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Skat rules for beginners: bidding and game value explained
Skat looks hard because of two things: the bidding numbers and the game value. Both follow simple rules. This guide walks through a whole hand of Skat, from the deal to the score, with worked examples you can check at the table.
9 min readUpdated By PlayNest team
Skat in one minute
Skat is a trick-taking game for three players with a 32-card deck. Each hand, the players bid for the right to play alone. The winner of the auction, the declarer, plays against the other two and needs at least 61 of the 120 card points. If the declarer makes it, they score the value of their game. If not, they lose twice that value.
Everything else in Skat, the odd bidding numbers, the talk of 'with 2' and 'without 3', the Hand games and the famous maximum of 264, comes from one idea: every game has a value, and you may only bid values you can actually reach. Once that clicks, the rest is practice. You can follow along by opening our free Skat game you can play online in another tab.
The deal and the three seats
Each player receives ten cards and two cards go face down in the middle as the Skat. The seats have names that matter for bidding and for the first lead:
- Vorhand (forehand): the player to the dealer's left. Listens first in the auction and leads the first trick.
- Mittelhand (middlehand): the next player clockwise. Opens the auction by bidding to Vorhand.
- Hinterhand (rearhand): the dealer, at a three-player table. Bids against whoever survives the first duel.
Tip
At a four-player table the dealer sits out each hand and the other three take these seats.
Which cards are trumps in Skat
The four Jacks are the highest trumps in every suit game and in Grand, always in the order Clubs, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds. In a suit game the Ace, Ten, King, Queen, 9, 8 and 7 of the chosen suit follow, for eleven trumps in total. In a Grand, only the four Jacks are trumps. In Null there are no trumps at all.
Outside the trumps, each suit ranks Ace, Ten, King, Queen, 9, 8, 7 (in Null the order is 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace). The card points are Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2 and zero for the rest. A Jack is never part of its printed suit in a suit game or Grand: if Hearts are led, the Jack of Hearts does not follow suit, because it is a trump.
Where the bidding numbers come from
The bidding ladder looks random at first: 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30 and so on. In fact each number is the value of a real game. A suit game is worth its base value times a multiplier of at least 2, so the smallest values are Diamonds 9 x 2 = 18, Hearts 10 x 2 = 20 and Spades 11 x 2 = 22. Null is a fixed 23. Clubs 12 x 2 gives 24, Diamonds 9 x 3 gives 27, and Hearts 10 x 3 gives 30.
The ladder continues the same way:
- 33: Spades x 3.
- 35: Null Hand.
- 36: Clubs x 3 or Diamonds x 4.
- 40: Hearts x 4. 44: Spades x 4. 45: Diamonds x 5.
- 46: Null Ouvert.
- 48: Clubs x 4, or the smallest Grand, 24 x 2.
- 50: Hearts x 5. 54: Diamonds x 6. 55: Spades x 5.
- 59: Null Ouvert Hand. 60: Clubs x 5 or Hearts x 6.
How bidding works, step by step
Mittelhand speaks first and says numbers to Vorhand, starting at 18. Vorhand answers 'ja' (yes, I hold) to stay in or 'weg' (pass) to drop out. Mittelhand keeps raising until one of them passes. Then Hinterhand says numbers to the survivor in the same way, starting above the last value that was held.
A worked auction: Mittelhand says 18, Vorhand says ja. 20, ja. 22, ja. 23, and Vorhand says weg. Now Hinterhand bids to Mittelhand: 24, ja. 27, ja. 30, and Hinterhand decides that is too much and passes. Mittelhand is the declarer at 27 and must now play a game worth at least 27.
If Mittelhand and Hinterhand both pass without bidding, Vorhand may still play at 18 or pass as well. When all three pass, the hand is either played as Ramsch (if that option is on) or the cards are thrown in and the next player deals.
Tip
The listener has a small edge: on equal values the player who was asked first keeps the bid. That is why Vorhand only has to say ja, never a new number.
Counting matadors: with and without
The multiplier in a suit game or Grand starts with the matadors, the unbroken run of top trumps counted from the Jack of Clubs. You count them over your ten cards plus the two Skat cards.
- You hold the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades but not the Jack of Hearts: with 2.
- You hold all four Jacks and the Ace of trumps but not the Ten: with 5 in a suit game. In a Grand only the Jacks count, so all four Jacks is the maximum, with 4.
- You lack the Jack of Clubs but hold the Jack of Spades: without 1.
- Your highest trump is the Jack of Diamonds: without 3.
Tip
With and without count the same: 'without 3' gives exactly the same multiplier as 'with 3'. A hand with no Jacks at all can still be valuable.
Worked examples: calculating the game value
Add one for the game to the matadors, then one for each extra level: Hand, Schneider, Schneider announced, Schwarz, Schwarz announced and Ouvert. Multiply by the base value: Diamonds 9, Hearts 10, Spades 11, Clubs 12, Grand 24.
- With 2, game 3, Clubs: 3 x 12 = 36.
- Without 1, game 2, Hearts: 2 x 10 = 20.
- With 1, game 2, Hand 3, Spades: 3 x 11 = 33.
- With 2, game 3, Schneider 4, Diamonds: 4 x 9 = 36.
- Without 3, game 4, Hand 5, Grand: 5 x 24 = 120.
- With 4, game 5, Hand 6, Schneider 7, announced 8, Schwarz 9, announced 10, Ouvert 11, Grand: 11 x 24 = 264, the highest value in Skat.
Tip
Our game shows a live calculator while you pick your game, and a value breakdown after every hand, so you can check each step against these examples.
Overbidding: what happens when the value is too low
If the value of the game you finally play is below your bid, you have overbid (überreizt) and the game is lost, whatever card points you take. The lost value is the lowest multiple of your game's base value that reaches the bid.
Worked example: your highest Jack is the Jack of Hearts, so you are 'without 2' and Hearts is worth game 3, 3 x 10 = 30. You bid 30. Then you pick up the Skat and find the Jack of Clubs in it. Now you are 'with 1', game 2, and Hearts is worth only 20. You cannot reach 30 with Hearts, so the game is lost at 3 x 10 = 30, and under the Skat list that costs you 2 x 30 = 60 points.
Overbidding can also happen the other way: a Hand game that you expected to be 'without 2' turns out lower once the Skat is counted after play. The lesson is the same. Bid on what you hold, and treat the Skat as a bonus, not a promise.
Hand, Schneider, Schwarz, Ouvert and Null
Playing Hand means you leave the Skat untouched and announce from your ten cards. It earns one level. Only in a Hand game may you announce Schneider (you promise the defenders end with 30 points or fewer) or Schwarz (they take no trick), each worth another level. Ouvert, playing with your cards face up, is Hand only and always includes Schwarz announced.
Schneider and Schwarz also count when they simply happen. Take 90 or more points and you score the Schneider level even without announcing it. And if you as declarer end with 30 or fewer, you are Schneider yourself, which raises the value of your loss.
Null games ignore all of this. They have fixed values: Null 23, Null Hand 35, Null Ouvert 46 and Null Ouvert Hand 59. The declarer must lose every single trick.
Scoring the result: Skat list and Seeger-Fabian
On the standard Skat list (ISkO), a won game adds its value to the declarer's total, and a lost game subtracts twice its value. The defenders do not score directly.
Seeger-Fabian, the club and tournament system, keeps those values and adds 50 for each won game and takes away 50 for each lost one. When the declarer loses, each opponent receives 40 points at a three-player table or 30 at a four-player table. In our game you choose the system before a match of 12, 24 or 36 games, and the score list shows both columns.
Skat vs Schafkopf, and where to go next
Skat grew partly out of Schafkopf, and the two still share the 32-card deck, the card points and the 61-point target. Schafkopf, though, is a four-player game without a numeric auction: in the common Sauspiel you call an Ace and its holder becomes your hidden partner. Our Schafkopf rules guide: Rufspiel, Wenz and Solo explains it from scratch, and you can play Schafkopf online free on the same kind of table.
If you are choosing a card game for the whole family rather than a serious three-hander, our list of the best free card games to play online with family has easier options to start with.
Play now: practise Skat against the computer
The fastest way to learn Skat bidding is to bid. Play Skat online free against Easy computers first: the bidding buttons show the next value with the German word beside it, the value calculator updates as you pick your game, and the breakdown after each hand shows the matadors and levels you reached. When the numbers feel natural, move up to Normal and Hard, or open a room and share the link to play Skat with friends.
Questions people ask
- Why does Skat bidding start at 18?
- 18 is the value of the smallest possible game: Diamonds, base value 9, with the lowest multiplier of 2 (with or without one, game two). No game can be worth less, so no lower bid makes sense.
- What does 'with 2, game 3' mean?
- It means you hold the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades but not the Jack of Hearts (two matadors), plus one for the game, giving a multiplier of 3. In Clubs that is 3 x 12 = 36.
- What is the highest game value in Skat?
- 264: a Grand with all four Jacks, played Hand, with Schneider and Schwarz announced and played Ouvert. That is a multiplier of 11 times the Grand base value of 24.
- Do the cards in the Skat count for the declarer?
- Yes. The two discarded cards, or the untouched Skat in a Hand game, belong to the declarer. Their card points count towards the 61, and the Skat also counts when you work out the matadors.
