless it

contains a trump of suf icient power to beat it.

If a trump is led, the trick is taken by the highest trump played.

If the †7 is led, it wins the trick unless the Joos (†U) appears.

The Joos itself can then be beaten only by †5 or B. (Neither of

these, however, beats the Seven if the Joos is not played.) If †7 is

not led, it loses.

Signal ing Both during the deal and in the course of the game,

players may indicate to their partners the holding of particular

cards by means of facial and bodily signals, preferably when neither

opponent is looking. This is not cheating, so long as the signals

accord with a universal y recognized code (like bidding conventions

at Bridge). The recognized signals are as fol ows:

Mugg ( B)

puff up one cheek

Trump Five

wink

Joos (†U)

stick tongue out

other K-beater shrug shoulder

low trump

waggle finger as though writing

trump Seven silently mouth the word ‘seven’

King

wrinkle nose

King

glance sideways

King

look up

King

look down