Skat Strategy: Bidding, Discarding and Defending

Most Skat games are decided before the first card is played: in the bidding, and in the two cards the declarer puts down. This guide covers the habits that make the biggest difference, from judging a hand to helping your partner on defense. If you need the basics first, start with the Skat rules.

Judging a hand before you bid

Start with three questions:

1. How many Jacks? Jacks are trumps in every suit game and in Grand. Two Jacks, especially the ♣J and ♠J, are the backbone of most games.
2. How many trumps in all? Count the Jacks plus your longest suit. Seven trumps is comfortable, six is fine with some aces, five needs help from the skat.
3. What else wins tricks? Side aces, a 10 protected by its ace, and an empty suit you can trump.

A good rule of thumb for a suit game with the skat: two Jacks and five cards of a suit, or one Jack with six, plus an ace on the side. Then work out the value: base value × (matadors + 1). With ♣J and ♠J and five clubs you are "with 2", so clubs is 12 × 3 = 36. That is the most you should bid. Our bidding panel does this sum for you and says it in plain words.

Grand needs Jacks and aces

With three or four Jacks, think Grand. You want the top Jacks and two or three aces, ideally with their 10s. A long suit headed by ace and 10 is gold in Grand, because once the Jacks are gone it runs.

Null needs low cards

A Null hand is the opposite of a good suit hand: 7s, 8s and 9s, with no long gaps. A lone 7 is perfectly safe; 7, 9 and Jack in one suit are safe too. A lone ace or king is a disaster unless you can put it in the skat.

Bidding sensibly

• Never bid past your hand's value. An overbid game is lost even if you take 90 points.
• Remember that the skat can hurt. If you are "against 2" and a Jack turns up in the skat, you become "against 1" and your game is worth less.
• Holding is cheaper than speaking. As Forehand you only have to say yes to each number; you never have to go first.
• Passing is fine. Two-thirds of the time you will defend. A strong defense wins as many points over a list as bold bidding.

What to put in the skat

The two cards you put down count for you at the end. Choose them with two aims: safety and points.

• Keep your Jacks. They are trumps and they decide your matadors. Putting one down is almost never right.
• Put down a lone 10. A 10 without its ace will probably be caught by the defenders' ace. In the skat its ten points are safe.
• Make an empty suit. If you hold two small cards in a side suit, putting both down lets you trump that suit later.
• Don't throw away an ace unless it stands alone in a suit you can't otherwise protect.

Playing as declarer

Draw trumps first. Lead your high Jacks early. Each round pulls two trumps from the defenders, and once their trumps are gone your side aces and 10s are safe. If you start by cashing aces while they still have trumps, one of them will trump your second or third ace.

Count the trumps. There are eleven in a suit game and four in Grand. Keep track of how many have fallen; when the defenders have none left, stop leading trumps and cash your winners.

Count your points. You need 61, and the skat already gave you something. Our game keeps the running count on screen ("Declarer 47 · Defenders 32 · 41 still out"), which shows how many points are still to play for.

Playing as a defender

On defense you have a partner, and the two of you need 60 points to beat the declarer.

• Schmieren. When your partner is sure to win a trick, throw your ace or 10 on it. Those points are now safe on your side.
• Make the declarer trump. If the declarer is out of a suit, lead it. Every trump the declarer spends is one fewer to draw your partner's trumps with.
• Short way, long suit; long way, short suit. If the declarer plays right after you, lead your long suit; if your partner plays between you and the declarer, lead a short one so your partner can win cheaply and you can trump later.
• Don't lead trumps unless you have a good reason. That is the declarer's job.
• Hold your aces for 10s. The declarer's 10s are the biggest points you can catch.

Null games

As declarer in Null, lead your lowest cards and always play under the card winning the trick if you can. When you can't follow suit, throw away your most dangerous high card. As a defender, lead low cards in suits the declarer still holds and try to leave the declarer with no lower card to play. In Null Ouvert you can see the declarer's cards, so look for a suit where every one of the declarer's cards is higher than one of yours.

Learning with the computer

Press Hint whenever you are unsure: it suggests a bid, a game, the two cards for the skat or a card to play, with a reason. Press Why? next to a computer player's move to see its thinking. On Hard, the computer players count cards, notice who is out of a suit and work out the last four tricks exactly, but they never see your cards. When you are ready for more, try Pinochle or Euchre, two more games where Jacks and trumps rule the table.