Schnapsen
Schnapsen or Schnapser is a trick-taking card game of the Bézique (Ace-Ten) family that is very popular in Bavaria and in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and has become the national card game of Austria and Hungary. Schnapsen is both of the point-trick (individual cards in each trick are used to determine points as in Pinochle) and trick-and-draw (a new card is drawn after each trick is won) subtypes. The game is similar to Sixty-Six ("Sechsundsechzig"). Many rule variations exist, and both Schnapsen and Sixty-Six involve challenging strategy. Schnapsen  has been described as "an inherently intense game that requires a lot of concentration and so isn't good for socializing, but it's a challenging game whose interest never wavers." Etymology and origins. The name "Schnapsen" () is derived from "schnappen", which means "to trump". By contrast, in popular tradition, the name is frequently attributed to the fact that people often played the game for drinks, particularly schnaps, in a similar way to the origin of the name Gin Rummy. An early description of the game is found in the Leipziger "Frauenzimmer-Lexicon" of 1715 under the name Mariage (French  for "wedding"). That name is still common and there is a game that is popular today in Czechia called Mariáš. Schnapsen or "Schna[r]psen" is mentioned as early as 1876 in the following 'howler' by Professor Galletti, who informed his pupils at the Gotha Grammar School ("Gymnasium Gotha") that: Early Schnapsen rules are recorded by Unger c. 1920. Rules. Aim. The aim of the game is to collect 66 or more card points as quickly as possible by taking tricks in order to obtain game points that total to 7. The cards won in the tricks score "card points" to determine  if a round is won or lost (with additional points obtained from possible marriage melds). Each deal can give a player a maximum of 3 game points. The outcome then results in "game points" being awarded. Cards. Depending on the region, Schnapsen is either played with French or Double German playing cards, also known as the William Tell pattern. For tournaments in which players from different regions meet, there are special Double German-French cards (see illustration). Schnapsen is played with a deck of 20 cards unlike Sechsundsechzig (Sixty-Six), the game it resembles, which uses 24 cards. Unlike Sechsundsechzig , the 9 is not used in Schnapsen. In each suit there are five cards: In Austrian German, the "Manderl" is the name for the Ober, and the "Bauer" is the name for the "Unter." Dealing. The dealer is decided by the drawing of cards. The player who draws the higher card, deals the first round; the other player is Forehand ("Vorhand"). Dealer shuffles, cuts and deals the cards as follows: three cards are dealt to Forehand and then three to Dealer. Next, a seventh card is flipped indicating the trump suit. Finally, two cards are dealt to Forehand and two  to Dealer giving each player a 5-card hand. The remaining nine cards (exactly half the deck) form the "talon" and are placed facedown across the turn-up, so that half of the latter turn-up card is visible. The suit of the turn-up becomes the trump suit, regionally called the "Atout." In subsequent deals, the players alternate the roles of Dealer and Forehand. Playing. Schnapsen is a trick-taking game in which each trick consists of two cards. Forehand leads the first trick by placing a card faceup in the center of the table. At the start of  the game, players do not have to follow suit or win the trick: Dealer may either head the trick with a higher card of the same card suit or a trump (which wins the trick). Alternatively, Dealer may discard a card of their choice and giving up the trick to Forehand. The player who has won the trick places the trick facedown and draws the top card from the talon. The opponent draws the next top card from the talon. After both players have brought their hands back up to five cards, the winner of the last trick leads the  next trick. The game continues in this way until the talon is used up – unless one of the players has previously announced 66 points or flips the turn-up to "close" the talon (see below). If the talon is used up or was closed, players must follow suit ("Farbzwang") and win the trick if possible ("Stichzwang") from this point onwards. That means during their turn a player must: Following suit ("Farbzwang") always takes precedence over winning the trick ("Stichzwang"): a player may not play a trump if they can follow suit. A breach of this rule is called "revoking" and  is penalized with the immediate loss of the deal and the opponent receiving 3 points. Going out. If a player reaches 66 or more card points ("Augen") after winning a trick or announcing a marriage (see below), he may 'go out' ("ausmelden"), usually by saying "I have enough" ("Ich habe genug") or just "enough" ("genug"). A player may not go out at any other time. After this, the game ends and each player counts the card points they have amassed. If a player discovers he has fewer than 66 card points and has thus ended the deal by mistake, play  stops and his opponent wins as many points as the player would have won if they had been right. Last trick. If neither player goes out before the last card is played, the last card must be played and the winner of the last trick is the winner of the deal, scoring one point. This rule does not apply if the talon has been closed (see below). Marriages. If a player holds a King and Ober (or King and Queen) of the same suit, they may meld them ("ansagen, melden") when it is their turn to lead and score the  following (bonus) points: Forehand may meld a marriage at the start. (However, for the Sharp Schnapsen variant detailed below, the marriage may only be melded after the player wins their trick and not at the start.) The player who melds a marriage must play one of the 2 cards to the next trick. (However, in Sharp Schnapsen, the melding player must play the king.) If the player who has melded a marriage fails to take any tricks during the game, the marriage points do not count. If the marriage card is subsequently beaten on the next trick and the player  takes a trick later in the deal, the points still stand. To avoid subsequent disputes in scoring the points, it is recommended to show both the cards of the pair. The King-Queen pair is known in games of the Bezique family and in Poch as a "marriage." This term is common and makes more sense when playing with French suited cards. Trump Unter. If a player is on lead and holds the Trump Unter (or Trump Jack), the player may exchange it for the trump turn-up before leading to the trick. Forehand may do this before the game  starts. (However, in Sharp Schnapsen, the Trump Unter can only be exchanged after the first trick is played out.) Closing the talon. When it is his turn, if a player believes he can achieve the required 66 points without replenishing his hand from the talon, he can 'close' it. He draws the turn-up from the bottom of the talon and lays it across the top. From this point, players must follow suit and attempt to win each trick just as if the talon had been exhausted. If the player who closed the talon succeeds in collecting 66 points and  claiming victory before his opponent does, he has won. The number of game points scored depends on the number of card points collected at the time the talon is closed. The tricks and marriages of the opponent at that point are counted immediately after the talon is closed. If the player who closed the talon fails to reach 66 card points, or if his opponent, beats him to it, the opponent wins: Bummerls and rubbers. A "Bummerl" consists of several individual hands and the dealer alternates with each hand. The player who is the first to seven game points wins  and their opponent records this with a large dot () against their name, also called a "Bummerl". One feature of Schnapsen is counting "from seven downwards" ("von Sieben herunter" ); i.e. you do not count the game points already scored, but record the number of points still needed to win. Both players thus begin with seven points; if a player wins the first game with 3 game points, their point score reduces to four. Scores are either traditionally recorded on a small chalk board or with the aid of a "Bummerl" counter ("Bummerlzähler"): the seven large beads ("Perlen") on the outer arch  indicate the current score of the hand or "Bummerl" being played, while the smaller beads on the inner arch show the number of "Bummerls" already played. A rubber ("Partie") consists, either by agreement or tournament rules, of two or three "Bummerls", i.e. the player who gets his opponent to chalk up two or three "Bummerls", wins the rubber. From this is derived the saying: "Einer kriegt immer das Bummerl" (German) / "Oana kriagt imma dös bummal" (Austrian) which means "Someone always gets the Bummerl", i.e. "someone always loses out". Sharp Schnapsen. The above rules describe the so-called 'soft' Schnapsen. Sharp  Schnapsen ("Scharfes Schnapsen") has the following rule changes: Tournament Schnapsen. Schnapsen enjoys great popularity in Austria and is played at numerous tournaments. The predominant tournament type is "Preisschnapsen". Less often a Swiss-system tournament is played. The winner of a match is the player who is the first to "add" 2 "bummerls" to his opponent's score sheet. If a game is won with a score of 7:0, this only counts as 1 "bummerl" in tournament play, not two as in private games. Depending on the tournament rules, either 'soft' ("weich") or 'sharp' ("scharf / hart") Schnapsen may be played. Section::::"Preisschnapsen . A Preisschnapsen" tournament is played to a 'modified' knockout system. This tournament form is also used for Watten, where it is called "Preiswatten". While in the usual knockout system a player is eliminated after his first defeat, this is not always the case in the case of "Preisschnapsen", as a player can buy several entry cards in some tournaments. Participant cards. Before the start of the tournament 'participant cards' are issued, the number of cards always being a power of two - for example, 32, 64, 128 - and depending on the expected number of players. Each player may buy a certain  number of entry cards - variously called "Lose" ("batches" or "lots"), "Leben" ("lives") or "Standkarten" ("entry cards"), up to a maximum of, say, three cards, as specified in the tournament invitation. Unsold tickets are "Freilose" ("byes"). Draws. The pairings for the first round are then drawn by lots. Draws are held in such a way that a player who has several entry cards does not have to play against himself if possible. In the higher rounds, however, this may happen, in which case the player concerned must hand in one participant card and may advance to the next round with the  other card. A typical draw proceeds as follows. Assuming 64 entry cards are issued, 32 games will be played in the first round of the tournament. For the draw two pots are used - a 'right' and a 'left' pot - in each of which 32 cards with the numbers 1 to 32 are placed. Now the individual players draw, according to the number of entry cards they have bought, starting with the left pot: if the first player has bought three cards, he draws three cards from the left pot, and so on. Only when all cards have been drawn from  the left pot, are cards drawn from the right pot. If the left pot is empty and the player who drew the last card from it also has to draw from the right, it is conceivable that he could draw the same number again. If so, he is allowed to re-draw from the right pot. The numbers left in the right pot after all players have drawn their 'round numbers' are byes, i.e. the players who have drawn the corresponding numbers from the left pot move up to the next round without having to compete. The participants who have  drawn the same number, now meet in the first round and play a game for, usually, 2 "bummerls". Rounds. Of course, not all games in a round can be played at the same time, as a player who has several entry cards has to play against several opponents. There is no schedule showing when which player has to play which opponent. Each player has to track down his opponent - assisted by the tournament management team. The winner of a game keeps his entry card and moves on to the next round, the loser must hand in an entry card - but  as long as he still has further entry cards, he remains in the tournament. Once all games in a round are finished, the pairings for the next round are drawn, with players who still have more than one entry card drawing first. Prizes. There are usually eight prizes at a "Preisschnapsen" tournament: A player who purchases more than one entry card can also win more than one prize, unless the tournament conditions expressly state otherwise. The winner of a "Preisschnapsen" used to receive a goose as first prize. Legal. According to Austrian law, Schnapsen − unlike the various poker variants  − is not a game of chance used for gambling, but a game of skill, viz.: