Skat

Skat is a sophisticated trick-taking card game played with a piquet pack or an equivalent 32-card pack with German suits. It is reputedly one of the best 3-player games. Skat was invented in Altenburg, Germany in the early 19th century. By the end of World War I it had become Germany's national game.

The official standard rules for all countries are defined in the International Skat Order, after the Deutscher Skatverband and the International Skat Players' Association harmonized their regulations in 1998. Locally played rules often reflect an earlier stage in the game's development or add further features.

Cards, players, and overall structure

Point-values of cards

Rank	A	10	K	Q	J	9	8	7
Value	11	10	4	3	2	0	0	0
	high cards		court cards			low cards

The game is played with a pack of 32 cards consisting of Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8 and 7 in four suits. The game is most commonly played with French-suited cards, although in some regions in Germany and Austria German-suited cards are preferred. The cards carry values as shown in the table, for a total of 120 card points. It can be observed that the 12 low cards have no point value at all, while 84 of the game's 120 card points are concentrated in the 8 high cards. Only the 12 court cards have point values close to the average.

Skat is generally played clockwise and for a full number of rounds. A round consists of 3 plays; it finishes after each player has dealt once. For each play, the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and deposits 2 cards face down in the middle as the skat. The dealer must follow the scheme 3–skat–4–3.

The players now bid for the privilege of choosing a contract and playing as a soloist against the party consisting of the other two. At the end of the play either the soloist or the opposition players will win, and the play will have a certain value that depends on the contract, the card points won by the respective parties, and several other factors. To keep the contract, the soloist must win the play and the value of the play must be at least as indicated by the bid. In this case the soloist scores the value of the play. A soloist who loses the play or who wins a game whose value is below the bidding value loses twice the value of the play or twice (an approximation to) the bidding value, whichever is higher.

The main purpose of the complicated bidding and scoring rules is to encourage the choice of a moderately risky contract. Among skilled skat players, all but the most extreme card distributions lead to interesting plays. Moreover, the alternation between playing alone and playing in various teams gives the game variety beyond that of most other auction games.

Suit contracts

Card ranks

Trump suit
J♣	J♠	J♥	J♦	A	10	K	Q	9	8	7
jacks				natural members
Plain suits
				A	10	K	Q	9	8	7	A	10	K	Q	9	8	7	A	10	K	Q	9	8	7

The player who won the auction may announce a suit contract by deciding which of the four suits is trumps. In a suit contract all four Jacks are trumps and full members of the trump suit. The card ranks within the trump suit are as shown in the table.

Skat for more than 3 players

An individual game is always played by exactly 3 players. In the case of more than 3 players the dealer does not participate in the game itself; only the 3 players to the dealer's left do.