Skat

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Bidding
5. Picking up the Skat
6. Game types
7. Playing the tricks
8. Winning and losing
9. Game value
10. Scoring
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Skat is Germany's most popular card game, played by three players. It is a trick-taking game: everyone plays one card, the highest card wins all three, and these three cards form a trick. Every hand begins with an auction called bidding. The highest bidder becomes the declarer, may pick up two extra cards and plays alone against the other two, who work together as a team. In a normal game the declarer needs 61 of the 120 card points to win.

These rules follow the International Skat Order (ISkO), the official rules of the German and international Skat associations.

• Players: 3 (with 4, the dealer sits out each hand).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, and paper and pencil for scoring.

The cards

Skat uses 32 cards: the 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A of each suit. Take out all 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s (20 cards) and put them aside – the easiest way is to go through the deck face up and pull out every card lower than 7.

Trumps and card order

Trumps are cards that beat every non-trump card. In Skat the four Jacks are always the highest trumps, in this fixed order:

J♣ (highest) – J♠ – J♥ – J♦

In a suit game, the declarer also chooses a trump suit. Its cards follow directly below the Jacks. In every suit the order is:

A – 10 – K – Q – 9 – 8 – 7

Note that the Ten ranks just below the Ace. So in a game with clubs as trumps, there are 11 trumps: J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ A♣ 10♣ K♣ Q♣ 9♣ 8♣ 7♣. The other three suits have 7 cards each.

A Jack always belongs to the trumps, never to its printed suit. The J♥ is not a heart – it is a trump.

Card points

The cards in your tricks are worth card points:

All 32 cards together are worth 120 card points.

Setup

1. Seats: the player to the dealer's left is called forehand (in German Vorhand), the next one middlehand (Mittelhand), the next one rearhand (Hinterhand). With three players the dealer is rearhand. After each hand the deal passes to the left.
2. Shuffle and cut: the dealer shuffles; the player to the dealer's right cuts.
3. Deal: clockwise, starting with forehand: 3 cards to each player, then 2 cards face down in the middle, then 4 cards each, then 3 cards each. Everyone has 10 cards.
4. The two cards in the middle are called the Skat. Nobody looks at them yet.

Bidding

Bidding decides who plays alone. You bid numbers; each number is the value of a game you might be able to play (see Game value below). The possible bids are:

18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 54, 55, 59, 60 …

Bidding happens in two rounds:

1. Middlehand bids to forehand. Middlehand says a number (starting at 18, then going up step by step). Forehand listens: they answer "yes" if they are willing to play at least that value, or "pass". Middlehand keeps raising until one of the two passes.
2. Rearhand bids to the winner of the first round, starting with the next higher number. Again, the winner of round one answers "yes" or "pass", until one of them passes.

The survivor is the declarer and has promised to play a game worth at least the last bid. You may pass at any time, even before saying anything. If middlehand and rearhand both pass straight away, forehand may play at 18 or pass as well. If all three pass, the cards are thrown in and the next dealer deals.

Example: Anna is forehand, Ben middlehand, Clara rearhand. Ben: "18?" – Anna: "Yes." – Ben: "20?" – "Yes." – "22?" – "Yes." – "23?" – "Yes." – "24?" – "Yes." Ben: "Pass." Now Clara bids to Anna: "27?" – Anna: "Yes." – Clara: "30?" – "Yes." – Clara: "Pass." Anna is the declarer and must play a game worth at least 30.

Picking up the Skat

The declarer now has two choices:

• Pick up the Skat: take the two cards into your hand, then put any two cards face down back as the new Skat. These two cards count for the declarer at the end.
• Play "Hand": leave the Skat untouched. This makes the game worth more (see below). The Skat still belongs to the declarer and its points are added at the end.

Then the declarer announces the game type.

Game types

• Suit game: the declarer names a trump suit – clubs, spades, hearts or diamonds. Trumps are the four Jacks plus the seven cards of that suit.
• Grand: only the four Jacks are trumps. All four suits have 7 cards each in the order A 10 K Q 9 8 7.
• Null: there are no trumps, card points don't matter, and the declarer must not win a single trick. In a Null game the order in every suit is the natural one: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 (the Jacks are ordinary cards, the Ten sits between Jack and Nine). In Null ouvert the declarer puts all their cards face up on the table before the first card is played.

Playing the tricks

Forehand always leads the first trick, no matter who is declarer. Play goes clockwise.

1. Follow suit: you must play a card of the suit that was led. Remember that Jacks belong to the trumps: if a Jack is led, you must play a trump if you have one; if the J♥ is led in a clubs game, hearts don't have to be followed.
2. If you can't follow, you may play any card – a trump or any other card. You don't have to trump.
3. The highest trump wins the trick. If there is no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
4. The winner takes the trick, places it face down in front of them and leads to the next trick.

The two defenders collect their tricks together. After all 10 tricks, each side counts its card points; the Skat counts for the declarer.

Winning and losing

• Suit game or Grand: the declarer wins with 61 or more card points. With 60 or less, the declarer loses (so 60 is enough for the defenders).
• Schneider: a side with 30 card points or fewer is Schneider (literally "tailor"). If the declarer takes 90 or more, the defenders are Schneider; if the declarer takes 30 or fewer, the declarer is.
• Schwarz: a side that wins no trick at all is schwarz ("black").
• Null: the declarer wins if they take no trick, and loses as soon as they take one. The game usually ends at that moment.

Game value

The game value is what the game is worth on the score sheet.

For Null, the value is fixed:

For suit games and Grand, multiply a base value by a multiplier:

The multiplier

First count the tops: look at the declarer's cards together with the Skat and check the trumps from the top down (J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦, then A, 10, K … of the trump suit).

• If the declarer holds the J♣, count how many top trumps in an unbroken row they hold: that is "with 1", "with 2", … For example J♣ J♠ but no J♥ = with 2.
• If the declarer does not hold the J♣, count how many top trumps are missing before the first one they hold: that is "without 1", "without 2", … For example no J♣, no J♠, but the J♥ = without 2.

In a Grand only the four Jacks count, so there are at most 4 tops.

Then add one for each of these that applies:

Announcing Schneider or Schwarz is only allowed in a Hand game and must happen before the first card is played. If you announce it, you must achieve it (at least 90 card points, or all tricks) or you lose. Schwarz announced includes Schneider announced. Ouvert in a suit game or Grand means playing Hand with all cards face up and having to win every trick, so it always includes Hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz and Schwarz announced.

Example: Anna bid 30. She picks up the Skat and plays clubs. In her hand and the Skat she has J♣ and J♠ but not J♥: with 2. Add 1 for game: 3. Game value: 3 × 12 = 36. That is at least 30 – fine. If she had also made the defenders Schneider, it would be with 2, game 3, Schneider 4: 4 × 12 = 48.

Overbidding

After the hand, the game value is worked out from the actual cards and result. If it is lower than the bid, the declarer has overbid and loses, even with 61 or more card points. The value of such a lost game is the lowest multiple of the base value that reaches the bid.

Example: Ben bid 30 and plays hearts. He has the J♠ but not the J♣: without 1, game 2, so 2 × 10 = 20 – less than 30. Ben has overbid and loses. The game counts as 30 (3 × 10, the smallest multiple of 10 that is at least 30).

Tip: check your tops before you bid – and remember that a Jack in the Skat can change them.

Scoring

One player keeps a score sheet with a column for each player. After each hand, only the declarer scores:

• Won: plus the game value.
• Lost: minus twice the game value.

The defenders score nothing in the official list.

Example: Anna plays clubs with 2 (value 36). At the end she counts her tricks and the Skat: 58 card points. That's not enough – she loses. Her score: −72 (2 × 36). With 61 she would have scored +36.

Winning the game

Agree beforehand how many hands you will play – a number that everyone can deal equally often (e.g. 18 or 36 at a three-player table). The player with the highest total at the end wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count Jacks first. Jacks are the strongest cards. With two or more Jacks and a long suit (5 cards or more), you can usually bid for a suit game.
• Don't overbid. Before you say "yes", work out the highest value your hand can reach: tops + 1, times the base value of your best suit.
• Discard wisely. Put an Ace or a Ten into the Skat only if it would otherwise be lost – the Skat's points are safe for you. Discarding all cards of a short suit lets you trump that suit later.
• Help your partner as defender. When your partner is winning a trick, throw a high card (schmieren, "grease") – an Ace or a Ten. When the declarer wins, give away low cards.
• Count the points. Keep track of how many card points each side has, especially the Aces and Tens still out.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before you start. Ramsch, Bock rounds and Kontra/Re are popular house rules; Seeger-Fabian scoring is what clubs and tournaments use.

• Ramsch: when all three pass, instead of a new deal, a Ramsch is played. Everyone plays for themselves, only the Jacks are trumps (as in a Grand), and the Skat goes to the winner of the last trick. The player with the most card points loses them (they are written as minus points). Many tables double the score for a player who took no trick at all.
• Bock rounds: after special events – e.g. a game won or lost 60 to 60, or a Kontra and Re – the next round (one deal per player) is a Bock round in which all scores count double.
• Kontra and Re: a defender who thinks the declarer will lose can say "Kontra" before the first trick; this doubles the game. The declarer can answer "Re" to double it again.
• Seeger-Fabian scoring: used in tournaments. In addition to the game value, the declarer gets +50 for every game won and −50 for every game lost; when the declarer loses, each defender gets +40 (at a four-player table, the other three get +30 each).