How to play Klaverjassen
Klaverjassen is the national card game of the Netherlands — played in every Dutch living room, café and club night. You and Egill (sitting opposite) face Brynja and Sverrir: 32 cards, eight each, and a fight over 162 points plus whatever roem turns up in the tricks.
Just want the rules? Read the complete Klaverjassen rulebook.
- The trump jack rules all - in trumps the order is jack (20), nine (14), ace, 10, king, queen, 8, 7. Plain suits run ace, 10, king, queen, jack.
- Someone must play - each hand one player names trump; their team must out-score the defenders or go nat and hand every point over.
- Rotterdam obligations - follow suit; void means you MUST trump (and overtrump) when you can, partner winning or not.
- Roem in the tricks - runs of three (20) or four (50), the trump K-Q stuk (+20), four jacks 200 — auto-counted for the trick's winner.
- A game is 16 hands - the classic boompje. Highest total wins; a pit (all eight tricks) pays +100.
Strategy tips from the Dutch club table
- Count trumps before you choose. Naming trump without the jack or nine is asking to go nat — the classic threshold is jack-plus-two or nine-plus-three trumps with outside aces.
- Pull trumps with the jack early. As the playing team, leading the boer strips the defenders and protects your aces from ruffs.
- Remember roem swings twice. A 20-roem trick you LOSE is 20 for them and evidence you should have broken the run up — sometimes the fourth-best card is the right one just to kill a meld.
- Feed the fat to your partner. Void and partner winning? Rotterdam still forces you to trump — but with no trumps left, throw them your tens and aces.
- Defend for the tie. As defenders you don't need to win the hand — equal points already makes the pickers nat. Every point you steal counts double.
Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of Klaverjassen?
Klaverjassen is a four-player partnership game with 32 cards, eight per player. One player names a trump suit — their team must then score MORE than half of the points in the hand. In the trump suit the jack (20) and nine (14) are the two best cards; in plain suits the order is ace, 10, king, queen, jack. There are 152 card points plus 10 for the last trick, and extra "roem" (meld) points hide inside the tricks. If the trump-choosing team fails to beat their opponents' total, they are "nat" (wet) and the defenders take every point of the hand.
What is roem and how is it counted?
Roem is bonus points for card combinations appearing inside a single trick: three consecutive cards of one suit (in natural 7-8-9…-ace order) score 20, four in a row 50, the king and queen of trumps together ("stuk") add 20, and four of a kind of aces, tens, kings or queens score 100 — four jacks a mighty 200. The team that wins the trick gets its roem. Here roem is detected and claimed automatically, so nothing is ever missed.
What is the difference between Rotterdam and Amsterdam rules?
They differ in what a player without the led suit must do. Under Rotterdam rules — used here — you must always play a trump when you cannot follow suit, even if your partner is winning the trick, and you must overtrump the highest trump played when able. Under Amsterdam rules you only need to trump when an OPPONENT is winning. Rotterdam is the more common convention online and in official Dutch competition.
What does "nat" (going wet) mean?
The team that chose trump promises to out-score the defenders. If they finish with equal or fewer points (card points plus roem), they are nat: they score nothing at all, and the defenders receive all 162 points of the hand PLUS all roem both teams made. Choosing trump on a weak hand is how games are lost.
How long is a game of Klaverjassen?
A full game — a "boompje" — is exactly 16 hands, four deals by each player. The team with the higher total after 16 hands wins; a tie plays extra hands. With around 1,500-2,500 points scored per game, no single bad hand ends it — but a nat or a pit (one team taking all eight tricks, +100 bonus) swings hundreds of points at once.
Why is the jack of trumps the best card?
Klaverjassen belongs to the Jass family, born when card games travelled the Low Countries and Switzerland: the trump jack ("de boer") is promoted above everything and is worth 20 points, with the trump nine ("nel", 14 points) second. Catching the opponents' jack or nine — or protecting your own — is the heart of the game. Its French cousin Belote uses exactly the same order.
More free card games
Klaverjassen's French cousin is Belote — same jack-nine order, different declarations. For more partnership battles try Sueca or Whist.