Rikken

The Dutch whist of secret partners. Call an ace to find yours, go it alone, or take exactly one trick in a Piek. 4 players.

Who To Play With

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How to play Rikken

  1. 1Four players, each for themselves, 13 cards each. Aces are high.
  2. 2Starting left of the dealer, each player passes or bids higher than the bid before. Once you pass you're out of the bidding. If everyone passes, the cards are thrown in.
  3. 3From lowest to highest: Rik, Rik in Hearts, Nine Alone, Piek, Ten Alone, Misère, Open Piek, Open Misère and All Thirteen.
  4. 4Rik: name trump (hearts in Rik in Hearts), then call an ace you don't hold, outside trump, in a suit you have at least one card of. Whoever holds it is your partner, and the two of you need 8 tricks. If you hold every ace you could call, call a king instead.
  5. 5Nobody says who holds the called ace. Its holder must play it the first time its suit is led, and may only lead that suit with the ace itself. Once it's played, everyone knows the partnership.
  6. 6Nine, Ten Alone and All Thirteen: name trump and take that many tricks on your own. Piek: take exactly one trick, no trump. Misère: take none, no trump. In the open ones your cards are face up from the first lead.
  7. 7The player left of the dealer leads (in All Thirteen, the bidder does). Follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
  8. 8Values: Rik 6, Rik in Hearts 7, Nine Alone 9, Piek 10, Ten Alone 12, Misère 14, Open Piek 18, Open Misère 24, All Thirteen 36. In a Rik, Nine or Ten Alone each trick over or under the target adds 1.
  9. 9A lone player who makes it collects the value from each of the other three, and pays each of them if they fail. In a Rik each partner gains the value and each opponent loses it, or the other way round.
  10. 10After 8 deals, the highest total wins.

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