Willi Stich

Special rounds

Six of the 19 rounds work differently. Following suit, the trick rules and the dealer rule apply in all of them.

Rounds 5 and 15

Trump choice

Here trump is not set by a random card but chosen by a player.

  1. Each player first gets one card, turned face up.
  2. The highest card earns the right to choose trump.
  3. If several share the highest card, only they each draw one more card from the deck – without shuffling the drawn cards back. If they tie again, those still tied draw again.
  4. Then all 64 cards are shuffled anew and each player gets five cards.
  5. Only after everyone has looked at their cards does that player pick one of the four suits as trump. “No trump” is not allowed.
  6. Bidding and play are as usual.

Example: Four players draw ace, king, ace and ten. The two with an ace each draw one more card; whoever draws the higher one chooses trump.

Rounds 7 and 13

No trump

No trump card is turned up; no suit is trump. The highest card of the suit led always wins the trick; on a tie, the one played first. You must follow suit as always.

Diamonds are led.

10
leads
A
discarded
K
wins
8
follows suit

The king of diamonds wins although an ace of spades is in the trick – there is no trump.

Round 10

Blind bid

In the middle of the game, calls are made before the cards are dealt. Nobody knows their cards or trump.

  1. All 64 cards are shuffled.
  2. Starting left of the dealer, everyone calls; the dealer last, and the dealer may not make the total ten.
  3. Only then does each player get ten cards.
  4. Then the trump card is turned up from the rest.
  5. Now everyone may look at their cards. The calls stand; play and scoring are as usual.

Round 19

Forehead round

The last round is a one-card game again – with a twist: everyone sees the others' cards, but not their own.

  1. Each player gets one card and immediately holds it, unseen, to their own forehead.
  2. One more card is turned up and sets trump as usual.
  3. Starting left of the dealer, everyone calls 0 or 1. The dealer may not make the total exactly 1.
  4. Hints about the visible cards are forbidden.
  5. The player to the dealer's left leads; everyone plays their card without looking at it first.