How to Play Skat

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Skat is a three-player trick-taking card game played with a 32-card deck. One player, the declarer, bids to play solo against the other two, who cooperate to defeat them. The interplay of bidding, card exchange, and trump management gives Skat a tactical depth that rewards careful thought at every stage.

The game is widely regarded as one of the most sophisticated card games for exactly three players, and it is especially popular in Germany, where it is played in homes, clubs, and competitive leagues. Its combination of auction mechanics and precise scoring makes it a favourite among players who enjoy games that reward skill over a long session.

A little history

Skat was developed in the early nineteenth century in Altenburg, Germany, and is traditionally said to have been codified there around 1817 by members of a local card club. It draws on elements of earlier German and French card games. The first published rules appeared in the 1820s, and formal tournament play followed during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Beyond these documented milestones, the finer details of its early evolution are unclear.

Setting up

1. Seat three players around a table and agree who deals first. Dealership rotates clockwise each hand.
2. Shuffle the 32-card deck thoroughly. The player to the dealer's right cuts the deck.
3. Deal cards in batches: deal 3 cards to each player, then place 2 cards face down in the centre as the Skat (the widow), then deal 4 cards to each player, then 3 more to each player. Each player holds 10 cards; 2 remain in the Skat.
4. The player to the dealer's left is Forehand, the next is Middlehand, and the dealer is Rearhand. Forehand leads the first trick if the contract is played.

How to play

1. CARD RANKING AND VALUES: The four Jacks are always the highest trumps regardless of the named suit, ranked clubs J (highest), spades J, hearts J, diamonds J. In a suit contract the remaining trump cards rank: A, 10, K, Q, 9, 8, 7. In plain suits the rank is the same: A, 10, K, Q, J (but Jacks have already been removed to the trump suit), 9, 8, 7. Card point values are: Ace = 11, Ten = 10, King = 4, Queen = 3, Jack = 2, Nine/Eight/Seven = 0. Total card points in the deck = 120.
2. BIDDING: Middlehand opens the auction by bidding against Forehand. Middlehand states a bid value (starting at 18, the lowest legal game value); Forehand says 'yes' to accept or 'pass' to drop out. The active bidder raises to the next valid game value; the other player accepts or passes. When one player passes, Rearhand may enter and continues against the survivor using the same process. The player who wins the auction becomes the declarer. If all three pass, the hand is thrown in and redealt, or Forehand is compelled to play a Ramsch (see Variations).
3. PICKING UP THE SKAT: The declarer takes both Skat cards into their hand (now 12 cards), examines them privately, and discards any two cards face down back to the Skat. These discarded cards belong to the declarer at scoring. The declarer then announces their contract.
4. CONTRACTS: The main contracts are Suit (naming one of the four suits as trump), Grand (only the four Jacks are trumps), and Null (the declarer must take no tricks at all; no card points matter). Suit and Grand contracts require the declarer to take at least 61 card points in their tricks plus the Skat cards. Null requires a clean sweep of zero tricks.
5. HAND CONTRACTS: Before looking at the Skat the declarer may instead announce a Hand contract, leaving the Skat untouched. This raises the game value and unlocks further multipliers (Schneider announced, Schwarz announced). Once the Skat is picked up, these announcements are no longer available.
6. MULTIPLIERS (MATADORS AND LEVELS): Game value is calculated as: base value of the suit multiplied by the number of levels. Base values are: clubs = 12, spades = 11, hearts = 10, diamonds = 9, Grand = 24, Null = 23 (Null ouvert = 46). Levels begin with the matador count: count how many of the top trumps (clubs J, spades J, hearts J, diamonds J, then A, 10, K, Q of the trump suit) the declarer holds in an unbroken sequence from the top ('with') or lacks from the top ('without'). Add 1 for the game itself, then 1 each for: Hand, Schneider achieved (opponents take under 30 card points), Schneider announced, Schwarz achieved (opponents take no tricks), Schwarz announced, Ouvert (hand played face up).
7. PLAYING THE TRICKS: Forehand leads the first card. Players must follow suit if able. If unable to follow suit, they may play any card including a trump. The trick is won by the highest trump played, or if no trump, by the highest card of the led suit. The trick winner leads to the next trick. The two defenders combine their taken tricks and count card points together.
8. RESOLVING THE HAND: After all 10 tricks, count card points. For a Suit or Grand contract the declarer wins if they have taken 61 or more card points (including any points in the discarded Skat). For Null the declarer wins only if they took zero tricks.
9. VALIDATING THE BID: Calculate the declarer's game value using the formula in step 6. The game value must be equal to or higher than the bid made at auction. If it falls short, the declarer loses and the loss is calculated using the next valid game value that would have been at least as high as the bid.
10. SCORING: Winning: the game value is added to the declarer's cumulative score. Losing: twice the game value is deducted. Schneider (opponents under 30 points): increases the multiplier whether or not it was announced. Schwarz (opponents take no tricks): further increases the multiplier. Null contracts score fixed amounts: Null = 23, Null Hand = 35, Null Ouvert = 46, Null Ouvert Hand = 59. Positive scores go to the declarer; the two defenders score nothing from a hand (in club scoring, each defender gains the absolute value of a declarer loss).
11. GAME LENGTH: Play an agreed number of rounds (commonly enough that each player deals an equal number of times, e.g. a multiple of three deals), then total scores determine the winner.

Winning and scoring

The player with the highest cumulative score at the end of the agreed number of deals wins. Within a single hand, the declarer wins by taking 61 or more card points (out of 120) for a Suit or Grand contract, or by winning no tricks at all in a Null contract. Taking 91 or more card points achieves Schneider; taking all 10 tricks achieves Schwarz. Both increase the game value. The declarer's calculated game value must meet or exceed their auction bid, or the hand is lost and double the relevant game value is deducted from their score.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns overbidding: if the declarer's calculated game value is lower than their bid, they lose the hand. The loss is scored as twice the lowest game value that would have covered the bid, not twice the bid itself. For example, if a player bid 20 and their game value works out at 18, the loss is scored as twice 20 (the next valid clubs game value that would cover 20 is 20; but since 18 does not reach 20, use the next valid value of 20). Always calculate game value before declaring a loss to avoid scoring errors. A second frequent dispute involves following suit: Jacks belong to the trump suit in a Suit game, so a player holding only Jacks and no cards of the led plain suit has no obligation to follow and may play freely. In a Grand game, only Jacks are trumps, so a club lead requires the player to follow with a club if they hold one; holding only the club Jack satisfies this requirement.

Regarding the Skat in a Hand contract: the two Skat cards remain untouched throughout and are only revealed and counted after all tricks are played. Their card points go to the declarer. If a player inadvertently sees the Skat before announcing Hand, the Hand bonus is forfeit and a standard contract must be declared. In competitive play, any irregularity such as a lead out of turn typically results in the offending side being required to correct the error if possible, or in a penalty agreed by the players before the session.

How to win more often

• Count your matadors before bidding. The number of top trumps you hold in sequence directly controls your game value. Holding or missing several top Jacks can swing your game value dramatically and affect how high you can safely bid.
• Value the Ten carefully. The Ten is worth 10 points but ranks below the Ace. It is easy to lose a Ten to an opponent's Ace. In suit contracts, drawing out the Ace early or protecting your Ten by leading trumps first are both sound approaches depending on your hand.
• As a defender, communicate through your discards and leads. Playing your highest card on a trick you cannot win signals strength in that suit to your partner. Defenders win by coordinating to deny the declarer their 61-point target.
• Use the Skat exchange to fix weaknesses, not just to collect points. Discarding cards from a short plain suit removes the risk of being forced to follow and losing a trump later. Think about the shape of the hand, not just the raw point value of what you put in the Skat.
• Be conservative when bidding on borderline hands. Losing a Skat game costs double, so a hand that might scrape 61 points is often better passed than played. Experienced players prefer solid contracts with good matador counts over speculative bids on marginal holdings.

Variations

Ramsch

Ramsch is played when all three players pass in the bidding. There is no declarer; instead, all three play independently and the player who takes the most card points loses. Jacks remain the highest trumps (clubs J highest) and there is no named trump suit beyond the Jacks. The Skat goes to the last trick winner. A player who takes all the card points (a Grand Ramsch) may score positively under some house rules. Ramsch is a widely played informal addition and is not part of the official tournament ruleset.

Null Ouvert

In this variant of the Null contract, the declarer lays their entire hand face up on the table before the first lead. The defenders can see all of the declarer's cards and coordinate their play accordingly. The fixed score for winning is higher (46 points, or 59 for Null Ouvert Hand) to reflect the increased difficulty. The declarer must still take zero tricks to win.

Bock Rounds

A Bock round is a special deal in which all scores are doubled. Bock rounds are triggered by events agreed before the session, commonly a hand that ends in a tie on card points (60 each), a passed hand, or a lost Null. They add a layer of tension and are popular in regular club play, though they are not part of the standard international rules.

Four-Player Skat

With four players, the dealer sits out each hand and does not receive cards. The remaining three players follow the standard Skat rules in full. Dealership rotates so that each player sits out an equal number of hands over a session. This is the standard way to accommodate a fourth player without altering the core three-player game structure.

Skat: frequently asked questions