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No Clobbering with Klaberjass
In this game, six cards are dealt in packets of three to both players. The 13th card is faced, and the rest of the pack is placed face down, partly covering the turned card. The non-dealer, who has the first option in naming the trump suit, may accept the suit of the faced card, or pass, or 'schmeiss', that is, offer the dealer the opportunity either to throw in the hands or play with the faced card as trump. If the dealer accepts the schmeiss, the hands are thrown in and the cards are dealt again; but if the dealer refuses, play proceeds with the original trump. If the opponent passes, the dealer may accept the trump, pass, or schmeiss.
When both players pass, the bidding is open for another round each player having an opportunity to name a suit, the hands are thrown in and the cards are dealt again. Whenever either player accepts or names a trump, the bidding ends or the dealer distributes three additional cards to each player. Either player holding the seven of trumps may exchange it for the faced card; otherwise the faced card is put on top of the pack out of play.
Prior to the playing of the first trick, both players meld the sequences in their hands. For melding purposes, the cards rank in their natural order: ace (high), king, queen, jack, ten, nine, eight, and seven (low). Sequences must be of the same suit and of adjacent rank, three-card sequences counting 20 points and four-card sequences, 50.
A four-card sequence will beat a three-card, a higher sequence against a lower one, and a sequence in the trump suit will beat one of the same rank in any other suit; in the event that both players have sequences of the same rank, the non-dealer's beats the dealer's. If the non-dealer holds a sequence, he announces whether it is worth 20 0r 50, whereupon the dealer may say, 'Good', or 'Not good', depending upon his own holding.
If the dealer has a sequence of the same value, he may ask the non-dealer how high his sequence runs in order to determine whose is the highest. The high sequence is not revealed until after the first trick has been played; then it is faced on the table along with any other sequences that the player might hold.
In playing a hand, the first lead is made by the non-dealer, and the dealer must always follow suit if able; otherwise he must trump if he can. If the opening lead is a trump, the dealer must take the trick if possible by playing a higher trump.
The winner of each trick leads to the next, the objective of each player being to take tricks in which there are counting cards. The counting cards are the trump jack (jasz) worth 20 points, the trump nine (menel), 14; any other jack, two; any queen is three, any king, four; any ten, ten; and any ace, eleven.
In addition to taking points in tricks, the player holding the king and queen of trumps may, upon playing the second of those cards, say 'Bella', and score 20 points. Ten more points are scored for taking the last trick of the hand. After the hand has been played, each player totals his score, including the sets, points in tricks, bella, and the last trick.
When the trump maker has the higher score, each player records his full score, but in the case of a tie, the trump maker scores nothing, while his opponent scores his own total. If the non-maker has the higher score, he gets both his own and his opponent's score. The trump maker who holds bella and sees that his opponent is going to outscore him can strategically limit his losses by not claiming the bella score.
Game is 500 points and is usually played to the completion of each hand, for if both players reach 500 in the same deal, the player with the higher total wins, not necessarily the one who reached 500 first.