Skat card game: rules, value calculator and score sheet

How to play Skat

Cards and the deal

Skat uses 32 cards: Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8 and 7 in each suit. The ISkO deal goes clockwise from the dealer's left: 3 cards each, then 2 face down as the skat, then 4 each, then 3 each. At a four-player table the dealer deals but gets no cards and sits the hand out. The player on the dealer's left is forehand, then middlehand, then rearhand.

Card points

That makes 120 in the deck. Card points decide who won the hand; game points (the value) are what goes on the score sheet. Keeping those two apart is most of learning Skat.

Trumps and the order of cards

In a suit game the four jacks are the top trumps, always in the order J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦. Then come the rest of the trump suit: A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7. That is 11 trumps. In grand only the four jacks are trumps. The other suits rank A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7. In null there are no trumps and the order is the ordinary A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7.

Playing the tricks

Forehand leads to the first trick. You must follow suit if you can, and the jacks count as part of the trump suit, not their own suit. If you cannot follow, play anything. Highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next. Declarer's two opponents play as a team for the hand.

Winning the hand

In a suit or grand game, declarer wins with 61 or more card points; the skat counts for declarer. With 90 or more, the opponents are schneider. If declarer takes 30 or fewer, declarer is schneider. A side that takes no trick at all is schwarz. In null, declarer wins only by taking no trick.

How to work out the game value

The value is the number of multipliers times the base value of the game. Null games skip all this: they have a fixed value.

Counting the multipliers

1. Matadors. Start with the J♣ and go down the trump order (with the skat counted as declarer's). Holding it, count how many you have in a row: "with 1", "with 2" and so on. Missing it, count how many are missing above your best trump: "without 1", "without 2". A suit game can be with or without up to 11; grand up to 4.
2. Game: add 1. Every game gets this.
3. Hand: add 1 if declarer did not pick up the skat.
4. Schneider: add 1 if either side ended with 30 card points or fewer.
5. Schneider announced: add 1. Hand games only, and declarer must then reach 90.
6. Schwarz: add 1 if either side took no trick.
7. Schwarz announced: add 1. Hand games only; it includes schneider announced.
8. Open (ouvert): add 1. Declarer lays the cards face up and must take every trick, so the ISkO counts it as schwarz announced too.

Worked examples

• Clubs hand, holding J♣ J♠ but not J♥: with 2, game 3, hand 4: 4 x 12 = 48.
• Grand with all four jacks, opponents schneider: with 4, game 5, schneider 6: 6 x 24 = 144.
• Wikipedia's grand with J♣ J♠ J♦ (with 2): with 2, game 3: 3 x 24 = 72.
• The ISkO's clubs ouvert with 2: with 2, game 3, hand 4, schneider 5, schneider announced 6, schwarz 7, schwarz announced 8, open 9: 9 x 12 = 108.
• The ISkO's grand ouvert with 4, the highest game in Skat: with 4, game 5, hand 6, schneider 7, schneider announced 8, schwarz 9, schwarz announced 10, open 11: 11 x 24 = 264.

Bidding and the overbid rule

The bids are not round numbers because they are the possible game values. The lowest is 18 (diamonds with or without 1, game 2). From there the ladder runs:

18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 54, 55, 59, 60, and on up through every game value.

Middlehand bids to forehand first, and forehand says "yes" to hold a bid or passes. The survivor then hears rearhand's bids. Forehand only has to match a bid to keep it; the other player has to go higher. If nobody bids 18, the hand is passed in and the next player deals.

When the game is worth less than the bid

Before you pick up the skat you only know your best guess. If the skat holds a jack that breaks your matadors, your game can end up worth less than you bid. That is an overbid, and the game is lost however many card points you take.

The lost value is the lowest multiple of the base value that reaches the bid, doubled. Pagat's example: middlehand bids to 46 for clubs hand, expecting "without 2, game 3, hand 4", which is 48. The skat holds the J♣, so the hand is "with 1, game 2, hand 3", which is 36. The lowest multiple of 12 that reaches 46 is 48, so declarer loses -96. Had declarer made schneider, the game would be worth 48 and win.

A null game has a fixed value. If declarer announces a null game worth less than the bid, ISkO 3.6 scores it as a lost suit or grand game at the bid; the calculator does not accept a null below the bid, so enter that hand as the lost suit or grand game. The ISkO also lets a declarer who sees the bid is out of reach after taking the skat announce a game and give up at once; it is then scored as lost.

Scoring a session

Only the declarer's score changes each hand. A won game adds its value; a lost game takes away twice the value. A passed-in hand scores nothing. At the end of the session the highest total wins.

Tournament rating (Seeger-Fabian)

Clubs and tournaments add extra points so that winning many small games counts, not only big ones. The ISkO's rating gives the declarer 50 extra for each game won and takes away 50 for each game lost. Each time a declarer loses, every other player at the table gets 40 at a three-player table, or 30 at a four-player table (the dealer included). The ISkO's example: 437 game points, 12 games won, 3 lost, and 6 lost by the others gives 437 + 9 x 50 + 6 x 30 = 1067. German Wikipedia calls this the extended Seeger system.

Pagat reports a 2001 suggestion for four-player tables: when a game is lost, the two active opponents get 40 each and the dealer who sat out gets nothing. The score sheet offers both, and you can switch after the fact to compare.

Where the sources differ

• Lost hand games. Pagat notes that before the 1999 rules only lost games with the skat picked up were doubled. The ISkO now doubles every lost game, and so does the calculator.
• Extras at a four-player table. The ISkO gives 30 to each of the other three players, the dealer included. Pagat reports the 2001 idea of 40 to the two active opponents only. Choose either in the score sheet.
• Kontra and Re. Pagat describes these doubling calls as very widely played in social games; Wikipedia says they are not part of the official rules. The calculator leaves them out. If your table uses them, double the score yourself (house rule).
• Ramsch and Bock rounds. When everyone passes, the ISkO simply moves the deal on. Pagat and Wikipedia describe Ramsch, where everyone plays alone and the player with the most card points loses. Pagat also describes Bock rounds with doubled scores. Neither is official, and neither is in the keeper.
• Bierlachs. German Wikipedia describes it as a way of keeping score with minus points only, played to 301 (three players) or 401 (four). English Wikipedia gives a target of typically 501.

Tips for new Skat players

1. Count before you bid. Work out your game value from your 10 cards first. With the J♣ and J♠, a clubs game is worth at least 36, so you can hold to 36.
2. Watch the jack in the skat. Playing "without" is fine until the missing jack turns up in the skat. Bid with a little room if your count depends on it.
3. Grab the aces and tens. Together they are 21 of the 28 card points in each suit outside the jacks. Opponents should try to drop them on tricks their partner is winning.
4. Lead trumps as declarer. Pulling the opponents' trumps early protects your long suit later. Opponents usually do the reverse.

Skat questions

How do you work out a Skat game value?

Count the multipliers, then multiply by the base value of the game. The multipliers are your matadors (with or without), 1 for game, and 1 each for hand, schneider, schneider announced, schwarz, schwarz announced and open. Clubs hand with 2 matadors is with 2, game 3, hand 4, so 4 x 12 = 48.

What are the base values in Skat?

Diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12 and grand 24. Null games have fixed values instead: null 23, null hand 35, null ouvert 46 and null ouvert hand 59. These come from the International Skat Order (ISkO).

What happens if you overbid in Skat?

You lose, however many card points you took. The game is scored as the lowest multiple of its base value that reaches your bid, and then doubled like any lost game. Pagat's example: clubs hand bid to 46 but worth only 36 loses twice 48, so -96.

What are matadors in Skat?

The top trumps in an unbroken run from the jack of clubs. If you hold the jack of clubs (counting the skat), you are "with" as many as you hold in a row. If you do not, you are "without" as many as are missing above your best trump. With 2 and without 2 are worth the same.

What is Seeger-Fabian scoring?

It is the tournament rating in the ISkO. A declarer gets 50 extra points for every game won and loses 50 for every game lost. When a declarer loses, each other player gets 40 at a three-player table or 30 at a four-player table. The ISkO's example adds up to 1067.

How many players does Skat need?

Three play each hand. Four can sit at a table: the dealer deals and sits out, and the deal moves left, so everyone plays three hands out of four. The ISkO also allows five, with the dealer and one other player sitting out.