Gaigel

Hierarchy of card values
Württemberg suit
Acorns	Leaves	Hearts	Bells
A 10 K O U 7	A 10 K O U 7	A 10 K O U 7	A 10 K O U 7
French suit
Clubs	Spades	Hearts	Diamonds
A 10 K D J 7	A 10 K D J 7	A 10 K D J 7	A 10 K D J 7

Within the four suits the precedence of cards is always the same: Deuce (Ace, Daus, Ass, Alte, Sau) → 10 → King → Ober (Queen) → Unter (Jack) → 7 Because there are 2 of each playing card, if both are played in one trick, then the player who led wins the trick. For example, if both Aces of Acorns are played, the trick goes to the player who went first (under the assumption that no-one has trumped).

The following values (card points) are assigned to the individual cards:

• Games of two or three players are played singly; each player is on his own.
• In games with four or six players, it is usual to play über Kreuz ("crosswise"): the players sitting opposite one another form teams of two whose tricks are counted together; in doing so they may, optionally, winken i.e. pass information to one another by secret signs. Partnerships are determined by a process calle the Umschlag , where each of the four players in turn is dealt a card, face-up. This continues until the first two (or, for six players, the first three) aces are dealt. The two players (or three in a game of six) with these aces sit opposite one another in the following match and form a party. The other two represent the opposing party. Because of their seating arrangement, a game of four players is a so-called "Kreuzgaigel" ("Cross Gaigel"). In Kreuzgaigel, the playing partners remain the same during a games night.

The player to the right of the dealer is the forehand (Vorhand) or eldest hand and leads to the first trick.

In opening the play, he has to choose one of several options and announce it to the other player(s). For the first trick, the rule is that there is no trump suit or that trumps may not be played:

1. Andere Alte /Zweites Ass ("Other Old Man" / "Second Ace"): the forehand plays an ace (not from the trump suit) face down. When all the others have played their cards, also face down, the cards are turned over. If another player has played the same ace, he wins the trick. Otherwise the trick belongs to the forehand.
2. Ge-Elfen: the forehand plays an ace face up, the others play a card of their choice. Forehand wins the trick in every case.
3. Höher hat or Tauchen ("Higher wins" or "Diving"): the forehand plays a card of his choice, except that it must not be an ace or a trump card, face down. The others do the same. As soon as everyone has played their cards face down, the forehand turns his card over and then all the others do the same with their cards. If one of the other players has a higher card of the same suit, they win the trick; otherwise the forehand wins it.
4. Auf Dissle: the forehand announces "auf Dissle". That means he will win if, at any time during the game, he has five 7s in his hand. As soon as he has to make a trick, he has lost. He has also lost if one of the opponents reaches the normal end of the game.

After the first round of tricks, the game continues using the talon. The player who won the last trick leads to the next (kommt heraus). Of his five cards he may discard one of his choice. The rest of the players follow in clockwise order without any compulsion to play a trump, follow suit or win the trick.

In determining who wins the trick: trumps beat plain suited cards; the higher card wins if cards are of the same suit; the playing going first wins if both cards are the same value and suit. The winner of the trick draws another card from the talon and the others follow in order. Thus all the players have a hand of five cards again.

Once a player (or his team in the partnership game) has won a trick, he may meld at any time in the game i.e. announce that he has a pair comprising a King and Ober/Queen of the same suit. A trump pair is worth 40 points, plain suit pairs are worth 20 points. To do this the player simply announces "Forty" or "Twenty". The matched pair is always presented and one of the two cards in the pair is played to the next trick.

A card already used in a meld may not be used a second time for by the same player. It follows that if a player wants to claim a pair of the same suit, he must show all four cards of the two pairs at once. If he has already played one (or both) card(s) of the first pair, he may not claim a meld of the same suit again.

So that a meld is not forgotten, the player claiming it may slide one of his trick cards of the same suite with the face up under his trick card pile.

The player who has (or draws) a 7 of trumps and is the first to turn it over can exchange it for the trump card under the talon, provided that he already has a trick. The Diß robbery is usually announced by putting the Diß under the trump card and thus acquiring the right to steal the trump card. Thus, his partner is offered the opportunity to rob, in case he should get the second Diß. However, if the second Diß falls in a trick, the trump may be robbed without regard to the player's partner. However, as soon as a Diß has been placed under the trump card, it is no longer possible for the opposing party to rob the trump card in the current game.

As soon as the talon is exhausted, players must follow suit if possible and try to win the trick.

If a player is dealt five 7s straight away, he may reveal them and he or his team win the hand. If a player only has four 7s after the deal and hopes to draw a fifth from the talon during the game, he can announce he is "on sevens" (Auf Siebener). During the game, he keeps the four sevens in his hand and discards the fifth card without taking a trick. If he draws a fifth 7 from the talon before his opponent reaches the target score of 101, his team wins the game.

By contrast with Kreuzgaigel with 4 or 6 players, in a game of 3 players no partnerships are formed. Each player plays for him/herself. Consequently there is no winken at all. Otherwise the same rules apply as for Kreuzgaigel.