Lampeln
Lampeln is an old Bavarian and Austrian plain-trick card game that is still played in a few places today. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks.[1][2]
 The Belli; the permanent, 2nd-highest trump | |
| Origin | Austria, Bavaria |
|---|---|
| Type | Plain-trick |
| Family | Rams group |
| Players | 4 |
| Cards | 32 |
| Deck | German pack |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest first) | A K O U 10 9 8 7 |
| Playing time | 25-30 min/round |
| Related games | |
| Mulatschak, Ramsen, Schnalzen, Schnellen | |
Background
Historically, Lampeln was banned in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1904 as a game of chance usually played for money; this ban was confirmed by the Austrian government in 1933.[3][4]
Today, Lampeln is still played in the Austrian states of Salzburg and Upper Austria as well as in Old Bavaria, Germany (Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate).[2][4][5] In 2017, volunteer firemen at the fire station in Schäflohe claimed to be the only ones in the province of Upper Palatinate who played Lampeln.[6]
The name is derived from lampeln (Bavarian: lambben) which means lambing, because players who fail to take the minimum two tricks are called 'lambs'.[2]
Aim
To take as many tricks as possible, but in any case a minimum of two to avoid a penalty.[2]
Cards
The game is usually played with 32 cards from a 36-card William Tell pattern pack (in Austria)[4] or Schafkopf pack (in Bavaria).[5] The Seven of Bells is permanently the second highest trump and is nicknamed the Beankei (pronounced "beh ank-eye"), which means "a reward" or "rewarding" (from beanken, "to reward"),[5] or the Belli.[2]
Playing
Austrian variant
The Austrian variant is more complicated that its Bavarian counterpart. Its distinguishing feature is 'hop and jump', whereby the role of dealer may switch to another player as a result of the cut and further contributions are paid to build up the pot more rapidly, which gives this variant more of a gambling flavour. In this respect it resembles Kratzen and Zwicken.
Dealing and cutting
The first dealer of a session is the youngest player. Thereafter the role of dealer rotates clockwise. The hand begins with the dealer paying 40 euro cents to the pot (Stock or Kassa) and shuffling the pack.[2]
Rearhand (on the dealer's right) cuts. He looks at the bottom card of the top packet without revealing it. Unless the card is a Sow, the 
7 or 8, the dealer proceeds to deal the cards as described below. If, however, the bottom card is one of the aforementioned cards then a new deal is initiated as follows:[2]
- Sow - if it is a Sow, the bottom card of the bottom packet is exposed:
- if it is not another Sow, the role of dealer passes to forehand (on the dealer's left) who pays 40 cents to the pot and shuffles the cards for a new hand.
- if it is a second Sow, the whole pack is 'loaded' (geladen). Forehand and rearhand pay 40 cents to the pot and middlehand (opposite the dealer) takes over as dealer.
- 8 - if it is the 8 (Katzengeist), then forehand becomes the new dealer (as in the case of a single Sow above)
- 7 - if it is the 7 (Belli), everyone pays 40 cents to the pot and the same dealer reshuffles.
The Sow, 7 and 8 must always be shown to the other players.[2]
The dealer now deals 8 cards, clockwise, to each player in packets of 3, 2 and 3. The dealer's fifth card is flipped to determine the trump suit. If it happens to be the 7, the dealer may choose any suit as trumps before looking at his hand.[2]
Beginning with forehand, the players announce, in clockwise order, whether they will 'play' (mitgehen) or 'stay at home' (daheimbleiben = 'pass') i.e. will drop out of the current deal. The dealer always has to play. If all three players 'stay at home', the dealer wins all 8 tricks automatically. If there is only 40 cents (or less) left in the pot at the beginning of a deal, it is an 'empty game' (leeres Spiel) and no-one is allowed to 'stay at home'.[2]
Trick-taking
Forehand leads to the first trick. Thereafter the winner of the trick leads to the next. Players must follow suit, or trump if unable, and must win the trick if they can (i.e. Farbzwang, Trumpfzwang and Stechzwang apply). If a player cannot follow suit or trump, they may discard any card.[2]
Scoring
Players win 1/8 of the pot for each trick taken. However, any player who takes fewer than two tricks is a 'lamb' (German: Lamm, Bavarian: lambbe) and has to pay penalty into the pot equivalent to the money remaining once the payments for tricks have been made. If there are two or three 'lambs', then each one has to pay the full amount. For example, supposing the players pay 20 cents each to the pot in each deal and the pot has built up to 160 cents. If one player wins five tricks and the rest win 1 trick each; the winner receives 50 cents and the others 10 cents each, leaving 80 cents in the pot. The three players who failed to take the minimum two tricks must each pay 80 cents into the pot (i.e. the equivalent of what was left in the pot after the payouts).[2]
Bavarian variant
This is simpler than the Austrian variant, primarily because it omits the 'hop and jump' feature and makes it more suitable as a social, rather than a gambling, game.
Dealing
Dealer shuffles and rearhand cuts. The bottom card of the top stack is placed face up and determines the trump suit. Dealer now looks at the bottom 3 cards including the trump (which he would get anyway from the deal) and decides whether to play or not, depending on whether he has further trumps in addition to the single trump card. If not, the cards are thrown in and the next player deals, all the players paying e.g. 16c to the stock. If the dealer decides to 'play' then 2 × 4 cards are dealt in clockwise order beginning with forehand. Now the other players decide whether to play or pass, based on the number of trumps and Aces they hold. A game is viable if at least 2 players offer to 'play'.[5]
Trick-taking
Players must follow suit, or trump if unable, and must win the trick if they can (i.e. Farbzwang, Trumpfzwang and Stechzwang apply). If a player cannot follow suit or trump, they may discard any card.[5]
Scoring
To score, a player now has to win at least 2 tricks. The money in the stock, which must always be divisible by 8, is distributed among the trick winners. A player who wins no tricks or only one trick is 'sunk' (untergegangen) and has to pay a full stake into the stock. Once the stock is used up, a new game is started. Everyone pays the stake in again. This is called a Hudere. If one or more players 'sink', the stock gets replenished from the penalty payments.[5]
References
- Card Games: Rams Group at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 16 October 2018
- Geiser 2009, pp. 82, 83.
- Regulation of Banned Games dated 2 January 1933 on the basis of Article III of the Act of 15 June 1920, the ST. G. Bl. No. 286.
- Geiser 2004, p. 38.
- Sirch 2008, pp. 59, 60.
- Nur in Schäflohe wird gelampelt at www.onetz.de. Retrieved 18 October 2018
Literature
- Geiser, Remigius (2004). "100 Kartenspiele des Landes Salzburg", in Talon, Issue 13.
- Geiser, Remigius (2009). "Das Bayrisch-Österreichische Kartenspiel Lampeln" in Talon, Issue 18.
- Sirch, Walter (2008). Vom Alten zum Zwanzger - Bayerische Kartenspiele für Kinder und Erwachsene - neu entdeckt. Bayerischer Trachtenverband, Traunstein, pp. 59, 60.
