Bavarian Tarock


Bavarian Tarock, Haferltarock or, often, just Tarock, is a card game played in Bavaria and several regions of Austria as well as in Berlin. The name is a clue to its origin as an attempt to design a game resembling Tapp Tarock but without using a Tarock pack. The original form of Bavarian Tarock thus incorporated several elements of the true Tarock games, whilst being played with a 36-card German deck. However, during the last century, it has evolved into "quite a fine game" that, however, has less in common with its Tarock progenitor. It is descended from Tapp Tarock via the very similar game of Tapp, played in Württemberg, and is thus related to Bauerntarock, Frog and Dobbm. It should not be confused with Königrufen, also known as Austrian Tarock or just Tarock.

History

Bavarian Tarock came from the Württemberg game of Tapp, also known as Württemberger Tarock, which arose from the desire to play Tapp Tarock without Tarock playing cards. The game probably spread to Bavaria while it was still being played with German-suited cards i.e. around the mid-19th century and became known there as Haferltarock or Haferltarok or, simply, as Tarock. The earliest record of its rules identified by Dummett dates to the 1920s, where it is called Bayerisch Tarok or Sans Prendre, however mention is made that as early as 1880 the game was being played in Munich with a "kitty of 30 or 50 pfennigs" and in 1888 of the "pleasant game of Haferltarock being played for a mark".
The earliest version of the game, which may still be current, involves 3 bids as in Tapp, but no payment or bidding for additional points. Instead there are fixed payments to or from a pot. During the 1930s, the game evolved to allow trump suits other than Hearts with a bid of Frage and also to reward the winner of a game in which the opponents were Schneider. After the Second World War the game developed further, dropping any special status accorded to the suit of Hearts and introducing a far more elaborate auction. The result is "quite a fine game", better than Tapp albeit further removed from the ancestral Tapp Tarock.
Ludwig Thoma, the prominent German author, was an avid player of Bavarian Tarock before and during the First World War.

Cards

are used, traditionally those of the Bavarian pattern, with the values Sow to 6. The card deck has a total of 36 cards. In the trade, special card games are sold which are labelled Schafkopf/Tarock.

Card ranking

In Bavarian Tarock, a card's trick-taking value generally increases with its face value. The Sow is the highest card and it is followed by the: Ten > King > Ober > Unter > Nine > Eight > Seven > Six

Card values

The cards have the same point values as in Bavarian Schafkopf. The 10, with ten card points, is just below the Sow, but well above the King, Ober and Unter. The value of the Spatzen lies only in their trick-taking ability during a game, but they have no points value when calculating scores at the end of the round.

Trumps

In the original game, Hearts formed the permanent trump suit unless a Solo was bid. In the later variant, Hearts are the permanent trump suit if the talon is used to replenish cards; otherwise in Hand contracts, the trumps are chosen by the declarer. In the complex version of the game, the trump suit is chosen by the declarer; all nine cards of the chosen suit are trumps and the sequence within the trump suit is unchanged. There are no permanent trump cards in this version, as for example, in Skat, Doppelkopf or Schafkopf.

Players

Bavarian Tarock is a game for 3 players, each of whom is dealt 11 playing cards. Three cards lie face down in the middle of the table and are called the stock or gstaat. This is the same as the talon in many Tarock games. If 4 players are available, the dealer sits out, so that there are 3 players and one dealer who rotates.

Aim

The player who wins the bidding is the 'declarer'. The declarer plays against the other two, the opposition or defenders, and must score at least 61 points to win the deal. In earlier variants, it is a draw and there is no payment if both sides score 60; in the latest variant the declarer loses if the result is 60-60. The game is normally played for small stakes, the amount won depending on the nature of the bid.

Rules

The rules of Bavarian Tarock have evolved over time. This section will describe three of the main stages: the earliest known rules, an intermediate variant and a current variant.

Earliest rules

The following is a summary of the earliest known rules; those according to Huber. Although published in 1923, they probably reflect the form of "Ur-Haferltarock" played in the 19th century. In 2008, this version, with a more detailed scoring system but no description of the bidding process, was published by Sirch, suggesting it is still current.

Dealing and bidding

Each player draws a card from the pack. The player who draws the highest card becomes the first dealer. The dealer shuffles, offers the cut to his right, and then places 3 cards as a stock or gstaat on the table. He then deals 11 cards to each player in packets. There are three bid options:
Bidding starts with forehand who says "pass" or "I'll play". If unchallenged, he may announce any of the three contracts. If a subsequent player wishes to overcall the first bidder, he says "I'll play better ". If unchallenged, he may only play a Solo or Herzsolo. To overcall the second bidder, a player announces "I'll play the best", but may only play a Herzsolo. An earlier bidder may "hold" a higher bid, in which case he has priority unless it is outbid. There is only one round of bidding and each player must make the minimum allowed bid.

Playing

Forehand leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit or trump if unable to follow but there is no compulsion to head the trick. The trick is won by the highest card of the led suit or highest trump if trumps are played. The two defenders keep their tricks in a single pile.

Scoring

The declarer must score 61 points to win. If both sides score 60, the game is drawn and no payments are made. There is a fixed payment for the basic game of Frage, double for Solo and quadruple for Heart Solo. There may also be a Kasse which the declarer takes if he wins but pays the same contribution to if he loses in addition to paying to or from the other players. There was sometimes a single, separate pot for both Solo and Heart Solo with double the ante which was known as the Schreckensteiner.
According to Sirch, players ante an agreed stake to the pot. In Solo games the declarer collects, say, 1ȼ for every point scored over 60. For simplicity, this is usually done in 5ȼ increments, so a player who scores 71 collects 15ȼ. If the declarer loses, he pays from his own pot 1ȼ for every point below 60, so if he scores 50, he has to pay 10ȼ to the two defenders i.e. 5ȼ each. If he scores 49, he pays out 15ȼ, 5ȼ is drawn from the pot and 10ȼ is paid to each defender. A declarer who scores a slam collects double i.e. €1.20. In a "Froag Spiel", all payments are halved. Sirch does not say that a Herzsolo pays double. He goes on to describe an alternative system in which a simple win earns 50ȼ, a schneider win earns 60ȼ. If he loses he pays the same amount to each defender. Again a Frage is worth half these payments.

Intermediate variant

Dummett records an intermediate variant published in 1933. The rules are as for Huber above with the following exceptions:
Since the Second World War, a more complex variant has emerged, which is described in numerous publications. This is referred to by Dummett as Haferltarock, although the term has been used since at least the 1880s. The following rules are based on Danyliuk.

Dealing and bidding

Preparation and dealing is as above except that players contribute an agreed amount such as 50 cents to the Haferl. The dealer then deals four cards to each player, then three cards, then three to the stock and finally a further four cards to each player. Players pick up their hands and bidding proceeds clockwise, commencing with forehand. Each player may "pass" or announce the minimum legal contract. The first positive bid is announced by "play" or "I'll play" which is an offer to play the lowest contract, known as an Aufnahmespiel or "Pick-Up". This may be outbid by a subsequent player announcing "I'll play too", which is an offer to play a Handspiel or "Hand" contract. The earlier bidder may bow out by saying "pass" or hold by saying "I'll play on" or "I'm playing first". Bidding passes back and forth between the first two players to announce a bid until one of them passes. Only then may the third player enter the bidding by announcing a higher bid than the highest to that point
The meaning of the two contracts is as follows:
The added complexity of this modern variant is the ability to bid still higher. Essentially, once a Hand contract is bid; bidding may continue in steps of five. For example, a player may say "And five", which means that 66 points is the target needed to win. His opponent may outbid this with "And ten", setting 71 points as the target. This continues until one of the players passes.
If no-one bids or chooses a contract, the cards are thrown in and redealt by the next player.

Playing

Play is clockwise as before. Forehand leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit, failing that they must play a trump. Only if the player no longer has any trumps may he discard any card. The trick is won by the highest trump if any are played or by the highest card of the led suit if no trumps are played.

Scoring

Once the last trick has been played, players tot up the card points in their tricks. The declarer needs 61 points to win; otherwise the defenders have won, even if the score is 60-60. Payment is as follows:
The round ends when the pot is emptied.

Other variants

Berliner

With the so-called Berliner, only the dealer is allowed to play a game using the stock. The other players may only declare a Hand contract. At the same time it is sometimes agreed that the dealer may only play with hearts as the trump suit in a contract where the stock is viewed.

Sharp Tarock

A 'sharp' variant has been published as an app by Stefan Vogl. This largely follows the intermediate rules above, but uses a shortened pack of just 24 cards and players are dealt a hand of seven cards each. Players start with 10 euros each and 61 points are needed to win; if the declarer scores 60, he loses. A Frage, Solo or Herzsolo win earn 20 cents for the winning side. In addition there is an extra 10 cents for winning schneider and 10 cents for schwarz. Hearts are permanent trumps in a Frage and, if the stock is used, a win only earns 10 cents, but a loss still costs 20 cents.

Footnotes

Literature

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