Doppelkopf

Doppelkopf is a point trick-taking card game of the Skat family, particularly popular in the north of Germany. Similar in many ways to Schafkopf (Sheep's Head), the game differs in that is uses a double pack of cards and is specifically designed for four players. However, like Schafkopf, it has the distinguishing feature that all Queens, Jacks and Diamonds are trumps.

In Doppelkopf, there are no fixed partnerships. Each player plays for themselves, though variable partnerships arise as part of the game.

The Cards

Take two decks of ordinary playing cards and remove all the 8s and down. That will give you a combined deck of (2 x 24) 48 cards with two of each suit of A, K, Q, J, 10, 9.

Cards Rank

As all Queens, Jacks and Diamonds are trumps, the following ranking applies for normal and most other games.
Trumps: 10♥, Q♣, Q♠, Q♥, Q♦, J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦, A♦, 10♦, K♦, 9♦
Clubs: A♣, 10♣, K♣, 9♣
Spades: A♠, 10♠, K♠, 9♠
Hearts: A♥, K♥, 9♥

Card Values

For the purposes of scoring, cards taken in tricks hold the following point value:
Each Ace: 11
Each Ten: 10
Each King: 4
Each Queen: 3
Each Jack: 2
Thus there are 240 points to be had in each hand.

The Deal

Deal and play are clockwise, and the deal proceeds to the left at the end of each hand. Beginning with the player to the Dealer's left, each player is dealt 12 cards in batches of three.

Bidding

Beginning with the player to the Dealer's left, each player takes it in turn to say either "Gesund", which means "good" - meaning they are ready to play a normal game - OR "Vorbehalt", which means "reservation" - meaning that they want to play some kind of other game - as detailed below.

If one or more players says "Vorbehalt", then such players say, each in their turn, what type of game they wish to play. The bids, from lowest to highest, are:

Hochzeit (Marriage)
Armut (Poverty); and
Solo (various types)

The player who bids the highest Vorbehalt becomes the declarer and the game they bid is played. If two or more players have the same bid, then the first of these players in bidding succession from the Dealer wins the bid and becomes the maker.

To explain in more detail, lets look at the Game Options below.

Game Options

Normal:

If everyone agrees to play normal game by saying "Gesund", then the two players who each hold a Queen of Clubs become the "Re-Team" and the other two players, their opponents, the "Kontra Team". Importantly, however, the players holding the "Old Women" - as they are termed - do not announce who they are, and are not known to each other, so partners only become apparent during the course of play, and by specific announcements that are made during the course of play as outlined below.

If it so happens that a single player holds both the Old Women (i.e. holds both Queens of Clubs in his hand) then that player is ostensibly playing alone against the other three. This type of game is termed "Silent Solo".

For Normal Game, cards rank as specified above, for normal game.

Hochzeit (Marriage):

A player who is holding both Queens of Clubs, may bid a Vorbehalt of "Marriage". This bid option is usually made if the player, though holding both of the Old Women, does not think he is strong enough to play solo and wants a partner.

Having declared this game, play commences as usual and the first player other than the declarer who wins a trick becomes his partner and the two play as Re-Team versus the Kontra. However, if it so happens that no other players wins a trick within the first three tricks played to the hand, then the declarer is set to play on his own against the other three players.

Cards rank as for normal game.

Armut (Poverty):

A player holding three or fewer trumps may bid a Vorbehalt of "Armut", meaning "poverty". Presuming no one bids anything higher, then the player declaring this bid places three cards face down on the table. These three cards must contain all of the declarer's trumps. Beginning with the player to the declarer's left, each player takes it in turn to either pass or to become the declarer's partner. The player who wishes to become the declarer's partner will take up these three cards unseen, adds them to his/her hand, and then discards, face down, any three cards which are thereby returned to the Armut declarer restoring his/hand to twelve cards. The cards returned to the declarer may be any cards the player so wishes, which includes trumps and even the very same cards the Armut declarer originally placed down. And thus play begins with the declarer and acceptor as the Re-Team against the other two players as Kontra.

However, if no one accepts the declarer's offer to play as their partner, then the cards are thrown in and the same Dealer deals a new hand all over again. That is, the same dealer. The deal does not proceed to the left.

Solo:

A Vorbehalt of "Solo" is where one player makes a declaration to play alone against all the other three players. In this scenario, there are a number of Solo games the player can declare:

Trump Solo:
In this scenario, the Declarer nominates a trump suit. If the nominated suit is Diamonds, then cards rank as for normal game:
10♥, Q♣, Q♠, Q♥, Q♦, J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦, A♦, 10♦, K♦, 9♦
If the declarer names a different suit, then cards rank:
10♥, Q♣, Q♠, Q♥, Q♦, J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦, ATrump, 10Trump, KTrump, 9Trump.

Queen Solo:
In this scenario, only the eight queens are trumps, so cards rank:
Trumps: Q♣, Q♠, Q♥, Q♦,
All four other suits rank: A, 10, K, J, 9

Jack Solo:
Only the eight Jacks are trumps, so cards rank:
J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦
All four other suits rank: A, 10, K, Q, 9

Ace Solo:
In this scenario, also called "Vegetarian Solo", there are no trump cards.
Cards rank: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9 in all suits.

Objective

The objective of the Re-Team is to win at least 121 points in tricks with valuable cards in them. The objective of the Kontra team is to stop them by winning at least 120 in points.

The Play:

Left of the Dealer leads first, and thereafter the winner of the trick leads to the next.

The Rules:

Standard trick taking rules apply:

Players must follow suit to the Card led.
If you can't follow suit, you can play any card.
The Trick is won by the highest Trump played to it. If no Trumps are played, the Trick is won by the highest card of the suit led.
If two cards of the same rank are played to a trick, precedence goes to the first of them played to the trick.

Announcement during Play:

"Re" and "Kontra":

Before the lead to the second trick, either member of the Re-Team many announce "Re" which means that if they attain their 121 trick points, then they score two game points rather than just one. But if they lose, then the Kontra team score double game points for beating them.

On the other hand, if either member of the Kontra-Team announce "Kontra" before the lead to the second trick, then likewise, they will score double game points if they stop the Re-Team from achieving their required trick points. Note, however, that if "Kontra" is announced in this way, and no "Re" is announced, then the Re-Team need only score 120 trick points in the face of this "Kontra" announcement. And under these circumstances, if the Re-Team win, then they score double points (i.e. 2 points for game rather than just one).

If either "Re" or "Kontra" has been declared before the lead to the second trick, then the other team can announce "Re" or "Kontra" (as the case may be) before the lead to the third trick, thus, likewise, quadrupling game points for the team that wins.

"No 90":

If either side fails to take 90 trick points, then the other team wins an extra bonus game point of "No 90". However, if either team announce "No 90" before the lead to the third trick, then their game point of "No 90" will be doubled, meaning they get two game points for "No 90" if they win.

"No 60", "No 30" and "Schwarz":

Similarly, teams will receive bonus points if their opposition fails to take 90 trick points, 60 trick points or no trick points at all (i.e. Schwarz). Such bonus points can be doubled by making the appropriate announcements:

"No 90" before the lead to the 4th trick.
"No 60" before the lead to the 5th trick
"Schwarz" before the lead to the 6th trick.

Note, however, that such announcements as "No 90", "No 60" or "Schwarz" can only be made subsequent to an announcement of "Re" or "Kontra". So, in other words, if your team has not announced either "Re" or "Kontra" then subsequent announcements, such as "No 90" cannot be made by such a team. A player making such an announcement must also declare for which team they are playing - Re or Kontra.

Game Points:

Thus, there are eight game points to be had:

1 for game (Re make 121 points / Kontra make 120 points) This point is doubled or quadrupled according as announcements during play determine.
1 for against the Old Women - i.e. the other team had the two Queens of Clubs but they lost.
1 for "No 90"
2 for "No 90" announced.
1 for "No 60"
1 for "No 60" announced.
1 for "No 30"
1 for "No 30" announced
1 for "Schwarz"
1 for "Schwarz" announced

Note that game points are cumulative. So, for example, if one team wins by making 151 trick points, they score 1 game point for "Game" and another 1 game point for "No 90" - 2 game points in all. Where there is an announcement of either "Re" or "Kontra" that single game point would be doubled, equaling 2, and where both "Re" and "Kontra" had been announced, then that game point would be 4.

Other Bonus Points:

In addition to the game points described above, there are other bonus points that can be scored during the course of play.

Catching the Fox:
The Ace of Diamonds is the "Fox". Either team who capture the Ace of Diamonds from their opponents scores 1 game point for it. This trick will be laid aside with the Ace of Diamonds showing face up so that it can be scored for at the end of the hand. If the Ace of Diamonds is won from a partner, then there is no bonus point for it.

Charlie Miller:
Winning the last trick with the Jack of Clubs in it scores 1 game point, and penalizes the loser of it one game point, if it is won from your opponents. If the Jack of Clubs is played to the trick and won by your partner, then neither team scores anything for it.

Doppelkopf:
Winning a trick where all four cards are Aces and 10s, scores your team one game point. This trick should be set aside face up, so that it can be scored for at the end of the end.

Scoring:

Thus, the game points up for grabs are as follows:

1 for game (Re make 121 points / Kontra make 120 points) This point is doubled or quadrupled according as announcements during play determine.
1 for against the Old Women - i.e. the other team had the two Queens of Clubs but they lost.
1 for "No 90"
2 for "No 90" announced.
1 for "No 60"
1 for "No 60" announced.
1 for "No 30"
1 for "No 30" announced
1 for "Schwarz"
1 for "Schwarz" announced
1 point per Fox caught
1 point per Doppelkopf
1 point for the Jack of Clubs caught from an opponent on the last trick.

Settlement:

At the end of the hand, points are awarded on the basis described above. In Doppelkopf, the winners receive "payment" (i.e. points) from the losers. Thus, if the players on the Re-Team were to win 3 points, then players for the Kontra Team lose 3 points each by paying these three points to each respect Re-Team member. If a player loses Solo, he/she pays the number of points to each of his/her opponents, and if the Solo player wins, they receive the number of points from each opponent.

Traditionally, players' scores can be kept on a piece of paper with a separate column for each player and accounts kept this way. You can also supply each player with a bank of chips in order that they can pay and receive from other players.

Game:

Doppelkopf is played over an agreed to number of hands, that being a multiple of four so that each player gets an equal number of turns to deal. The player with the highest score at the end of the agreed to number of hands is the winner.