After the second game, those who have played the greatest number of consecutive games give way, ties being decided by cutting. _=Dealing.=_ Every player has the right to shuffle the cards, the dealer last. The dealer must present the pack to the pone to be cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. If a card is exposed in cutting, the pack must be reshuffled, and cut again. If the dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been properly cut, he loses his deal. Beginning on his left, the dealer must give to each player in rotation three cards at a time for three rounds. No trump is turned. The deal passes to the left.
Then D withdraws his superfluous 65, and it is a call. No one has a brelan, so all the hands are shown, and the cards lie thus:-- [Illustration: 🂮 🃉 🃈 +-------+ | B | 🂡 🂭 🂩 |C A| 🃑 🃞 🃙 | D | +-------+ 🂱 🂾 🃝 🂹 ] The point is exactly even for clubs and spades, 40 in each. In case of ties, the dealer, or the player nearest him on the right wins. In this case A wins on account of his position, so clubs is the winning suit, and A has the best card of it. But he can win from C and D only the amount for which he called a sight, _i.e._ 35 counters. He therefore takes down 105 as his share of the pool, leaving 170 to be decided between C and D. Now, although C has a better point than D, it is one of the principles of the game that the suit that wins cannot lose at the same time; and as D has a card of the winning suit, while C has not, D wins the remainder of the pool. If neither C nor D had a card of the winning suit, C would win from D on account of his better point.
What did you get? Some plums. What did you do with them? Made a plum-pudding. What did she give you? A penny. What did you do with it? Bought a calf. What did you do with it? Sold it. What did you do with the money? Gave it to the butcher, and he gave me a penny back, and I bought some nuts with it. What did you do with them? Gave them to the butcher, and he s behind the churchyard cracking them, and leaving you the shells. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). IV. Mother, mother, may I go to play? No, daughter, no! for fear you should stay.
_=Bidding.=_ Some persons attach a great deal of importance to the odds for and against certain cards being in the Skat. If a player without three is forced to risk finding a Matadore in the Skat, it is usually enough for him to know that the odds are about 3 to 1 against it. It is much more important for him to consider what cards may make against him, and what they would count. It is often necessary to estimate very closely the number of points that must fall on a certain number of leads. For instance: You are Vorhand, and hold these cards:-- [Illustration: 🂫 🂻 🃋 🃞 🃝 🃙 🃘 🃗 🃇 🂧 ] Even if you find the Ace and Ten with the best Wenzel in one hand against you, you have an almost certain club Solo, for if you lead a Wenzel, your adversary must either take it, or give you the Ace or Ten. If he wins it, and his partner gives him a Ten of another suit, and they then proceed to make both the Aces and Tens of your weak suits, that will give them only 56 points, and you will make every other trick. The only thing that could defeat you is for one player on the fourth trick to lead a suit of which his partner had none. This would require one player to have all the spades and the other all the hearts, which is almost impossible. Another familiar example is the following: You are Vorhand with these cards:-- [Illustration: 🃛 🂫 🃑 🃚 🂡 🂪 🂸 🂷 🃈 🃇 ] Although you cannot possibly win more than six tricks, and must lose every trick in the red suits, you have an invincible Grand; because the adversaries have not a sufficient number of Fehlkarten to give you to avoid adding 16 points to the 46 you already have in your hand, which must make you 62 before they get a trick.