Скат

Traditional German card game for three players played with a standard card deck (2-6 removed), roughly 200 years old. The game is based on Schafkopf, Ombre (bidding) and Tarock (remaining cards). The latest revision of rules as approved by both the International Skat Players Association (ISPA) and the German Skat Association (DSkV) dates back to 1998.

A play comprises two phases: first an intricate bidding process to decide the solo player who choses the type of game to be played in the second phase, the actual playing of tricks. If the solo player wins (takes more than half the total worth of cards in the game), the solo player alone will score points equal to the announced type of game and other modifiers (listed below); otherwise, the other two players will each score the double amount of these points. Both the bid and the final score depend on

type of game announced

combination of Jacks

margin of winning (score 90+: "schneider"; take all tricks: "schwarz")

(optional) declaration of margin of winning before the first trick is played