Mistigri, historically Pamphile, is an old, French,

trick-taking A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...

for three or four players that has elements reminiscent of

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

. It is a member of the

Rams family Rams is a European trick-taking card game related to Nap and Loo, and may be played by any number of persons not exceeding nine, although five or seven make a good game. In Belgium and France, the game of Rams is also spelt Rammes or Rems, in Ger ...

of games and, although it is a

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

game, often played for small stakes, it is also suitable as a party game or as a family game with children from the age of 12 upwards.

Name

Mistigri is a variant of ''Mouche'' or ''Lenterlu'' and a cousin of the English

Lanterloo Lanterloo or Loo is a 17th-century trick taking game of the Trump family of which many varieties are recorded. It belongs to a line of card games whose members include Nap, Euchre, Rams, Hombre, and Maw (Spoil Five). It is considered a modificat ...

. It is known in Germany as Mönch ("Monk"), possibly a corruption of the French ''Mouche'' as ''Monche'' was the old German for monk. Meyer certainly equates it to ''Mouche'', ''Lenturla'' and ''Pamphile'', while Grupp also states that it is known as ''Trente et un'' ("Thirty-One") in French, but Méry's research shows that Mistigri was derived from ''Mouche'' (which was also called ''Lenturlu'') and was first named ''Pamphile''. It is related to the historical card game of

Tippen Tippen, also known as Dreiblatt, Dreikart, Drei Karten, Dreekort, Kleinpréférence or Labet, is an historical Germany, German 3-card, plain-trick game which was popular as a gambling game for three or more players. The Danish version of the game w ...

. The game is named after the "mistigri" (French for "pussy cat" or "kitten"); both it and "Mönch" ("monk") are nicknames for the Jack of Clubs or Unter of Acorns, which may be used as the highest trump and as a wild card.

History

Mistigri is a card game that has been known and documented over several centuries. According to Kastner & Folkvord, it was predominantly played in bars and among families, but gained a "rather dubious reputation" as a

gambling game Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

. Mistigri was developed from an older French game known as ''Mouche'' ("Fly") or ''Lenturlu'' during the 18th century. Mistigri was originally called ''Pamphile'', but the term 'mistigri' came into use during the 19th century as a nickname for the Jack of Clubs and gave its name in turn to the game. According to Méry, Pamphile and Mistigri are therefore the same game and a variant of Mouche or Lenturlu.Méry, ''L'Arbitre des jeux'', Paris, Gabriel de Gonet, 1847 Of course, in the English game of Loo or Lanterloo the Jack of Clubs was christened "Pam" after ''Pamphile''. The game of Loo, also known as "Lanterloo", which is well known in the English-speaking world as a 5-card or 3-card game and was derived from French ''Lenturlu'', is thus a cousin of Mistigri. Also related to it in the German-speaking world are the well-known games of

Ramscheln Ramscheln, also called Ramsch, is a German card game for three to five players, which is usually played for small stakes. It is a variant of Mönch and a member of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the cu ...

and

Mauscheln Mauscheln, also Maus or Vierblatt, is a gambling card game that resembles Tippen, which is commonly played in Germany and the countries of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Background Origin of the name The name Mauscheln means something like ...

, in which only one player may exchange his hand cards against the so-called

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

. In France it developed into the game of

Bourré Bourré (also commonly known as Bouré and Boo-Ray) is a trick-taking gambling card game primarily played in the Acadiana region of Louisiana in the United States of America. It is also played in the Greek island of Psara, with the name Boureki ( ...

; in Spain into Julep and, building on Loo, in Ireland into

Irish Loo Lanterloo or Loo is a 17th-century trick taking game of the Trump family of which many varieties are recorded. It belongs to a line of card games whose members include Nap, Euchre, Rams, Hombre, and Maw (Spoil Five). It is considered a modificat ...

. Other variants of the game are

Norseman's Knock Norseman's Knock or Norrlandsknack is a classic Swedish card game for 3 to 5 players,''Norrlandsknack''< ...

Cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

Toepen Toepen (/ˈtupə(n)/) is a trick-taking Dutch card game for three to eight players, and is often played as a drinking game. Typically the number of players is 4. Gameplay Every player is dealt 4 cards from a 32 card deck. The cards are played one ...

and

Hasenpfeffer Hasenpfeffer is a traditional Dutch and German stew made from marinated rabbit or hare, cut into stewing-meat sized pieces and braised with onions and a marinade made from wine and vinegar. Description ''Hase'' is German for "hare", and ''pfeffe ...

Cards

Mistigri is a

trick-taking game A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a ''hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such g ...

, but it also contains elements that resemble the game of

. It is usually played by three or four players with a 32-card

German-suited pack German-suited playing cards are a very common style of traditional playing card used in many parts of Central Europe characterised by 32- or 36-card packs with the suits of Acorns (''Eichel'' or ''Kreuz''), Leaves (''Grün'', ''Blatt'', ''Laub ...

. If more play, a 52-card

French pack French-suited playing cards or French-suited cards are cards that use the French suits of (clovers or clubs ), (tiles or diamonds ), (hearts ), and (pikes or spades ). Each suit contains three or four face/court cards. I ...

may be used. The cards rank as follows: A > K > O > U > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7. Card values, which only count in determining a winning flush, are as follows: *

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

(

Deuce Deuce, Deuces, or The Deuce may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Deuce, in the ''Danger Girl'' comic book series * Deuce, a character in ''Shake It Up'' * Deuce, in the ''Wild Cards'' science fiction universe * Deuce Biga ...

) – 11 points *

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, Ober, Unter and Ten – 10 points * Nine, Eight and Seven – 9, 8 and 7 points respectively

Playing

The following rules are based on Grupp (1975).

Preliminaries

Each player pays the agreed stake (a chip or coin) into a pot. Then, beginning with forehand to his left, the dealer deals a packet of three cards to each player, followed by a second packet of two cards; each player receiving a hand of five cards. The next card is turned as

trumps A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...

. In clockwise order, beginning with forehand, players decide whether to "pass" (''ich passe'' or ''je passe''), e.g. if they have a poor hand, and drop out of the particular game in progress or to announce "I'll join in" (''ich gehe mit'' or ''je m'y tiens'') or "play" (''c'est bon''). The active players may now, in rotation again, lay face down as many of their hand cards as they wish and exchange them for the same number of cards from the

talon Talon or talons may refer to: Science and technology * Talon (anatomy), the claw of a bird of prey * Brodifacoum, a rodenticide, also known as the brand Talon * TALON (database), a database maintained by the US Air Force * Talon, an anti-vehicle- ...

. They need not exchange any, of course. The aim of exchanging is either to acquire a flush of five cards of the same suit or, failing that, to acquire as many high value cards or trump cards as possible.

''Fliege''

A player who succeeds in getting a five-card flush, a so-called ''mouche'' or ''Fliege'' ("fly"), wins immediately and takes the entire contents of the pot. The five cards do not have to form a

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

. The other players have to pay another stake to the pot. If two players have a flush, the one with the trump flush wins. If neither has a trump flush, the winner is decided on card points, where Ace = 11, Courts = 10 and pip cards count their natural value.

Play

If no-one has a flush, the game proceeds to the trick-taking phase. Forehand leads to the first trick and the winner of the trick leads to the next. Players must follow suit (''

Farbzwang A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...

'') if they can, trump if they cannot follow (''

Trumpfzwang A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...

'') and must head the trick if possible ('' Stichzwang'').

Winnings

For each trick taken, the player earns a fifth of the pot. If a player takes no tricks, they must pay the basic stake as a penalty.

Mistigri

The feature of this member of the

is the Mistigri, the Jack of Clubs or Unter of Acorns, which is always the highest trump regardless of the trump suit. The player holding this card may play it and, at the same time, announce any suit of his choice as trumps. The Mistigri also counts as a wild card in that, if a player has 4 cards of the same suit, the Mistigri may be counted as the 5th in order to make a flush.

Mönch

Mönch, as described by Kastner and Folkvord, has a few slight variations or refinements. A 36-card or 52-card pack, depending on the number of players, is used and each player has 25 chips, the basic stake being five. Exchanging is limited to 4 cards maximum and there is provision for the discards to be shuffled and used for further exchanging if the talon is exhausted. In the event of two players having a flush, the player with the lower flush does not have to pay a penalty nor does the player with the Mönch. The pot has a limit of 40 chips, any excess going into a side pot which tops up the main pot when it drops below 40. If all players pass, the dealer gets 5 chips from rearhand. Game may be a fixed number of points, e.g. 50, or a set number of deals. If forehand plays the Trump Ace to the first trick, he or she can insist that the Mönch 'keeps still' (''still hält'' - see "Pam be civil" in Loo) and is not played to that trick. Finally, if Clubs are the trump suit, players may not drop out (see 'club law' in Loo).

References

Grupp (1975), pp. 24–25. "Meyers (1908), p. 907. Kastner & Folkvord (2005), pp. 63–65.

Literature

Alvensleben, L. von (1853) "Mistigri"
in ''Encyklopädie der Spiele, enthaltend alte bekannten Karten-, Bret-, Kegel-, Billard-, Ball-, Würfel-Spiele und Schach'', Otto Wiegand, Leipzig, pp. 323–325. * Grupp, Claus D. (1975). "Mistigri" in ''Kartenspiele.'' Falken-Verlag Erich Sicker, Wiesbaden. . * Kastner, Hugo and Gerald Kador Folkvord (2005). "Mönch" in ''Die große Humboldt-Enzyklopädie der Kartenspiele'' (= ''Humboldt-Taschenbuch. Freizeit & Hobby.'' Vol. 4058). Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden. . * Méry, Joseph (1847)
''L'Arbitre des jeux''
Paris, Gabriel de Gonet.
Meyer, Hermann Julius (1905). "Mistigri"
in '' Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon'', Vol. 13. Leipzig, 1908.

External links

''Le Pamphile''
(= Le Mistigri) at Académie des jeux oubliés website. (French) {{Trick-taking card games French card games German card games French deck card games German deck card games Three-player card games Four-player card games Rams group Gambling games Point-trick games