Summary of Skat rules

based on a text by: Gerald Volkmann, gerald@pilgrim.umass.edu

Bidding

The basic count is multiplied with a factor. The factor is related to the number of trump cards (Trümpfe) which you have in a row from the Jack of Clubs (Bauern, Jungs) onwards or the number of Jacks in a row which are missing from the "top" (Club Jack) examples:

If you have all four Jacks or if you are playing without any Jacks the row is continued with Ace, 10 , Kings, Queens, 9, 8, 7. If you have all four Jacks and Ace and 10 of Hearts and you don't have the king of Hearts and you are playing Hearts you play "with six" (mit sechs). If you don't have any Jacks , but you have all Spades except the Ace you play "without five" (ohne fuenf)

Your maximal bid is basic counts * (factor + 1)

E.g. you play Spades with C+S Jack (no H Jack) 11 * (with two +1)= 33 (mit zwei, spiel 3 mal 11 = 33)

you play Diamonds without any Jack and without D Ace 9 * (without five +1)=54 (ohne fuenf, spiel 6 mal 9 =54)

If you lost, then the points are doubled and count negative e.g. you lost Hearts without C Jack, but with S Jack 10 * (without 1 +1) =20 * (-2) = -40

If you play Grand (only Jacks are trumps) the basic count is 24 The factor is the same as above, but now the highest factor is 4 (play with all Jacks or play without any Jack)

example: you play Grand with C+H+D Jack 24 * (with 1 +1) =48 (mit einem, spiel 2 * 24 =48)

You get extra points if you don't have a look to the "skat" (Handspiel), if the opposite players got less than 30 points (Schneider) and if the opposite players don't got any cards at all (Schwarz)

For each of this cases you add 1 to the factor before multiplying with the basic count. (For Hand games there can be more points added, see further below) ex. you play Spades with C+H Jacks, you play "Hand" (don't have a look to the "skat"). After the game is over you recognize that S Jack is in the "skat" and the opposite players got less than 30 points.(Schneider)

10 * (with 3+1 + 1(hand) + 1(Schneider)) = 60 points ("mit 3 spiel 4, hand 5, schneider 6 mal 10 = 60")

You play Grand with all four Jacks and the opposite side didn't get any cards:

24*(with 4+1 + 1(Schneider) + 1(Schwarz)) = 168 ("mit 4, spiel 5, schneider 6, schwarz 7 mal 24 = 168")

If you lost a "hand" game it is counted only negativ (the value is not doubled)

e.g. you lost Hearts with S+H Jack (without C Jack) as a "hand" game: 10*(without 1+1 + 1(hand)) = 30 *(-1)(lost) = -30 ("ohne 1 spiel 2 hand 3 * 10, verloren = -30

If you played and you lost and you got less than 31 points, the opposite side played you "Schneider". You have to add 1 point to the factor before multiplying mit basic value and then multiplying with (-2) (normal game) or (-1) (hand games)

HAND games are a bit more difficult in counting. If you play "Hand" you can announce before the game start that you will play the opposite side "Schneider" (below 30 points) or "Schwarz" (they won't get any cards.)

The points which you have to add to the normal factor: 2 for normal "hand" game (1 for normal game, 1 for hand game) 3 for "Schneider (1 for playing opposite "Schneider", 2 for hand game) 4 for "Schneider angesagt" (1 for announcing "Schneider" before the game, 3 for "Schneider") 5 for "Schwarz" (1 for playing opposite side "Schwarz", 4 from previous cases) 6 for "Schwarz angesagt" (1 for announcing "Schwarz" before the game 5 from previous cases)

ex. you play Hearts with C+S Jacks , hand game and announcing "Schneider" before the game starts off: 10 * (with 2+1 + 1(hand), 1(schneider), 1(schneider angesagt))=60 ("mit 2, spiel 3, hand 4 schneider 5 angesagt 6 mal 10 = 60")

A more interesting example is the following:

You play Spades with C+H+D Jack (no S Jack) Hand game, but you don't announced anything before the game starts In the end of the game the opposite party didn't got any cards:

11 * (with 1+1 + 1(hand) + 1(Schneider) + 1(Schneider announced) + 1(Schwarz)= 66 ("mit 1, spiel2, hand 3, schneider 4, schneider angesagt 5 schwarz 6 mal 11 = 66")

You get the extra point for "Schneider announced" even so as you didn't announced it before the game, but you played the opposite side "Schwarz" so as the winning level "Schwarz" is above "Schneider announced" it counts towards your winning points. (you can look up the "Altenburger Skatregeln" for this rule)

The highest possible color hand game: 12 * (with 11 + 6 ("Schwarz announced")) = 204 mit 11 spiel 12, hand 13,... , schwarz angesagt 17 mal 12

Grand Hand

That's combining the rules of Grand and Hand. At Grand, only Jacks are trumps. You can announce "Schneider" or "Schwarz" as in normal color hand game.

The highest possible grand hand game is (non-open) 24* (with 4 +6)=240, or, as a magic incantation, mit 4 spiel 5,..., Schwarz angesagt 10 mal 24 =240 if you play grand hand, play with 4 jacks and play opposite side "Schwarz" without any announcement before the game 24 * (with 4 +5 ("Schwarz")) = 216 (you get the point for "Schneider announced" even so as you didn't announced before the game)

Open Grand

Null

At a Null game you lose the game if you make even one trick (Stich). The values of the Null games are: