Norseman's Knock


Norseman's Knock or Norrlandsknack is a classic Swedish card game for 3 to 5 players, known since the mid-1800s. It is traditionally played for money. The game is about winning as many tricks as possible and above all not being completely left without a trick.

Background

A "distinctively Swedish member" of the Rams family of games, Norrland is the norther part of Sweden and includes Lappland. In Finland, a similar game is known as Ramina.

Play

A 52-card standard pack, typically of the Modern Swedish pattern, is used with cards ranking from Ace to Two.
Players are dealt five cards each and the next card is turned up to determine trumps. The rest of the pack forms a talon. Then there is a bidding round, beginning with the player to the dealer's left, in which players in turn 'knock', i.e. commit to take at least one trick, or 'lurk', i.e. play and hope to win one trick, but without penalty at this point. As soon as any player knocks, the bidding ends and all other players must then decide whether they want to join, or refrain from, the continued play on the stick. The players who joined can exchange as many of their hand cards as they wish with cards from the talon.
All players start with a score of 10 points. For each trick taken, 1 point is deducted from the total score. Anyone who has played and not taken a trick is punished by getting a 'loaf', which means he gets 5 extra penalty points. The winner of the game is the first to get his score down to 0 points.
If you play with bets, the participants place a stake in the pot at the start of the game, and in addition, a stake is paid for each loaf. The pot is taken home by the winner of the game.
Norrlandsknack is also just called Knack which, however, is a name also used for a similar card game.

Literature