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Sixty-six (card game)
Encyclopedia
Sixty-six or Schnapsen is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 20 or 24 cards. First recorded in 1718 under the name Mariagen-Spiel
, it is the national card game of Austria and also popular in Germany and Hungary.
Closely related games for various numbers of players are popular all over Europe and include Czech/Slovak Mariáš
, Hungarian Ulti
, Finnish Marjapussi
, French Bezique
and American Pinochle
. Together with the Jack–Nine family
they form the large King–Queen family of games.
German Sixty-six is a 6-card game played with a deck of 24 cards consisting of the Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack and Nine, worth 11, 10, 4, 3, 2 and 0 card-points, respectively. The other major variant is Austrian Schnapsen, which does not make use of the Nines and has a hand size of 5 cards. The trump suit is determined randomly. Players each begin with a full hand and draw from the stock after each trick. The object in each deal is to be the first player to score 66 points. The cards have a total worth of 120 points, and the last trick is worth 10 points. A player who holds King and Queen of the same suit scores 20 points, or 40 points in trumps, when playing the first of them.
Many central European games use this valuation. The ranking is different from standard North American ranking in that the ten ranks high, i.e. it is the second highest card after the ace.
suit. The remaining stock is placed crosswise on the trump card.
, Queen
, King
, and Ace
. A deck can be made with the cards 8 and below removed from a standard playing card deck. The game is played by two, three or four (in teams of two). Team members sit across from each other.
, the game is played to 15, so a 7 and 8 are used for scoring. There are 30 points per suit, for a total of 120 points in the deck. Points are distributed amongst the cards as shown in the table.
In addition, points are awarded to players who have a marriage or meld. In order to get the points for the meld and marriage, the king or queen must be led (i.e. the first card played in the trick) and the other card must be in the same player's hand. It is not necessary to take the trick, just to lead. But the team may only count the meld if during the course of the hand they win at least one trick. The player must announce the marriage (as "40" or "20") when leading, otherwise the player does not receive the award. 40 points are awarded for a meld/marriage in trump, 20 points are awarded for a non-trump meld.
Points are kept in 33-point increments. Score is kept up to 10 points. Although, in money games and among certain playing communities the game has always traditionally been played to 15 points.
The bidding difficulty describes pre-1970s money games. Since then, innovations were made using aggressive bidding, notable in South Bend, IN. This aggressive style of play was previously discouraged by money rules which penalized losing bids: "A dollar a point, and a dollar a set." Consequently, players were not able to work out the optimal odds and circumstances favoring a more aggressive bidding style which was allowed in family friendly games where younger players were free to push the boundaries without fear of losing money (or card room brawls.)
Players must follow suit. If a player has the ability to play higher, they must play higher. If a player does not have the led suit, but does have trump, the player must play trump. This can be a useful way of removing trump from your opponent while getting rid of low-point cards, i.e., the 9s. If the player does not have the led suit or trump, his partner is free to play any of the remaining cards.
For the opponents, for every 33 points, score one on the scorecards. For the bidding team, if they made their bid, score one on the scorecard for every 33 points. If they were set, remove the bid from their scorecard.
In close matches, the rule is "bidders out". Meaning that if both teams pass 15 on the last hand, the team that won the bid, is the winner.
It is important to note that there is no penalty in underbidding. If a player overbids, however, his partner is set to bid again. The opposing team gets points based on what they collect. If they collect 35 points, they make one on the scorecard.
, in that it is always played to the last trick and it uses the device of setting the trump suit by melding, which also occurs in old Mariage variants.
Each time a player melds a mariage, the trump suit changes to the suit of the meld. The first mariage is worth 20 points, the second 40 points, the third 60 points, and the fourth 80 points. Card-play after the stock has been used up is strongly restricted. Players must follow suit if possible and must win the trick if possible.
community in South Bend, Indiana, in the 1950s and '60s. There were regular tournaments and "money games". The bidding was usually conducted in Polish. The games were played with 4 players comproming two teams made of the players sitting across from one another. A three player game was known as "cut-throat" and involves seven cards per hand and a "widow" of three cards won by the first trick. Two team and cut-throat games are played to 15 points.
In the 1970s and '80s, a more aggressive bidding style was developed in familial games known as the Kromkowski style. Members of the Kromkowski family worked out odds and circumstances favoring higher bidding strategies. The strategy involves, in part, understanding what is known as "the distribution" or "the card distribution". What is in your hand and the bids made by other players, provides information to make guesses about what is in other hands. The process is remarkably similar to a hidden Markov model
(HMM), a statistical model in which the system being modeled is assumed to be a Markov process
with unknown parameters, and the challenge is to determine the hidden parameters (the other hands) from the observable parameters (your hand and the bids).
Mariage (card game)
' or Mariagespiel is a German 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players in which players score bonus points for the "marriage" of King and Queen of the same suit. The game, first documented in 1715 in Leipzig, spawned numerous offshoots throughout continental Europe...
, it is the national card game of Austria and also popular in Germany and Hungary.
Closely related games for various numbers of players are popular all over Europe and include Czech/Slovak Mariáš
Mariáš (card game)
Mariáš is a three-player solo trick-taking game of the King–Queen family, buth with a simplified scoring system. It is one of the most popular card games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia...
, Hungarian Ulti
Ulti
Ulti or Ultimó, is Hungary's national trick-taking card game for three players. Though virtually unknown outside its home borders, Ulti is well worth exploring, as it offers some unusual and intriguing features.-History:...
, Finnish Marjapussi
Marjapussi
Marjapussi is a traditional Finnish partnerships trick taking game. The speciality of Marjapussi is that the trump suit is determined in the middle of the play by declaring a marriage . To win a game, a partnership must get exactly twelve points...
, French Bezique
Bezique
Bezique is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players derived from Marriage via Briscan by the addition of more scoring features, notably the peculiar liaison of Q and J, under the names Bésigue, Binokel, Pinochle, etc., according to the country.-History:Bezique was...
and American Pinochle
Pinochle
Pinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
. Together with the Jack–Nine family
Jack–Nine card games
The Jack-Nine card games, also known as the Jass group, form a family of trick-taking games in which the jack and nine of the trump suit are the highest-ranking trumps, and the tens and aces of all suits are the next most valuable cards...
they form the large King–Queen family of games.
German Sixty-six is a 6-card game played with a deck of 24 cards consisting of the Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack and Nine, worth 11, 10, 4, 3, 2 and 0 card-points, respectively. The other major variant is Austrian Schnapsen, which does not make use of the Nines and has a hand size of 5 cards. The trump suit is determined randomly. Players each begin with a full hand and draw from the stock after each trick. The object in each deal is to be the first player to score 66 points. The cards have a total worth of 120 points, and the last trick is worth 10 points. A player who holds King and Queen of the same suit scores 20 points, or 40 points in trumps, when playing the first of them.
Rules
| Rank | A | 10 | K | Q | J | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Card values
The table shows the cards ranked from highest to lowest and their card point value once taken.Many central European games use this valuation. The ranking is different from standard North American ranking in that the ten ranks high, i.e. it is the second highest card after the ace.
Deal
Dealer is determined by any method acceptable to both players. The deal then alternates between players. Each player is dealt six cards and the top card of the remaining deck is turned face-up to show the trumpTrump
A trump is a type of card in some card games.Trump may also refer to:* Trump * Trump * Trumps * The Trump * HMS Trump , a British submarine* The Trump Organization, a business conglomerate...
suit. The remaining stock is placed crosswise on the trump card.
Play
The non-dealer leads. A trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led or by the highest trump. Until the stock is gone, there is no obligation to follow suit or to trump. The trick is taken by the winner, turned face down, and should not be looked at again. The winner scores the value of the two cards in the trick, as shown on the table above. Players must remember how many points they have taken since their scores may not be recorded, and they are not allowed to look back at previous tricks. Once the trick is played, the winner takes the top card of the stock to replenish his hand, then the loser does the same. The winner of the trick leads the next.Trump nine
The holder of the lowest trump card, the nine, can exchange it for the turned up trump. This can be done only by a player who has won at least one trick while he has the lead. This exchange cannot be done in the middle of a trick. It must be done just before or after the players restock their hands, when no cards are in play.Marriages or melds
On his turn when he has the lead, a player may marry a Queen-King couple of the same suit by playing one and simultaneously showing the other. Regular marriages are worth 20 card points and trump marriages are worth 40. A marriage or meld is usually announced in some way to the other player, often by saying the number of points made. The points do not count towards the player's total until he has taken at least one trick.Stock depleted
Once the stock is gone, with the turned up trump taken by the loser of the sixth trick, the rules of play change to become more strict. Players now must follow suit and marriages can no longer be played.Closing
Closing indicates that the closer has a good enough hand to reach the 66-point target under amended rules. It is indicated by flipping over the trump card, before or after taking cards to make the hands back up to 6 cards. The rules change and suit must be followed if possible. The stock is now "closed" and players do not replenish their hands, and there is no 10-point bonus for taking the last trick. The lead does not change to the closer. If the closer reaches 66 card-points first, he scores points in the usual way. If he fails to reach 66 card-points his opponent scores two points.Declaring
A player who thinks that the points in the tricks he or she has taken together with those from any marriages add up to 66 or more, stops the game and begins counting card points. If the player who stopped the game does not have 66 card and marriage points, then the opponent wins 2 game points. If the player does have 66 points, then he or she wins game points as follows.- One game point if the opponent has 33 or more card points.
- Two game points if the opponent won at least one trick and has 0–32 card points.
- Three game points if the opponent won no tricks at all
Winning
The first person to get 7 game points is the winner. These can be tracked by showing pips on a seven covered by a face-down card.Four-handed and North American 66
North-American Sixty-six is also a partnership game which uses a 24-card pack ranking 9, 10, JackJack (playing card)
A Jack, also Knave, is a playing card with a picture of a man on it. The usual rank of a jack, within its suit, is as if it were an 11 ....
, Queen
Queen (playing card)
The Queen is a playing card with a picture of a queen on it. The usual rank of a queen is as if it were 12 ....
, King
King (playing card)
The king is a playing card with a picture of a king on it. The usual rank of a king is as if it were a 13; that is, above the queen. In some games, the king is the highest-ranked card; in others, the ace is higher...
, and Ace
Ace
An ace is a playing card. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the case of the Ace of Spades...
. A deck can be made with the cards 8 and below removed from a standard playing card deck. The game is played by two, three or four (in teams of two). Team members sit across from each other.
Scoring points
Each team gets a black 6 and a red 4, used for scoring. In Polish American communities of South Bend, IndianaSouth Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, the game is played to 15, so a 7 and 8 are used for scoring. There are 30 points per suit, for a total of 120 points in the deck. Points are distributed amongst the cards as shown in the table.
In addition, points are awarded to players who have a marriage or meld. In order to get the points for the meld and marriage, the king or queen must be led (i.e. the first card played in the trick) and the other card must be in the same player's hand. It is not necessary to take the trick, just to lead. But the team may only count the meld if during the course of the hand they win at least one trick. The player must announce the marriage (as "40" or "20") when leading, otherwise the player does not receive the award. 40 points are awarded for a meld/marriage in trump, 20 points are awarded for a non-trump meld.
Points are kept in 33-point increments. Score is kept up to 10 points. Although, in money games and among certain playing communities the game has always traditionally been played to 15 points.
Bidding
The play to the left of the dealer initiates bidding. Bidding is done based on how many points the player thinks they will make in the hand. Each player either bids greater than the previous bid or passes. Each player bids or passes only once. The player who has the highest bid leads. Trump is determined by the first card played. Each tick on the scoresheet is 33 points. Bids are not additive. If your partner bids 1 and you bid two, the bid for that hand is 2, not 3. Since bidding is based on number of points you want to take, use the following table:- 1 - A bid of 1 is for 33 points - This can be fairly simple, since the player who gets the bid determines what trump is. If he has an Ace/Ten or Ace and two others in the same suit, a 1 bid may be safe. There are only 30 points per suit. If the player has a "Marriage", he can lead that for 40 points, so he is always safe to bid 1 with a marriage.
- 2 - A bid of 2 is for 66 points - This is slightly more than half the points in the deck. Rule-of-thumb - you should bid 2 when you have a Marriage, because you already have 40 (You only need 26 more). Chances are that your partner will give you those points to reach your 2 bid.
- 3 - A bid of 3 is for 99 points - This is tough, but with a trump marriage and strong trump, it is doable.
- 4 - A bid of 4 is for 132 points - Remember there are only 120 points in the deck, so this requires a meld to make it. Generally people don't bid 4.
- 5/"Moon", also known as "playing Alone" - The partner's hand is placed face down and the partner does not play. Play is only between the 3 remaining players.
The bidding difficulty describes pre-1970s money games. Since then, innovations were made using aggressive bidding, notable in South Bend, IN. This aggressive style of play was previously discouraged by money rules which penalized losing bids: "A dollar a point, and a dollar a set." Consequently, players were not able to work out the optimal odds and circumstances favoring a more aggressive bidding style which was allowed in family friendly games where younger players were free to push the boundaries without fear of losing money (or card room brawls.)
Play
After the players bid, the player who bid highest begins play. The first card led is automatically trump.Players must follow suit. If a player has the ability to play higher, they must play higher. If a player does not have the led suit, but does have trump, the player must play trump. This can be a useful way of removing trump from your opponent while getting rid of low-point cards, i.e., the 9s. If the player does not have the led suit or trump, his partner is free to play any of the remaining cards.
Scoring
The team that bid highest must make their bid in order to score. Failure to do so results in a reduction of points. At the end of the hand, teams count up their points and add in the points of any called marriages. If the marriage wasn't led, it isn't scored.For the opponents, for every 33 points, score one on the scorecards. For the bidding team, if they made their bid, score one on the scorecard for every 33 points. If they were set, remove the bid from their scorecard.
In close matches, the rule is "bidders out". Meaning that if both teams pass 15 on the last hand, the team that won the bid, is the winner.
It is important to note that there is no penalty in underbidding. If a player overbids, however, his partner is set to bid again. The opposing team gets points based on what they collect. If they collect 35 points, they make one on the scorecard.
Schnapsen
The Austrian national two-handed variation of Sixty-six in which all the nines are removed for a 20 rather than a 24-card deck, and the hand size is reduced from six to five cards. This variation is considered a much tighter game than the 24-card version and is very popular in Austria, where they sell packs of 24 cards called "Schnapskarten" specifically to play this game.Idiots' Sixty-six
Although it is played with 24 cards, this Danish game is perhaps more properly regarded as a variant of MariageMariage (card game)
' or Mariagespiel is a German 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players in which players score bonus points for the "marriage" of King and Queen of the same suit. The game, first documented in 1715 in Leipzig, spawned numerous offshoots throughout continental Europe...
, in that it is always played to the last trick and it uses the device of setting the trump suit by melding, which also occurs in old Mariage variants.
Each time a player melds a mariage, the trump suit changes to the suit of the meld. The first mariage is worth 20 points, the second 40 points, the third 60 points, and the fourth 80 points. Card-play after the stock has been used up is strongly restricted. Players must follow suit if possible and must win the trick if possible.
History in America
Sixty-six was widely played in the Polish AmericanPolish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
community in South Bend, Indiana, in the 1950s and '60s. There were regular tournaments and "money games". The bidding was usually conducted in Polish. The games were played with 4 players comproming two teams made of the players sitting across from one another. A three player game was known as "cut-throat" and involves seven cards per hand and a "widow" of three cards won by the first trick. Two team and cut-throat games are played to 15 points.
In the 1970s and '80s, a more aggressive bidding style was developed in familial games known as the Kromkowski style. Members of the Kromkowski family worked out odds and circumstances favoring higher bidding strategies. The strategy involves, in part, understanding what is known as "the distribution" or "the card distribution". What is in your hand and the bids made by other players, provides information to make guesses about what is in other hands. The process is remarkably similar to a hidden Markov model
Hidden Markov model
A hidden Markov model is a statistical Markov model in which the system being modeled is assumed to be a Markov process with unobserved states. An HMM can be considered as the simplest dynamic Bayesian network. The mathematics behind the HMM was developed by L. E...
(HMM), a statistical model in which the system being modeled is assumed to be a Markov process
Markov process
In probability theory and statistics, a Markov process, named after the Russian mathematician Andrey Markov, is a time-varying random phenomenon for which a specific property holds...
with unknown parameters, and the challenge is to determine the hidden parameters (the other hands) from the observable parameters (your hand and the bids).