Bauernschnapsen

The card game of Bauernschnapsen is an expanded form of the popular Austrian card game of Schnapsen, played by four players. This variant of Schnapsen is played throughout the whole of Austria.

General rules

Bauernschnapsen is played with a 20-card packet of Schnapsen cards by two teams of two, the partners sitting opposite one another across the card table. Team membership may be renounced, but none of the players may use their experience of which cards their partner has in their hand, and they also do not known which cards he has. The aim is to win 24 points and the game ends as soon as one team has achieved that. In regional variants, scores start at 24 and count down to null points and the team that reaches null first is the winner. the losing team receives a Bummerl. If the losing team scores no points, it receives a Schneider, which counts as two Bummerls. If a team leads 23:0 and loses it receives a Retourschneider, which counts as four Bummerls. Another rule is that the first trick of each team must remain visible to all the players for the whole game, irrespective of the type of game being played.

Cards

The same cards are used as for other variants of Schnapsen: either French suited or German suited cards. There are 4 suits: in French playing cards and doppeldeutsche cards they are Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. In the doppeldeutsche variants the suits are regionally also known as Hearts, Bells, Leaves and Acorns. There are five different cards per suit:
In each suit there are five cards: the Ace , the 10, the King, the Ober and the Unter.

Start and finish

The dealer shuffles the card pack and the player to his right cuts the pack at least once or 'knocks' with his fist on the pack to indicate he is happy not to cut. Next three cards are dealt to each player in clockwise order, beginning with the player on the dealer's left, the caller. The caller must choose a trump suit from his first three cards, before receiving the remaining two cards. Then each player is dealt a packet of two more cards in the same order. If the caller cannot or will not decide which suit will be trumps, he can draw one of the two remaining cards and turn it over for everyone to see; the suit of this card is then the trump suit. If the player right of the dealer has knocked on the card pack, each player is given all five cards at once in the same clockwise order. The caller is initially dealt three, in order to decide the trump suit, and then a further two.
The trump suit beats all other cards in most cases. If the first three cards that the caller is dealt consists of three Unters, he may insist that the cards are reshuffled and redealt.
After the caller has called trumps, the player who has bid the highest contract, may play it. In one regional variant, the caller must first decide whether to bid a contract or to pass; in the latter case the next player to the left has the right to bid a contract or pass.
In several contracts that may be declared, the declared trump suit becomes irrelevant and all suits are deemed equal in rank. Within a suit, the higher card beats the lower, and only cards of the trump suit may beat cards of a different suit. If a player e.g. plays an Unter of Leaves, a King or a Deuce of another colour cannot beat it, but only be discarded – with the exception of the trump suit if trumps are valid.
At the end of each hand the caller becomes the dealer; he shuffles, lets the player to the right cut or knock and deals the cards as described above.
Which special contracts are permitted, varies to some extent from region to region. It is common to have the [|Schnapser], the [|Gang] and the [|Bauernschnapser]. The [|Bettler] contracts are very controversial in conservative circles, because they make normal games the exception rather than the rule.

Overview

An overview of the contracts is given in the table below. Alternative regional names are shown in brackets. The colour code is: yellow for normal Schnapsen games, red for negative games and green for 'slam' games.

Contract	Eligible bidder	First lead	Trumps	Aim	Points
Normal game	Forehand	Forehand	Yes	Be first to score ≥66	1 if opponents score ≥33
Normal game	Forehand	Forehand	Yes	Be first to score ≥66	2 if opponents score <33
Normal game	Forehand	Forehand	Yes	Be first to score ≥66	3 if opponents take no tricks
Bettler	Anyone	Declarer	No	Lose all tricks	4
Assenbettler	Anyone	Declarer	No	Lose all tricks; Aces low	5
Ass Bettler	Anyone	Declarer	No	Lose all tricks; holding an Ace	5
Schnapser	Forehand or partner	Forehand	Yes	Win 1st 3 tricks with ≥66	6
Plauderer	Anyone	Declarer	No	Lose all tricks; opponents play ouvert	7
Gang	Anyone	Declarer	No	Win all 5 tricks	9
Zehnergang	Anyone	Declarer	No	Win all 5 tricks; Aces low	10
Bauernschnapser	Forehand or partner	Forehand	Yes	Win all 5 tricks	12
Bauernloch	Forehand or partner	Forehand	Yes	Win all five tricks; Aces low	12
[\|Kontraschnapser]	Opponent of forehand	Forehand	Yes	Win 1st 3 tricks with ≥66	12
Farbenringerl	Anyone but forehand	not played	–	Hold 5 cards of one suit	18
Trumpfringerl	Forehand	not played	–	Hold all 5 cards of trump suit	24
Kontrabauernschnapser	Opponent of forehand	Forehand	Yes	Win all 5 tricks	24

Players may double; this is known as spritzen or, regionally, flecken or schießen. A game may be doubled by the opponents, redoubled by the declarer and doubled again by the opponents.

Contracts

Normal game

If no contract is bid, a 'normal game' is played, sometimes called a Rufer, whereby the caller plays the first card. The aim is, together with one's partner, to score 66 card points or to win the last trick. If the losing team does not win a single trick, the winning team scores 3 game points. If the losing team score fewer than 33 points, the winning team gets 2 game points. If the losing team scores 33 or more, the winning team just gets one game point.
In Bauernschnapsen players must follow suit and attempt to win the trick, as in Zweierschnapsen, once the talon has been used up or after it has been closed :

If a player has a higher card of the same suit, it must be played. If that is not possible,
a lower card of the same suit must be played. If that is not possible,
a trump must be played. If that is not possible,
any card may be discarded.

The player who wins the trick must lead to the next trick unless his team won the game as a result of winning the trick.
If a player, whose turn it is, has a King and an Ober of the same suit, he may declare a Zwanziger, which wins 20 points. If the King and Ober are of the trump suit, he may declare a Vierziger and win 40 points. One of the two cards must be played, usually the Ober is chosen. They must win the trick when they can. If the team gets no tricks in the same game, the Twenty-ers and Forty-ers do not count. If the team wins at least one trick, the Twenty-ers and Forty-ers count even if the tricks were won by the other team.

Bettler (or Fechter)

The aim of Bettler or, regionally, Fechter is not to take any tricks. All suits are equal. As in all the contracts, players must follow suit and try to win the trick. In one regional variant the partner of the player who has announced Bettler is not allowed to play and must take a pause. The winning team scores 4 points.

Schnapser (or Drei-Stich)

In Schnapser or Drei-Stich only the caller can declare and he must play the first card. If anyone beats his card, the team loses. If his own partner beats the caller's card, the game is also lost. The game is won in one of the following ways:

The caller must achieve 66 points in the first 3 tricks.
The caller must take exactly one trick and then announce a Forty-er to achieve 66 points.
The caller must take exactly two tricks and then announce a Twenty-er to achieve 66 points.

The caller does not have to decide which of these options to go for before the start of the Schnapser game, but just says "I'll play a Schnapser".
There is an uncommon regional variant in which the partner is allowed to win a trick, known as Schnapser mit Mann. The winning team scores 6 points.

Gangl (Ring or Land)

A Gang may be announced by any player. All suits are the same value. The aim is to take all the tricks. The one who declares Gang plays the first card. If the declarer's partner takes a trick the game is lost. The winning team gets 9 points.

Bauernschnapser

As in Gang the aim is to take all the tricks. Unlike Gang, however, the trump suit announced by the caller counts, so it is difficult for players other than the caller to declare this contract. The winning team scores 12 points.

Kontraschnapser (or Kontra-Drei-Stich)

The Kontraschnapser or Kontra-Drei-Stich can be played by an opponent of the caller. The trump suit declared by the caller counts, the caller starts and the declarer must win the game.
The game may be won in the following ways:

The declarer must win 66 points in the first 3 tricks.
The declarer must win exactly one trick and then announce a Forty-er to achieve 66 points.
The caller must take exactly two tricks and then announce a Twenty-er to achieve 66 points.

The winning team scores 12 points.
In a regional variant the caller's partner can announce "Schnapser together" or "Friendship-Schnapser" which may win 6 points.