Foster's Complete Hoyle: An Encyclopedia of Games Including all indoor games played to-day. With suggestions for good play, illustrative hands, and all official laws to date

Part 48

Chapter 484,331 wordsPublic domain

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 called _=schneider=_. If he can take every trick, he wins a treble game, which is called _=schwartz=_. 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 called _=Frage=_, _=Tourné=_, _=Solo=_, and _=Grand=_, 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 a _=Frage=_, 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 a _=Tourné=_, 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 called _=Passt mir Nicht=_.

In a _=Solo=_, 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 a _=Grand=_ there 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 a _=Grand Tourné=_. A player may make it a grand without seeing either of the skat cards. This is called a _=Grand 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 a _=Grand Ouvert=_. A Frage cannot be played as a Grand under any circumstances. A player may announce _=Gucki 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 a _=Gucki 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.

_=Revolution=_ is 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.

_=Uno=_ and _=Duo=_ are 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 Mittelhand have 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:--

Frage, in the order of the suits. Tourné, in the order of the suits. Grand Tourné. Solo in diamonds, hearts and spades. Nullo, worth 20. Solo in clubs. Grand Solo, worth 16. Null ouvert, worth 40. Grand ouvert.

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 of hand.” 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:--

| Points won and lost. | | Score Card. | | 1st Round.| 2nd Round.| 3rd Round.| | A | B | C | +-----------+-----------+-----------+ +----+----+----+ | A won 33 | A lost 16 | C lost 36 | | +33| +40| +55| | C won 55 | B won 40 | B won 48 | | +17| +88| +67| | C won 12 | A lost 24 | C lost 12 | | -7| | +31| | | | | +----+ +----+ | | | | | | | +19|

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 take A, 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.

+-----+-----+-----+ | A | B | C | +-----+-----+-----+ | -7 | +88 | +19 | +-----+-----+-----+ | -95 | +95 | +26 | | -26 | +69 | -69 | +-----+-----+-----+ |-121 |+164 | -43 | +-----+-----+-----+

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:

+------+------+------------ A | B | C | D ------+------+------+------------ +186 | +42 | +344 | +116 ------+------+------+------------ +144 | 0 | +302 | +74 = 520 +4 | 4 | 4 | 4 ------+------+------+------------ +576 | 0 |+1208 | +296 -520 | -520 | -520 | -520 ------+------+------+------------ +56 | -520 | +688 | -224 ------+------+------+------------

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:--

+------+------+--------------------- A | B | C | D ------+------+------+--------------------- 186 | 42 | 344 | 116 = 688 ÷ 4 = 172 172 | 172 | 172 | 172 ------+------+------+--------------------- +14 | -130 | +172 | -56 ------+------+------+---------------------

The average is simply deducted from each score, and the remainder is the amount won or lost, in cents.