Ramsen or Ramsch is a traditional

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

plain-trick 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 ...

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 ga ...

for three to five players that is played 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 ...

and is suitable both for adults and for children. It is one of the

Rams group 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 card games that are distinguished by allowing players to drop out if they think they will fail to win the required number of tricks. An unusual feature of Ramsen is the presence of four permanent trump cards that rank just below the Trump Sow (Ace). It should not be confused with the contract of ''

Ramsch Ramsch, formerly also called Mike in East Germany, is a card game based on the contract of the same name in the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf. However, thanks to its interesting mode of play it has since developed into an independ ...

'' in games like Skat or

Schafkopf Schafkopf (), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular in Bavaria, where ...

, nor with the related game of

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

in any game 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 ...

is in 1862 when the Seven of Bells (''Belle'') is recorded as the highest card after the trump

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 ...

. The village of Zaisertshofen has held 'world championships' in ''Ramsch'', a variant of Ramsen, since at least 1990. There are usually two per year, at Christmas and Easter. Ramsen is still taught and played in Bavaria today, for example, in

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-W� ...

and Markt Rettenbach. It is also recorded as being played in the Austrian states of

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, Carinthia and

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

in recent times. It is described by Sirch as being suitable for adults and children alike.Sirch (2008), p. 59

Overview and aim

Ramsen is one of the Rams family of card games, the distinguishing feature of which is that players may choose to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks.''Card Games: Rams Group''
at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 16 October 2018 Ramsen is a plain-trick game in which the aim is to win as many tricks as possible and be the first to complete the two crosses used for scoring. It may also be played for small stakes.Sirch (2008), p. 60

Cards

Ramsen is played with a 32-card, Bavarian pattern,

with the suits of Acorns (), Leaves or Grass (), Hearts () and Bells (). The ranking order of the cards within the plain suits is: Sow >

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 > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7. An unusual feature of Ramsen is the presence of four permanent trump cards that rank just below the Trump Sow: * 9 – the 9 of Bells or ''Dallmutz'' * 7 – the 7 of Bells or ''Belli'' * O – the Ober of Acorns or ''Großer Bube'' ("Big Boy" or "Big Jack") * U – the Unter of Acorns or ''Kleiner Bube'' ("Little Boy" or "Little Jack"). Thus the ranking order of the trump suit (T = trump, A = Sow, etc.) is: TA > 9 > 7 > O > U > TK > TO > TU > T10 > T9 > T8 > T7.

Playing

Dealing and trumps

The

dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...

shuffles the pack and

rearhand Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position. Position Games of Anglo-American origin In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...

cuts. Rearhand may keep (''schleck'', literally "lap up") the bottom card of the top stack, but will then only be dealt four cards. Otherwise players are dealt five cards as one packet of three and one packet of two. The next card is flipped to determine the

trump suit 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 ...

and the remainder placed face down next to it as the talon.

Exchanging

Each player, in clockwise order beginning with forehand, may now exchange cards from the hand for cards in the talon. In addition, the dealer may exchange with the trump upcard. A maximum of five cards may be exchanged in total. In other words, if forehand exchanges three, the next player may only exchange two. If he does so, no more exchanging may take place. If rearhand has ''schleckt'' when cutting the pack, he may not exchange.

Bidding

Each player now reviews his cards and opts to "play" or "pass". If a player has exchanged, he must play. The reason a player may want to pass – and therefore not participate in the current deal – is that, if he takes no tricks, he is penalised by having to complete an additional cross (i.e. by taking an extra five tricks) in order to win the game.

Trick playing

Forehand leads to the first trick or, if he has passed, players play in order of positional seniority, beginning with forehand. 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 ...

''), must play a trump if unable to follow suit (''

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, in doing either, must head the trick if possible ('' Stechzwang''). If a player cannot follow suit or trump, he may throw in any card.

Scoring

Before the game, two crosses (X X) are drawn for each player. For every trick won, a bar is drawn at the end of one of the arms of the crosses; for the fifth trick a bar is drawn horizontally across the middle of the cross (see diagram right). The first player to complete 2 crosses is the winner. If a player takes no tricks, he gets an extra cross to complete.

Zaisertshofen variant

The village of Zaisertshofen in the

Upper Swabia Upper Swabia (german: Oberschwaben or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Swa ...

n county of

Unterallgäu Unterallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Neu-Ulm, Günzburg, Augsburg, Ostallgäu, Oberallgäu, and the districts Ravensburg und Biberach in Baden-Württemberg. ...

hosts biannual 'world championships' in a variant of Ramsen called ''Ramsch'' (not to be confused with the games of

or Ramscheln). The key differences are: ; Cards The four permanent trumps are not individually named, but are collectively called Criticals (''Kritischer'') or Greeks (''Griechen''). ; Bidding Bidding takes place before exchanging. ; ''Schlecking'' * Before the pack is cut, the dealer must ensure the bottom card is not a Critical; if the cutter discovers it is, the dealer incurs 2 penalty points (2 extra lines on the slate). * After cutting, the cutter may ''schleck'' a Critical from the bottom of the pack. Any player may challenge this; if it is a Critical, the challenger gets a 2-point penalty and must play that game; if the challenge is successful, the cutter gets 2 penalty points. The cutter may ''schleck'' up to 5 cards in this way. * In addition to exchanging with the trump upcard, the dealer may ''schleck'' a Critical from the top of the stock provided he shows it to the others. He may ''schleck'' further Criticals this way. ; Scoring * For each player, 7 lines are chalked up on a slate and one is erased for each trick taken. * A player who plays but takes no tricks 'goes ''Ramsch and adds 2 more penalty points (= lines) to his account. * The game has a loser not a winner, the aim being to avoid being the last one 'out'. * When a player erases his last line, he 'goes out' but must announce this before touching his last trick, on penalty of losing the game. Saying "out" too soon costs 2 penalty points. * The last player out is the loser and scores a penalty ''Bolle'' (blob) marked on the slate.

Kritzen

Kritzen or Kritzeln appears in older literature as the name of a card game. Staub & Tobler (1895) state that it is a "card game with 5 cards (apiece), similar to Ramsen." Stalder says it is "a game with cards in which you chalk a number of lines on the table and erase as many lines as you win tricks."Stalder (1812), p. 133.

Notes

References

Literature

* _ (1862). "Rammes" in the ''Freiberger Biercomment''. J.G. Engelhardt, Freiberg. Annex, pp. 19ff. * * * Korn, Karl (1858). ''Adolph und Walburg: oder die Tannenmühle eine Erzählung aus dem Anfange dieses Jahrhunderts.''Augsburg, Bavaria: Lampart. * * Sirch, Walter (2008). ''Vom Alten zum Zwanzger – Bayerische Kartenspiele für Kinder und Erwachsene – neu entdeckt.'' Bayerischer Trachtenverband, Traunstein. * Stalder, Franz Joseph (1818)
''Versuch eines Schweizerischen Idiotikon, mit etymologischen Bemerkungen untermischt''
Volume 2. Aarau: Heinrich Remigius Sauerländer. * Staub, Friedrich and Ludwig Tobler (1895)
''Schweizerisches Idiotikon''
Vol. 3. Frauenfeld: J. Huber.

External links

Rules of Ramsch (Ramsen)
at www.zaisertshofen.de. {{Trick-taking card games Austrian card games Bavarian card games German deck card games Four-player card games Multi-player card games Rams group Vorarlberg card games