Skat rules

Setup and the deal

Three players use the 32-card German pack (sevens through aces). Each hand, everyone receives ten cards and two go face down as the skat, dealt in the traditional rhythm 3 – skat 2 – 4 – 3. The player left of the dealer is Forehand, then Middlehand, then Rearhand (the dealer in three-player games). A full game is exactly twelve hands — four deals by each player — and the highest running total at the end wins, with ties shared.

The auction: bidding real values

Skat's bids are not abstract levels — every bid is a game value the bidder promises their eventual contract will reach. The ladder runs 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36 … up to 264: every multiple of the base values 9, 10, 11 and 12, plus 24s for Grand, plus the four fixed Null values 23, 35, 46 and 59.

The auction is a series of duels. Middlehand speaks against Forehand: the speaker names the next value on the ladder, the listener says "yes" (holds it) or passes. When one of them passes, Rearhand takes up the speaking role against the survivor. The last player standing becomes the declarer at the highest value spoken. If both Middlehand and Rearhand pass without a single bid, Forehand may take the game at the minimum 18 — or pass too, in which case the hand is skipped entirely: no one scores, the deal moves on, and the skipped hand still counts as one of the twelve.

The skat and the contract

The declarer first decides on the skat: pick it up (take both cards, then discard any two — points in the discards count for the declarer at the end) or leave it face down, playing a hand game worth an extra multiplier. Then they declare one of three contract families:

• Suit game — the named suit is trump, and the four jacks join it as the TOP trumps in fixed order J♣ > J♠ > J♥ > J♦, followed by A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7 of the suit: eleven trumps in all. Base values: diamonds 9, hearts 10, spades 11, clubs 12.
• Grand — ONLY the four jacks are trump. Base value 24.
• Null — no trumps at all, and the declarer promises to take no tricks. Card order is the natural one: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 — the 10 slots below the jack, unlike every other contract. The hand ends the instant the declarer takes a trick.

On a hand game (suit or Grand) the declarer may add one announcement — Schneider, Schwarz or Ouvert, each implying the previous — raising both the target and the multipliers. Null has fixed prices instead: 23 plain, 35 hand, 46 ouvert, 59 hand ouvert (Null Ouvert is legal with or without the skat).

Trick play and card points

Forehand always leads the first trick; the winner of each trick leads the next. You must follow the effective suit if you can — and jacks belong to the trump suit, not their printed suit: on a heart lead in a spade game, the J♥ cannot be played as a heart. Highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led. There is no obligation to win or overtrump — following suit is the only constraint.

In suit and Grand games the declarer needs 61 or more card points, counting everything in their tricks plus the two skat cards (whether picked up or not). With announced Schneider the target rises to 90; announced Schwarz or Ouvert requires every trick. The defenders need only 60 to defeat a plain game.

Game values: base × multipliers and matadors

Every suit or Grand game is worth base value × total multipliers:

Matadors are the unbroken sequence of top trumps counted from the jack of clubs down. Holding J♣, J♠, J♥ but not J♦ is "with 3"; missing the J♣ entirely while your best trump is the J♥ is "without 2". Either way the multiplier is the same: n + 1. Matadors are counted from the declarer's ten cards as declared plus the skat — the skat can silently change your count after the fact.

Winning, losing and overbidding

• Won: the contract's real value is at least the bid AND the objective is met (61+, Null's zero tricks, or the announced target). The declarer scores +value — the full computed value, not just the bid.
• Lost: the objective failed. The declarer scores −2 × value. The defenders never score points; their reward is the declarer's loss.
• Overbid: the real value comes up short of the bid — usually a matador evaporating into the skat. The game is lost automatically at −2 × value regardless of the points taken.

Strategy: what to bid on

• Count jacks first. Two jacks and a five-card suit headed by the ace is a normal suit game; the J♣ specifically is worth more than any other card because it anchors the "with" count.
• Grand needs jacks and aces, not length — J♣ + J♠ plus two side aces is a textbook Grand: the four-trump game rewards top cards, and every side ace is a likely 21-point trick (ace + a ten falling on it).
• Null wants sevens. A suit like 7-8-10 is safe in Null (the 10 sits below the J); a suit whose lowest card is a 9 is a hole the defenders will find. Remember the changed order before declaring.
• Bid below your matadors. The skat can turn "without 2" into "with 1" and sink the value under your bid — the overbid rule loses the game outright at −2×, so leave one multiplier of slack.
• As a defender, points beat tricks. You need 60, not trick count: smear tens and aces onto your partner's winning tricks, and keep the declarer's tens locked behind your aces.

Edge cases and fine print

• The game is always exactly 12 hands — skipped all-pass hands advance the deal and still count toward the twelve.
• In Null, the 10 ranks below the jack (A K Q J 10 9 8 7) — a run of 9-10 in your hand is NOT protected by the jack.
• A Null game ends the moment the declarer wins any trick; the remaining cards are never played.
• Schneider and Schwarz "made" cut both ways: a declarer held under 30 points, or taking zero tricks, adds the same multiplier to their −2× loss.
• Announcements (Schneider/Schwarz/Ouvert) are only legal on hand games — pick up the skat and you may announce nothing. Null Ouvert is the exception, legal either way.
• The skat's two cards always count for the declarer at the show — including any card points the declarer discarded into it.
• Matadors count from the declarer's declared hand plus the skat, not from what remains after tricks.
• An announced level is scored as if made even when exceeded (announcing Schneider and winning Schwarz scores the schwarz-made tier on top).
• Ties after hand 12 are shared — multiple players can finish as joint winners.

Variants and house rules

We play modern International Skat rules over a fixed 12-hand session. Variants found at live tables, none of which apply here:

• Ramsch — when all pass, some tables play a "everyone avoids points" hand. Here an all-pass hand is simply skipped (after Forehand declines 18).
• Kontra/Re doubling — defender doubles are a pub rule, not tournament Skat, and are not used.
• Bock rounds — doubled-value rounds after notable events. Not used.
• Seeger-Fabian tournament scoring — flat won/lost bonuses per hand. We score plain +value / −2×value.

Frequently asked questions

Related rulebooks

• Pinochle rules — meld the pinochle, bid and race to 1500
• Euchre rules — bowers, trump and 5-trick showdowns
• Whist rules — classic tricks, rotating trump, first to 7
• Hearts rules — avoid hearts and the queen of spades