Bettelmann
Battle or War | |
Very easy to play. No trumps. |
Bettelmann ("Beggar Man") or Tod und Leben ("Death and Life").
Rules
The rules appear to have changed little in over a century. The following are based on
The game is usually played by children and originally used a 32-card
Pierer adds the rule that a player down to the last 3 cards may look at them and (presumably) play them in any order to the next trick(s). If that person wins a trick such that more than 3 cards are held again, the player turns cards face down and the trick is placed at the bottom of the pile. Pierer also adds that "if more than two play, the cards are dealt and played in the same way".[2]
Tod und Leben
In some sources the rules for Tod und Leben are identical to those of Bettelmann.[4] However, Feder (1980), Gööck (1967), Müller (1994) and Ethische Kultur (1893) all state that, in Tod und Leben, the cards are first divided into those of the red suits - the Goodies (die Guten) or Life (Leben) - and those of the black suits - the Baddies (die Bösen) or Death (Tod). One player plays with the reds and the other with the blacks. The highest-ranking card wins the trick regardless of suit; if equal ranking cards are played, they are left in situ and taken by the winner of the next trick. The overall winner is the first one to capture all the cards.[5][6][7][8]
Footnotes
References
Literature
- _ (1893). Ethische Kultur: Halbmonatsschrift für Ethisch-Soziale Reformen. Volume 1. Berlin: Ferd. Dümmler.
- Feder, Jan (1980). Die schönsten Kartenspiele: Über 100 Variationen mit dem Skatblatt. 2nd edn. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Kanur Nachf., Freising. ISBN 3-426-07628-4
- Gööck, Roland (1967). Freude am Kartenspiel, Bertelsmann, Gütersloh.
- Müller, Reiner F. (1994). Die bekanntesten Kartenspiele. Berlin: Neff. ISBN 3-8118-5856-4
- Pierer, H. A.(1841). Supplemente zum Universal-Lexikon oder Encyclopädischem Wörterbuch der Wissenschaften, Künste und Gewerbe, Vol. 1, Aa-Bronchophonie. Altenburg: Pierer.