Kaiser, or three-spot, is a

trick-taking A trick-taking game is a card game, card- or tile-based game in which play of a ''Hand (card games), hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of ...

card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

popular in the

prairie provinces The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, especially

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and parts of its neighbouring provinces. It is played with four players in two partnerships with a 32-card deck.

Origins

The origins of this game are a mystery and there seems to be no historical record (spoken or written) that justifies it being a solely Saskatchewan-area game. It is popular among Ukrainian communities. ''

Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...

'' means "emperor", the ruler of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from 1871 to 1918. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

a game referred to as troika (Russian , from "three"; akin to Old English "three") and the English version, three-spot, was played by war veterans in particular. These games were known for their bidding and trumping and the three in particular. The highest bid in these games was called a kaiser bid (12 notrump). It is because of this that it was referred to as the “kaiser bidding game” and eventually just the "kaiser game".

Dealing

Kaiser is played by four people: two teams of two players each. Unlike many card games, only 32 cards are used out of a normal 52-card deck. The deck contains the cards from eight to ace inclusively (8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace) for each suit. The other four cards are the seven of clubs, seven of diamonds, five of hearts and three of spades. All 32 cards are dealt out: eight to each player. The cards may be dealt in any order to any player so long as each player ends up with eight cards.

Rule variations

Even though kaiser is a rare game, rules do vary between groups and between regions. Some variations on the popular rules include: * Varying the minimum bid (usually anywhere from five to eight) * Including the seven of hearts and seven of spades. When dealing, two cards are dealt into a "kitty" and the winning bidder may pick this kitty up and exchange cards in their hand for cards in the kitty. If the three or five are in the kitty, then the player must include these in their playing hand. * Allowing passing between players. Players are allowed to pass one or two cards before bidding. This can create an opportunity for communication between players within the rules of the game. This is often accompanied by raising the minimum bid, because the increased level of strategy makes it possible to attain higher scores. *After winning the bid in no trump, the player has an option of playing the hand high or low. In high the play is normal. In low the strength of the cards are reversed while the five of hearts and the three of spades are neutral (for example in "low" play a seven would take a trick over an eight).

References

* {{List of trick-taking games 19th-century card games Canadian card games Four-player card games Point-trick games Year of introduction unknown