Skat
Skat is Germany’s national card game and one of the most strategically complex three-player card games in existence. One player (the declarer) competes alone against the two defenders. The declarer wins the auction, picks up a 2-card blind (the Skat), discards 2 cards, and announces a game type — then tries to fulfil the contract.
Origin: Altenburg, Germany, early 19th century. Codified by the Deutscher Skatverband (German Skat Federation).
Skat — table layout
https://engine.moddable.games/play/?game=bavarian-32&variant=skat
The Deck
32 cards: 4 suits × 8 ranks (7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace). No Jokers.
Card point values:
| Rank | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9, 8, 7 | 0 |
Total: 120 card points in the deck.
Roles
- Forehand (F): Player to the left of the dealer. First to speak in the auction; leads the first trick.
- Middlehand (M): Player to the left of Forehand.
- Rearhand ®: The dealer. Last to act in the auction.
Roles rotate clockwise each deal.
Deal
Deal as follows: 3 cards each → 2 cards face-down to center (the Skat) → 4 cards each → 3 cards each. Result: 10 cards in each player’s hand; 2 cards in the Skat.
The Auction (Bidding)
Players bid the game value they believe they can achieve. Legal bids are multiples of the base game values.
Minimum bid: 18 (the lowest possible game value: Diamonds base 9 × multiplier 2).
Bidding order:
- Middlehand bids to Forehand: M names a value; F says “Yes” (willing to play at least that high) or “Pass.” Continue until one passes.
- Rearhand bids to the winner of step 1 (by the same method).
- The final bidder becomes the declarer. If all three pass, the cards are redealt or Forehand must play Ramsch (see Variants).
Picking Up the Skat and Declaring
The declarer picks up the 2-card Skat, looks at them, and discards any 2 cards face-down (the new Skat). These 2 discarded cards count in the declarer’s trick pile at the end.
The declarer then announces the game type:
| Game Type | Description | Base Value |
|---|---|---|
| Suit Game | One of the four suits is trump (in addition to all four Jacks, which are always top trump). | Clubs=12, Spades=11, Hearts=10, Diamonds=9 |
| Grand | Only the four Jacks are trump. No suit trump. | 24 |
| Null | No trump. Declarer must win zero tricks. (Fixed game values; no Skat pickup unless Hand.) | 23 |
| Null Hand | Null without picking up the Skat. | 35 |
| Null Ouvert | Null with declarer’s hand exposed face-up. | 46 |
| Null Ouvert Hand | Null Hand with cards exposed. | 59 |
Trump Hierarchy (Suit Games and Grand)
In Suit games and Grand, the four Jacks are always the top four trumps, outranking the trump suit:
- Jack of Clubs (J♣) — highest trump
- Jack of Spades (J♠)
- Jack of Hearts (J♥)
- Jack of Diamonds (J♦)
- Ace of trump suit
- 10 of trump suit
- King of trump suit
- Queen of trump suit
- 9 of trump suit
- 8 of trump suit
- 7 of trump suit (lowest trump)
In Grand, only positions 1–4 (the four Jacks) are trump. No suit rank 5–11 applies.
Non-trump suit ranking (high to low): A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7. (Jacks are always trump, never belong to their original suits.)
Matadors and the Multiplier
The game value = base value × multiplier. The multiplier is based on Matadors (consecutive top Jacks held or not held).
Counting Matadors:
- Does the declarer hold the J♣ (Jack of Clubs)? If yes: count how many consecutive top Jacks are held from J♣ downward. This is “with X.”
- If the declarer does NOT hold J♣: count how many consecutive top Jacks are missing from J♣ downward. This is “without X.”
| Matador count | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| With/Without 1 | +1 |
| With/Without 2 | +2 |
| With/Without 3 | +3 |
| With/Without 4 | +4 |
Then add +1 for Game (Spiel) — always included.
Additional multipliers (each +1 to the multiplier):
| Condition | Multiplier bonus |
|---|---|
| Schneider achieved (opponents score ≤30 card points) | +1 |
| Schneider announced before play | +1 (only valid if also achieved) |
| Schwarz achieved (opponents win zero tricks) | +1 |
| Schwarz announced before play | +1 (only valid if also achieved) |
| Hand (Skat not picked up) | +1 |
| Ouvert (hand played face-up) | +1 |
Example: Declarer plays Hearts game. Holds J♣, J♠, but not J♥ — so “with 2.” Hearts base = 10. Multiplier = 2 (matadors) + 1 (game) = 3. Game value = 10 × 3 = 30.
The final game value must be ≥ the winning bid. If the game is made but the game value is lower than the bid, the game is lost and scored negatively.
Playing Tricks
Forehand leads the first trick. Players must follow suit if able. A player holding trump must follow trump if trump is led. If unable to follow suit, any card may be played (including trump). Highest card of the led suit wins, unless trump has been played, in which case the highest trump wins. The trick winner leads the next trick.
All three players play all 10 tricks. The declarer plays alone; the two defenders cooperate to prevent the declarer from making the bid.
Win Conditions
Suit game or Grand:
- Declarer wins if their card point total (tricks + Skat) is 61 or more.
- Schneider: declarer scores 90+, or defenders score 30 or fewer.
- Schwarz: declarer wins all 10 tricks.
- Declarer loses if defenders score 60+ (or 61+ in some regional rules).
Null games:
- Declarer wins if they win zero tricks.
- Declarer loses immediately upon winning any trick (play ends; game scored as lost).
Scoring
Declarer wins:
- Score the game value (positive).
- If Schneider is achieved (without announcing): score game value including Schneider multiplier.
- If Schwarz is achieved (without announcing): score game value including Schwarz multiplier.
Declarer loses:
- Score the game value negative (−20 for a normal lost game, typically doubled: −2 × game value).
- If the game value is less than the bid (overbid): the next lower multiple of the base value that does exceed the bid is used for the negative score, and the game is still doubled.
Null games scoring:
- Made: +23, +35, +46, or +59 (fixed values, not multiplied).
- Lost: −23, −35, −46, or −59 (doubled = −46, −70, −92, −118 in some scoring systems).
Scores accumulate across multiple hands; a session typically ends when all players have dealt an equal number of times.
Hand Game
A player may declare Hand before picking up the Skat (leaving it face-down). The Hand bonus adds +1 to the multiplier. In a Hand game, the Skat cards are not revealed until after play and count in the declarer’s trick pile normally. Hand allows announcing Schneider or Schwarz for additional multiplier bonuses.
Variants
Ramsch: If all three players pass the auction, instead of a redeal, Ramsch may be played. In Ramsch: no declarer; all players try to win as FEW card points as possible. The player with the most card points at the end loses; they are scored negatively. Grand-jack-only trump applies (same as Grand).
Kontra and Rekontra: After the declarer announces the game type but before the first card is played, a defender may call Kontra (doubles the game value for scoring purposes). The declarer may call Rekontra (doubles again). The bid comparison uses the undoubled game value; only the score is affected.
Attribution
Skat. Originated in Altenburg, Germany, approximately 1810. National card game of Germany. Rules codified by the Deutscher Skatverband. Standard rules confirmed from skatorderules.com, Pagat.com, and the International Skat Players Association. Public domain rule set.