Herzblatt

The game uses a standard 32-card French-suited pack usually of the Berlin pattern. Cards rank in the usual Ace-Ten order and the suit of Hearts is always the trump suit, hence the name which means “heart card” or “heart hand”.

Two to five players may play.[lower-alpha 1] If two play, however, the Sevens, Eights and Nines are removed and each player receives 9 cards; 2 remaining in the skat (Stock, Skat, Blinden, Talon). If three play, all the Sevens are removed along with the ♥8 and ♦8, and each player receives 8 cards;[lower-alpha 2] if four play, only the ♥8 and ♦8 are removed and each player receives 7 cards;[lower-alpha 3] if five play, the full 32 cards are used and each player gets 6 cards. In every case, a skat of 2 cards is placed face down in the middle of the table.

After the cards have been dealt, each player is asked in turn whether he wishes to become the soloist and plays against the others. If he does, he can say "(I'll play)" (ich spiele). Once the soloist is decided, he picks up the skat, adds it to his hand and discards 2 cards which count towards his score at the end. Forehand now leads to the first trick. Suit must be followed; a player unable to follow suit, must trump; only if unable to do either may a player discard. If a trump is led, subsequent players must overtrump if able.[lower-alpha 4]

Players agree the stake to be played for at the start of the game. After the last trick has been taken, players tot up their points taken in tricks. If the soloist reaches 66 points (including any points in his two discards), he has won the deal. However, the sources describe different ways of settling the score. Braun and Lembke say that, if the soloist wins, he "takes the stake", but if he loses he pays double and, if he loses with 30 points or fewer,[lower-alpha 5] he is schneider and pays three times the stake.[5][2] According to Feder, the soloist receives a single stake if he wins, but pays double if he loses. As a variant, he states that if the defenders score fewer than 33, they pay triple; if the soloist scores fewer than 33, he pays quadruple.[3] Finally, Reichelt clarifies that, in the event of a win, the soloist receives a single stake from each opponent, but pays each one the stake if he loses. However, the penalty for losing with 33 or fewer points is more severe: the soloist pays quadruple to each defender; if the defenders lose with 33 or fewer, they each pay a triple stake to the soloist.[6][lower-alpha 6]