Read Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games Online
Authors: Scott McNeely
Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (49 page)
The player to the left of the dealer leads the first card, always. As in Skat, players must follow suit if they can. Also as in Skat, a leading trump—even if it’s Q of clubs or J of hearts—should be followed by another trump (e.g., by another queen, jack, or diamond).
The goal is to capture as many high cards as possible from tricks and from the two cards discarded to the window, based on the “Suit & Grand Card Values” defined above in Skat. If the Player wins a majority of points (scores 61 or more points) he earns game points as follows:
2 game points for scoring 61 to 90 points
4 game points for scoring 91 or more points (
Schneider
)
6 game points for winning all tricks (
Schwarz
)
Conversely, if the Player fails to win 61 or more points, the following penalties apply:
-2 game points for scoring 31 to 60 points
-4 game points for scoring less than 31 points
-6 game points for winning no tricks
The first player to earn 10 game points wins the match.
VARIATION 2: THE LEAST
In this variation of Skat, if no players “take the window,” the game is played out with slightly different rules, known as The Least. The goal is to score as few points as possible. The window is awarded to the winner of the last trick. Game points are awarded as follows:
If just one player wins no tricks, he scores 4 game points. If all players take one or more tricks, the player with the lowest point total scores 2 game points. If two players tie for low score, 2 game points are awarded to the player who did
not
win the last trick.
Many of the two- and four-player games covered in the
Ultimate Book of Cards
have variations specifically for three players:
Games Especially for Four Players
THE WORLD OF FOUR-PLAYER GAMES IS DOMINATED by fixed-partnership games like Bridge, Canasta, Euchre, and Pinochle, which are covered in the following chapter. The games covered in this chapter are all games of
temporary
alliances. There are no permanent teams in Thirteen-Card Brag, Hearts, or Barbu; instead, you play alone or temporarily cooperate three-on-one or two-on-two, depending on the game.
Alliances (as opposed to fixed partnerships) make these four-player games easier to learn and play. You forsake some of the richness and subtleties of four-player partnership games, but sometimes this simplicity is exactly the point.
- DIFFICULTY
:
high - TIME LENGTH
:
long - DECKS
: 1
The modern game of Barbu mixes elements of Bridge and Solitaire, which makes it highly addictive. If you’re wary of the complexities of Bridge, Barbu is a worthwhile substitute. The game has French roots (hence the name, which means “bearded” in French), but bears little resemblance to its eighteenth-century predecessor. Instead, a few obsessive Bridge players from Italy got hold of this game in the 1960s and gave it a complete makeover. Their rule modifications are now the rules of the game.
HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, choose a declarer at random, and deal thirteen cards face down to each player. Cards rank (high to low) from ace to 2. There are seven total “contracts” in Barbu, and each player must declare each contract once—for a total of twenty-eight hands per game. Each deal lasts seven hands and then moves one player to the left.
SCORING
At the end of the twenty-eight-hand game, the player with the highest score wins.
HOW TO PLAY
Once the cards are dealt, the declarer chooses a contract and leads the first card. The declarer must eventually play all seven contracts, but it’s his decision as to the order. After the declarer has played all seven contracts, both the dealer and declarer shift one player to the left.
In Barbu, there are five
negative contracts
and two
positive contracts
. In negative contracts, there are no trumps. Players must follow suit if possible, otherwise any card may be played. The winner of each trick leads the next. In some contracts, there are restrictions on which card may lead a trick. The negative contracts are:
NO QUEENS
Players who “win” a queen in any trick score -6 points. Total point value for contract is -24 points.
NO TRICKS
Each trick taken is worth -2 points. Total point value is -26 points.
NO HEARTS
Every heart is worth -2 points and A of hearts is worth -6. Total point value is -30. Hearts may not lead a trick, unless the player has no other cards. Hearts won in tricks are set aside, face up, for all players to see.
NO KING OF HEARTS
Only K of hearts is worth points, in this case -20. Hearts may not lead unless the player has no other cards.
NO LAST TWO
Only the last two tricks have point values; the penultimate trick scores -10 points and the last trick scores -20 points.
The positive contracts are:
TRUMP
The declarer nominates a trump suit and leads the first trick. Players must always follow suit if possible. Tricks are won by the highest trump, or by the highest card in the leading suit. Barbu plays by strict trump rules. First, when trump leads, you must play your highest trump (unless your highest trump cannot win, in which case you may play any trump). Second, if a non-trump suit leads and you’re
void
in that suit, you must play a trump (unless a higher trump has already been played, in which case you may play any other suit). Each trick is worth 5 points (for a total of 65 points), and the trick winner leads the next trick.
DOMINOES
The declarer nominates a starting rank, along the lines of “dominoes from 7.” The goal is to discard your entire hand first, by playing cards in ascending
or
descending rank, by suit, on the four
foundations
. For example, in “dominoes from 7,” the declarer may lead 7 of diamonds and 7 of hearts, and then play 8 of hearts on 7 of hearts. The following player throws 6 of diamonds on the 7 of diamonds, 9 of hearts on 8 of hearts, and starts a new foundation with 7 of spades. Ranking is continuous, so each foundation pile will contain thirteen cards total, organized by suit and sequence. Players must pass if they cannot play legally. The declarer is allowed to pass on his first turn, if he so chooses. Score 45 points to the first player to go out, 20 points to the second player, 5 to the third, and -5 to the last (for a total of 65 points).
After the contract is chosen, each player (starting to the left of the declarer) in turn is given a chance to
double
all, some, or none of the other players. A double is a polite way of saying, “I am going to beat your score!” When deciding whether or not to double, the only consideration is if your final score is likely to surpass the other player’s score. The target of your double may also reply
with a
redouble
, which is a polite way of saying, “Go ahead, I dare you to beat me!” A player wishing to double all other players declares “maximum.”
In all cases, the declarer may double only players who have already doubled them. In each round of seven hands, every player is required to double the declarer at least twice. In the positive contracts, players may double only the declarer, not each other. Note that if one player doubles another, take the difference of their contract scores and add the sum to the player who did better and subtract it from the player who scored worse. When two players have doubled one another, take the difference of their contract scores and
double
it before adding and subtracting it from the players’ scores.
SCORING
Mastering the scoring is the hardest part of Barbu. In the following
sample score sheet
, hearts are trump (a positive contract) in Hand 1. Player two doubles player one, noted with a
symbol. The circle is to help track the fact that player two has made one of two obligatory doubles of declarer in the first seven hands; a
P
2 notation is added to player one’s column, to help track the fact that player one is being doubled by player two.
