Skat

Skat is a sophisticated trick-taking card game played with a piquet pack or an equivalent 32-card pack with German suits. It is reputedly one of the best 3-player games. Skat was invented in Altenburg, Germany in the early 19th century. By the end of World War I it had become Germany's national game.

The official standard rules for all countries are defined in the International Skat Order, after the Deutscher Skatverband and the International Skat Players' Association harmonized their regulations in 1998. Locally played rules often reflect an earlier stage in the game's development or add additional features.

Material, players, and overall structure

The game is played with a pack of 32 cards consisting of Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack, 9, 8 and 7 in four suits. The game is most commonly played with French-suited cards, but in some regions in Germany and Austria German-suited cards are preferred. For tournaments the Deutscher Skatverband uses a compromise pack that is identical with an ordinary French-suited piquet pack except for a 4-colour scheme four suits that is in part reminiscent to German-style cards: Clubs (which correspond to acorns) are black; spades (which correspond to clovers) are green; hearts are red; and diamonds (which correspond to bells) are yellow. This is different from the 4-colour scheme that is occasionally used for Poker.

Point-values of cards

Rank	A	10	K	Q	J	9	8	7
Value	11	10	4	3	2	0	0	0
	high cards					low cards

The cards carry values as shown in the table, for a total value of 120 points. It can be observed that the 12 low cards (9, 8 and 7 in all suits) have no scoring value at all, while 84 of the game's 120 scoring points are concentrated in the 8 high cards (Ace and Ten in all suits). Only 12 cards have scoring values close to the average.

Skat is generally played clockwise and for a full number of rounds. A round consists of as many games as there are players; it finishes after each player has dealt once. For each game, the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and deposits 2 cards face down in the middle. These are known as the skat. The dealer must follow the scheme 3–skat–4–3.

Skat for more than 3 players

An individual game is always played by exactly 3 players. In the case of more than 3 players the dealer does not participate in the game itself; only the 3 players to the dealer's left do.