The following is a glossary of Skat terms used in playing the card game of Skat. Although Skat has German origins, it has now become an international game, often played to official rules. This glossary includes terms which are common or regional, official or unofficial, as well as those used for special situations, starting hands, card combinations and terms relating to players. Many of the terms are also used in other trick-taking or Ace-Ten games or even in card games in general.
Commonly used terms
Playing positions
The following terms are recognised by the International Laws of Skat or Skatordnung:
Dealer: the person who shuffles and deals the cards
Forehand: the person on the left of the dealer in Skat and who is first to be dealt cards.
Middlehand: the person left of forehand and right of rearhand and who is the second player to be dealt cards.
Rearhand: the person who is last to receive his cards. In a three-hand game this is also the dealer. In a four-hander, it is the person on the right of the dealer
The following terms are also commonly used in connection with the bidding phase:
Hörer : Forehand. The hearer hears the bid of the speaker or 2nd speaker.
Sager : middlehand; the bidder makes the first bid to the hearer.
Weitersager : rearhand; the 2nd bidder bids to the hearer if the 1st bidder has dropped out, or to the 1st bidder if the hearer has dropped out.
Contracts
Official contracts
Contracts permitted by the Skatordnung are:
Suit: contract in which the soloist attempts to score at least 61 points. Trumps are the four Jacks or Unters and a suit announced by the soloist
Grand: only the Jacks or Unters are trumps
Null: contract in which there are no trumps and the soloist tries to avoid winning any tricks
Unofficial contracts
The following contracts are also played, but are not recognised by the Skatordnung:
Revolution: unofficial contract which is like Null, except that the opponents may exchange with the skat
Bock: unofficial contract in which all game values count double
Ramsch: unofficial contract where each player plays for himself and the aim is to score the fewest points
Schieberamsch: like Ramsch, but the skat may be picked up by each player in clockwise order. If a player chooses to pass on the skat, the losers usually score twice as many minus points. After picking up the skat the player returns two cards to the skat, which may be picked up by the next player in turn. The skat is usually 'shoved' once per player, each player may also exchange one or two cards. The shoving of Jacks/Unters after picking up the skat is often forbidden.
The game value is doubled with each of the following announcements in succession :
Kontra: a defender does not think the soloist will win
Re: reply by the soloist to Kontra, if he still thinks he will win
Bock: response to "Re" by the defender if he is not convinces that the soloist can will, sometimes also called "Supra"
Zippe: soloist's response to "Bock" or "Supra" if, despite the opinion of the defender, he is confident of winning; also called "Hirsch"
Cards or card combinations
There is a variety of colourful names and nicknames in German for the various cards and card combinations in Skat:
Schneiden, schnippeln or einen Schnitt machen : to withhold a high card and thereby capture a higher card from one's opponent. Usually an Ace is held back to capture a Ten. It runs the risk of losing one's own high card.
blank : a 'singleton', i.e. a single card of one suit in one's hand.
blank : to be 'void' i.e. have no cards of a particular suit in one's hand.
