Schnapsen: Schnapsen (also called Snapzer) is another two player game which is played very similarly to Sixty-Six. Schnapsen, which originated in Austria, is played using a 20 card deck which consists of all cards of the following denominations being removed from a standard deck; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (high to low); Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack.
Determination of first dealer and shuffle are the same as in Sixty-Six. After the shuffle, the dealer deals each player a three card packet face down. He then deals one face up card to the center of the table for determination of trump. He then deals each player a two card face-down packet such that each player has a five card hand. He then places the remaining stock face-down on the table, partially covering the exposed trump determination card.
After the hands are dealt, the non-dealer begins by playing any card of his choice from his hand to begin the first trick. During this first phase of the game (before the stock is exhausted), when playing a card to a trick a player is not obliged to play a card of the same suit as led, and thus may play any card from his hand (including a card of the trump suit). The highest card of the trump suit wins the trick. If no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it. The winner of each trick plays the first card to the next trick (which may be any card of his choice from his hand). The winner of the trick takes the top card of the stock and his opponent takes the next card from the stock.
When the last card of the stock is drawn by the winner of a trick, his opponent then takes the exposed trump card. At this time the rules of play change somewhat. When playing a card to a trick led by the opponent, a player must play a card of the same suit as led if he has one and must attempt to win the trick with a higher card of that suit. If he does not have a card of the same suit as led but he does have a card of the trump suit, he must play that. If he has no cards of the suit led or cards of the trump suit he may play any other card from his hand. The highest card of the trump suit played to the trick wins the trick. However, if no cards of the trump suit have been played to the trick the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it.
On a player's turn to lead (and providing he has previously won at least one trick in the current hand), a player may show a Marriage. A Marriage is a Queen and King of the same suit. After showing the cards which form the Marriage he then leads to the next trick but must lead with one of the cards which comprise the Marriage.
If a player has the Jack of the trump suit in hand, he may exchange it for the exposed trump card on his turn as long as there are at least two cards remaining in the stock (including the face-down trump card and the exposed trump card). Once the deck is exhausted the deck is closed. However, a player may also opt to close the deck before this time. On his turn, when a player has the lead (and has won at least one trick) he may opt to close the deck before it has become exhausted. He does this by turning the exposed trump card face-down. Once the deck has been closed, player's may no longer draw cards from the stock and complete the hand using the cards in hand. If neither player closes the deck before it is exhausted the players continue drawing until the deck has been depleted and then complete the game using the last cards in hand.
Once the last trick is played, the hand is then scored. The following chart shows the scores that can be earned during the hand:
- Cards won in tricks:
Each card a player manages to win in a trick has a scoring value as per the following chart:
| Card | Scoring Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
- Marriages:
Each Marriage a player scores earns a number of points for that player. A Royal Marriage (King and Queen both of the trump suit) scores 40 points and a standard Marriage (King and Queen of the same suit, non-trump) scores 20 points. Players may continue to meld and score for marriages after the deck is closed or is exhausted.
A major difference in Schnapsen as opposed to Sixty-Six is regarding the last trick. If neither player knocks, the winner of the last trick of the hand automatically wins the hand (earning one Game Point). Thus, regardless of how many points either player has earned, in the case of the deck not being closed, the player winning the last trick of the hand wins that hand.
Knocking: If a player believes he has earned at least 66 points during the current hand he may knock. He may only knock immediately after melding a Marriage or before his normal lead to a trick. When a player knocks the game immediately ends and the scores calculated to determine if the player who knocked was able to score the requisite number of points needed to win the hand.
Game Points: Also different from the parent game, in Schanpsen, a subtractive scoring system is used. Each player starts with a total of 7 Game Points and certain winning conditions allow subtraction of some number of points from the player's current total.
The following shows all possible combinations of Game Points which can be subtracted during a hand:
- As mentioned previously, when neither player knocks, the winner of the last trick of the hand wins that hand, allowing that player to subtract 1 Game Point from his total.
- If a player knocks and is unable to score 66 or more points, that player's opponent subtracts 2 Game Points from his own score.
- If a player knocks when his opponent has won no tricks, but that player is then unable to score 66 or more points, his opponent is entitled to subtract 3 Game Points from his current total.
- A player who knocks and manages to earn 66 or more points during the hand and his opponent has scored 33 or more points, the winning player subtracts 1 Game Point from his total.
- If a player knocks and manages to earn 66 or more points and his opponent scores more than 1 point but less than 33 points (called schneider), the winning player subtracts 2 Game Points.
- If a player knocks, managing to earn 66 or more points and his opponent won no tricks during the hand (called schwarz), the winner subtracts 3 Game Points from his current total.
If the deck was closed by either player during the hand, the point scoring is the same, however points to be subtracted (for Schneider or Schwarz) are based on the points scored by the opponent up to the time when the deck was actually closed.
The first player to subtract enough Game Points from his hand to bring that score to 0 or below is declared the overall winner of the game.
Four Hand Sixty-Six: Four hand Sixty-Six is a variation of Sixty-Six designed to be played by four players, playing in two partnerships.
This variant uses a Skat deck, which consists of a standard deck with all cards below the seven removed. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8, 7.
Determination of partnerships is usually performed by dealing cards from a shuffled deck around the table until an Ace is dealt. Cards are continued to be dealt to the players (excluding the player who received the first Ace) until another Ace is dealt. The two players who received these Aces then play as partnerships against the remaining two players. The partners should sit directly across from each other at the table. The player who received the first Ace is usually set as the first dealer.
After the players are seated the deck is shuffled and offered to the dealer's right-hand opponent to cut. After the cut, the dealer begins dealing, starting with the player to his immediate left and continuing in a clockwise rotation. He begins by dealing a three card face-down packet to each player and then follows with a two card packet and completes the deal with another three card packet. He turns the last of his own cards face-up to determine the trump suit for the hand (The suit of this exposed card is set as the trump suit for this hand). He keeps this card face-up in front of himself until after the first trick is played during the hand.
Play starts with the player to the dealer's immediate left who leads any card of his choice from his hand to start the first trick. Each other player, in a clockwise rotation then plays one card of his own to the trick. When playing to the trick the player must follow suit if able. If he does not have a card of the suit led to the trick, he must play a card of the trump suit (if he has one). If he does not have a card of the suit led or a card of the trump suit he may play any other card from his hand to the trick. If a card of the trump suit is the lead card in a trick, each player must attempt to win the trick if possible (play a higher card of the trump suit then any previously led).
If the trick contains any cards from the trump suit, the player who played the highest such card wins the trick. If the trick contains no cards of the trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it. The trick should be set aside, face-down for later scoring. The winner of each trick leads any card of his choice from his hand to begin the next trick.
The game continues until all the tricks have been played and won. The object of the game is to be the first partnership to score a total of seven Game Points. Game Points are earned in the following ways:
- Game:
Each of the cards won in a trick has a card point value. At the end of the game, both partnerships count each of the point scoring cards won in tricks. The card point value for the cards in this game are as follows:
| Card | Card Point Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| Nine, Eight, Seven | 0 |
If a partnership manages to win every trick in the hand they earn three Game Points.
If a partnership captures over 100 in card points but less then 130 in card points, that partnership scores 2 Game Points.
If a partnership captures over 66 in card points but less then 100 in card points the partnership scores 1 Game Point.
If both partnerships capture exactly 65 card points during the hand neither partnership scores for Game on this hand. However, on the next hand, whichever partnership manages to score more card points earns one extra Game Point carried over from this game.
- Ten of Trumps:
The partnership which manages to capture the 10 of the trump suit earns one Game Point. This Game Point is awarded to the partnership immediately (which may allow that partnership to win the game if they already have six accumulated Game Points from prior hands).
The first partnership to score seven Game Points over the course of several hands is declared the overall game winner.
Three Hand Sixty-Six: A variation of Sixty-Six has also been developed for three players. Two of the players actively participate in each hand but the third player earns a score based on that of the winner of the hand.
Determination of the first dealer and seating positions can be done in a variety of methods with a draw for high card commonly used. After each hand, the deal rotates in a clockwise direction around the table.
The deck and ranking of the cards is identical to the standard two-hand game as described above. In fact, all aspects of this game are identical with the exception of the addition of the third player who takes the part of the dealer.
The dealer deals out the hand as in a normal game but deals only to the two other players, dealing no cards to himself. Then the two participants play as if playing the two-handed version as described. The player to the dealer's immediate left leads the first card to the first trick.
After the hand ends, the scores for the two players are calculated as normal. However, the dealer also scores for himself an amount equal to the winner of the hand in which he dealt. However, he may never score the game winning Game Point in this way, and must earn his last point as an active participant in the hand.
The first player to reach seven total points is thus declared the winner of the game and drops from the game. The remaining two players then continue playing to determine second place. At this juncture the game is played identically amongst these two players as the standard two-hand version. However, if the winning player was the player who would normally be set as the next dealer he still performs all the functions as the dealer (although he has already won the game so he will score no additional points).
Three Player Sixty-Six: In addition to the three player version of this game described above, another version has been developed in which all three players participate in every hand. The same 24 card deck is used for this variant as in the standard two player variant as described above. The ranking of the cards in this deck are also the same as in that version. Before the start of play, each player should be provided with an equal number of chips (such as 20).
Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be performed in any number of ways with drawing for high cards one of the most common. Once this is determined the dealer then deals a packet of three cards face down to each player starting with the player to his immediate left and rotating around the table in a clockwise rotation. After each player has his three-card packet, the player to the dealer's immediate left picks up his card and, based on these three cards announces the trump suit to be used for the hand. If he elects to defer selection of a trump suit, the first card of his next packet of
two cards is dealt face up, with the suit of this card automatically set as the trump suit for the hand. After this declaration, the dealer then deals a two card face-down packet to each
of the remaining players such that each player then has five total
cards. He finishes the deal by distributing a last three card face-down packet to each player such that each player ends up with a hand consisting of 8 total cards.
After the deal has completed, the player to the dealer's left leads the first card to the first trick. Each player in turn must then play one card to that trick. If a player has a card of the same suit as that led to the trick he must play it and must attempt to win the trick if possible. If he does not have a card of the suit led to the trick he must play a trump card if he has one, and again must attempt to win the trick with that card. If the player does not have a card of the suit led or the trump suit he may play any card remaining in his hand to the trick. The player who wins the trick should place the cards won to his side, face down, to be used later for scoring purposes. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.
A player, when he has the lead, may, before leading a card to a trick declare a Marriage. He must then lead one of the cards forming the Marriage to that trick. As in the standard game, a regular Marriage earns the player 20 points and a Royal Marriage (Queen and King of same suit as the trump suit) earns 40.
After all tricks have been played and won the players each sort through the cards in the tricks won and earn points for cards captured in tricks during the hand. The point values of these cards are identical to the point values in the two player game. The winner of the last trick also scores 10 points for doing so.
The player who earns the most points (card points, last trick and Marriages) earns one chip from each other player if he earned at least 33 total points during the hand. If either or both of his opponents score fewer than 33 points must give the winner two chips instead and if an opponent won no tricks during the hand, he must give the winner three chips instead. If the player who earned the most points during the hand earned fewer than 33 points during the hand (even if earning the most points during the hand) he earns no points.
At the end of a set number of hands (say 9), the player with the most chips is declared the winner of the game.
North American Sixty-Six: North American Sixty-Six is a variant of Sixty-Six that is commonly played in the United States and Canada and is especially popular with many Polish Americans in such areas. This variant uses the same 24 card deck as is used in the standard variant with the same ranking of cards in this deck. This version can be played by two, three, or four players but the most popular variant is the four handed variant which is described first.
The game is played similarly to the standard game with the following exceptions:
- The four handed version is played by four players in two partnerships. Determination of the partnerships can be performed using any method with a draw for high cards common. The partners should sit directly across the table from each other. The partnership scores as a single unit, combining all scores made during the hand.
- The dealer distributes 8 cards to each player in face-down packets of three, two then three.
- The trump suit in this variant is determined by a round of bidding. The player to the immediate left of the dealer bids first. A player's bid consists of a number which is represented by the number of points the player believes he can win during the hand. The following chart shows the bids and what that bid represents in points:
| Bid Amount | Points Required During Hand |
|---|
| 1 | 33 Total |
| 2 | 66 Total |
| 3 | 99 Total |
| 4 | 132 Total (This is the total number of points in play during a hand) |
| 5 (Also known as Moon) | The bidder must play alone (no partner) and must attempt to win every trick or lose every trick. There are actually two types of Moon bids, High Moon and Low Moon. A High Moon bid is a bid to play alone and win every trick and Low Moon is a bid to play alone and lose every trick. Once any bid of Moon is made, the bidding instantly ends with that player set as the high bidder. |
Each player in turn has one opportunity to make a bid or pass. A bid must be higher than any previous bid to be considered a legal bid.
A bid of 5 indicates the player will play without the aid of his partner, who simply places his hand face down on the table, and does not participate in this hand. The game is played by the remaining three players
and depending on whether the bid was High Moon or Low Moon the high bidder
attempts to win every trick or lose every trick.
- The player who had the highest bid wins the bidding and his high bid is the contract for his partnership for the hand. The high bidder plays the first card to the first trick. The suit of the card he leads to this first trick is set as the trump suit for the hand.
- After the first player leads to the trick, each other player then plays one card to the trick in a clockwise rotation. A player must play a card of the same suit led to the trick if he has one, and must play a higher card of that suit if he has one. If the player does not have a card of the suit led in his hand, he must play a card of the trump suit if he has one. If the player does not have a card of the suit led or the trump suit, he may play any card to the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to start the next trick.
- As in most versions of Sixty-Six, a player may declare and score for a Marriage before leading to a trick. When doing so, he must play one of the cards comprising the Marriage to the trick.
- The score for cards earned in tricks is the same as that in the standard two-handed game.
- After all tricks have been played and won, it is determined if the high bidding partnership was able to fulfill the contract. If they earned at least as many points as required for the bid, the partnership earns 1 Game Point for each 33 points earned during the
game. However, if the partnership was unable to earn at least as many points as per the high bid, the partnership must subtract from the scorecard 1 Game Point for each 33 points the partnership scored during the hand.
- If the high bidder made a High Moon bid and manages to win every trick, he earns 2 game points, however if he fails to win every trick the opposing team scores 2. Similarly if the high bid was Low Moon and the player manages to win no tricks, he scores 2 game points. However if he wins one or more tricks, the opposing partnership scores 2 points instead.
- The opponents of the bidding team can also score on the hand. If the opponents manage to score 35 or more points, they earn one Game Point for the hand.
- The first partnership to earn 15 or more Game Points at the end of a hand is declared the winner of the game.
- In the event in which both partnerships manage to reach or exceed 15 points on the same hand, the bidding team on that hand is declared the winner.
As was mentioned, this game can also be played by two or three players. The rules are the same for these versions, except there are no partners and each player always plays alone. The bid of 5 is removed, since there are normally no partnerships in this version of the game.
Gaigel: Gaigel is another variant of the root game designed for four players, playing in two partnerships consisting of two players each.
This variant uses one 48 card Pinochle deck. If a standard Pinochle deck is not available, the deck used to play Gaigel can be made from two special 24 card decks combined. These 32 card decks are a standard deck with all cards lower than eight removed. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9.
Determination of partnerships and first dealer can be done using a variety of methods, with drawing for highest and lowest cards a common method. Usually, the player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer.
The dealer then deals five cards to each player in a clockwise direction, starting with the player to his immediate left. He deals these cards in packets, first a face-down packet of two cards and then another face-down packet of three. After the deal, the dealer places the remainder of the deck as the stock, face down in the middle of the table. The suit of this exposed card is set as the trump suit for the hand.
As in standard Sixty-Six, the game is played in two phases, with the rules changing somewhat in the required play to tricks in the two phases.
The first phase begins with the player to the immediate left of the dealer leading the first card to the first trick. He may lead any card of choice from his hand. Each additional player, in a clockwise direction then plays one card to the trick. During this phase, a player is not obligated to play any particular suit of card to the trick and may play any card of choice from his hand to the trick. The trick is won by the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick. If no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick. Each player then draws one card from the top of the stock pile, starting with the winner of the trick and continuing in a
clockwise direction around the table. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick.
On a turn in which a player has the lead, he may elect to declare a meld. After declaring a meld, the player must lead one of the cards comprising the meld to the trick. If a player cannot (or chooses not) to make a meld on his turn, he may defer to his partner who may make a meld instead (if willing and able). The following shows all the melds that a player can make (and the point values of each):
| Meld | Description | Point Value |
|---|
| Common Marriage | King and Queen of Same suit (non-trump) | 20 Points |
| Royal Marriage | King and Queen of Trump Suit | 40 Points |
| Double Common Marriage | Two Kings and Two Queens all of the same suit (non-trump) | 40 Points |
| Double Royal Marriage | Two Kings and Two Queens all of the trump suit | 80 Points |
| Five Nines | Any Five Nines in the player's Hand | 111 Points |
After seven such tricks have been played, the players will all draw one last card from the stock. The last player to draw will take the exposed trump card. After this, the game enters phase two and the rules for playing to a trick change somewhat. The winner of the last trick still leads to the next trick. However, during this phase, if a player has a card of the suit led to the trick he must play it, and must attempt to win the trick if able. If the player does not have a card of the suit led to this trick, he must play a card of the trump suit if he has one and must play a trump card higher than any other played to the trick so far, if able. If the player does not have a card of the suit originally led to the trick or a card of the trump suit, he may play any card from his hand.
As in phase one, the highest card of the trump suit played to the trick wins the trick. If no card of the trump suit was played to the trick, the highest card of the suit first led to the that trick wins it. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick. The winner of the last trick of the hand earns 10 points during the hand.
Once all tricks have been won, the players sort through the set-aside cards won in tricks and determine how many card points they were able to win during the hand. These points are added to any points for winning last trick and any melds made during the hand. The following chart shows the value of each card won in a trick:
| Card | Scoring Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9 | 0 |
Players do not actually keep track of the points earned during the hand itself, but rather attempt to keep track by memory. A member of a partnership may look only at the cards won in the previous trick but not at any other previously played cards. If a team believes it has accumulated at least 101 points at any time during the hand may Knock. When this occurs the hand immediately ends and any points scored in the hand up to the current time are scored. If the team that Knocked has, in fact, earned 101 or more points during the hand, that team then earns one Game Point (which is then recorded for that team on the scoresheet). If the team that Knocked manages to score 101 before the opposing team has scored any points, that team scores 2 Game Points (called a Gaigel).
However, if a player on a partnership Knocks and his team scored less then 101 points, the opponents instead score 2 points for the Gaigel.
In addition to the standard Knock, a player may do a Reverse Knock. In this case, a team knocks if they believe the opponents have scored 101 or more points but have not declared it. If correct, the knocking players partnership scores 2 Game Points. However, if they were wrong about the Reverse Knock and the opposing team has a current hand score less than 101, those opponents score 2 Game Points.
The game continues over the course of a number of games, with the partnership having the highest score in Game Points then considered the winner of the game.
Bauernschnapsen: Bauernschnapsen is a four-player version of Schanpsen. It his
most widely played in it's original country of origin, Austria.
Bauernschnapsen is played by two opposing partnerships consisting of two players each. Determination of partnerships is usually done by a draw of cards. Each player draws from the shuffled face-down deck, with the two players drawing the highest cards playing as partners against the two players drawing the two lowest. If any players draw cards of equal rank, these players draw another card, continuing to do so until each player has a uniquely ranked card. The player drawing the highest ranked card of all is set as the first dealer. The players from each partnership should sit directly across the table from each other.
Bauernschnapsen uses a deck consisting of only 20 cards. This deck is created by removing the cards of rank 2-9 from a standard deck. The ranking of the remaining cards which comprise this deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack.
After the players are seated, the dealer then thoroughly shuffles the card and offers the deck to his right hand opponent to cut. That player has the option to cut the cards but is not required to. He either cuts the cards, handing the deck back to the dealer. If he opts not to cut the cards he simply makes a knocking motion on the top of the shuffled deck. The method of dealing depends on whether this player elected to cut the cards or not. In either case, the dealer starts with the player at his immediate left and continues in a clockwise rotation around the table.
If the cards were cut, the dealer deals out the cards in a packet of three face down cards to each player
followed by a two card packet. After the first three card packet is cut, the player to the dealer's immediate left looks at his cards and calls a trump suit for the hand. He must select a suit of which he has at least one card in this first three card packet. He may also elect to defer selection of the trump suit, in which case the first card of this player's two card packet is dealt face-up, with the suit of that card designated as the trump suit for the hand.
If the cards were not cut, the dealer deals out the cards in one five card packet to each player. However, the dealer must distinguish the first three cards to the first player as only these cards may be used by that player to designate the trump suit. After each player has five cards, the first player looks at this packet of three cards and elects a trump suit. If he elects not to make the call from these three cards, he turns over one randomly without looking at the cards from his two card packet, with the suit exposed set as the trump suit for the hand.
After the cards have been dealt and the trump suit for the hand determined, a round of bidding occurs. The following chart shows the bid ranking from lowest to highest:
| Rank | Bid | Description of Bid | Who Can Bid | First Trick Led By | Game Points Earned if Bid Made |
|---|
| 1 | Normal Game Bid | A bid for the partnership to score 66 or more card points during the hand, using the trump suit as declared during the deal as trump for the hand. | Player to dealer's immediate left | Player to Dealer's immediate left | 1 - 3 Points (See Below) |
| 2 | Bettler | Declarer plays alone without partner and attempts to lose every trick during the hand. No trump suit is used during the hand, | Any Player | High Bidder | 4 |
| 3 | Schnapser | Bid to earn 66 points in the first three tricks of the hand (with all three of these tricks won). The trump suit as originally determined during the deal is set as trump suit for the hand. | Either opponent of the Dealer | Player to dealer's immediate left | 6 |
| 4 | Gang | Declarer undertakes to win all five tricks during the hand. No trump suit is used during the hand. | Any Player | High Bidder | 9 |
| 5 | Zehner-Gang | Bid for the Declarer to win all five tricks with no trump suit. The ranking of the cards is modified during the hand, as follows; 10, King, Queen, Jack, Ace. | Any Player | High Bidder | 10 |
| 6 | Kontra-Schnapser | Bid in which Declarer must win the first three tricks using the trump suit as determined during the deal. During these first three tricks, the Declarer must earn 66 or more card points and win these first three tricks. | Dealer or his Partner | Player to Dealer's immediate left | 12 |
| 7 | Bauern-Schnapser | Bid in which the Declarer must win all five tricks during the hand using the trump suit as determined during the deal. | Either player from Opposing partnership to the Dealer | Player to Dealer's immediate left | 12 |
| 8 | Farben-Gang | Bid in which the Declarer must hold all five cards of the same suit. If this bid wins the bidding, the hand is not played and this high bidder wins the hand by showing the five cards all of the same suit. | Any Player other than player to dealer's immediate left. | Not Applicable | 18 |
| 9 | Kontra-Bauern-Gang | Bid in which the Declarer of said bid is indicating they will win all five tricks using the trump suit as originally determined during the deal. | Dealer or Dealer's Partner | Player to Dealer's immediate left | 24 |
| 10 | Herren-Schnapser | Declarer must hold all five cards in the trump suit. When this bid is made, the hand is not actually played, with the Declarer of this bid simply showing his hand. | Player to Dealer's immediate Left | Not Applicable | 24 |
As will be noticed, certain bids are only permissible by certain players. The bidding begins with the player to the immediate left of the dealer and proceeds in a clockwise rotation. This first player must make a legal bid and may not pass. The bidding then continues in a clockwise rotation round the table. Each player may pass or make a higher bid then any previously made. However, if the previous high bid was from a player with lower priority than the current bidder, the current player need only make a bid of the same rank (which is considered to be a higher ranked bid for purposes of determining the high bid for the hand). The priority of the players is as follows (from highest to lowest priority); Player to dealer's immediate left, Dealer's partner, Player to Dealer's immediate right, Dealer.
The bidding continues around the table in a clockwise direction until three consecutive players pass. The highest bid (or bid of same rank by highest priority player) then becomes the contractor for the hand and the player who made that bid becomes the Declarer for the hand. Once a player passes, he may no longer make further bids during the hand. Once the bidding has completed, either of the opponents of the Declarer may make a call of Kontra. This call doubles all scores for the hand. After a call of Kontra, the Declarer may call Rekontra, which doubles again all scores for the hand. The opponents of the Declarer can make one further doubling by calling SubKontra.
After this opportunity to Kontra, the hand begins. As can be noticed from the bidding chart, the player who leads the first card to the first trick is dependent on the bid. After this first trick, the winner of each trick leads to the next. In the case in which the Farben-Ganr or the Herren-Schnapse are the winning high bid, the hand is not actually played out, with the winning Declarer simply showing his hand to verify it fulfills the contract and the Declarer's partnership scoring the appropriate number of Game Points as per the bid.
The leader to a trick may play any card of his choice to the trick and
each other player must play a card of the suit led if they have one, and
must play a higher card of that suit if they have one. If the player
does not possess a card of that trick, they must play a card of the
trump suit if they have one, and again, must play a higher card of the
trump suit then any other card of the trump suit currently played to
that trick. If a player has no card of the suit led to the trick, he may
play any card of his choice to the trick. The trick is won by the
highest card of the trump suit found in the trick. If the trick contains
no cards of the trump suit, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick.
Before leading to a trick (when having that privilege), a player may also declare a Marriage. A Marriage is a King and Queen of the same suit. To declare a Marriage the player must show the cards comprising the Marriage and then play one of the cards of the Marriage to the trick they are leading to. A Common Marriage (King and Queen of the same suit, but not of the trump suit) scores 20 card points, and a Royal Marriage (King and Queen of the trump suit) scores 40 card points.
As in most other games of this family, each card captured in tricks scores points for the partnership (or in certain cases, for the player winning it). The following chart shows the values of cards as won in tricks:
| Card | Card Point Scoring Value |
|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
If the declared game is a Normal game, at any time during the hand if either player in the High Bidder's partnership believes they have the requisite
score of 66 or more points to fulfill the contract, may declare
"Enough". In this case, the game immediately is stopped and the points calculated to determine if the partnership does in fact have enough points to win the hand. The points earned is dependent on several factors. If the partnership has won at least 66 points and the opponents have not yet won any tricks, the partnership scores 3 Game Points. If the Declarer's partnership has scored 66 or more points and the opponents have scores less then 33 card points (but won at least one trick), the partnership scores 2 game points. If the Declarer's partnership has scored 66 or more points have scored more than 33 points, the Declarer's partnership scores 1 Game Point. If the Declarer's team calls Enough but did not obtain 66 or more points, the opposing partnership scores a similar number of points as would have the Declarer's partnership depending on the number of card points actually won by the Declarer's partnership (usually 1). These points can of course modified by any Kontras or Rekontras declared.
If the Declarer's team never
makes the declaration of "Enough", and the game is played to completion (all five tricks) and the partnership that wins the last trick scores 1 Game Point automatically (regardless of the number of other tricks or card points won by either side during the hand).
In the case of Schnapser or Kontra Schnapser only the first three tricks are played, after which the game is halted. In order for the Declarer's partnership to win the hand and score the indicated points, they must have won all three of these first three tricks and scored 66 or more points during these three tricks.
For the other bid types, if the Declarer's partnership (or in some cases the Declarer himself) was able to fulfill is bid, the indicated points are added to his partnerships score. However, if the contract was not fulfilled, the opposing partnership scores the same number of points instead. These scores are, of course, modified by any Kontras or Rekontras applied during the hand.
If, at end of any hand either team scores 24 or more total Game Points, that partnership is declared the winner of the entire game. If the opponents have scored no points at the time when the winners have scored these 24 points, this is called a Schneider, and is said to be a double win by the winning partnership.
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Sixty-Six is a fun card game which originated in Germany, known by the name Sechsundsechzig there. It appears to be a predecessor to Bezique and Pinocle. It is designed to be played by two players.
