Skat

How to play Skat

1. 1Three players use 32 cards (7 through ace). Everyone gets ten and two go face down as the skat. Card points: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2 (120 in all).
2. 2Bidding uses game values: 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30… First the player in middle seat names values to the player left of the dealer, who holds or passes; then the dealer bids against the survivor. If nobody bids, the first player may play at 18 or the deal is thrown in.
3. 3The winner may pick up the skat and put two cards back, or play from the hand for an extra multiplier. Then they announce a suit game, a grand, or a null.
4. 4In suit games the four jacks (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds) are the highest trumps, then A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7 of the trump suit. In a grand only the jacks are trump. Other suits rank A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7.
5. 5Forehand leads first. Follow suit if you can (jacks count as trump, not as their own suit). The declarer needs 61 card points, with the skat counting for them.
6. 6A suit game or grand is worth its base (diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12, grand 24) times: the matadors (the run of top trumps held, or missing, from the club jack down) + 1 for game, +1 for hand, +1 for schneider (a side with 30 or fewer), +1 for schwarz (a side taking no tricks).
7. 7Null: no trumps, cards rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, and the declarer must take no tricks at all. Worth 23 (35 from the hand).
8. 8If the game turns out worth less than the bid, the declarer loses it as an overbid. A won game scores its value; a lost game costs double. The defenders don't score.
9. 9We play 9 deals (three per dealer). The highest total wins.

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