Sixty-Six

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a trick
5. Phase 1: while the stock lasts
6. Marriages
7. Exchanging the trump Nine
8. Closing the stock
9. Phase 2: stock used up or closed
10. Going out at 66
11. Scoring
12. Winning the game
13. Tips for beginners
14. Variants

Overview

Sixty-Six (German: Sechsundsechzig) is the classic German card game for two. It is a trick-taking game: each player plays one card, and the higher card wins both – together they form a trick. The cards in your won tricks are worth points, and so are marriages (King and Queen of the same suit) that you announce. The first player to reach 66 points in a hand says "out" and wins it. Hands are played until one player has 7 game points.

• Players: exactly 2.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, and paper and pencil for scoring.

The cards

Take out the Aces, Tens, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Nines of all four suits – 24 cards. The other cards are not used.

The Ten ranks just below the Ace, above the King. From high to low, each card has these card points:

All 24 cards together are worth 120 card points; if a hand is played right to the end, the last trick is worth 10 extra.

Setup

1. Dealer: decide the first dealer at random. Afterwards, the winner of each hand deals the next one.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals 6 cards to each player, face down, in batches of three.
3. Trump card: the dealer turns up the next (13th) card. Its suit is trumps for this hand – trump cards beat all cards of the other suits. It is laid face up, and the remaining 11 cards are placed crosswise on top of it, so that it stays half visible.
4. Stock: these 12 cards (the face-down pile plus the trump card) form the stock (draw pile).

The non-dealer leads to the first trick.

Playing a trick

The player on lead plays any card face up, and the other player answers with one card. Then:

• If both cards are of the same suit, the higher card wins.
• If only one card is a trump, the trump wins.
• If the second card is of a different suit and not a trump, the lead card wins.

The winner takes both cards, places them face down in front of them and leads to the next trick. You may look at the last trick until the next card is played; after that, tricks stay face down until the end of the hand.

Phase 1: while the stock lasts

• You don't have to follow suit or win the trick – you may play any card.
• After each trick, the winner draws the top card of the stock, then the other player. Both have 6 cards again.
• After the sixth trick, the winner takes the last face-down card, and the loser takes the face-up trump card.

Marriages

A marriage is the King and Queen of the same suit in your hand. When you are on lead in phase 1, you may show both, say "twenty" or "forty" and then lead one of them:

• Marriage in a normal suit: 20 points.
• Marriage in the trump suit: 40 points.

Only one marriage per lead. The points only count once you have won a trick (even two Nines are enough). The last chance to announce is when leading to the sixth trick – once the stock is used up or closed, no more marriages.

Example: Hearts are trump. The non-dealer holds K♥ Q♥ and says "forty" before leading the Q♥. The dealer wins it with A♥. The 40 points wait until the non-dealer wins a trick of their own.

Exchanging the trump Nine

If you hold the 9 of trumps, have already won a trick and are on lead, you may swap it for the face-up trump card under the stock before you lead. This is allowed while the stock is still open.

When your opponent closes the stock, you may exchange the 9 at that moment, even if you have not won a trick yet.

Closing the stock

When you are on lead, you may close the stock: turn the trump card face down on top of it. You may do this before or after drawing, and you may announce a marriage just before closing. From now on, nobody draws. Closing is a promise: you will reach 66. Your opponent can still go out first – then you have failed.

Phase 2: stock used up or closed

Once the stock is empty or closed, strict rules apply:

1. Follow suit: play a card of the suit that was led.
2. Win if you can: if you can follow suit, play a higher card if you have one.
3. Trump if you can't follow: with no card of the suit led, you must play a trump. Only with neither may you play any card.

Going out at 66

As soon as a trick or a marriage brings you to 66 or more points, you may say "out" – immediately after winning that trick or announcing that marriage. Play stops and points are counted.

• If you really have 66, you win the hand – even if your opponent had reached 66 earlier without saying so.
• If you have fewer, your opponent scores 2 game points.

If you miss the moment and lead again, you must win another trick before you can go out.

If nobody goes out and the stock was not closed, all cards are played: the last trick is worth 10 points and the higher total wins – scored with the table below, like any other win. At 65–65 the hand is a draw – nobody scores and the same dealer deals again.

Scoring

The winner of a hand scores game points:

If the player who closed fails to reach 66, the opponent wins 2 game points – or 3 if the opponent had no trick when the stock was closed. If the closer does reach 66, the loser's tricks from the whole hand count for the table above.

Example: Anna goes out with 71 points. Ben has 29 card points in his tricks – Schneider, so Anna scores 2 game points. With 40 he would have lost only 1.

Winning the game

Game points are added up. The first player to reach 7 game points wins the game.

Tips for beginners

• Count your points – going out at the right moment is half the game.
• Watch your opponent's points too, so you can grab a trick to escape Schneider or schwarz.
• Keep King and Queen together and look for a lead to announce them.
• Close when you are nearly there – it stops your opponent from drawing into a forty.
• Throw Nines and Jacks in phase 1 when you don't want to win a trick.

Variants

All optional – agree before the game.

• Draw bonus: after a 65–65 draw, the winner of the next hand scores 1 extra game point.
• Double game: a 7–0 win counts as two games.
• Four players: fixed partners sit opposite; 6 cards each, no stock, strict rules from the start; when a player leads, both partners may announce a marriage.
• Schnapsen: the Austrian cousin with 20 cards (no Nines) and 5 cards each.