Doppelkopf

Doppelkopf is a trick-taking card game popular in Germany, especially in the northern regions.  Doppelkopf is usually played with four people though five can play as well in which case players take turns being dealer.  The Doppelkopf deck consists of two sets of the cards 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace for a total of 48 cards.  Each card has a point value associated with it: 0 points for 9s, 2 points for Jacks, 3 points for Queens, 4 points for Kings, 10 points for 10s, and 11 points for Aces for a total of 240 card points.  In a normal game each player has a partner and the partners are determined by who has the two queens of clubs, the two players with these queens are the "Re" team, and the other two players are the "Kontra" team.  To win a round the Re team must collect at least 121 card points by taking tricks, or else the Kontra team wins. 

In a normal game there is a trump suit and three side suits.  The trump suit ranked from highest to lowest is as follows: 10s of hearts, Queens (club, spade, heart, diamond), Jacks (club, spade, heart, diamond), Aces of diamonds, 10s of diamonds, Kings of diamonds, 9s of diamonds.  The side suits are hearts, clubs and spades and rank from highest to lowest as follows: Aces, (10s), Kings, 9s. (The 10s of hearts are trump and not part of the hearts suit).

Play moves clockwise starting left of the dealer.  The first to play for each trick may play any card they wish but the remaining players must play a card of the same suit as the first card played if possible.  Trump cards are their own suit so if for instance a King of clubs is led the next player could not play a Queen of clubs if they have an Ace, 10, King or 9 of clubs since the Queen is trump and thus considered to be a different suit.  If two copies of the highest card are played in a trick, the first one played wins the trick.  Trump cards are higher than side suit cards, and the suit led is higher than other side suits.

At the start of each game 12 cards are dealt to each player and then starting from the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise each player has the opportunity to declare a special game.  The types of special games are as follows in order of increasing precedence: Marriage, which can be declared by a player who has both the Queens of clubs. Poverty, which can be declared by a player having three or fewer trump.  And solo, which can be declared by any player.  If more than one player wishes to play a special game then the game with the highest precedence is played.  If two players declare a game of equal precedence the one who declared first gets to play their game.

In a marriage game the player with the two queens of clubs forms the Re team with the first other player to get a trick.  However, if no other player gets a trick by the end of the 3rd hand then the player who declared the marriage plays alone against the other three.

In a poverty game the declarer selects three cards from his hand, which must contain all the trump the player has.  The player then offers this set of cards face down to each player starting to the left and going clockwise until someone accepts it or all players have had the chance.  The player is not allowed to look at the cards until after they are accepted.  If a player accepts the cards they must then return 3 cards which can include none, some, or all of the cards they accepted.  The team who declared poverty becomes the Re team.  If no one accepts the cards then the hand is re-dealt. 

There are several types of solo games that can be played.  Jack solos and queen solos are where either the 8 Jacks or the 8 queens are the only trump (ranked club down to diamond).  Suit solos can be played where one of the side suits replace the diamonds in the trump suit.  (A diamond solo can also be played, and has the same trump as a normal game.)  If a heart solo is played the 10s of hearts are still the highest trump.  Lastly a "meatless" solo, or solo without trump, can be played in which the four standard card suits make up four side suits and are ranked from highest to lowest Aces, 10s, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 9s.  In a solo game the declarer is the Re team and the other three players form the Kontra team.

Announcements can be made during play that add bonuses for that hand.  At any time when a player has at least 11 cards that player can announce "Re" or "Kontra" indicating which team they are on.  A player may then later announce "No 90", "No 60", "No 30", and "Schwarz" (No Points) when they have at least 10, 9, 8 and 7 cards respectively.  These announcements increase the requirements for winning for the announcing team.  For instance, "No 90" means that to win the team must prevent the opposing team from getting 90 or more points.  If Kontra has been announced but not Re, then the Re team only needs 120 points to win.  All previous announcements must have been made by a team in order for them to make the next announcement.  The opposing team can make announcements of their own or make replies.  Replies can be made as long as the player has at least the required cards for the last announcement of the opposing team minus 1.  Replies allow a team to make announcements even if they have passed when they would normally be able to.  For instance, If Re team has announced "Re" and "No 90", Kontra team can announce "Kontra" if they have at least 9 cards remaining (10 minus 1).

At the end of each hand, the game point value of the game is calculated based on the number of card points the teams collected and the announcements made.  One game point is added for winning, one for winning against Re, one if the opposing team did not earn 90 card points, one if they did not earn 60, one if they did not earn 30, and one if they did not earn any.  Two points are added for declarations or "Re" and/or "Kontra".  One point is added for all other announcements made. (No 90, No 60, etc.)  If a team made an announcement such as No 90 but failed to prevent the opposing team from earning said number of points then the opposing team wins all the points that the announcing team would have received had they won.  The total game point value is added to each member of the winning team and subtracted from the value of the losing team.  In the case of a solo then the game point value is either added or subtracted from the Kontra team and 3 times the game point value is added or subtracted from the solo player.  (This results in the sum of all player points always equaling zero.  If money is being played for this is the amount that would be won or lost by each player.)

There are a large number of variations that are sometimes added to the game as well and some of them are listed below: 

The game is played without 9s, resulting in a 40 card deck and the card requirements for announcements are 2 less than usual.

"Dolle jabs dolle" - If two 10s of hearts are played in the same trick, the second one wins the trick instead of the first. (As an addition to this variant, winning a trick in this way can give a game point to the team that wins the trick if the player of the first 10 of hearts is on the opposing team.)

"Catching a fox" - Winning a trick with an ace of diamonds played by the opposing team gives your team a game game point whether you win the game or not.

"Charlie Miller" - Winning the last trick by playing a Jack of clubs gives your team a game point whether you win the game or not.  If the opposing team wins your Jack of clubs in the last hand, however, they get the point instead. 

"Fox takes the last hand" - Like the "Charlie Miller" except with the ace of diamonds.

"Doppelkopf" - Winning a trick worth  40 or more points (i.e. all aces and/or 10s), gives your team an extra point whether you win the game or not. 

"Swines" - If a player has both Aces of diamonds that player can announce "Swines" at the beginning of the game and then they become the two highest trump.  Declaration of any solo besides a diamonds solo negates the announcement of "swines" (since the Aces of diamonds would no longer be trump at all).  If this happens, and "Fox takes the last hand" is being used it does not apply for that game.