How To Play Doppelkopf


Doppelkopf is a German card game which bears some resemblance to Schafkopf (Sheepshead). It is particularly popular in northern Germany. The game is designed for four players, which play in ever-changing partnerships throughout play of the game. The game uses a special 48 card deck which is comprised of two reduced 24 card decks shuffled together. Thus, the deck as used for Doppelkopf consists of eight cards in each of the following denominations (two in each suit); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7.

Determination of seating positions and the first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, with cut for high cards commonly used. Each player would thus draw a card from the shuffled, face-down deck. The player drawing the highest ranked card would have first choice of seats, the player with the next highest having the next choice, and so on until all four players are seated at the table. The player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer. Thereafter, the role of the dealer rotates around the table in a clockwise direction from player to player.

After the first dealer has been selected, this player should thoroughly shuffle the cards and offer it to the player at his immediate left to cut. After the cut, the dealer begins the deal. He deals the cards in three card, face-down packets, starting with the player to his immediate left and continuing in a clockwise direction. He continues dealing until each player has a total of 12 cards. After the deal, the players pick up the hand for examination, and it is determined what type of "game" is to be played during the hand. Starting with the player to the dealer's left and continuing in a clockwise direction, each player makes one of two announcements, either "Gesund" (German for good), or Vorbehalt (reservation). An announcement of Gesund indicates the player is satisfied to play a normal game. However, if any player announces "Vorbehalt", this indicates the player prefers to play at something other than a normal game.

Doppelkopf Normal game Normal: If all four players declare "Gesund", this indicates a Normal game is to be played, as opposed to one of several special games which are described further below. In this "Normal" game, the two players who each hold a card in the rank of the Queen of Clubs become temporary partners during the hand (called the "Re-team"), playing against the other two players (called the "Kontra-team"). However, the players holding these cards in hand do not announce this, so it will not at first be apparent, only being fully revealed until those Queens are played during the hand or a special call is made during play of the hand. If the same player has both of the identical cards of the Queen of Clubs, he must then play alone against the other three players (called a Silent Solo), but does not announce this fact.

Normal Game Trump Suit and Card Ranking:
In a Normal game, there is a permanent trump suit as follows (shown ranked from high to low): 10 of Hearts (♥), Queen of Clubs (♣), Queen of Spades (♠), Queen of Hearts (♥), Queen of Diamonds (♦), Jack of Clubs (♣), Jack of Spades (♠), Jack of Hearts (♥), Jack of Diamonds (♦), Ace of Diamonds (♦), 10 of Diamonds (♦), King of Diamonds (♦), 9 of Diamonds (♦). In the suits of Clubs (♣) and Spades (♠), the ranking of the cards are as follows (also shown from high to low): Ace, 10, King, 9. In the suit of Hearts (♥), which has been reduced to three cards, the ranking of the cards are, from high to low: Ace, King, 9.


Thus, after each player has announced his intention and any player has indicated they want to play something other than a normal game (declaring "Vorbehalt") the players then have the opportunity to make a bid for what type of game they would prefer to play the hand at. Thus, each of the players, again in a counterclockwise direction starting with the player at the dealer's left, makes a bid of the specific special game he prefers to play the hand at. The following are the types of special games these players can announce (shown in order from lowest to highest valued): Each of the players who originally declared "Vorbehalt" has one opportunity to declare his game. The player who bids the highest special game type, is the high bidder for the hand, and is set as the "Maker" for the hand. If two or more players tie for highest special bid, the first of these players to have made the tying bid is considered the high bidder, thus becoming the "Maker" for the hand.

After the completion of the bidding and the game type to be played is determined, play of the hand begins with the player to the immediate left of the dealer playing the first card to start the first trick.

The card led to a trick can be any card of choice from that player's hand. Each other player in a counterclockwise direction then plays one card from his own hand to the same trick. If a player has a card of the same suit as led to the trick he must play such a card to the trick. If the player does not have a card of the suit originally led to the trick he may play any card from his hand, including a card of the designated trump suit (if there is a trump suit). Each trick is won by the highest trump card played to that trick. If the trick contains no cards of the trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to the trick wins it. If two identical cards (both in suit and rank) have been played to the same trick, the first such card played is considered the higher card. The winner of each trick takes the cards won in that trick and sets them aside, face-down in a won cards pile and then leads the first card to the next trick.

It should be remembered that the cards which comprise the trump suit for the hand are all considered their own specific suit, regardless of the actual suit marking on the card. Thus, any card which is part of the current, set trump suit may only be played to a trick in which a trump suit is led to the trick or the player has no card of the suit originally led to the trick. In some case, such as Queen Solo and King Solo, there are actually five suits in the game, the special four card trump suit and the other four normal suits.

The object of the game is for the "Re-team" (or the Solo player if a player elected to play alone), to capture 121 or more points during the hand, while the goal of the "Kontra-team" (the opponents of the "Re-team") is to prevent the "Re-team" from doing such. Points are earned during the hand by capturing certain point scoring cards in tricks during play of the hand. The following chart shows the value of each card so captured in a trick:
CardPoint Value
Ace11 Each
Ten10 Each
King4 Each
Queen3 Each
Jack2 Each
90
            Card point values in Doppelkopf
If the "Re-team" manages to capture the expected 121 points during the game, that team wins the hand and each member of that team will win a number of game points (described in the scoring section below). However, if that team fails to win at least 121 points, the opponents are said to win the hand instead, and each member of the opposing team will score 1 or more game points instead.

Announcements: During play of the hand, certain announcements can be made by certain members of a team which will effect the Game Point values scored at the end of the game. The following are the announcements which may be made during play: The "No" and "Schwarz" announcements may only be made after a "Re" or "Kontra" call (or both) has previously been made. When a player announces one of these calls, he must, of course, also state if he is a member of the "Re-team" or the "Kontra-team". It should also be noted that in the event of any of the "No" calls, if the announcement is incorrect and the opposing team manages to score at least as many points as the "No" call, that opposing team automatically wins the hand as well as any Game Points that normally might have bee awarded to the team who made the No call (including the applicable points for the "No" announcement).

Scoring: After play of the hand is completed and the winning team determined, the scoring for the hand is accomplished. The following shows the possible scores during a hand: All members of a team score all applicable Game Points as earned from this list.

Doppelkopf Bonus Points Bonus Points: In addition to these standard Game Points which can be earned during a hand, there are several categories of Bonus Points which can be earned during play, as per the following list: After all Game Points earned by each player are calculated at the end of a hand, each member of the winning team earns his total number of Game Points for the hand per opponent, and each member of the losing team must subtract this same number of Game Points from his own cumulative Game Points score. After some set number of hands (which should be an even multiple of four), the player with the highest total of Game Points is declared the overall winner.

Variations and Optional Rules


40 Card Pack:
In a variant which is often played, the deck is further reduced to a 40 card pack. In order to so reduce the deck in this way, all the nines are removed from the deck normally used to play the game. The ranking of the cards is exactly the same save the fact that there will be no card of rank nine in any suit. In all other aspects, this version is played identically to standard Doppelbock.

Ten of Hearts:
Another fairly popular variant is to change the rule for the results of a trick in which both of the cards of rank 10 of Hearts are played to the same trick. In the normal rules, the first such card played to the trick would win it. However, in this variant, specifically for the case for these two cards, the second 10 of Hearts played to the trick would win the trick.

In all other aspects the game is played the same as for the normal Doppelbock when using this variant rule.

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