Bauernschnapsen

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Dealing and choosing trumps
4. The contracts
5. Bidding
6. Doubling: Kontra
7. Playing a trick
8. The normal game
9. Special contracts in detail
10. Winning
11. Tips for beginners
12. Variants

Overview

Bauernschnapsen is the four-player form of Schnapsen and one of Austria's most popular card games. Two teams of two play against each other; partners sit opposite. In each hand, one player – the declarer – plays a contract: either the normal game (be the first team to 66 points) or a special game such as winning all tricks or losing all tricks. Bigger contracts score more game points. The first team to 24 game points wins.

• Players: exactly 4, in two fixed teams.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, and paper and pencil.

Deal and play go clockwise. The player to the dealer's left is called forehand.

The cards

Take out the Aces, Tens, Kings, Queens and Jacks – 20 cards. The Ten ranks just below the Ace:

All 20 cards are worth 120 card points.

Dealing and choosing trumps

1. The dealer shuffles, and the player to the dealer's right cuts.
2. The dealer gives everyone 3 cards, starting with forehand.
3. Forehand chooses trumps from these three cards: any suit of which they hold at least one card. Trump cards beat all other suits. If forehand doesn't like their cards, they may say "Aufschlagen" instead: the dealer turns the first of the two cards forehand is about to receive face up (forehand keeps it), and its suit is trumps.
4. Then everyone gets 2 more cards. Each player now has 5 cards. There is no stock – all cards are dealt.

After each hand, forehand becomes the next dealer.

The contracts

From lowest to highest:

Contracts with trumps use the suit forehand chose, and forehand leads first. In contracts without trumps (Bettler, Gang, Zehner-Gang), the declarer leads and the declarer's partner sits out – they put their cards away and don't play. Farben-Gang and Herrenschnapser are simply shown: the declarer lays down the cards and wins.

Bidding

Forehand starts and may not pass: they bid the normal game or a higher contract. Then, clockwise, each player either passes or bids a contract. A player who has passed is out of the bidding.

Players have a priority – forehand first, then the next player to the left, then forehand's partner, then the dealer. You must bid a higher contract than the last bid, but if the last bid came from a player with lower priority, you may also bid the same contract and take it over.

Bidding goes round as often as needed until three players have passed. The last bidder is the declarer and plays that contract.

Example: Forehand bids the normal game. The next two pass. The dealer bids a Gang. Forehand may now pass, bid a Gang too (forehand has priority) or bid higher.

Doubling: Kontra

Before the first card, either opponent of the declarer may say "Kontra": the hand now counts double. The declarer or partner may answer "Rekontra" (×4), and the opponents "Subkontra" (×8).

Playing a trick

The leader plays any card; the others follow clockwise. Rules for every card you play:

1. Follow suit if you can.
2. Beat the highest card so far if you can – even your partner's.
3. With no card of the suit led, play a trump; if a trump is already in the trick, beat it if you can, otherwise still play a lower trump.
4. Only with neither suit nor trump may you play any card.

The highest trump wins the trick, or else the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads to the next trick.

The normal game

Both teams race for 66 card points. A player who holds King and Queen of a suit may announce them when leading one of them: 20 points, or 40 in trumps. Forehand can do this at the first trick; everyone else needs to win a trick first to be on lead. The leader does not have to win that trick – but the points only count if the team wins at least one trick in the hand.

When you believe your team has 66 (tricks plus announcements), say "enough" – right after winning a trick or after announcing. Then count. Your team scores:

• 1 game point if the opponents have 33 card points or more,
• 2 if they have fewer than 33 (Schneider),
• 3 if they have no trick (schwarz).

A wrong claim gives the opponents the game points you would have scored. If nobody has claimed before the last trick, the team winning the last trick scores 1 game point.

Example: Clubs are trump. Forehand announces a forty with K♣ Q♣ and leads Q♣. Later her partner wins a trick holding A♥ A♠ 10♥ K♦ – 36 card points. With the forty, the team has 76. Her partner says "enough". The other team has 25 card points: Schneider – 2 game points.

Special contracts in detail

• Schnapser / Kontra-Schnapser: only three tricks are played. The declarer must win all three and reach 66 in them (announcements by the declarer count). A trick won by anyone else – even the partner – loses. Only the declarer's announcements count.
• Bauernschnapser / Kontra-Bauernschnapser: the declarer must win all five tricks with the chosen trumps.
• Bettler: no trumps; the declarer must not win a single trick.
• Gang / Zehner-Gang: no trumps; the declarer must win every trick. In the Zehner-Gang the cards rank 10 K Q J A (the Ace is lowest).

If the declarer succeeds, their team scores the game points; if not, the opponents score them.

Winning

Write both teams' scores in two columns. The first team to reach 24 game points wins – the losers get a Bummerl (a mark). If the losers have 0, they are Schneider and get two Bummerl.

Tips for beginners

• Forehand: choose trumps where you hold high cards – but if the three cards are poor, Aufschlagen is often better.
• Remember priority: forehand can "take over" a bid, so late bidders must go higher.
• Kontra when they are about to win: if the declarer's team would reach 24 anyway, doubling costs you nothing extra.
• Beat your partner if you must – the rules require it, so plan your leads.

Variants

All optional – agree before playing.

• No Bettler / no Zehner-Gang: many tables leave these out. The Zehner-Gang is also called Zehnerloch and may be worth 8 or 9, ranked below the Gang.
• Ass-Bettler (5 points, just above Bettler): like Bettler, but the declarer holds at least one Ace.
• Assenbettler (5 points): Bettler with the ranking 10 K Q J A.
• Bettler variants: worth 5; ranking A K Q J 10; or the partner plays along.
• Plauderer (7 points): a Bettler in which the opponents may look at each other's cards.
• Herzrunde: hands with hearts as trumps count double.
• Counting down: some regions count from 24 down to 0.
• Land or Ringerl are other names for the Gang.