Ace-Ten games


An Ace-Ten game is a type of card game, highly popular in Europe, in which the Aces and Tens are of particularly high value.

Description

Many of Europe's most popular card games feature the Ace-Ten scoring system, where the cards count as Ace = 11, Ten = 10, King = 4, Queen or Ober = 3, Jack or Unter = 2. Pip cards below the Ten generally have no card point value and the pack is often shortened by removing the lower pip cards or 'non-counters'. This means that, in a typical shortened pack of between 20 and 36 cards, there are 120 card points and thus a winning total is typically 61 points. Wins are doubled for scoring three-quarters of the total points and trebled for winning every trick, a scoring system known as the Skat schedule after its "most illustrious" example, the German national game of Skat.
There are 3 branches of the Ace-Ten family:
Although the origin of Ace-Ten games is uncertain, it is most likely to have been invented by users of French cards in the Netherlands area, a hypothesis supported by the Dutch origin of the Swiss national game of Jass.
The earliest record of the Ace-Ten scheme dates to 1718 and the French game of Brusquembille.

Games with national or regional status

Many Ace-Ten games have achieved national or regional status. They are usually played with cards typical of their particular country or region. These include:
Other well known Ace-Tenners include: