Part 47
_=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:--
In any of the other suits the rank would be:--
_=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:--
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
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:--
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.
_=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 called _=Null=_, or Nullo, and _=Null 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.
When _=Ramsch=_ is 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.