Skat in 5 minutes

Twelve rules, then you can start playing.

1. 1

   There are 32 cards and 3 players: a pack of cards without the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

2. 2

   Everyone gets 10 cards; the other 2 lie face down on the table – that is the Skat.

3. 3

   Skat is a trick-taking game with 10 tricks: everyone plays one card, and the highest wins the trick.

4. 4

   You must follow the suit of the first card. Only if you have none of that suit may you play another card – but it cannot win the trick (unless it is a trump).

5. 5

   Before play there is bidding: whoever bids highest becomes the declarer. The two defenders play together against the declarer.

6. 6

   The side that wins a trick gets all the points in it: A = 11, 10 = 10, K = 4, D = 3, B = 2; the other cards count nothing.

   11

   10

   4

   3

   2

7. 7

   There are 120 points in all. The declarer needs 61 points to win; with 60 the game is lost.

8. 8

   Order within a suit: A > 10 > K > D > 9 > 8 > 7.

9. 9

   Whoever wins the bidding chooses the game: in a suit game that suit is highest; in a Grand only the B are trumps.

10. 10

    The B are always trumps and higher than any trump of a suit. Their order: ♣ clubs, ♠ spades, ♥ hearts, ♦ diamonds. When the card led is not a trump, a B cannot be used to follow its suit – even if it has the same suit.

11. 11

    The declarer may exchange the Skat with cards from the hand; the points of the two cards put back count for the declarer.

12. 12

    Null: the declarer wins by taking no trick at all. There are no trumps; the B go back to their own suits. Order: A > K > D > B > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7.