Point Tarock

Point Tarock, also known as Illustrated Tapp,[2] is a three-player tarot card game, played mainly in Austria, which uses the 54-card Industrie und Glück deck. Furr describes it as being "identical to Tapp but for the addition of a special announcement, allowing a Declarer to capitalize on a very good hand... spicing up the game considerably."[2] Point Tarock is sometimes confused with its close cousin, Illustrated Tarock.

Point Tarock
A "spiced up" version of the classic game Tapp Tarock
OriginAustria
TypeTrick-taking
Players3
Skills requiredTactics, Strategy
Cards54
DeckIndustrie und Glück
PlayAnti-clockwise
Card rank (highest first)Trumps: Sküs, 21-1
♣♠ K Q C J 10 9 8 7
♥♦ K Q C J 1 2 3 4 [1]
Playing time20 min.
Random chanceModerate
Related games
Cego, Königrufen, Tapp Tarock, Illustrated Tarock

Name

There is no consensus over the name of this game, which is variously called Point Tarock[3] or Illustrated Tarock (Illustriertes Tarock).[4] Confusingly there is a closely related, but more complex variant which is also called Illustrated Tarock[5] or Point Tarock[6] or both.[7] Since illustriertes implies "embellished", there is a logic in using Point Tarock for this variant which involves point-bidding and Illustrated Tarock for the more complex variant that is embellished (Dummett suggests "embroidered")[8] with additional announcements and bonuses.

Cards

The game is played with the 54-card French-suited Industrie und Glück deck. It includes 22 trumps numbered in Roman numerals with the exception of the highest, the Sküs or Fool. The second highest trump, the XXI, is known as the Mond while the lowest trump, I, is called the Pagat. The Sküs, Mond, and Pagat are together known as the Trull or "Honours" and are worth 5 points each. Other trumps are worth only 1 point.

The 32 plain suit cards consist of four courts: King, Queen, Cavalier and Valet, along with four pip cards. The cards rank as follows:

  • In black suits: King, Queen, Cavalier and Valet 10, 9, 8 and 7
  • In red suits: King, Queen, Cavalier and Valet, 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Kings and Honours are worth 5 points, Queens 4, Cavaliers 3, Valets 2, and the pips 1. Like score counting in other Tarock games, 2 points are subtracted from each trick taken. There are 70 card points in each deal, so to win, the Declarer needs at least 36 points. Other than card points there are bonus points as described below.

Differences from Illustrated Tarock

Point Tarock is sometimes called Illustrated Tarock, for example by Furr,[2] while others, such as Bamberger[9] and Dummett,[10] refer to Illustrated Tarock as Point Tarock. The main differences are:[11]

  • Point Tarock has no Zweiblatt ("Two Card") or Einblatt ("One Card") contracts
  • The only announcements are those that offer to score specific numbers of points over 36 (hence the name)
  • Announcements may be made before or after exchanging with the talon; this affects the value of the contract

Rules

Shuffling and dealing

Dealing takes places as in other three-hand Tarock games. After the cards have been shuffled and cut, the dealer sets out six cards face down on the table (the talon) and then deals each player 16 cards, anticlockwise, in two packets of eight each.[11]

Bidding

Forehand, to the right of the dealer, now opens the bidding with "pass" or Dreier. Middlehand may also pass or raise to an Untern. The dealer, rearhand (Hinterhand), may pass or raise. Apart from Solo, the contracts must be bid for in ascending order. A player who has been overbid by a 'younger' or more 'junior' player may "hold" and has positional priority unless overbid again. The highest bidder becomes the declarer and plays alone against the other two players (the "defenders"). The bidding increments are as follows:[11]

  • Dreier - 3 game points. The declarer exposes the talon and takes either the first or last three cards from the talon. The declarer then discards three cards from her hand and places it onto her trick pile, these three count as her first trick. Kings or Trull cards may not be discarded; other trumps can't be discarded unless there is no other option. All discarded cards must be shown to the defenders. The remaining cards from the talon are added to the defenders' trick pile.
  • Untern - 4 game points. Declarer takes the lower 3 cards of the talon.
  • Oberen - 5 game points. Declarer takes the upper 3 cards of the talon.

Announcements

Once the declarer has exchanged with the talon, she must decide how good her hand is and then announce the number of card points she will contract to win. The options attract additional game points and are as follows (points from Furr):[11][2]

  • with 40 - 3 game points
  • with 45 - 6 game points
  • with 50 - 10 game points
  • with 55 - 15 game points

Each bid also includes the lower ones and may be kontra'd in whole or in part. So the declarer may announce "with 50!" and an opponent may say "Kontra the 50!" which means the kontra only applies to scores of 50 or more.[11]

Bonuses

The rules on bonuses are variable but typically include:[11]

  • Pagat Ultimo: any player wins the last trick with Trump I, the Pagat
  • Valat: player takes all tricks

Winning

If the declarer achieves her target, she wins the points above. If she announced "with 50" but only scores 46 card points, she pays each defender 1 point i.e. 10 points for the lost "with 50" minus 3+6 for the won "with 40" and "with 45".

References
  1. Dummett, The Game of Tarot, pp. 440r
  2. Furr (2009), p. 90.
  3. Beck 1972, p. 135.
  4. Alscher 2003, p. 170.
  5. Beck 1972, pp. 69–93.
  6. Bamberger 1983, pp. 43-48.
  7. Mayr & Sedlaczek 2001, pp. 111–114.
  8. Dummett 1980, p. 479.
  9. Bamberger (2011), pp. 43-49
  10. Dummett, Twelve Tarot Games, pp. 131-146
  11. Beck (1983), pp. 135-143

Bibliography
  • Alscher, Hans-Joachim (ed.). "Tarock" mein einziges Vergnügen. Vienna (2003). ISBN 3-85498-283-6.
  • Bamberger, Johannes. Tarock: Die schönsten Varianten, 22nd edition. Vienna (2011). ISBN 978-3-99006-000-1.
  • Beck, Fritz. Tarock Komplett: Alle Spiele. Vienna: Perlag-Reihe (1983).
  • Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot. London: Duckworths (1980).
  • Dummett, Michael. Twelve Tarot Games. London: Duckworth (1980). ISBN 0-7156-1488-6.
  • Furr, Jerry Neill. "Illustrated Tapp" in Tarocchi: An introduction to the many games played with tarot cards. Philebus (2009).
  • Mayr, Wolfgang and Robert Sedlaczek. Das große Tarock Buch. Perlen Reihe Vol. 642, Vienna – Frankfurt/M. o. J. (2001). ISBN 3-85223-462-X.
  • Mayr, Wolfgang and Robert Sedlaczek. Die Strategie des Tarock Spiels, 5th expanded edition. Vienna: atelier (2016). ISBN 978-3-902498-22-9.
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