Skat is a three-player trick-taking game invented around 1810 in the town of Altenburg, in what is now the German state of Thuringia. It is the national card game of Germany, where the German Skat Association estimates it is played by roughly 25 million people.
Skat has a reputation for being complicated — the bidding and scoring genuinely take a little study — but the underlying play is a clean, elegant trick-taking game. This guide breaks it into manageable pieces: the deck and rankings, the auction, the three game types, and the scoring system that ties it all together.
What You Need: Players and the Deck
Skat is played by three active players. It is often played by four people at the table, but the dealer sits out each hand, so only three ever play at once. The seats have names that matter during play: forehand (to the dealer’s left), middlehand (next, clockwise), and rearhand (who is also the dealer in a three-player game).
The game uses a 32-card deck: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each of the four suits. You can buy a German Skat pack, or simply strip the 2s through 6s out of a standard 52-card deck. Skat is traditionally played with German-suited cards in parts of Germany, but French-suited cards (the familiar ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣) are used everywhere else and work identically.
Card Point Values
Two completely separate number systems run through Skat, and keeping them apart is the single biggest hurdle for beginners. The first is card points — the value of the cards you capture in tricks, which decides who wins the hand:
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9, 8, 7 | 0 |
There are 120 card points in the deck. In a normal game the declarer must capture at least 61 of them to win. Notice that the Aces and 10s together hold most of the value — winning those is far more important than collecting low cards.
Skat Card Point Values
The points you capture in tricks. The declarer normally needs 61 of the 120 in the deck to win.
Beware the two-number trap: these card points decide who wins the hand. They are completely separate from game points, the score you write down (see the game-value formula).
Card Rankings and Trumps
This is where Skat surprises newcomers. In the two trump-based game types, the four Jacks are always the top trumps, ranking above everything else in a fixed order by suit: J♣ (highest), then J♠, J♥, J♦. They are not part of their printed suits during play — a Jack is always a trump.
In a suit game, the trump suit therefore consists of the four Jacks plus the seven remaining cards of the named suit, for 11 trumps in total. Within a suit, the order runs Ace, 10, King, Queen, 9, 8, 7 — note that the 10 ranks unusually high, just below the Ace.
| Game type | Trumps | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Suit game | 4 Jacks + the named suit (11 cards) | J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦, then A 10 K Q 9 8 7 of trump |
| Grand | The 4 Jacks only | J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦; all suits rank A 10 K Q 9 8 7 |
| Null | None | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 (normal order, no trumps) |
The Deal
The deal follows a fixed pattern that keeps the skat separate from the start. Dealing clockwise, the dealer gives each player three cards, then places two cards face down in the centre — this pair is the skat. Then four more cards to each player, then a final three. Everyone ends with 10 cards, and two sit hidden in the skat. This sequence is remembered as “three–skat–four–three.”
Bidding: The Auction
Before any cards are played, the three players hold an auction (in German, Reizen) to decide who becomes the declarer — the soloist who will play alone against the other two. Crucially, players do not bid by naming a contract. They bid numbers: the potential game value of the hand they intend to play. The lowest legal bid is 18.
The mechanics take a moment to learn. Middlehand bids first, calling numbers to forehand; forehand either says “yes” (accepting, meaning “I can match that”) or passes. They go back and forth, the bid rising each time, until one drops out. The survivor then bids against rearhand the same way. Whoever remains is the declarer.
Bids may only be legal game values, which produces a characteristic sequence: 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 30, 33, 35, 36, 40, and upward. You should only bid as high as your hand can actually produce — bid more than your hand is worth and you have overbid, which is an automatic loss regardless of how the cards fall. We will see why below.
The Three Game Types
Once the auction settles, the declarer may pick up the two skat cards, add them to their hand, and discard any two face down (those discards still count toward their card points at the end). Having looked at the skat, the declarer announces the contract. There are three families:
- Suit game: the declarer names a trump suit and tries to take at least 61 card points.
- Grand: only the four Jacks are trumps; the declarer again aims for 61 card points. This is the highest-value standard game.
- Null: there are no trumps and the declarer’s goal is the opposite — to lose every single trick.
Any of these can also be played as a Hand game, where the declarer does not look at the skat at all (its card points still count for them at the end). Playing from the hand raises the game value because it is riskier. Within Hand games, a confident declarer can further announce Schneider (a promise to take 90+ card points) or Schwarz (a promise to win every trick), or play Ouvert (open, with their cards face up on the table) for the biggest multipliers of all.
Playing the Tricks
Forehand always leads to the first trick, regardless of who the declarer is. Play proceeds clockwise. Players must follow the suit led if they can; a player with no card of the led suit may play a trump or discard. The highest trump wins the trick, or if no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads to the next, and ten tricks are played in all.
Remember that the Jacks are trumps, not members of their printed suits. If hearts are trump and a club is led, the J♣ does not have to follow clubs — it is a trump, so its holder may play it or not as they choose.
Scoring: Game Points vs Card Points
Here is the part that earns Skat its fearsome reputation, but it follows a simple formula once you separate the two number systems. Card points (the 120 in the deck) decide whether the declarer won or lost the hand. Game points (the score written down) measure how much that result is worth, and they come from a multiplication.
The Suit and Grand Formula
Game value = base value × multiplier level.
The base values are fixed:
| Game | Base value |
|---|---|
| Diamonds ♦ | 9 |
| Hearts ♥ | 10 |
| Spades ♠ | 11 |
| Clubs ♣ | 12 |
| Grand | 24 |
The multiplier level always starts at 1 (for the matadors, explained next) plus 1 for “game” (simply for being the declarer). You then add 1 for each of: Hand, Schneider made, Schneider announced, Schwarz made, Schwarz announced, and Ouvert.
Matadors: “With” and “Without”
The matadors (German Spitzen) are the run of top trumps counting down from the J♣. If your hand plus the skat contains an unbroken sequence from the J♣, you are playing “with” that many matadors. If you are missing the J♣, you count how many top trumps you lack before reaching your highest — you are playing “without” that many. Either way, the number is added to your multiplier; whether it is “with” or “without” does not change the value; only the count matters.
For example, holding the J♣ but not the J♠ is “with 1.” Holding J♣, J♠, J♥ but not J♦ is “with 3.” Missing the J♣ but holding the J♠ is “without 1.”
The Skat Game-Value Formula
For suit and grand games. This decides your score — separate from the card points that decide who wins.
♠ 11 ♣ 12
Grand 24
+1 each: Hand, Schneider,
Schwarz, Ouvert…
The matador count sets the ceiling on a safe bid. Bid higher than your real game value and you overbid — an automatic loss, with double the value subtracted, however many tricks you take.
A Worked Example
Suppose you play a Clubs game (base value 12), holding the J♣ and J♠ but not the J♥. You are “with 2.” Your multiplier is 2 (matadors) + 1 (game) = 3. Game value = 12 × 3 = 36. If you capture at least 61 card points and your bid was 36 or less, you win 36 game points. The clearest reference rulebooks, such as the long-running guide maintained at John McLeod’s card-game site, walk through many more of these calculations if you want to go deeper.
Winning, Losing and Overbidding
If the declarer wins and the game value is at least as high as their bid, that value is added to their score. If the declarer loses, twice the game value is subtracted. And if the final game value turns out to be lower than the bid — the overbid trap — the declarer loses automatically, regardless of how many card points they took. This is why experienced players count their matadors carefully before bidding: the multiplier, not the cards in hand, sets the ceiling on a safe bid.
Null Game Values
Null games ignore the matador system entirely and have fixed values:
| Null contract | Value |
|---|---|
| Null (with skat) | 23 |
| Null Hand | 35 |
| Null Ouvert (with skat) | 46 |
| Null Ouvert Hand | 59 |
Ramsch: When Everyone Passes
If all three players pass without bidding, many groups play a round of Ramsch (“junk”) rather than throwing the hand in. Ramsch is not part of the official tournament rules, but it is hugely popular socially. There is no declarer; each player plays for themselves, and the goal is to take the fewest card points. It punishes players who passed on a biddable hand, and it keeps every deal lively.
Beginner Strategy Tips
- Count your Jacks first. The four Jacks are the most reliable part of any hand. Holding the J♣ alone often justifies a minimum bid; two or three top Jacks open up real possibilities.
- Bury points in the skat. In a suit game, discarding two 10s into the skat locks 20 card points into your pile for free — just never bury a trump you might need.
- Draw trumps early as declarer. Two rounds of trump leads usually strip both defenders, protecting your Aces and 10s from being ruffed.
- Defenders, watch the discards. A suit the declarer avoids leading is often their weakness — attack it.
- Respect the overbid rule. Never bid higher than your hand can actually produce. A modest, makeable contract beats an ambitious one you lose at double value.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Skat?
Skat is a three-player game. Four people often sit at the table and take turns dealing, but the dealer sits out each hand, so exactly three play every deal.
Why are the Jacks so important in Skat?
In suit and grand games the four Jacks are always the highest trumps, ranking J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦ above all other cards. They also form the “matadors” that set your scoring multiplier, so counting them is the foundation of safe bidding.
What is the difference between card points and game points?
Card points (120 in the deck) are captured in tricks and decide whether the declarer wins the hand — usually you need 61. Game points are the score you write down; they come from multiplying the game’s base value by the multiplier level, and they measure how much the result is worth.
What happens if the declarer overbids?
If the final game value is lower than the number the declarer bid, they lose automatically, no matter how many card points they captured, and twice the relevant value is subtracted from their score. This is why players count matadors carefully before bidding high.
What is a Null game?
A Null contract reverses the usual goal: there are no trumps, and the declarer wins only by losing every single trick. Null games have fixed values (23, 35, 46, or 59) rather than using the matador multiplier system.