How to Play Skruuvi
Skruuvi is a variant of the Russian card game Vint which is played in Finland (for the rules of Vint, see the variations section below). Skruuvi was popular when Finland was actually a part of Russia. If is also known as Skruf-Whist, which leads to the origin of the game's current name. Skruuvi is still widely played today, with a number of Skruuvi clubs in existence, most notably in Finland.

Similar to the parent game Vint, Skruuvi is designed to be played by four players in two partnerships. However, dissimilar to Vint and most other partnership trick taking games, the partnerships will change on a regular basis throughout a game. This game uses one standard 52 card deck with the following ranking of the cards in that deck, from high to low; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. For bidding purposes, the suits are also ranked as follows (also from high to low); Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades. Also, during bidding. a bid of No Trump is allowed, and outclasses any bid of the same number of tricks in any of the four suits.
Suit ranking in Skruuvi
Determination of the initial partners is usually not as important as in some other similar games, as, during the course of a game, each player will actually end up playing as partner with each other player. However, if this is an issue, each player can draw a card from a shuffled deck with the two players drawing the highest ranked cards being set as partners (for the first session) against the players drawing the two lowest. Each player should sit at the table directly across from his partner for the hand. For determining the first dealer, the players can also draw with the player drawing the highest card set as the first dealer. Traditionally, the player to the dealer's immediate right records all scores for the game. This player is called the bookkeeper. After the players are seated at the table and the first dealer is determined but before each hand begins, he should then thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut the dealer then begins dealing the cards, one by one and face down, starting with the player to his immediate left for each deal or hand.

A game of Skruuvi normally consists of 24 deals, played in groups of 8 deals. After each 8 deals are played, certain players at the table move or rotate, such that each player has a different partner for each set of 8 deals or hands. The goal is for each player to have played as partner with each other player for one complete set of 8 hands. The first four deals of each set of 8 are called Kitty games and the second four deals are called Eagle games (or non-kitty games).

Kitty Games: The first four deals of each set are played as Kitty games. In a Kitty game the dealer deals each player 12 cards and places four cards face-down to the center of the table as the Kitty. After the deal the player pick up their hands and the bidding for the hand begins. The dealer has the first opportunity to bid. Similar to Contract Bridge the bidding is usually used as a way to signal what cards a player might hold to his partner. Of course, the winning final contract by the high bidder would be of a reachable number and in a suit he would want to use as trump for the hand (or No-Trump).

A bid consists of a number representing the number of odd tricks (tricks over 6) the player would contract to win if this bid were to become the high bid, and a specific suit to use as the trump suit for the hand. A player may also elect to bid No-Trump (called grand), indicating play of the hand with no trump suit selected. The bidding rotates around the table in a clockwise rotation and a player may bid or pass on his turn. In order to be a valid bid, each bid must be higher than the last previous bid, either in number of tricks contracted to win for the hand or of the same number but in a higher ranked suit. If a player passes, he must continue to pass for the rest of that bidding round. A bid of No-Trump is considered higher than any other bid of the same number of tricks, but a higher numbered bid of any type would be higher still. In addition, a player may also make a bid of misère. In a kitty game, a bid of misère is considered lower than any suited bid of the same number (including no trump), but higher than a bid of any lower number of tricks to win. The minimum bid in a kitty game is five in Spades.

A misère bid is quite different than a normal bid, however in terms of how the hand is played if the misère bid actually becomes the winning bid. A misère bid is actually a bid to lose seven plus the number of tricks declared in the bid. No trump suit is used in a hand which ends up being played at misère.

The bidding continues in this manner around the table until all players have passed two times. If all players pass on the first round (with no bid being made by any player), the hand is played in a special manner (see below) call all pass misère.

Card passing in Skruuvi After the bidding, the high bidder then turns over the four cards which comprise the kitty on the table. After all players have the opportunity to view these cards, the high bidder then adds these four cards into his own hand. He then selects any four cards from his hand and passes them face-down to his partner who adds these passed cards to his own hand. The partner of the high bidder then passes one card face-down of his choice to each other player (including his partner). All passed cards are passed face-down such that no other players can see what card or cards are passed. As opposed to games such as Bridge, which do not feature the passing of cards, the specific cards passed and the order of these cards can be used to convey information to his partner. As such, the high bidder can stack the four cards passed face down in any order before passing the four cards in a small stack to his partner.

After this passing of cards, the high bidding side has the opportunity to increase their bid but is not required to. Basically, a second bidding round occurs, however the opposing players to the winning bidders must pass. This bidding starts with the high bidder. This second bidding round continues until all players again pass twice. As in the original round of bidding, in order to be considered a legal bid the bid must name a higher number of tricks than the current highest bid or be of the same number as that highest bid but in a higher ranking suit (or no trump).

After this second bidding round (in which members of the high bidder's partnership may increase the bid) the defenders may then have the opportunity to do a card pass: If the winning high bid was five or less, the opposing partners are then entitled to exchange a card in the following manner; The defender to the declarer's immediate left passes one card face-down to his partner in exchange for any card from that partner's hand.

After this last card exchange, the opponents of the high bidder have the opportunity to "double". Each opponent has one opportunity to so double, starting with the player to the immediate left of the high bidder. If a player does not want to double they simply say pass. If one of the opponents doubles, the high bidders then have the opportunity to redouble, starting with the high bidder. A double multiplies all scores and penalties during the hand by two and a redouble multiples it by three (see scoring, below).

After the doubling and redoubling round, play of the hand can begin. The player with the ultimate highest bid is set as the contractor for the hand. If the eventual high bid was a suited bid or no trump, the high bidders partnership attempts to win at least as many tricks (over seven) as bid and the trump suit declared in that high bid is set as the trump suit for the hand (or, if the bid was in no-trump, a trump suit is not used for the hand). If the eventual high bid is a misère bid, the partnership attempts to lose a number of tricks equal to seven plus the amount of the bid.

The player to the immediate left of the high bidder leads the first card to the first trick. Each other player, in a clockwise rotation then plays one card of his own to the trick, such that each player in turn plays one card to the trick. When playing to the trick, if a player has a card of the same suit played to the trick he must play it. If he has no cards of the suit originally led to this trick, he may play any card remaining in his hand, including a card of the trump suit. After all four players have played a card to the trick, it is then determined who wins the trick. The highest card of the trump suit led to the trick wins it. If the trick contains no cards of the trump suit, the highest card of the suit originally led to that trick wins it. The cards of the trick are set aside, face down and out of play (except for the Aces which are left exposed face-up), usually near the player who won the trick to help track the number of tricks won by each partnership. Any player, may, on request view the cards from the last two tricks played. The winner of each trick then leads the first card to the next trick.

Eagle Games: The second four deals of each game are called Eagle or non-kitty games. The main difference is that in the Eagle games, no kitty is dealt, with each player receiving a full hand of 13 cards. Since no Kitty is dealt, no card trading occurs after the bidding.

Once the cards have been dealt, the auction begins. The ranking of the suits in a an eagle game is as follows (from low to high); Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Misère, No-Trump. The minimum bid during an eagle game is six Spades. As in the kitty games, if all four players pass in the first round of bidding, the game is played at All Pass Misère, as described below.

After the high bidder is determined, the high bidding team is permitted to exchange four cards. The high bidder begins by passing four cards to his partner. This partner adds these cards to his own hand and then passes any four cards of his choice from his hand back to his partner. In eagle games the opponents may not exchange a card as permitted in the kitty games.

After the exchange of cards, another round of bidding occurs in which only the high bidders may make an actual bid, the opponents must pass. This bidding round gives the contracting players the opportunity to increase or extend their bid. Once all players have passed twice, a round of doubling and redoubling occurs. The player to the immediate left of the high bidder has the first opportunity to double, and the player to the immediate left of any player who doubles has the first opportunity to redouble. Doubling doubles all scores and penalties for the hand, and redoubling triples these scores and penalties.

One card pass in Skruuvi All Pass Misère: As mentioned in the sections below, if all players pass on the first round of bidding, the hand is played at All Pass Misère. This occurs in both kitty and eagle games. In the case of a kitty game which is to played at All Pass Misère the dealer distributes the four cards of the kitty clockwise around the table without looking at the cards. Each player selects one card of his choice from his hand and passes it face-down across the table to his partner before play of the hand begins. The partnership consisting of the dealer usually, by convention passes first and the opponents pass next.

As in the other hand types, a round of doubling and redoubling occurs. The dealer is the first player to have the opportunity. If any player doubles, the opposing team then has an opportunity to redouble, starting with the player to the immediate left of the player who doubled. The results of a double is that all penalties during the hand are doubles, and the result of a redouble is that all penalty scores during the hand are tripled. The one exception is that the score for Aces is not double or tripled during the hand.

The play of the hand during this type of hand is the same as in kitty and eagle games. The dealer leads the first card to the first trick. The goal during All Pass Misère is to win as few tricks as possible. Each trick won during this type of hand causes the partnership who wins the trick to subtract one point from their cumulative score.

Scoring the Hand: After the play of each hand is completed, that hand is then scored. The following chart shows the scores that are won during each hand:

ContractContract ValueEach OvertrickFirst UndertrickEach Subsequent Undertrick
Five in Trump or Grand25255
Five in Misère102105
Six in Trump or Grand352105
Six in Misère202155
Seven in Trump or Grand50-155
Seven in Misère35-205
If the high bidder's team manages to win at least as many tricks as contracted, they win a number of points equal to the Contract value as well as the indicated number of points for each overtrick won (if any). The opponents, would then be required to subtract this same number of points from their own score. However, if the high bidders partnership did not manage to win the number of tricks contracted for, they must subtract the contract value from their current score as well as a number of points equal to the number of undertricks won. The opponents are entitled to add this same amount to their own scores. Since the partnerships rotate during the hand, each partner records the full amount scored by his partnership on each hand.

In games played with a contract of misère, any Ace won in a trick costs the partnership penalty points. The penalty points lost for winning each Ace in a trick is equal to the ordinal trick number (from the start of the current hand) in which it is won. For example, winning an Ace on the fifth trick of a hand played at misère would require the partnership winning that Ace to subtract five points from their current score, not including the one additional point that would be subtracted for winning that trick in general).

As previously mentioned, in All Pass Misère, each trick won by a partnership subtracts one point for the partnership who wins it.

If the bid included a Double for the hand, all scores are doubled for the hand and if the bid included a Redouble, all scores are tripled for the hand. The one exception to this is the scores for the Aces during a misère hand, in which the scores are never increased.

Continuation of the Hand: At the end of every hand, each player in the partnership should add the full amount scored by his partnership to his own individual score. Once a total of 8 hands are played (four kitty followed by four eagle), called a session, the players should change seats at the table such that they are now playing as a partner with a player who they have not yet played as partner with during the current game. A total of three sessions are played (for a total of 24 hands). After all 3 sessions have been completed, the individual player with the highest total score is declared the overall game winner.
Variations and Optional Rules

Bolshevik: Bolshevik is an optional and often used additional rule in the game of Skruuvi. It was a fairly early addition to the game, being introduced in the early 1920's. Bolshevik is an additional hand type that is included with the standard game. The Bolshevik add-on should not be played unless all four players agree to it's inclusion before the start of play.

After the normal 24 hands are played, exactly as described above, before the game ends, each player must play one additional hand at Bolshevik. A hand of Bolshevik is played as follows:

The current dealer deals the hands as if playing a kitty game, dealing each player 12 cards and a four card face-down kitty to the center of the table. The player to the immediate left of the dealer then has the first opportunity to bid Bolshevik or pass. There is one round of bidding, with each player allowed to bid Bolshevik or pass. If all four players pass, with no player bidding Bolshevik, the cards are gathered, reshuffled and passed to the next dealer in a clockwise direction. However, if a player has not bid Bolshevik on his past eight bids, he must make the bid of Bolshevik whether he wants to or not.

If only one player bids Bolshevik, the bidding ends and the hand begins. However, if two or more players bid Bolshevik, the first player to so bid can decide if he wants to be the declarer on the hand or pass. This rotates in turn around the table amongst the players who bid Bolshevik. If all previous players who originally bid Bolshevik on the hand decline, the last player to have bid Bolshevik on the hand must play. The declaring player must then play solo against the other three players.

Bolshevik round in Skruuvi The player who bid Bolshevik then turns over the four card kitty for all to see. After doing this he adds the cards to his own hand and then passes one card of his choice from his hand, face-down to each other player starting with the player to his immediate left. The Bolshevik bidding player then has two options, he may either continue play (standard Bolshevik), playing the hand at seven misère. However, he also has the option to increase the bid to seven (called Dictator) declaring a trump suit of his choice (or no-trump) and plays as if playing at a bid of seven using that trump suit.

The player to the immediate right of this declarer then has the first opportunity to double the bid. As opposed to the regular hands, when playing the Bolshevik hand, each player's double only applies to his own score (and the Bolshevik bidders). Thus, each player may double independently of the other players. For each player who doubled during this round, the declarer can opt to re-double that player. A double multiplies all scores by two for that player during the hand. This scoring also applies to the Bolshevik player when calculating any score based on this opponent. Similarly, if the Bolshevik bidder elect to redouble that player, this multiplies all scores as calculated amongst that opponent and the high bidder by three. As in the standard hand types, this doubling and redoubling does not effect the score for Aces captured during a misère hand.

The play of the hand is played identically to the standard game, with the player to the immediate right of the Bolshevik player making the first lead to the first trick.

Scores and penalties earned during the Bolshevik rounds should be temporarily scored on a different scoresheet for each player, as the scores in this round are actually calculated per individual and are based on scoring amongst that opponent and the Bolshevik bidder. If the Bolshevik player manages to make his contract he scores 20 points in misère for each opponent (so a total of 60 points), while each opponent must subtract 20 points from his own score sheet. If he plays the hand at Dictator, he scores 50 points for each opponent (a total of 150 points) and each opponent subtracts 50 points from his own score. If the player does not manage to make his contract, each opponent scores 15 points for the first undertrick and 5 points for each subsequent undertrick in which the declarer won less (or more) than required, while the declarer subtracts 15 points for each opponent in the game for the first trick and 5 points per opponent for each subsequent undertrick. The scores for the Aces won in a misère contract by the bidder are thus subtracted from the bidder (multiplied by three) and that total added to each opponents total. Since Bolshevik is played by each player independently, the score for the Bolshevik player as well as each opponent is record only on his own scoresheet.

After each player has played one hand bidding Bolshevik, the Bolshevik session ends and the scores for this special session are calculated and recorded to the main game scoresheet. Each players score is totaled and divided by three. If the result is not a whole number, it should be rounded up to the nearest whole number. This score is then added to that player's total score sheet to determine the winner of the overall game.
                     

Vint

Vint is a Russian Card game which contains elements of both Bridge and Whist. This is the game from which Skruuvi developed and bears many similarities to that game. Vint was at one time very popular in many areas of Russia and was considered the National Card game of the Russian nation during that time. Although Vint is must less rarely played currently, there are still some adherents in the area and the game can also be occasionally found in other areas of the World as well. Due to the similarities to that game, Vint is sometimes called Russian Whist and developed from an older game called Siberia.

Vint is designed to be played by four players in two partnerships. The game uses the standard 52 card deck, with the following ranking (from high to low); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. For bidding purposes, the suits in the deck also have a ranking as follows (from high to low); Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades.

A variety of methods can be used to determine partnerships, with a common method having each player draw a card, with the two highest ranked cards playing as partners against the players drawing the two lowest. Partners should directly across the table from each other when playing the game. The first dealer will usually be the player drawing the highest ranked card of all.

After partnerships have been selected and the players seated, the dealer should thoroughly shuffle the deck and pass it to the player at his immediate left to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table starting with the player to his immediate left. He deals the cards one-by-one and face down around the table until the entire deck has been dealt.

After the cards have been dealt, the players pick up their cards and the bidding round begins. The dealer has the first opportunity to bid. A bid is a contract to win a specific number of odd tricks (tricks greater than 7) and also declaring the suit that would be used as trump. The minimum bid is 1 Spades (indicating a bid for that player's partnership to win seven tricks using Spades as the trump suit for the hand. The bidding continues around the table in a clockwise rotation around the table from player to player. A player may either bid or pass. To be valid, a bid must be higher than the last previous high bid. It can be higher in the number of tricks declared, or if a bid of the same number of tricks as the previous high bid, it must be in a higher ranking suit. Instead of a bid in a specific suit, a bid of No Trump can also be declared. This indicates a bid to play the hand with no trump suit set. A bid of No Trump is higher than any other bid of the same number of declared tricks in a specific suit. A player cannot make a bid, if the current high bid was made by himself or his partner.

After three successive passes, the bidding ends, with the player making the last high bid set as declarer for the hand. This player and his partner must then attempt to win at least as many tricks as bid using the trump suit in that bid (or No trump if that was declared instead).

One trick in Vint The player to the immediate left of the declarer leads the first card to the first trick. When leading to a trick, a player may lead with any card of his choice remaining in his hand. Each other player, in proper turn, then plays one card to the trick. When playing to a trick, a player must play a card of the same suit as originally played to the trick if he has one. If he does not have such a card he may play any card from his hand including a card of the trump suit.

The highest card of the trump suit played to the trick wins that trick. If no cards of the trump suit have been played to the trick, the highest card of the suit originally played to the trick wins it. The won tricks should be set aside, not to be used further in play of this hand. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

Scoring: After all tricks have been played and won, the scoring of the hand begins. There are two kinds of scoring in this game (similar to Contract Bridge); above the line and below the line scoring. Both the declarer's team and the opposing team (the defenders) score for each trick won during the hand. The points scored for each trick are directly dependent on the high bid for the hand. The following chart shows the value for each trick based on the high bid for the hand:

High BidScore per Trick
110 Points
220 Points
330 Points
440 Points
550 Points
660 Points
770 Points

These scores for tricks won are all added to the Below the Line section of the scoresheet. Both partnerships score for won tricks regardless of whether the actual declarer made his bid or not.

The first partnership to accumulate a score of 500 or more. This can be even during the middle of a hand in progress and can be either partnership during the hand.

In addition to the normal scoring, there are special Honor Points which can be awarded during a hand. All honor points are scored in the Above the Line section of the scoresheet.

Honor cards in Vint Honor points can be scored for in several ways, including by being dealt honor cards. The honor cards are the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of the trump suit. In addition, the four Aces are also considered point scoring cards. If the winning bid was at No Trump, there are no specific honor cards, but the four Aces are still considered bonus point scoring cards. In suited bids, note that the Ace of the trump suit can potentially be scored for twice, once as an honor card and once as an Ace. The honors are divided into two categories, Honor Cards and Aces. Each partnership should first determine the number of Honor Cards and Aces they have been dealt. Whichever total is higher would then be determined to be their total honors for the hand. Then, this total from both partnership should be compared and the partnership which has the higher total is entitled to score for Honors. This partnership scores a number of points equal to the difference between his partnerships Honor Cards they had been dealt and the opposing teams Honor cards they had been dealt, all multiplied by 100. In a hand in which the high bid was of "No Trump", only the four Aces are scored, with the side having been dealt the most Aces scoring a number of points equal to 250 times the number of Aces won in tricks during the current hand.

There are also several additional types of honors that can be scored at the end of a hand:
If the declaring team was unable to win at least as many tricks as bid, they must also record a penalty to their score on the scoresheet (scored Above the Line). This penalty is two times the normal value of a won trick during the current hand (as shown on the chart above). The declaring team must subtract this number for each trick less than the number needed to fulfill his declaration for the hand.

Much like Bridge, after the completion of three games, the team with the higher score is declared the overall winner of the game.

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