Zwicken
| Features: pot, 3 cards, 'hop and jump', ♦7 as 2nd highest trump |
Zwicken is an old
History
Zwicken is an old game. Unknown in the 1760s, it is first recorded in Austria in 1783 in
Cards
Zwicken is played with 32 cards of a
| Playing card suits | ||||
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| French deck | .svg) |
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| German deck |  |
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| Name of the suits | Hearts (Herz) | Diamonds (Karo) | Spades (Pik) | Clubs (Kreuz, Treff) |
Description
Zwicken is a very common Austrian and German gambling game that is usually played for small stakes and makes a good party game.
The main differences from Tippen are outlined below and are based on Katira, except where stated.[7]
- Permanent Trump. ♦7 /
7 is the permanent, 2nd-highest trump, ranking just below the Trump Ace / Sow. - Hop and Jump. Between shuffling and dealing, the player sitting to the right of the dealer (rearhandin clockwise order and both he and all the players in between pay the basic stake of 3 units.
- Trump Ace. The player with the Trump Ace / Sow, must play it the first time he is leading to a trick.
Play
The aim is to win as many tricks as possible. After the dealer has been decided, taking account of any 'hop' or 'jump' as described above, he antes 3 chips to the pot and deals 2 cards to each player, turns the next for trump and then deals a third card to each player. At this point, beginning with forehand, players may exchange up to 3 cards with the talon or announce that they will "pass" and drop out of the current deal. Forehand leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if possible, otherwise must trump and must head the trick if they can. The winner is the player with the most tricks.[9]
Scoring
Players earn a third of the pot for each trick taken. In addition a player is gezwickt (i.e. has lost) and pays a basic stake if:[7]
- he plays and fails to take a trick
- as the dealer, he fails to check the lowest card
- he has the Trump Ace and does not lead it to a trick at the first opportunity
- he has the ♦7 / 7 and loses it to the Trump Ace.
Anbieten, Freibieten and Sticheln
An historical variant of Zwicken was played in which only the last trick counted. This was variously known as Anbieten, Freibieten or Sticheln, and was banned, for example, in Upper Austria as in 1825 because it was "very similar to the forbidden card game of Zwicken and belongs to those games in which winning and losing depend more on the luck of the cards than on the skill of the player" and "because the stake could be increased time and again by the declarer" (Freibieter).[10] It was probably also played in Bavaria as it is mentioned in the Bavarian Dictionary in 1836.[11]
This variant should not be confused with Sticheln, another Austrian game which resembles Whist.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ von Alvensleben describes, as a variant, that the deal passes to the next player but one, and both the new dealer and the skipped player pay 3 units into the pool.
References
- ^ Card Games: Rams Group at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 16 Oct 2018
- ^ a b Geiser 2004, pp. 37 & 40.
- ^ a b c d Zollinger 1998, pp. 150–154.
- ^ _. Salzburger Landesarchiv (SLA), Hofrat Generale Nr.39
- ^ Weber 1855, p. 332.
- ^ Danyliuk 2017, p. 93.
- ^ a b c Katira 1983, p. 132.
- ^ von Alvensleben 1853, pp. 201ff.
- ^ Danyliuk 2017, pp. 93, 94.
- ^ Edler von Lützenau 1846, p. 392.
- ^ Schmeller 1836, p. 609.
Literature
- von Alvensleben, Ludwig (1853), Encyklopädie der Spiele (in German), Leipzig: Otto Wigand
- Danyliuk, Rita (2017). 1x1 der Kartenspiele (in German) (19th ed.). Hanover: Humboldt. ISBN 978-3-86910-367-9.
- Edler von Lützenau, Alois (1846). Handbuch der Gesetze und Verordnungen, welche sich auf den zweiten Theil des Strafgesetzbuches über schwere Polizei-Übertretungen beziehen (in German). Vol. 2. Vienna: Carl Ueberreuter. p. 392.
- Geiser, Remigius (2004). "100 Kartenspiele des Landes Salzburg" (PDF) (in German). Austro-Hungarian Playing-Card Association, Vienna/Budapest. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2018.
- Katira, Kay Uwe (1983). Verbotene Kartenspiele (in German). Munich: Wilhelm Heyne. ISBN 3-453-41550-7.
- Schmeller, Johann Andreas (1836). "Der Stichel". Bayerisches Wörterbuch: Sammlung von Wörtern und Ausdrücken (in German). Vol. 3 (Digitized 10 May 2012 ed.). Cotta. p. 609.
- Weber, Karl Julius (1855). Deutschland, oder Briefe eines in Deutschland reisenden Deutscher [Germany, or letters from a German travelling in Germany] (in German). Vol. 1–2. p. 332.
- Zollinger, Manfred (March–April 1998). "The 'Very Costly Game' of Zwicken". The Playing-Card. Vol. 26, no. 5. pp. 150–154.
