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Official German Whist Rules
German Whist is a variation of classic Whist for two players. It has nothing to do with Germany and most likely is of English origin. Here's how to play:
Objective
The main objective in the first 13 tricks (Foreplay) is to win tricks to collect valuable cards. The winner of a trick gets a good card from the talon, while the loser gets a potentially weaker card.
In the second 13 tricks (Endgame), the objective is to win the most tricks. You use the cards you collected in the Foreplay to win these tricks.
Setup
Standard pack of 52 cards ranked A(high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low) in each suit.
The deal alternates between players. The dealer shuffles the deck and offers it to the non-dealer for cutting.
13 cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, non-dealer receiving first.
The remaining 26 cards are placed face down in the center of the table (the talon).
The first card (upcard) from the talon is turned face-up. This suit becomes the trump suit for the entire hand.
Gameplay
Playing a Trick:
The non-dealer leads any card in their hand to the first trick.
The other player must follow suit if able. If not able, they can play any card.
The highest card of the led suit wins the trick.
If no cards of the led suit were played, the highest trump wins the trick.
The winner of the trick collects all played cards and draws the top card from the talon (face down) to add to their hand.
The loser draws a card from the bottom of the talon (also face down).
This process continues until all 13 tricks are played.
Card Ranking:
In the natural order (from high to low): Red Joker, Black Joker, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Aces can be used as low cards (below 2) when forming sequences.
During the Endgame, cards of the same rank as the current level rank higher than Aces and below Black Jokers (Level Order).
Hearts in the current level are wild cards (can represent any card except Jokers).
Winning the Game
The team (partnership doesn't exist in this game) that wins the most tricks in the Endgame wins the hand.
The winner is promoted to a higher level (based on the card ranking) for the next hand.
Scoring (Optional):
Some variations keep score. Winning a hand might award points based on how many tricks were won in the Endgame (e.g., 1 point for winning 7-6, 2 points for winning 8-5, etc.). The first player to reach a certain point total wins the game.
Notes/Strategy
Players must declare how many cards they have remaining if asked and their hand has 10 cards or fewer.
There are more complex rules regarding special card combinations and bombs, which are not essential for understanding the basic gameplay. Strategy Tricks you win in the first stage don't actually win you the game. It's all about collecting the best cards for the second stage, where the real competition happens.
Here's the key:
Only win tricks if you think the next card in the deck (underneath the exposed card) is worse.
For example, if hearts are trump and the exposed card is a 5, you probably wouldn't want to win that trick because the next card is likely to be stronger.
Don't waste your good cards in the first stage.
Even if the exposed card isn't bad (like a Jack), using a high card to win that trick just replaces a strong card in your hand with an average one.
This explanation focuses on the core mechanics of German Whist. This should be enough to get you started playing this fun, strategic variation of classic Whist!
