Doppelkopf

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Trumps and plain suits
4. Setup
5. Playing a trick
6. Finding your partner
7. Announcements
8. Hochzeit (marriage)
9. Solos
10. Scoring
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Doppelkopf is a trick-taking game for four players, very popular in northern and western Germany. Everyone plays one card in turn; the highest card wins all four cards, which together form a trick. The cards in your tricks are worth card points.

In each game, two players play against the other two – but at first nobody knows who is on which team. The two players holding the Queens of Clubs (♣Q) form the Re team; the other two are the Kontra team. The Re team needs 121 of the 240 card points to win; Kontra wins with 120. A session consists of many games, and each player keeps a running score of game points.

These rules follow the tournament rules of the German Doppelkopf Association (Deutscher Doppelkopf-Verband, DDV).

• Players: exactly 4.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks with the same back, and paper and pencil for scoring.

The cards

From each deck take out the 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces – 24 cards per deck, 48 cards together. Every card is now in the game twice. The other cards are not used.

Each card is worth these card points:

All 48 cards together are worth 240 card points.

Trumps and plain suits

Trumps are special cards that beat every other card. In a normal game there are 26 trumps. From highest to lowest:

1. ♥10 – the two Tens of Hearts, called the Dullen
2. Queens: ♣Q (the "old ones", die Alten), ♠Q, ♥Q, ♦Q
3. Jacks: ♣J, ♠J, ♥J, ♦J
4. Diamonds: ♦A, ♦10, ♦K, ♦9

So all Queens, all Jacks, the ♥10s and all Diamonds are trumps. The remaining 22 cards are the plain suits, ranked from high to low:

• Clubs and Spades: A, 10, K, 9
• Hearts: A, K, 9 (the ♥10s are trumps!)

Important: a Queen or Jack belongs to the trumps, not to its suit. The ♣Q is a trump, not a club.

Because every card exists twice, two identical cards can meet in one trick. Then the one played first wins. According to the DDV rules this also applies to the ♥10: the first Dulle beats the second.

Setup

1. Seats and dealer: draw lots for the seats and the first dealer. After each game the deal passes to the left.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and lets the player on their right cut. Then they deal 3 cards at a time, face down, starting with the player on their left, until everyone has 12 cards.
3. Reservations: starting left of the dealer, each player says either "healthy" (gesund) – nothing special – or "reservation" (Vorbehalt) if they want to play a solo or have both ♣Q (see Hochzeit and Solos below). If everyone is healthy, a normal game is played.

The player left of the dealer leads to the first trick.

Playing a trick

The player on lead plays any card face up. Then the others each play one card, clockwise.

• Following: if a trump was led, you must play a trump if you have one. If a plain suit was led, you must play a card of that suit if you have one (remember: Queens, Jacks and ♥10 don't count as their suit).
• If you can't follow, you may play any card – a trump to win the trick, or a plain card to throw away.

Who wins the trick? The highest trump in the trick. If there is no trump, the highest card of the suit led. Of two identical cards, the one played first ranks higher. The winner takes the four cards face down and leads to the next trick.

Example: Anna leads ♦K (a trump). Ben must play a trump and plays ♥J. Carla plays ♥10, Dave the other ♥10. Carla wins – her Dulle was played first. The trick is worth 4 + 2 + 10 + 10 = 26 card points.

Example: Ben leads ♥A. Carla has no Hearts left except a ♥10 – but that is a trump, so she has no Heart and may play any card. She trumps with ♦9 and wins the trick, unless someone plays a higher trump.

Finding your partner

In a normal game the two ♣Q holders are the Re team – but they don't know each other. You find out during play:

• A player who plays a ♣Q shows that they are Re.
• A player who announces "Re" or "Kontra" (see below) reveals their team.
• A player who can't follow when trump is led shows they have no ♣Q left.

Hiding or revealing your team at the right moment is a big part of the game. Signalling by any other means is not allowed.

Announcements

To raise the stakes, a team may announce that it will win:

• "Re" (by a ♣Q holder) or "Kontra" (by a Kontra player): each is worth +2 game points for the winners.
• After their own team has said Re or Kontra, a player may add a bid against the other team – "no 90" (keine 90), "no 60", "no 30" or "schwarz" (the other team will win no trick). Each is worth +1 more.

Deadlines: you may only announce while you still hold at least:

In other words, Re or Kontra must be said before you play your second card. As a reply to the other team's announcement, "Re" or "Kontra" is allowed with one card fewer than they needed. You may skip steps (e.g. say "Re, no 90" at once) as long as every skipped step would still be allowed.

Announcements change the target:

• If only Kontra was announced, Re wins with 120, and Kontra needs 121.
• A team that bids "no 90" needs 151 card points (no 60: 181, no 30: 211, schwarz: every trick). The other team then wins with 90 (60, 30, one trick).
• If both teams miss their own bids, nobody wins; only the achieved points below are scored.

Example: Anna holds a ♣Q and a strong hand. Before playing her second card she says "Re". Dave, on the other team, still holds 11 cards and replies "Kontra" (a reply would even be allowed with 10). Now Re needs 121 and Kontra 120, and the winners get 2 + 2 = 4 extra game points. Later Anna adds "no 90" while she still has 10 cards: now Re needs 151 – but Kontra wins as soon as it reaches 90.

Hochzeit (marriage)

If you hold both ♣Q, you are the whole Re team – for now. Say "reservation" and then "Hochzeit" (marriage). The first other player who wins one of the first three tricks becomes your partner and plays Re with you; from then on it is a normal game. If you win all of the first three tricks yourself, you play alone as a solo (with normal trumps) against the other three.

In a Hochzeit, announcements are allowed only after the trick that decides the partner; if that is the 2nd (3rd) trick, the deadlines above drop by 1 (2) cards.

If you keep quiet with both ♣Q, you play a silent Hochzeit: you play alone against the other three, scored like a solo.

Solos

A player may say "reservation" and then play a solo: alone against the other three. The soloist is Re, the others are Kontra. A solo beats a Hochzeit. There are four kinds:

• Suit solo (Farbsolo): the soloist names a suit. Trumps are as usual (♥10, Queens, Jacks), but the named suit's A, 10, K, 9 replace the Diamonds. In a Hearts solo only ♥A, ♥K, ♥9 are added.
• Queen solo (Damensolo): only the eight Queens are trumps. Plain suits: A, 10, K, J, 9.
• Jack solo (Bubensolo): only the eight Jacks are trumps. Plain suits: A, 10, K, Q, 9.
• No trumps (Fleischloser): no trumps at all. Each suit: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.

As in a normal game, the player left of the dealer leads.

Scoring

At the end, each team counts the card points in its tricks. The winning team gets these game points:

Special points (normal games only) go to whichever team earns them, even the losers:

• Against the old ones (gegen die Alten): Kontra wins – +1 for Kontra.
• Doppelkopf: a trick worth 40 or more card points – +1.
• Fox caught (Fuchs gefangen): winning a trick containing an ♦A of the other team – +1 per fox.
• Karlchen: winning the last trick with a ♣J – +1.

Special points of both teams cancel each other out; the rest is added to or subtracted from the winners' game points. Each winner writes down plus the result, each loser minus the same amount – the four scores always add up to zero.

Solo: only the points from the table count, no special points. The soloist scores three times the value (plus or minus); each opponent scores it once with the opposite sign.

Example: Anna and Carla are Re and said "Re". Their tricks hold 185 card points, so Kontra has 55. Re wins: won 1 + Kontra under 90 1 + under 60 1 + "Re" announced 2 = 5. Special points: Carla made a Doppelkopf (+1 Re), but Ben caught Anna's fox (+1 Kontra) – they cancel out. Anna and Carla each score +5, Ben and Dave −5.

Example: Dave plays a Queen solo and wins with 150 card points; nobody announced anything. Value: won 1 = 1 (Kontra reached 90). Dave scores +3, the other three −1 each.

Winning the game

Play an agreed number of games – in tournaments a session has 24 games. The player with the highest total of game points wins.

Tips for beginners

• Know the trumps. 26 of 48 cards are trumps – memorise the order before your first game: ♥10, Queens, Jacks, Diamonds.
• Watch the ♣Q. Keep track of who has played one; it tells you who your partner is.
• Feed points to your partner. When your partner is sure to win a trick, add an Ace or Ten to it ("fatten" the trick).
• Protect your ♦A. Your fox is a gift to the other team if they win it – play it into a trick your team is winning.
• Announce only with a strong hand. "Re" or "Kontra" doubles the risk, too: the losers pay the extra points.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• Without nines: remove the 9s – 40 cards, 10 each. Trumps become even more important. Agree on the announcement deadlines (e.g. two cards fewer, so the first trick is still free for Re/Kontra).
• Schweinchen (piglets): a player holding both ♦A may show them; they become the highest trumps, above the Dullen.
• Second Dulle wins: at many tables the second ♥10 beats the first – often except in the last trick.
• Hochzeit rules: the Hochzeit player may choose the partner trick, e.g. "first trick", "first trump trick" or "first plain trick".
• Compulsory solo (Pflichtsolo): each player must play one solo per session. The soloist leads, and the same dealer deals again afterwards. In tournaments a session is 20 normal games plus 4 compulsory solos.
• Poverty (Armut): a player with three trumps or fewer may declare poverty and pass their trumps face down to another player who accepts; that player returns the same number of cards. The two play Re together. If nobody accepts, the cards are redealt.