

Players bid by announcing the game value (potential score) of their proposed contracts, not by naming a contract itself. Whoever bids highest becomes the declarer. Each of these contracts may be played either “with the skat,” in which the declarer adds the skat to his hand and makes any two discards facedown before announcing the contract, or “from the hand,” in which he leaves the skat facedown but any card points it contains count for him at the end of play (except in null). In “null” bids there are no trumps or card points, and the order of cards is ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each suit. In “grand” bids the four jacks are the only trumps, forming a separate four-card suit of their own and leaving seven cards in each of the four regular suits. Thus, there are 11 trumps and seven cards in each side suit. In suit-trump bids the four jacks are always the four highest trumps, from jack of clubs (high) through spade, heart, and diamond, followed by ace, 10, king, queen, 9, 8, 7 of the trump suit.

The declarer’s normal aim is to capture at least 61 (out of 120) card points in tricks, but the declarer may aim to capture at least 91 points (schneider) or to win all 10 tricks (schwarz) or to lose every trick (null), depending on the bid. Whoever wins the bid becomes the declarer, naming the trump suit and playing a contract against the other two players. Each player receives 10 cards, dealt in a three-(two)-four-three sequence, where “(two)” denotes two cards dealt facedown to form the skat, or widow. The current rules, followed by both the ISPA and the German Skat Federation, date from Jan. North American skat, centred on Milwaukee, Wis., and Texas skat, centred on Austin, Texas, differ somewhat from the German and international game described below. It originated in Altenburg, near Leipzig, about 1817 and is played wherever Germans have settled the International Skat Players Association (ISPA) has affiliates in more than a dozen countries. Skat, card game for three players, but usually four participate, with each player sitting out a turn as dealer.
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