Watten (card game)

The three highest trick-winning cards are the three "Critical Ones" or "Criticals" (Kritische), which are variously called Kritten, Griechische or Griechen ("Greeks") regionally:

• K is Maxi, the highest card in the game, named after King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Other nicknames include Max, Mäxle, Maxl, Mattl, Papa, Maler ("Artist"), Machtl, Erdbeer-Schorsch ("Strawberry George")
• 7 or 6 is Belli, the second highest card, the Weli (also called Benno, Bello, Belle, Bölle). In Austria and South Tyrol, the 6 is used.
• 7 is Spitz ("Point", also Spitze, Seuchl, Soacher, Soach, Bsoachter, Sächer, Bisi, Bise, Gspeitz).

Then follow the four Strikers (Schläge; singular Schlag), four cards of a specified number or rank. The Chief Striker (CS) is the highest; the remaining 3 Strikers (3xS) are equal in rank.

The next lowest category after the Strikers are the cards in the trump suit. Trumps beat all the remaining cards that are not Criticals or Strikers. The trumps rank in the following order as far as tricks are concerned:

• Sow (Sau), sometimes called the Deuce (Daus) or, misleadingly, the Ace (Ass)
• King (König, Sesseldrucker = "armchair potato")
• Ober (Saalflitzer or Speisenträger = "waiter")
• Unter (Bochramma)
• 10 (Eisenbahner or Bahner = "railwayman", Bahnschwellenhupfer)
• 9 (Brotzeit = "snack")
• 8 (Fenstersteck = "window frame")
• 7 (Notschrei = "cry for help")

The card which is both a Striker and a Trump is called a Chief Striker (Hauptschlag), Captain (Hauptmann) or Right One (Rechter). In German it also goes under various other names including Haubi, Hauwe, Haube, Haut or Hawe. It is the fourth highest card after the Criticals. The three remaining Strikers, also called Left Ones (Linke) do not have a particular order of precedence; instead the first one played always wins.

Unlike many other card games, there is no compulsion in Watten to follow suit or win the trick. An exception is the playing of the Chief Striker as the first card of a game. In this case, the opponents must comply with the call "Trump or Critical!" (Trumpf oder Kritisch!; colloquially Kirch oda Kapejn) and either play a Critical or a card of the trump suit (the other Strikers are exempt from this rule). The partner has to play a trump, but does not have to play a Critical. If the Chief Striker is beaten by a Critical, the remaining players no longer have to play a trump. Prior to leading with the Chief Striker, the player may ask his partner "will it cause damage?" (schadet er?) to check whether it will weaken his partner's hand.

If a player has all three Criticals in his hand or (regionally different) another card combination which, regardless of the order in which it is played, inevitably leads to winning at least three tricks, a so-called Machine or Engine (Maschine), he must reveal his cards before the game begins and automatically wins the game with 2 points. Another rule variant provides for the player to reveal the cards and automatically receive 3 points, but continue to play if he hopes to achieve 4 points by a bluffing technique.

Before the cards are dealt, they are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player to his right, the "cutter". If the bottom card of the cut stack is a Critical, the cutter may keep it (so called Schlecken; "licking"). The dealer then has the right to view and take the next card if it is Critical. In the rare case of a third underlying Critical, the cutter may take that too. If the cutter waives his right to draw the card, the dealer may not draw it either. The cutter may also take a card that is not Critical as a bluff. However, if all five moves of the game are executed without the cutter playing a Critical, the team are penalized 2 points.

The dealer now deals five cards to each player, usually in packets of three and two in succession. If the cutter, or cutter and dealer, have taken a Critical, they get fewer cards at this point in order to get a hand of five cards.[4]

The dealer and the player to his left, the forehand, look at their cards and the forehand declares the Strikers (from one of the following: Sow (A), K, O, U, 10, 9 8 or 7. The dealer then selects the trump suit. Before these announcements, either of the two declarers can ask the other to deal the cards again in the hope of getting better cards by asking for "better ones please!" (Schönere!). The other may then deal again, in which case the cards of the two declarers are discarded and dealt again, or he can refuse and play must continue with the cards already dealt.

It is common to offer the dealer the option of a "striker swap?" (Schlagwechsel or Schlagtausch), i.e. to exchange who announces Strikers, a request that the dealer may accept or reject. If the dealer accepts, he then announces the Strikers and forehand announces the trump suit; forehand continuing to play first. If the request is refused, everything stays as it was.

After the announcement, the player to the left of the dealer, the forehand, is the first to play a card, followed by the other players in a clockwise direction. The player who has dealt the highest card in the round wins this trick and takes it. This player then leads to the next trick and the remaining players follow in a clockwise direction. If a trick is won without a Critical, Trump or Striker, i.e. only with a higher-quality card in the suit played, it is described as being dant gestochen ("won effortlessly").

The pair that is first to win three tricks wins the game. Winning a game simply scores two game points.

If a player or team feels in a strong position, they can bet, i.e. raise by one the number of points played for during the game.[lower-alpha 1] Their opponents may either give up without a fight whereupon the challengers immediately win the game with two points, or accept the challenge and continue playing for the higher score. The challenge may be repeated as often as desired, but only alternately by the two teams. As in poker, this gives an opportunity to bluff. Challenging is done by asking "[are you] going?" (Gehst? or Geht?). The response may be "we'll see!" (Schauen!) or "No!" (Nein) if the challenge is accepted, or "okay" (Ja) and the cards thrown in face down if they choose to give up. Alternatively the opponents may reveal a card in order to accept the challenge.

A game is usually won by scoring 11 (or 15) points. At 9 or 10 (13 or 14) points you are 'tight' (gespannt), which means you cannot raise the score. The tight party marks this by crossing out its previous points on the score sheet, so it is also called "struck out" (gestrichen). Each hand is then played for three points, but the tight team, if it feels it will lose, may 'go' after the announcement of trumps and Strikers, conceding just 2 points to their opponents.

In one variant, both parties may no longer 'eliminate' in this situation; the tight team receives 2 points for a win, the trailing team automatically receives 3 points for a win (even if their opponents give up). But it may be raised to a 4-point game.

At the end of a hand, either the winning or losing team receives a black blob (●), the so-called Bummerl or a Bohne, on the scoresheet.

A penalty of 3 points is often imposed for game infringements, for example if a 'tight' player bets.

The surreptitious removal of so-called 'trick-winning cards' is often referred to as Packeln or packing. In some regions packing is not only allowed, but is an integral part of the game.

In Bavaria they usually play Watten with 32 cards and the Criticals are: K, 7 and 7.

In several parts of Bavaria, the demand "Trump or Critical" (Trumpf oder Kritisch) or "Trump or Fool" (Trumpf oder Narrisch) may be announced. This means that the Striker is also regarded as a trump if the first player to follow the leading player has no trumps. The Striker must then be played ("Pepper" variant). Although not all cards are dealt in Watten, in Bavaria for traditional reasons it was not considered as illegal gambling even when betting for money. On the contrary, Watten prize competitions are very popular and strongly promoted by the organizers. This assessment of Watten is, however, no longer undisputed. At least one criminal complaint of unauthorized gambling has been made.[5]

In Franconia, they usually play the Bavarian variant described above, but with some variations. Thus, the first time the Chief Striker is played, all other players with a trump card must declare the fact, even if the Chief Striker is beaten by a Critical. Here a player is "officially" allowed to ask his partner schadd er (East Franconian for schadet er) to find out whether this move takes an important trump out of his hand and thus endangers the success of the pair (e.g. if the partner only has a single, relatively high trump in his hand). Also terms like Ausschaffen (to "expel" i.e. to raise or bet) and Schub? ("push?" i.e. "are you going?") are used instead of the more usual ones.

In Austria, especially in North Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austria the main difference is that the second highest Critical is the 6 or Weli. In certain parts of Carinthia a fourth Critical is added: the U (Bugl), which is then the highest Critical card. Typically, they play for up to 11 points in Carinthia. From 9 points you are gsponnt ("taut") or kronk ("unwell") and may no longer make a bet, since 2 points (the minimum bet in a game) ensures victory. If this happens, the opposing team records. In many places in Carinthia, so-called "Watter Tournaments" are played, where the valley communities play different variants, mostly however critical or non-critical - four-player Watten. There is usually an entry fee and prizes. It is often also possible to nachkaufen. Mostly, however, as in regional and national tournaments, a 'non-critical' variant is played, in which only Strikers and trump cards have greater trick-taking power. Practically unbeatable cards are called the Rechters (e.g.: Chief Striker + another Striker: two Rechters) and cards that can only be beaten by the Chief Striker are called the Linken (e.g.: three Strikers + Sow of Trumps: four Linke; two Strikers + Sow of Trumps: three false Linken).

In North Tyrol, as in South Tyrol, they often play with a Guaten as the highest card and less often with a Beasn (the card just below the Rechter) as the second highest card. Furthermore, in North Tyrol the four-player Ladinern, also called Ladinisch Watten or Blind Watten, is very popular.

An unusual variant is Bohemian Watten (Böhmisch Watten or Hudln). The number of players is not restricted because there are no teams and everyone plays for himself. The biggest differences compared with standard Watten are Farbzwang, the requirement to follow suit (i.e. even if you have a higher card with which you could head the trick, you may not play it, if you have cards in the leading suit) and Stichzwang, the obligation to head (i.e. if you have a higher card, you must play it). The trump suit and trump striker are not determined by announcements, but by revealing a card when dealing, which the dealer then takes. This card is revealed between dealing the two packets of three and two cards, respectively.

Once dealt, each player may exchange up to three cards, but the dealer may only exchange two, as he has the right to exchange with the trump card that was initially dealt face up.

Each player starts with a tally of 20 points, the aim of the game is to reach zero. For each trick taken, one point is deducted from the tally; if no trick is taken in a game, 5 penalty points are added. If Hearts are declared as the trump suit, the points count double, i.e. -2 points per trick or +10 points for no trick, and you may not go out, which is possible with other suits. If a player has made more tricks in a game than he has points left, the difference is added to the original score. In some regions, however, the score does not have to be reached exactly and the game can be ended with minus points.

Bohemian Watten is similar to Zwanzig ab, Schnellen and Schnalzen.

Cards by artist, Egon Rusina Moroder, with famous South Tyrolese figures: Reinhold Messner, Eva Klotz and Luis Durnwalder.

In the South Tyrolean variant, Blind Watten (also Blindwatten, Ladinish Watten, Latinern) neither Deuten nor discussing tactics are allowed. This considerably increases the difficulty of the game because the two partners who have not bet must either guess or find out by observation what was bet.

Another different in the South Tyrolean variant is that, for those players who have bet, Farbzwang applies, so that should a trump card, the Rechte or the Guate be played, they must follow suit with a trump if they have one (the Rechte and the Guate do not have to be played). Alternatively they can take the trick with a better card.

In Blind Watten, trumps and Strikers are determined as follows: after the deal, the dealer and the player to his left show each other their lowest card. Unlike Blind Watten, in Latinern the cards need not be sorted beforehand in order to prevent manipulation of the lowest card. The suit of the dealer's lowest card determines the trump suit for this hand. The value of the lowest card of the player to his left determines the Striker. After the cards are revealed to each other, one player from each team knows the trump suit and the Striker, the other two have to guess this information during the course of the game. Only after the end of the hand - if necessary - is the trump suit made known.

To make it a little easier for the two players who are initially playing 'blind', it is useful to reveal the last trick played after the winner of the trick has been announced. This makes it easier to work out the trump suit and Strikers by a process of elimination. After the next trick is finished, the old trick is then turned over and can no longer be examined.

A team immediately loses the current hand if one of the two players makes statements or gives clues that give away the trump suit or Strikers.