Everyone plays one card to the middle of the table. The best card wins all four, and whoever played it collects them and starts the next one. That is a trick.
Three hands of Calling the Twenty from one single deal: Normal Game → Farberl → Solo. One contract succeeds, two fail, and the failures are the lessons.
What you need
- Four players. P4 is the dealer for all three rounds; P1, to the dealer's left, is the Forehand.
- One Alpine Tarok deck, unshuffled: it comes arranged for the three practice hands.
- The prepared deal below: lift off the two info cards, then count off four blocks of ten from the top, clockwise from P1. Do not shuffle.
The deal
Fixed across all three rounds. These guided rounds are played open: all four hands stay face up here, so nobody has to guess and everybody learns from every play. Tarok is normally played with your cards hidden; this is a lesson, not a match.
P1 (Forehand)
P2
P3
P4 (dealer)
Counting, the book's way
Round 1: the Normal Game
Every trick below runs the same four steps. The leader plays one card to the middle. Going clockwise, each other player plays one card. The best card wins all four. The winner gathers them into a face-down pile and leads the next trick. Nothing to remember in between: winner scoops, winner leads.
Bidding
- P1 (Forehand) "My game."
- Why this bid The Forehand seat comes with the Normal Game: it is P1's unless somebody names something bigger, so this is not a gamble on a big hand. Why it can be delivered: the Normal Game is the one contract nobody plays alone. P1 holds the Sküs plus four more Taroks, and the called partner brings the other half of the cards.
- P2 pass
- Why Court cards everywhere, but the only Taroks in the hand are the three smallest in the deck. Nothing here outbids what P1 just said.
- P3 pass
- Why Plenty of trump muscle, but almost no card value inside it, and the Normal Game already sits with the Forehand.
- P4 pass
- Why A fine hand of red courts and the XX, and no reason to take a harder contract on alone when passing may still land P4 on the winning side.
The Normal Game stands; P1 is the Declarer.
-
Round 1 · Trick 1
P1 leads
P2
P3
P4
Wins
P4 takes the trick, 11 Card Points.
- P3, XI: void in Clubs, the Tarok Rule forces a Tarok
- P4, XIII: trumps higher: any Tarok beats any color card, and among Taroks the higher number rules
-
Round 1 · Trick 2
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 8 Card Points.
- P3, XXI: the Moon overtakes: 5 pips and it outranks the XX
-
Round 1 · Trick 3
P3 leads
Wins
P4
P1
P2
P3 takes the trick, 4 Card Points.
- P2, VII: Taroks are the led suit; holding Taroks, P2 must follow with one
-
Round 1 · Trick 4
P3 leads
Wins
P4
P1
P2
P3 takes the trick, 4 Card Points.
- P2, VIII: last Tarok
-
Round 1 · Trick 5
P3 leads
Wins
P4
P1
P2
P3 takes the trick, 5 Card Points.
-
P2, J
:
out of Taroks at last: now anything goes
-
P2, J
-
Round 1 · Trick 6
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 10 Card Points.
- P4, XVIII: void, trumps
-
Round 1 · Trick 7
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 7 Card Points.
- P3, I: void in Hearts, so the Tarok Rule forces a Tarok, and the Pagat is the only one P3 has left
-
Round 1 · Trick 8
P3 leads
P4
P1
Wins
P2
P1 takes the trick, 13 Card Points.
- P1, Sküs: void in Spades, forced, and happy about it
-
Round 1 · Trick 9
P1 leads
Wins
P2
P3
P4
P1 takes the trick, 15 Card Points.
-
Round 1 · Trick 10
P1 leads
P2
Wins
P3
P4
P2 takes the trick, 11 Card Points.
Count
- P1 + P449
- P2 + P339
Push the won tricks into two piles, then count each one in the two steps. P1 + P4 hold sixteen cards. Step one: set the empty cards aside, and this pile holds one of them (10). Count the other fifteen at 1 each: base 15. Step two: the pips on the same fifteen come to 34. 15 + 34 = 49. P2 + P3 hold twenty-four cards, three of them empty (1
, 1
, 10
): base 21, pips 18, so 21 + 18 = 39. The two piles always add to 88. The Declarer's side needed more than 44, and 49 clears it: the Normal Game is WON.
Score sheet
- P11
- P2–
- P3–
- P41
P1 and P4 each write 1. P2 and P3 write nothing. Nobody ever subtracts.
P4 became the secret partner the instant the XX was called, and the table learned it when the XX led trick 2. The partnership cleared 44 because the Sküs and XVIII reeled in the heavy tricks, while P3's long Tarok run gathered many tricks worth little.
Round 2: Farberl
The rule flip: in Farberl the Taroks lose their trump power and play as an ordinary fifth suit. Nothing trumps anything: the highest card of the led suit wins, every trick. Void in the led color? Play a card of another color, never a Tarok. Only a hand of nothing but Taroks may touch them, and Taroks may never be led while you hold any color card. (No Pagat Ultimo here.)
Bidding
- P1 "My game."
- Why Same hand and same seat as last time, and the Forehand claims the Normal Game whenever nobody has named anything bigger.
- P2 "Farberl!"
- Why this bid Look at P2's hand again. Two Kings, two Queens, and three Taroks so small they would win almost nothing while Taroks are trumps. In any ordinary contract that is a poor hand. Why it can be delivered: switch the Taroks off and the same ten cards change character completely, and those Kings and Queens become the best cards on the table.
- P3 pass
- Why Six Taroks are worth almost nothing once Taroks stop trumping, so P3 has no answer to a Farberl.
- P4 pass
- Why Six of P4's ten cards are Taroks, which are dead weight in a Farberl, and four Hearts cannot carry 45 alone.
Back at P1, who will not outbid a Farberl and passes: the Farberl stands, P2 is the Declarer and needs 45 alone.
-
Round 2 · Trick 1
P1 leads
P2
Wins
P3
P4
P2 takes the trick, 11 Card Points.
-
P3, J:
void in Clubs, and NO Tarok allowed: another color instead
-
P3, J
-
Round 2 · Trick 2
P2 leads
Wins
P3
P4
P1
P2 takes the trick, 10 Card Points.
-
P4, C:
void in Diamonds: another color, and it costs pips
-
P4, C
-
Round 2 · Trick 3
P2 leads
Wins
P3
P4
P1
P2 takes the trick, 12 Card Points.
-
P3, C:
void now too
-
P3, C
-
Round 2 · Trick 4
P2 leads
P3
Wins
P4
P1
P3 takes the trick, 16 Card Points.
-
P3, K:
the highest Spade wins the trick, and P2's run of tricks ends here
-
P4, K:
last color card, forced follow… of a sort: void in Spades, another color, and it is the King
-
P3, K
-
Round 2 · Trick 5
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 4 Card Points.
- P3, XI: P3's colors are gone: a pure-Tarok hand may finally lead them
-
Round 2 · Trick 6
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 8 Card Points.
- P4, XX: P4 too is colorless now
-
Round 2 · Trick 7
P3 leads
Wins
P4
P1
P2
P3 takes the trick, 4 Card Points.
- P2, VII: last Tarok
-
Round 2 · Trick 8
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 5 Card Points.
-
P2, J:
no Taroks left: anything goes
-
P2, J
-
Round 2 · Trick 9
P4 leads
P1
Wins
P2
P3
P1 takes the trick, 7 Card Points.
- P1, Sküs: forced follow, and it WINS: a Tarok trick is the only place the Sküs still rules
-
Round 2 · Trick 10
P1 leads
Wins
P2
P3
P4
P1 takes the trick, 11 Card Points.
- P3, I: nothing left but the Pagat, thrown to its fate
Count
- P2 alone33
- P1 + P3 + P455
Same two steps, out loud, both piles. P2 alone won twelve cards, three of them empty (1, 1, 10). That leaves nine to count at 1 each: base 9. The pips on the same pile come to 24. 9 + 24 = 33. P1 + P3 + P4 pool twenty-eight cards with one empty among them (10): base 27, pips 28, so 27 + 28 = 55. The two piles add to 88, the way they always do. P2 needed 45 and is twelve short: the Farberl FAILS.
Score sheet
- P14
- P2–
- P34
- P44
P1, P3 and P4 each write 4. P2 writes nothing.
P2 took 33 Card Points in the first three tricks and then took almost nothing more: the K guarded Spades, the defenders' dead Taroks turned into late-game walls, and two Kings were never going to carry 45 alone. Farberl rewards a hand full of courts; P2's was merely half full.
Round 3: Solo
Taroks are back at full trump power, and one prize is waiting: win the very last trick with the Pagat and your side adds a Pagat Ultimo Victory Point (the quiet version; nobody announced it today). Here is the rule of thumb the book uses to weigh a hand, so you can weigh your own as the bids go round: count 1 for every Tarok you hold, count the big Taroks (XV and up) twice, and add 1 for every King. A Solo really wants 12.
Bidding
- P1 "My game."
- Why The book's count gives this hand 7, which is a partner hand and not a lone one. The Forehand claims what the seat comes with and hopes for a good called card.
- P2 "Farberl!"
- Why Unchanged from round 2. Two Kings and two Queens are the best cards on the table only if the Taroks are switched off, so this is the one contract this hand can bid. The book's count gives it 5.
- P3 "Solo!"
- Why this bid P3 counts six Taroks, four of them big, and one King: 11, one short of the 12 a Solo really wants. Why P3 thinks it is achievable anyway: P3 holds the Moon, the second-highest card in the game, and the Pagat, with its own bonus waiting at the end. A hand one under the bar is exactly the hand that ends up one card short. Watch how close this comes.
- P4 pass
- Why The book's count gives P4 nine: six Taroks with two big ones, and a single King. Three short of a Solo, and there is no lower contract left to name.
Back around: P1 passes, P2 passes. P3 is the Declarer, alone, and needs 45.
-
Round 3 · Trick 1
P1 leads
Wins
P2
P3
P4
P1 takes the trick, 8 Card Points.
-
Round 3 · Trick 2
P1 leads
P2
P3
Wins
P4
P3 takes the trick, 4 Card Points.
-
Round 3 · Trick 3
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 7 Card Points.
- P4, XIII: void, trumps
-
P1, 1:
must follow Diamonds
-
Round 3 · Trick 4
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 9 Card Points.
- P2, VIII: void in Hearts, last Tarok, forced
- P3, XVII: forced too, and it wins
-
Round 3 · Trick 5
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 10 Card Points.
- P4, XIV: trumps
- P1, IX: void in Diamonds, forced Tarok
-
Round 3 · Trick 6
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 6 Card Points.
- P1, XII: void, forced
- P3, XIX: forced, wins
-
Round 3 · Trick 7
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 6 Card Points.
- P4, XVIII: void, trumps
-
P1, 10:
must follow Spades
-
Round 3 · Trick 8
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 11 Card Points.
- P1, XV: void, forced
- P3, XXI: forced, and the Moon wins
-
Round 3 · Trick 9
P3 leads
P4
Wins
P1
P2
P4 takes the trick, 13 Card Points.
- P4, XX: trumps
-
P1, C:
void in Spades, no Taroks left: anything goes
-
Round 3 · Trick 10
P4 leads
P1
P2
P3
Wins
P3 takes the trick, 14 Card Points.
- P3, I: the Pagat, and no Tarok is left in any hand to stop it
Count
- P3 alone44
- Defenders44
One last count, the same two steps, and take your time: it comes down to a single card. P3 alone won twenty cards with two empty ones among them (10, 1). That leaves eighteen at 1 each: base 18. The pips come to 26. 18 + 26 = 44. The defenders also hold twenty cards, also two empty (1, 10), so also base 18, and the pips also come to 26: 18 + 26 = 44. The table has split the deck exactly down the middle. The Solo needed 45, so it FAILS by a single Card Point.
Score sheet
- P14
- P24
- P31
- P44
P1, P2 and P4 each write 4 for the fallen Solo. And now the book's finest rule: bonuses belong to whoever earned them, win or lose. P3 writes 1 for the Pagat Ultimo. A beautiful Ultimo wrapped inside a lost contract, and both facts go on the sheet.
Solo without the Sküs is fragile: P1's Sküs stole the first trick, P4's XX and XVIII ambushed two more, and 44 is not 45. The Pagat Ultimo was flawless, and Card Points and Victory Points are different currencies: the bonus pays its Victory Point, but it can never push a contract over its Card Point threshold.
What three rounds just taught you
One deal, three games, one win. The Normal Game succeeded through a secret partnership and heavy tricks. Farberl failed because two Kings cannot carry a court-card game. Solo failed by one point despite a perfect quiet Ultimo. Same forty cards every time: in Tarok, the contract you choose matters as much as the cards you hold. Now shuffle: from here on, the deck is yours.