BIERKOPF

Let me tell you about a fun German card game called Bierkopf. People usually play it in pubs. Originally, it was played with a special set of cards, but you can also play it with a normal deck of cards. The goal of Bierkopf is to collect the most points during each round and win the game by being the first team to score 21 points!

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

In Bierkopf, there are specific cards that are considered more powerful than others. These powerful cards are called the “trump suit,” while the rest are known as non-trump suits.

Trump Suit: The trump suit includes cards like K♥, 10♥, A♥, J♦, J♥, J♠, J♣, Q♦, Q♥, Q♠, Q♣. These cards have special abilities.

Clubs: The club cards consist of the King, 10, and Ace.

Spades: The spade cards also have the King, 10, and Ace.

Diamonds: Lastly, the diamond cards include the King, 10, and Ace.

To figure out who the partners are and who will be the first dealer in the game, I like to start by shuffling the cards and dealing them out one by one. When the first two players receive an Ace, they become a team and sit across from each other at the table. The other two players are also a team. The person who got the first Ace becomes the first dealer and collects the cards.

Next, I shuffle the cards again and deal five cards to each player, giving them two cards at a time and then three cards at a time.

Now it’s time to start playing! But before we do, we need to do some bidding. Bidding happens before the game begins and continues throughout the round.

Hey there! Before the game even starts, the player sitting on the left side of the dealer can have a little chat with their partner. They can’t spill the beans about their cards, but they can say things like “I’ve got a strong hand” or “My hand is not so great”. If they feel like it, they can make things more interesting by doubling the stakes for the game.

If no one announces a double, the other team can also talk about their hands in the same way, and they can double the stakes if they want to. The bidding goes around, giving the third player a chance to double. But once it gets to the fourth player, no more doubling is allowed. The game is then played for regular points.

If either team doubles the stakes, the other team can double them again after the second card has been played. And you know what? They can keep on doubling throughout the game. It’s all about making things more exciting!

Let’s Play

When we play a card game, the person sitting on the left of the dealer starts by playing the first card. The rest of us have to play a card of the same suit if we have one. But here’s the twist – the trump cards are a special suit of their own, and we have to play a trump card if we have one, even if it’s not the same suit as the card that was led.

Now, if we don’t have a card of the same suit or a trump card, we can play any card we want.

While we’re playing, we can sneak a peek at the tricks we’ve collected. But there’s a catch – we can only look at the most recent trick from our partner’s collection.

Keep Score

Every round, there are a total of 120 points up for grabs.

An Ace is worth 11 points and each 10 is worth 10 points.

Let me break it down for you. When it comes to the points in the game of cards, here’s how it goes:

Kings are worth 4 points each. Queens are worth 3 points each. Jacks are worth 2 points each.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. The team that collects 61 card points or more wins the round and earns 1 Game Point. But wait, there’s more! If the team manages to score 91 points or more, they earn 2 Game Points. And that’s not all – the Game Points earned are doubled according to the bidding. So, if a team earns 1 Game Point, but the stakes were doubled twice during the game, that team actually earns 4 Game Points (1x2x2).

So, how do you win?

Simple. The first team to earn 21 Game Points wins the game. It’s as straightforward as that. So, are you ready to play and rack up those points?