Tables of Skat bidding values.
Version of Tuesday 21 October 2025.
Dave Barber's other pages.

This page presents tables of bidding values for four versions of the card game Skat; these were selected because the present author could find authoritative sources, or their translations. This page is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to Skat rules which, like its strategy, are complicated.

Rigorous players insist that the only legal bids are the values that can be obtained exactly from play, which are the values listed in the respective tables, and are indeed the whole point of this report. For instance, a bid of 19 would be rejected in any of the Skat versions discussed on this page.

Tables 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C are in a format that, as far as the present author knows, has never been produced with ink on paper. A possible explanation is that these tables contain so many blank spaces that they would be regarded as consuming wasteful amounts of paper. By contrast, blank spaces on a computer screen consume trivial amounts of memory, and this page becomes feasible.

Type 1. The first set of tables relies on the rules that are increasingly considered the international standard, formed by agreement (1998) between the Deutsche Skatverband (DSkV) and the International Skat Players Association (ISPA). The information on this page is consistent with a table presented on Wikipedia, but is here arranged in what some players may find a more convenient format. (See Cats at Cards for a friendly introduction to the rules.)

There is a shorter version of this page, covering only the DSkV-ISPA bidding values.

Type 2. The second set of tables is based on the web site of the Texas State Skat League (TSSL), updated as recently as 2019. This version is quite similar to type 1 above.

Type 3. The third set of tables describes a version of the North American Skat League (NASL), as documented by Joseph Wergin in his 1975 volume Skat and Sheepshead. The NASL currently has little presence on the internet. (Cats at Cards for rules.)

Type 4. The fourth set of tables is taken from an older version of the rules used by the NASL, this one described by J. Charles Eichhorn in his 1898 volume American Skat.

Following type 4 are historical note 1 and note 2; and after those a modest proposal.

Bids above 100 are rare. In tournaments, the NASL has awarded special prizes for successful games worth 100 or more.

Helpful terms.

This page is written in very simple HTML for the convenience of players who want to adapt the tables for their preferred custom rules. The present author prepared it using an ordinary text editor; the format needs to be plain text.

Playing cards intended for Skat often employ the traditional German suits of acorns, leaves, hearts, and bells. However, Skat can be, and often is, played with cards bearing the well-known French suits of (respectively) clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Although French pips are usually printed in only red and black, special packs with different colors for the four suits are manufactured to help prevent mistakes in play. Appearing in the tables below is the four-color scheme preferred for Skat. Hybrid packs have also been produced.

Beyond that, German cards characteristically bear the ranks (high to low) of Ace (also called Daus), König, Ober, Unter, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven. These correspond to the French ranks of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine, Eight, and Seven. Note that Skat, in most of its game choices, promotes the Jacks to the highest rank, and the Tens to a position between the Kings and Aces.

This report employs French suits and ranks, rather than German.

Naturally, there are many local variations on the rules, often differing only in the base values for Grands and Nulls.

A common variation affecting multipliers needs to be mentioned. Declaring "mit einem Spitze" means that the declarer expects to take the last trick with the lowest trump (a Seven at suit, a Jack at Grand). This adds a multiplier. However, the additional possible bidding values are not reflected in the tables below, because players would almost never bid so high as to need them.

If nobody bids, a game of Ramsch is often played. It is required by some sets of rules, and prohibited (at least in tournament play) by others. In the basic version, players play tricks aiming to take as few card points as possible. Most versions of Ramsch do not entail base values, multipliers, or bidding, so they are not covered here.

For useful background information, see David Parlett's pages. For more variations, read pagat.

Type 1: DSkV and ISPA, 1998. The base values of the various games are:

table 1A — games
GameBase ValueMultipliers
Diamonds ♦92 through 18
Hearts ♥102 through 18
Spades ♠112 through 18
Clubs ♣122 through 18
Grand242 through 11
Null23, 35, 46, 59none

The multipliers that might be used are:

table 1B — multipliers
from Hand at Suit — totaling 2 through 18:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Hand
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
  • 1 for Overt (requires declaring Schwartz)
 from Hand at Grand — totaling 2 through 11:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Hand
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
  • 1 for Overt (requires declaring Schwartz)
with Skat at Suit — totaling 2 through 14:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
 with Skat at Grand — totaling 2 through 7:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz

There are 82 possible bids, but sometimes there are 2 or 3 of them are at the same point value. As a result, there are only 63 bidding levels. Here they are:

table 1C — bidding values
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Null     Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand     Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
18 ♦2           66     ♠6     140   ♥14      
20   ♥2         70   ♥7       143     ♠13    
22     ♠2       72 ♦8     ♣6 G3 144 ♦16     ♣12 G6
23           Null 77     ♠7     150   ♥15      
24       ♣2     80   ♥8       153 ♦17        
27 ♦3           81 ♦9         154     ♠14    
30   ♥3         84       ♣7   156       ♣13  
33     ♠3       88     ♠8     160   ♥16      
35           Null Hand 90 ♦10 ♥9       162 ♦18        
36 ♦4     ♣3     96       ♣8 G4 165     ♠15    
40   ♥4         99 ♦11   ♠9     168       ♣14 G7
44     ♠4       100   ♥10       170   ♥17      
45 ♦5           108 ♦12     ♣9   176     ♠16    
46           Null Overt 110   ♥11 ♠10     180   ♥18   ♣15  
48       ♣4 G2   117 ♦13         187     ♠17    
50   ♥5         120   ♥12   ♣10 G5 192       ♣16 G8
54 ♦6           121     ♠11     198     ♠18    
55     ♠5       126 ♦14         204       ♣17  
59           Null Overt Hand 130   ♥13       216       ♣18 G9
60   ♥6   ♣5     132     ♠12 ♣11   240         G10
63 ♦7           135 ♦15         264         G11

Type 2: Texas State Skat League, 2019. The base values of the various games are:

table 2A — games
GameBase ValueMultipliers
Diamonds ♦92 through 17
Hearts ♥102 through 17
Spades ♠112 through 17
Clubs ♣122 through 17
Grand162 through 10
Null20, 30, 40, 60none

The multipliers that might be used are:

table 2B — multipliers
from Hand at Suit — totaling 2 through 17:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Hand
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
 from Hand at Grand — totaling 2 through 10:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Hand
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
with Skat at Suit — totaling 2 through 16:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
 with Skat at Grand — totaling 2 through 9:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
If Schwartz is declared, Overt may be additionally declared.
This doubles the score instead of adding a multiplier.

There are 77 possible bids, but sometimes there are 2 or 3 of them are at the same point value. As a result, there are only 58 bidding levels. Here they are:

table 2C — bidding values
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Null     Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand     Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
18 ♦2           70   ♥7       130   ♥13      
20   ♥2       Null 72 ♦8     ♣6   132     ♠12 ♣11  
22     ♠2       77     ♠7     135 ♦15        
24       ♣2     80   ♥8     G5 140   ♥14      
27 ♦3           81 ♦9         143     ♠13    
30   ♥3       Null Hand 84       ♣7   144 ♦16     ♣12 G9
32         G2   88     ♠8     150   ♥15      
33     ♠3       90 ♦10 ♥9       153 ♦17        
36 ♦4     ♣3     96       ♣8 G6 154     ♠14    
40   ♥4       Null Overt 99 ♦11   ♠9     156       ♣13  
44     ♠4       100   ♥10       160   ♥16     G10
45 ♦5           108 ♦12     ♣9   165     ♠15    
48       ♣4 G3   110   ♥11 ♠10     168       ♣14  
50   ♥5         112         G7 170   ♥17      
54 ♦6           117 ♦13         176     ♠16    
55     ♠5       120   ♥12   ♣10   180       ♣15  
60   ♥6   ♣5   Null Hand Overt 121     ♠11     187     ♠17    
63 ♦7           126 ♦14         192       ♣16  
64         G4   128         G8 204       ♣17  
66     ♠6          

Type 3: North American Skat League, 1975, Wergin. The base values of the various games are:

  table 3A — games
  Game Base Value Multipliers
  Guckser162 through 7
Tournee Diamonds ♦52 through 14
Hearts ♥62 through 14
Spades ♠72 through 14
Clubs ♣82 through 14
Grand122 through 7
Solo Diamonds ♦92 through 16
Hearts ♥102 through 16
Spades ♠112 through 16
Clubs ♣122 through 16
Grand202 through 9
Grand Overt246 through 9
  Null20, 40none

The multipliers that might be used are:

table 3B — multipliers
Tournee at Suit — totaling 2 through 14:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
 Tournee at Grand — totaling 2 through 7:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
 Guckser at Grand — totaling 2 through 7:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
Guckser is always at Grand.
Solo at Suit — totaling 2 through 16:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
 Solo at Grand — totaling 2 through 9:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
 Solo at Grand Overt — totaling 6 through 9:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game (always)
  • 1 for Schneider *
  • 1 for declaring Schneider *
  • 1 for Schwartz *
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz *
* required for overt

There are 138 possible bids, but sometimes there are several of equal point value. As a result, there are only 71 bidding levels. Here they are, in a lengthy table divided into three parts:

  table 3C — bidding values — part one  
  Tournee   Solo  
Guckser D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt		 Null
  ♦2         10            
    ♥2       12            
      ♠2     14            
  ♦3         15            
        ♣2   16            
    ♥3       18 ♦2          
  ♦4         20   ♥2       Null
      ♠3     21            
            22     ♠2      
    ♥4   ♣3 G2 24       ♣2    
  ♦5         25            
            27 ♦3          
      ♠4     28            
  ♦6 ♥5       30   ♥3        
Gu2       ♣4   32            
            33     ♠3      
  ♦7   ♠5     35            
    ♥6     G3 36 ♦4     ♣3    
  ♦8     ♣5   40   ♥4     G2 Null Overt
 
  table 3C — part two  
  Tournee   Solo
Guckser D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt
    ♥7 ♠6     42          
            44     ♠4    
  ♦9         45 ♦5        
Gu3   ♥8   ♣6 G4 48       ♣4  
      ♠7     49          
  ♦10         50   ♥5      
    ♥9       54 ♦6        
  ♦11         55     ♠5    
      ♠8 ♣7   56          
  ♦12 ♥10     G5 60   ♥6   ♣5 G3
      ♠9     63 ♦7        
Gu4       ♣8   64          
  ♦13         65          
    ♥11       66     ♠6    
  ♦14   ♠10     70   ♥7      
    ♥12   ♣9 G6 72 ♦8     ♣6  
      ♠11     77     ♠7    
    ♥13       78          
Gu5       ♣10   80   ♥8     G4
            81 ♦9        
    ♥14 ♠12   G7 84       ♣7  
        ♣11   88     ♠8    
            90 ♦10 ♥9      
      ♠13     91          
Gu6       ♣12   96       ♣8  
      ♠14     98          
            99 ♦11   ♠9    
            100   ♥10     G5
        ♣13   104          
            108 ♦12     ♣9  
            110   ♥11 ♠10    
Gu7       ♣14   112          
 
    table 3C — part three  
  Solo
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt
117 ♦13        
120   ♥12   ♣10 G6
121     ♠11    
126 ♦14        
130   ♥13      
132     ♠12 ♣11  
135 ♦15        
140   ♥14     G7
143     ♠13    
144 ♦16     ♣12 Ov6
150   ♥15      
154     ♠14    
156       ♣13  
160   ♥16     G8
165     ♠15    
168       ♣14 Ov7
176     ♠16    
180       ♣15 G9
192       ♣16 Ov8
216         Ov9

Type 4: North American Skat League, 1898, Eichhorn. This is the most comprehensive version of Skat that the present author has found. Newer versions tend to be simplifications. The base values of the various games are:

  table 4A — games
  Game Base Value Multipliers
Frage Diamonds ♦12 through 14
Hearts ♥22 through 14
Spades ♠32 through 14
Clubs ♣42 through 14
Grand
= Guckser		122 through 7
Tournee Diamonds ♦52 through 14
Hearts ♥62 through 14
Spades ♠72 through 14
Clubs ♣82 through 14
Grand122 through 7
Solo Diamonds ♦92 through 16
Hearts ♥102 through 16
Spades ♠112 through 16
Clubs ♣122 through 16
Grand162 through 9
Grand Overt246 through 9
  Null20, 40, 60none

The multipliers that might be used are:

table 4B — multipliers
Frage at Suit — totaling 2 through 14:
  • 1 through 11 for matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
 Frage at Grand — totaling 2 through 7:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
Tournee at Suit — totaling 2 through 14:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
 Tournee at Grand — totaling 2 through 7:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for game
  • 1 for schneider
  • 1 for schwartz
Solo at Suit — totaling 2 through 16:
  • 1 through 11 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
 Solo at Grand — totaling 2 through 9:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider
  • 1 for declaring Schneider
  • 1 for Schwartz
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz
  Solo at Grand Ouvert — totaling 6 through 9:
  • 1 through 4 for Matadors
  • 1 for Game
  • 1 for Schneider *
  • 1 for declaring Schneider *
  • 1 for Schwartz *
  • 1 for declaring Schwartz *
* required

There are 194 possible bids, but sometimes there are several (as many as 8) of equal point value. As a result, there are only 85 bidding levels. Eichhorn's book contains, in two images, an essential table summarizing them:

Table 4C, in four parts, displays that same information rearranged into the usual format of this report. The table is so wide that the value column is repeated for convenience:

  table 4C — bidding values — part one  
  Frage Tournee   Solo  
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand =
Guckser		 D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt		 Null
2 ♦2                   2            
3 ♦3                   3            
4 ♦4 ♥2                 4            
5 ♦5                   5            
6 ♦6 ♥3 ♠2               6            
7 ♦7                   7            
8 ♦8 ♥4   ♣2             8            
9 ♦9   ♠3               9            
10 ♦10 ♥5       ♦2         10            
11 ♦11                   11            
12 ♦12 ♥6 ♠4 ♣3     ♥2       12            
13 ♦13                   13            
14 ♦14 ♥7           ♠2     14            
15     ♠5     ♦3         15            
16   ♥8   ♣4         ♣2   16            
18   ♥9 ♠6       ♥3       18 ♦2          
20   ♥10   ♣5   ♦4         20   ♥2       Null
21     ♠7         ♠3     21            
22   ♥11                 22     ♠2      
24   ♥12 ♠8 ♣6 G2   ♥4   ♣3 G2 24       ♣2    
25           ♦5         25            
 
  table 4C — part two  
  Frage Tournee   Solo  
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand =
Guckser		 D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt		 Null
26   ♥13                 26            
27     ♠9               27 ♦3          
28   ♥14   ♣7       ♠4     28            
30     ♠10     ♦6 ♥5       30   ♥3        
32       ♣8         ♣4   32         G2  
33     ♠11               33     ♠3      
35           ♦7   ♠5     35            
36     ♠12 ♣9 G3   ♥6     G3 36 ♦4     ♣3    
39     ♠13               39            
40       ♣10   ♦8     ♣5   40   ♥4       Null Overt
42     ♠14       ♥7 ♠6     42            
44       ♣11             44     ♠4      
45           ♦9         45 ♦5          
48       ♣12 G4   ♥8   ♣6 G4 48       ♣4 G3  
49               ♠7     49            
50           ♦10         50   ♥5        
52       ♣13             52            
54             ♥9       54 ♦6          
55           ♦11         55     ♠5      
56       ♣14       ♠8 ♣7   56            
60         G5 ♦12 ♥10     G5 60   ♥6   ♣5   Null
Revolution
 
  table 4C — part three  
Frage Tournee   Solo
Grand =
Guckser		 D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt
      ♠9     63 ♦7        
        ♣8   64         G4
  ♦13         65          
    ♥11       66     ♠6    
  ♦14   ♠10     70   ♥7      
G6   ♥12   ♣9 G6 72 ♦8     ♣6  
      ♠11     77     ♠7    
    ♥13       78          
        ♣10   80   ♥8     G5
            81 ♦9        
G7   ♥14 ♠12   G7 84       ♣7  
        ♣11   88     ♠8    
            90 ♦10 ♥9      
      ♠13     91          
        ♣12   96       ♣8 G6
      ♠14     98          
            99 ♦11   ♠9    
            100   ♥10      
        ♣13   104          
            108 ♦12     ♣9  
            110   ♥11 ♠10    
        ♣14   112         G7
 
    table 4C — part four  
  Solo
Value D
♦		 H
♥		 S
♠		 C
♣		 Grand
& Overt
117 ♦13        
120   ♥12   ♣10  
121     ♠11    
126 ♦14        
128         G8
130   ♥13      
132     ♠12 ♣11  
135 ♦15        
140   ♥14      
143     ♠13    
144 ♦16     ♣12 G9
Ov6
150   ♥15      
154     ♠14    
156       ♣13  
160   ♥16      
165     ♠15    
168       ♣14 Ov7
176     ♠16    
180       ♣15  
192       ♣16 Ov8
216         Ov9

Historical note 1. The First German Skat Congress was held in Altenburg, Thuringia, Germany in the year 1886, and was the first major attempt to unify the rules of Skat.

In the previous decades, Skat had been growing in popularity, but there was increasing divergence in the rules followed by various local groups. Prompting the Congress was a concern that Skat would disintegrate into a family of games so loose that two Skat players from different areas would not be able to find a set of mutually agreeable rules. The Congress was remarkably successful in its endeavor, and its effect is strongly felt even today.

The Wayback Machine contains Hans J. Dettmer's extract (2002) from K. Buhle's edition of those regulations. The original is of course written in German. An automated translation into English of a key passage reads thus:

"The 35 paragraphs of the General German Skat Regulations of 1886 published here comprise only foreword, contents and rules of the historical document."

Fortunately, Dettmer's extract appears to include the complete rules, and reflects a matter where players had not yet reached consensus: whether to use point bidding (as is the modern practice) or suit bidding. The extract also includes three scoring tables, giving a glimpse into the source of modern Skat rules:

A few translations for Buhle-Dettmer's tables:

table H1
German
word		 English
translation		 French suit
equivalent
SchellenBells Diamonds
Rothred hence HeartsHearts
Grüngreen hence LeavesSpades
EichelnAcornsClubs
• Berechnungs-Tabelle = scoring table.
• Bezeichnung der Spiele = description of the game.
• Grundwerth = base value ("ground worth").
• mit oder ohne = with or without.
• anges short for angesagt = declared.

Historical note 2. Also worthy of consideration is Professor Hoffman's English translation (1893) of A. Hertefeld's detailed German volume on Skat. Being published only slightly after Dettmer's, it describes similar versions of the game. In particular, the difference between suit bidding and point bidding is discussed in detail.

From low to high, the following are the bids recognized by Hertefeld-Hoffman for suit bidding in Skat; other authors of this era give similar rules. Importantly, no point values are mentioned during the bidding:

  table H2A
 bidbase value
using
the Skat		 Frage Diamonds1
Frage Hearts2
Frage Spades3
Frage Clubs4
Tournee5 to 32
not using
the Skat		 Solo Diamonds 9
Solo Hearts10
Solo Spades11
Solo Clubs12
Solo Grand16
Solo Grand Overt24
Solo Null24
Solo Null Overt48
Solo Null Revolution72

The bidder of Tournee does not indicate the nature (suit, Grand, or Null) during the bidding; and cannot meaningfully do so, because no Skat card has been turned up yet. If anyone subsequently bids a solo, the Tournee bid is discarded. Only in the absence of any Solo bid does the Tournee procedure of turning up one or both cards of the Skat take place.

Although they do not affect the bidding, here are the base values of the Tournee games:

table H2B
Tourneebase value
Diamonds5
Hearts6
Spades7
Clubs8
Grand12
Null16
Null Overt32

An advantage of suit bidding is that it is easy to see which bids are higher than others: in the table above there are exactly fourteen levels. It follows that there is little need for tables like 1C, 2C, 3C, and 4C of this report. A disadvantage of suit bidding is that the player who thinks he can score the most points might not have the chance to become the high bidder. In particular, the number of Matadors with or without, and any intended declarations of Scheider and Schwartz, are not reflected in the bidding.

Example of the difference between suit and value bidding:

In suit bidding, Solo Hearts outbids Solo Diamonds, even though the Diamond game would be worth far more points.

Incidentally, Hertefeld-Hoffman points out that in the game of Skat, the general aim is not specifically to win tricks, but rather to win point-bearing cards (Jacks and up) in tricks. By this rationale, the criterion for Schwartz ought to be not to win all the tricks, but rather to win all the point-bearing cards in tricks.

Thus for instance, a Schwartz would not be ruined if a player were to take every trick except one that contains two Nines and one Eight. In the extreme case, a player could lose four tricks and still complete a Schwartz. (The present author agrees with Hertefeld-Hoffman's opinion.)

Modest proposal from the present author. Under the rules of Skat, the four Jacks have a special role in games other than Null. It is convenient to have a name for this, and wenzel was chosen. This proposal would allow any one of the ranks King, Queen, or Jack to serve as wenzels, to be chosen by the high bidder when declaring his game.

The rationale for choosing these three ranks in particular is twofold. These cards:

To help show the structure, here are the point values for cards won in tricks in Skat, in a classification by point range, symbols and wenzel eligiblity:

table P1
rank points point
range		 symbols eligible to
be wenzel?
Ace 11 high pips no
Ten10
King 4 low picture yes
Queen3
Jack2
Nine 0 zero pips no
Eight0
Seven0

Here are some examples of possible declarations:

table P2
declarationtrumpsplain suits
Kings wenzels, hearts trump K♣ K♠ K♥ K♦ A♥ 10♥ Q♥ J♥ 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ A 10 Q J 9 8 7
Kings wenzels, grand K♣ K♠ K♥ K♦ A 10 Q J 9 8 7
Queens wenzels, spades trump Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ A♠ 10♠ K♠ J♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ A 10 K J 9 8 7
Queens wenzels, grand Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ A 10 K J 9 8 7
Jacks wenzels, diamonds trump J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ A♦ 10♦ K♦ Q♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦ A 10 K Q 9 8 7
Jacks wenzels, grand J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ A 10 K Q 9 8 7

By this changing of the rules to add possible bids, more hands that are feasibly biddable will be produced. As a result, the number of passed-out deals should go down.

If this proposal is implemented, there is no immediate necessity to adjust base values or multipliers (hence game values), although extended play may give a motivation to do so. One simple option is to count one extra multiplier when Queens are wenzels; two extras for Kings. This would not seriously upset the current bidding structure. On the other hand, players might prefer the following more finely granulated approach that restores base values 7 and 8 from older versions of Skat:

table P3 — base values
GameWenzels
JacksQueensKings
Diamonds ♦987
Hearts ♥1098
Spades ♠11109
Clubs ♣121110
Grand242016
Nullunaffected

Here are the progressions of bidding values arising from base values 7 and 8, with the values new to type 1 Skat underscored:

The following four familiar categories of Skat bids (table 1B) will still prevail:

As always, Null games do not recognize wenzels.

Here is a suggestion for players who admit the Tournee bid, where one or both of the cards of the skat are turned up to establish trump:

Note that if the turn-up is a pip card, the declarer has a choice of wenzel rank, but if the turn-up is picture card, there is no choice.

The related game Schafkopf provides much of the precedent for this suggestion.

The term wenz is a standard term in that game, where the Jacks have a similar function. Several etymologies indicate that wenz is a shortened form of wenzel, which itself carries similar meaning elsewhere the card-playing world. Helpful terms.

Of the six kinds of bids in table P2, only the last is recognized in standard Schafkopf rules; but the others are frequently mentioned throughout the Schafkopf literature as variations, although their names vary considerably. (Standard Schafkopf rules also provide for Queens and Jacks to form one series of eight wenzels, Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦, but nothing similar is proposed here for Skat.)

The related game Doppelkopf offers even more variations.