User:Bermicourt/Card games/Bauern

Bauern, also referred to as Hunsrücker Bauern, or simply is a card game played in part of the Hunsrück hills in Germany in the county of Cochem-Zell. It may be a descendant of Juckerspiel.

Distribution
Bauern is regional card game that is only known in the county of Cochem-Zell in the hill country of Hunsrück in central Germany. It is sufficiently popular locally that two small tournaments are held annually in the town of Peterswald-Löffelscheid.

Cards
Bauern uses a 32-card Piquet pack. The highest cards are the Bowers (Bauern - hence the name) which are the trump Jack and the Jack of the other suit in the trump colour. For example, if Diamonds are trumps, the Bowers are the Jacks of Diamonds and Hearts. Thereafter cards rank in their natural order.

Preliminaries
Bauern is a game for 6 players in two teams of three. The players of the two teams sit alternately. Deal and play are clockwise. The dealer shuffles and offers the cards to his right for cutting. If a Jack is cut, it determines the trump suit. Each player is then dealt 5 cards in packets of three, then two.

The remaining two cards are placed face down on the table; then the top one is turned. If it is a Jack, it decides the trump suit, regardless of whether a Jack has already been cut. If the top card is a Jack, the bottom card is also turned. If it is of the same suit, it may be retained. If not, players are asked, in turn, if they want to play with the suit of the turnup, but the team members may not discuss it among themselves. If someone wishes to play the suit, they say so and the dealer may then exchange with the turnup. If no player wants to play the suit, the turnup is faced down and players are asked in turn if they want to play another suit. If all pass, the cards are redealt.

Play
Once the trump suit is determined, play begins. The declaring side must take at least 3 of the five tricks to win; if they take all five, it is a durch.

Scoring
Each team chalks up 5 lines (Striche) on a slate, one above the other. If the declaring team win they cross out a line. If they lose, they add a line and their opponents strike one out. The first team to cross out all their lines wins the round.

Game is best of 3 rounds.