Schlauch is an extinct

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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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 ...

that was popular in the mid-19th century as a

drinking game Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banne ...

, hence it was also known as Bier-Schlauch.

History

The game is recorded as early as 1839 in a ''"Humorous Lecture about the Game of Schlauch"'' given in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and recounted in a local newspaper. In

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

in the 1850s it had "long since been superseded" by

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, Tarock and Skat. However around the same time it was still thriving further south in

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. It consists of nine districts and 258 municipalities (including three cities). Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two ...

because Schlauch tournaments known as "Schlauch-Rennen" (literally "Schlauch Races") were being held alongside those for Grasober and Tarok.''Kurier für Niederbayern'' (1855), p. 1258. In 1883 it was the subject of a treatise by Mangold Jups who called it ''"Bier-Schlauch. An Entertaining Card Game for the Benefit of Thirsty Card Players."'' The game may be related to German Tarok and/or

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Overview

Schlauch was a three-hand,

bidding Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something. Bidding can be performed b ...

and

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 ...

game played with 32

German-suited cards German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves (''Grün'', ''Blatt'', ''Lau ...

in which the aim was to win the

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

and achieve one's selected

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

.Pierer (1862), p. 220. The basic contracts were: * Schlauch – the

declarer Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

chooses trumps, calls for a card to exchange with and aims to win every trick. * Bettel – there are no trumps and the declarer aims to lose every trick. * Grandioso – there are no trumps and the declarer aims to win every trick. Cards rank in ace–ten order. However, there were two versions of the game. In ''Little Schlauch'', there was a higher possible bid for each of the above. In ''Great Schlauch'' or ''Heidelberg Schlauch'', there were double contracts in which the aim changed halfway through the deal.

Rules

The following rules for ''Little Schlauch'' are based on Pierer (1862), except where cited otherwise.

Preliminaries

Three players use a 32-card, Bavarian or Franconian pattern pack. Players draw a card from the pack and the one with the highest card deals first. The dealer shuffles, offers it to the right for

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and then places the bottom card of the pack on the table face up. The dealer then deals 10 cards each in 3 packets (3-4-3). However, the dealer's last packet comprises 4 cards which, together with the

turnup The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to bridge, hearts, poker or rummy), ...

is a hand of 12 cards. The dealer then

discards Discards are the portion of a catch of fish which is not retained on board during commercial fishing operations and is returned, often dead or dying, to the sea. The practice of discarding is driven by economic and political factors; fish which are ...

2, showing any

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

or any card of the turnup suit to the others first.Jups (1883).

Auction

Once the dealer has laid away the 2 cards of the skat, there is an auction. Beginning with

forehand The forehand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and pickleball, where the palm of the hand precedes the back of the hand when swinging the racket. In tennis, except in the context of the phrase ''forehand volley ...

to the left, players pass or announce a contract. The contracts in Little Schlauch are: * Grandioso. The declarer undertakes to take all tricks having first called for a card and given the opponent another in exchange. There are no trumps and the declarer leads to the first trick. Cards rank in the usual Ace-Ten order: A 10 K O U 9 8 7. * Bettel. The declarer commits not to take any tricks. There are no trumps and forehand leads. Cards rank in natural order: A K O U 10 9 8 7. * Schlauch in Acorns,

Leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

, Bells ("Suit Schlauch"). The declarer call for a card and gives one in exchange before announcing trumps. Cards rank in Ace-Ten order except that the trump Unter is the highest card and the Unter of the

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is the second highest. For this purpose, Acorns are paired with Leaves and Hearts with Bells. * Grandissimo. As Grandioso but no exchanging. * Bettelouvert. As Bettel, but the declarer leads and, after the first trick, plays ouvert. * Heart Schlauch. A Schlauch in which Hearts are trumps. A Schlauch bid in the preference suit of Hearts overcalls a Schlauch bid in any other suit. If all pass, a

force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

game of Schlauch in the turnup suit may be played in which the one with the most card points wins. Card points are as follows: trump Unters 12, Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Ober 3, remaining Unters 2 each, rest 0. In a Grandioso, all the Unters are worth 7. The last trick always scores 10. Alternatively the dealer incurs a penalty mark and redeals.Jups (1883), p. 4.

Play

The contract determines who leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if possible; otherwise may play any card. The trick is won by the highest trump or by the highest card of the led suit if no trumps are played. The trick winner leads to the next trick.

Scoring

A win for the declarer earns 150 points for Grandioso, Bettel and a Suit Schlauch, 300 for a Grandissimo or Heart Schlauch. The defenders chalk up 2 or 4 marks (lines on a slate) as penalties. A loss by the declarer incurs 4 or 8 marks respectively, while the defenders score 100 or 200 points each. After each

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of three

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, players compare scores and, for every 100 points a player has in excess of another the latter incurs 1 penalty stroke and whoever has the fewest points also incurs a penalty stroke. Players score or are paid in proportion to the number of strokes they score.

References

Literature

* _ (1854)
''Kurier für Niederbayern: Landshuter Tag- u. Anzeigerblatt.''
14 March 1854. Landshut. p. 292. * An der Salzach, Klausner (1839), ''Münchner Bock-Blatt.'' 5 May 1839. No. 2. * Jups, Mangold (1883)
''Bier-Schlauch: Ein unterhaltendes Kartenspiel. Zu Nutz und Frommen durstiger Hocker''
newly published by Mangold Jups and others. Würzburg: Stahel. * Kalb, Wilhelm (1892). ''Die Alte Burschenschaft und ihre Entwicklung in Erlangen''. Erlangen: Max Mencke. * Pierer, Heinrich August (1862).
Pierer's Universal-Lexikon der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart...
'' Volume 15. 4th rev. and improved edn. p. 220. {{Historical card games Ace–ten games 19th-century card games Bavarian card games Student culture Erlangen Three-player card games German Tarok group Skat (card game) Drinking card games