Hintersche

Dealing and play are counter-clockwise. The first dealer is determined either by lots (lowest card wins) or the youngest player deals first. The dealer shuffles the pack and offers it to rearhand (on his left) to cut. The lowest card is now turned for trumps and the dealer deals nine cards to each player in packets of three. The dealer's last packet only contains two cards because he picks up the trump turn-up.[11]

Forehand now leads to the first trick. Suit must be followed; if a player is unable to follow, he may trump or discard,[lower-alpha 1] taking the opportunity to smear high-scoring cards so that they count towards an opponent or to retain them to prevent an opponent scoring over 100 points. The trick is won by the highest card of the led suit or, if trumps are played, the highest trump.[11]

Scoring slate in Hintersche. The player at the bottom right has already lost the first game of the rubber. There are more than four marks because one player has "made a 100".

The game is played in two halves or 'rounds'. The first round consists of four deals in which players score penalty marks, recorded as lines or striche on a slate, for scoring the most card points in a deal. The name Vier-Strich refers to the fact that the round ends once four marks are scored.[11]

A slate is used for recording the scores. Each player has a corner of the slate and his penalty points are recorded with diagonal lines called Striche (singular: Strich). This works as follows:[11]

At the end of each deal, each player's scores are reckoned by counting up the number of card points in his tricks. There are 140 points in total. The player who scores the most card points is penalized with a Strich – a diagonal line across his corner of the slate. However, if a player scores over 100 points, he has won a 'march' (Durchmarsch). He does not score any penalty points; instead, his three opponents notch up one apiece. Normally the first round ends with four marks on the slate; if there are more, because someone has won a march (also known as 'making a hundred') there will be 'superfluous' (überzählige) marks. If any player has a clean slate, they have won and sit out the second half.[11]

The second round is called Butzen ("cleaning") and begins as soon as there are four or more marks on the slate. In this half, the chalk marks are wiped from the slate, usually with a small sponge. The game is played as before, except that the player who scores the fewest card points erases one of his marks, known as butzen. While there are still three or four players left in the game, the player who scores the most points 'receives' the mark erased by the winner and has to add it to his corner of the slate. Thus there are always four marks on the slate at this stage (if the first round ended as normal with four marks). Once only two players remain, marks are erased by the winner of a deal, but no marks are added by the loser. As players clear all their marks off, they drop out until there is one player left who is the loser of the game and is penalised with a single chalk mark on the frame of the slate, regardless of how many Striche he still has in his corner of the slate. The marks on the frame are not wiped off during the course of a rubber. There is a special case: if a player "makes a hundred" in the second round, he erases two marks and his opponents add one each to their tally.[11]

The rubber is won after four games, when there are four marks on the frame. Usually those who have marks pay five euros to those who do not. A rubber takes 1 to 1½ hours.[11]