Three hands of Calling the Twenty, all played from the very same deal, so you can watch one set of cards become three different games: Normal Game → Farberl → Solo. One contract succeeds and two fail, and the failures are deliberate: they are the lessons.
Seat four players. P4 is the dealer for all three rounds; P1, to the dealer’s left, is the Forehand. Your prearranged deck deals exactly these hands (deal five cards each, then five again, clockwise from P1):
The deal (fixed across all three rounds)
- P1 (Forehand): Sküs, XV, XII, X, IX, Q♣, C♣, J♥, 1♦, 10♠
- P2: VIII, VII, VI, K♦, K♣, 10♣, Q♦, Q♠, J♣, J♠
- P3: XXI, XIX, XVII, XVI, XI, I (Pagat), K♠, C♠, J♦, C♦
- P4 (dealer): XX, XVIII, XIV, XIII, V, IV, K♥, Q♥, C♥, 1♥
Counting, the book’s way
Set aside the empty four (1♥, 1♦, 10♣, 10♠: worth nothing), then every captured card is worth 1 Card Point plus its printed pips (a King reads 4 and is worth 5; a plain Tarok is worth 1). The deck holds 88; the Normal Game needs more than 44, Solo and Farberl need 45. At 44 to 44 the Declarer’s side loses.
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Round 1: the Normal Game
[Bidding] P1 (Forehand): "My game." P2, P3, P4: pass. The Normal Game stands; P1 is the Declarer.
[The call] P1: "The XX plays with me!" P4 holds the XX: secret partner. P4 knows at once; P1 will only learn it when the XX hits the table.
- T1: P1 leads Q♣ | P2: K♣ | 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) | 11 Card Points → P4
- T2: P4 leads XX | P1: IX | P2: VI | P3: XXI (the Moon overtakes: 5 pips and it outranks the XX) | 8 → P3
- T3: P3 leads XIX | P4: IV | P1: X | P2: VII (Taroks are the led suit; holding Taroks, P2 must follow with one) | 4 → P3
- T4: P3 leads XVII | P4: V | P1: XII | P2: VIII (last Tarok) | 4 → P3
- T5: P3 leads XVI | P4: XIV | P1: XV | P2: J♠ (out of Taroks at last: now anything goes) | 5 → P3
- T6: P3 leads K♠ | P4: XVIII (void, trumps) | P1: 10♠ | P2: Q♠ | 10 → P4
- T7: P4 leads 1♥ | P1: J♥ | P2: 10♣ | P3: I (void in Hearts, forced: the poor Pagat) | 7 → P3
- T8: P3 leads C♠ | P4: C♥ | P1: Sküs (void in Spades, forced, and happy about it) | P2: J♣ | 13 → P1
- T9: P1 leads C♣ | P2: Q♦ | P3: C♦ | P4: K♥ | 15 → P1
[Supportive play] P4 holds the called XX and knows P1 is the partner: P4 gives the K♥ (5 Card Points) into P1's winning trick instead of dumping something cheap. Feeding your secret partner is half the art.
- T10: P1 leads 1♦ | P2: K♦ | P3: J♦ | P4: Q♥ | 11 → P2
[Count] P1+P4 together: 49 · P2+P3: 39. More than 44: the Normal Game is WON.
[Score sheet, Summit style] 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.
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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." P2: "Farberl!" P3, P4: pass. Back at P1, who passes: the Farberl stands, P2 is the Declarer and needs 45 alone.
- T1: P1 leads Q♣ | P2: K♣ | P3: J♦ (void in Clubs, and NO Tarok allowed: another color instead) | P4: 1♥ | 11 → P2
[Rule flip, lesson one] In any other contract, P3's Taroks would eat this trick. Here six Taroks sit in P3's hand like tourists. The K♣ rules.
- T2: P2 leads Q♦ | P3: C♦ | P4: C♥ (void in Diamonds: another color, and it costs pips) | P1: 1♦ | 10 → P2
- T3: P2 leads K♦ | P3: C♠ (void now too) | P4: Q♥ | P1: 10♠ | 12 → P2
[The sprint] Three tricks, 33 Card Points. The whole table can feel the Farberl threatening to land. And P4's forced color throws are bleeding royalty: in Farberl, a void doesn't arm you, it robs you.
- T4: P2 leads Q♠ | P3: K♠ (the door slams: highest Spade wins) | P4: K♥ (last color card, forced follow… of a sort: void in Spades, another color, and it is the King) | P1: J♥ | 16 → P3
- T5: P3 leads XI (P3’s colors are gone: a pure-Tarok hand may finally lead them) | P4: XIII | P1: IX | P2: VI | 4 → P4
[Rule flip, lesson two] Taroks still beat each other when a Tarok is led. They just cannot invade anyone else's trick.
- T6: P4 leads XX (P4 too is colorless now) | P1: XII | P2: VIII | P3: XXI | 8 → P3
- T7: P3 leads XIX | P4: XIV | P1: X | P2: VII (last Tarok) | 4 → P3
- T8: P3 leads XVII | P4: XVIII | P1: XV | P2: J♠ (no Taroks left: anything goes) | 5 → P4
- T9: P4 leads V | P1: Sküs (forced follow, and it WINS: a Tarok trick is the only place the Sküs still rules) | P2: 10♣ | P3: XVI | 7 → P1
- T10: P1 leads C♣ | P2: J♣ | P3: I (nothing left but the Pagat, thrown to its fate) | P4: IV | 11 → P1
[The finale] The mighty Pagat, 5 Card Points of it, falls helplessly into a Cavalier's club trick. In Farberl even the giants are just passengers.
[Count] P2 alone: 33 · Defenders P1+P3+P4: 55. Fifteen short of 45: the Farberl FAILS.
[Score sheet] P1, P3 and P4 each write 4. P2 writes nothing.
P2 sprinted to 33 in three tricks, and then every door closed: 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.
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Round 3: Solo
Taroks are back at full trump power, and one promise glitters: win the very last trick with the Pagat and its side adds a Pagat Ultimo Victory Point (quiet version; nobody announced today).
[Bidding] P1: "My game." P2: "Farberl!" P3: "Solo!" P4: pass. Back around: P1 passes, P2 passes. P3 is the Declarer, alone, and needs 45.
- T1: P1 leads Sküs | P2: VI | P3: XI | P4: IV | 8 → P1
[Defender's opener] P1 spends the biggest card immediately, stealing the trick before the soloist can build a run.
- T2: P1 leads X | P2: VII | P3: XVI | P4: V | 4 → P3
- T3: P3 leads J♦ | P4: XIII (void, trumps) | P1: 1♦ (must follow Diamonds) | P2: Q♦ | 7 → P4
- T4: P4 leads K♥ | P1: J♥ | P2: VIII (void in Hearts, last Tarok, forced) | P3: XVII (forced too, and it wins) | 9 → P3
- T5: P3 leads C♦ | P4: XIV (trumps) | P1: IX (void in Diamonds, forced Tarok) | P2: K♦ | 10 → P4
- T6: P4 leads Q♥ | P1: XII (void, forced) | P2: 10♣ | P3: XIX (forced, wins) | 6 → P3
- T7: P3 leads C♠ | P4: XVIII (void, trumps) | P1: 10♠ (must follow Spades) | P2: J♠ | 6 → P4
- T8: P4 leads C♥ | P1: XV (void, forced) | P2: J♣ | P3: XXI (forced, and the Moon wins) | 11 → P3
[Pagat protection] P3 spends the Moon here and keeps the Pagat back: the plan for the last trick is alive.
- T9: P3 leads K♠ | P4: XX (trumps) | P1: C♣ (void in Spades, no Taroks left: anything goes) | P2: Q♠ | 13 → P4
- T10: P4 leads 1♥ | P1: Q♣ | P2: K♣ | P3: I (the Pagat, and no Tarok is left in any hand to stop it) | 14 → P3
[Pagat Ultimo, the quiet way] The lowest Tarok wins the last trick. Perfectly engineered: P3 spent every other Tarok first.
[Count] P3 alone: 44 Card Points · Defenders: 44. The Solo needed 45: it FAILS by a single point.
[Score sheet] 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.
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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.