Adriaen Brouwer - Card playing peasants in a tavern

Adriaen Brouwer - Peasants Brawling over Cards

Mauscheln, also Maus or Vierblatt, 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 ...

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 ...

that resembles

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 ...

, 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 "(secretive) talk". According to ''Meyers Konversationslexikon'' of 1885 to 1892 the word ''Mauschel'' is derived from the Hebrew word ''moscheh'' " Moses", in Ashkenazi Herbrew ''Mausche, Mousche,'' and was a nickname for Jews; in Old German ''mauscheln'' means something like "speak with a Jewish accent" or haggle". The word first surfaced in the 17th century.Isabel Enzenbach: ''Mauscheln.'' In: Wolfgang Benz (ed.): ''Handbuch des Antisemitismus.'' Vol. 3: ''Begriffe, Ideologien, Theorien.'' De Gruyter Saur, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-24074-4, p. 205 (retrieved via

De Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

Online). Today ''mauscheln'' is a synonym for "scheme", "wheel and deal", "wangle" or "diddle". Other names for the game include Anschlagen (in Tyrol and Lower Austria), Polish Bank (''Polnische Bank'', not to be confused with another game of this name) or Panczok, also

Kratzen Kratzen is an Austrian card game for three to six players that is played for small stakes usually using a 33-card William Tell pack. It is a member of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game ...

, or Frische Vier (in Lower Austria, Styria and Burgenland). It also used to be known as Angehen. The 3-card game,

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

, is very similar to Mauscheln.

History

Mauscheln was clearly current in the early 19th century because it is banned in the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a gambling game in 1832. It is described as popular in many places in the Styria where it was said to be very similar to the forbidden game of

Zwicken Zwicken is an old Austrian and Germany, German card game for 4 to 6 players, which is usually played for small stakes and makes a good party game. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the curre ...

Laubiren Zwicken is an old Austrian and German card game for 4 to 6 players, which is usually played for small stakes and makes a good party game. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game ...

. The law goes on to say that it went under the other names of Tangeln, Chineseln, Prämeniren or Häfenbinden._ (1832), pp. 370-371. The rules for Mauscheln first appeared towards the end of the 19th century and was initially very popular in Jewish trading circles. In 1890, Ulmann described Angehen as "very popular in ladies' circles", noting that it was called Mauscheln in south Germany. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

it flourished among the German soldiers and has since become widespread in the German-speaking world. Mauscheln is one of the most popular games in Austria and is commonly played everywhere except in the 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 ...

in the west 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 the east. One modern source describes it as little more than an excerpt of

Ombre Ombre (, pronounced "omber") or l'Hombre is a fast-moving seventeenth-century trick-taking card game for three players and "the most successful card game ever invented." Its history began in Spain around the end of the 16th century as a four-pe ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and "so simple and mindless that anyone can learn it in five minutes." The game clearly revolves around money, resulting in attempts to classify and ban it as a game of chance. However, it is not a gambling game in the legal sense.

Basic rules

Players and cards

, Mauscheln may be played by 3 to 5 players with a 32-card, usually German-suited, pack. If more players participate a 52-card French pack may be used.

Dealing

The dealer places a stake of four chips or coins (e.g. 40¢; it must be divisible by four) as the ''Pinke'' or ''Stamm'' in the pot and deals two cards to each player. The next one is turned as trumps and then another 2 cards are dealt. The remaining cards are placed face down on the table.

Bidding

Forehand, left of the dealer, leads the bidding by announcing whether to "pass" (i.e. drop out of the current deal) or to "sneak" or "diddle" (''ich mauschele'' i.e. "I'll play"). In doing so, he undertakes to win at least two tricks. If he drops out, the other players in turn may opt to sneak. If no-one sneaks, the cards are thrown in, the next player pays 4 chips to the pot and deals for the next game. Once a player has declared "sneak", the others may either "pass" (''ich passe'') or "play" (''ich gehe mit'' i.e. "I'll go with you"). If all the others pass, the sneaker (''Mauschler'') claims the pot without playing a game. If at least one other player joins in, all active players, in order, may exchange up to 4 hand cards with the talon, throwing their discards face down onto a 'bonfire' (''Scheiterhaufen'').

Playing

The sneaker leads to the first trick. Thereafter the winner of a trick leads to the next. Players must follow suit if possible (''

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 ...

'') or trump if unable ('' Trumpfzwang''); in any case they must head the trick if they can ('' Stechzwang'').

Scoring

Scoring is as follows: * For every trick taken a player wins 1/4 of the ''Pinke'' * If a player 'joins in' but fails to take a trick they pay a

bête Bête, la Bête (french: Jeu de la Bête), Beste or la Beste (''Jeu de la Beste''), originally known as Homme or l'Homme (''Jeu de l'Homme''), was an old, French, trick-taking card game, usually for three to five players. It was a derivative of Tr ...

into the pot i.e. an amount equivalent to that in the pot; as does the sneaker if he only succeeds in taking one trick. * If the sneaker remains trickless, he is ''Mauschelbete'' and pays a "sneaker bête" (double bête) into the pot.

Variations

In addition to variations in cutting and dealing, the following other variations are recorded:

Knocking

If the dealer turns up a high trump such as the Sow (= Ace/Deuce), and before looking at his cards, he may 'knock' (''klopfen'') which in effect means he will sneaker. He takes over the game and has to take at least 2 tricks. If one or more of the others choose to play, the dealer looks at his cards, discards any he deems unfavourable and exchanges them with the trump turnup and fresh cards from the talon, without viewing them. Once the other active player(s) have exchanged, the dealer may pick up his new cards together with the 'knocked' trump.

Quartets

If anyone is dealt a quartet, they must discard them onto the bonfire, pay the ''Pinke'' and are then dealt another hand which they may exchange.

Belli

The 7 or 7 is the permanent, second-highest trump after the trump Ace or Sow. It may incur a penalty payment if lost to the Ace.

Weli

The

Weli The ''Weli'', formerly ''Welli'', is a playing card used in the Salzburg and William Tell card decks, which are Austrian regional patterns of the German-suited playing cards. It has the value of 6 of Bells and, in the South Tyrol variant of t ...

(6) may be added to the pack as the 33rd card and permanent, second-highest trump

Footnotes

References

Literature

* _ (1832)
''Österreichische Zeitschrift für Rechts- und Staatswissenschaft''
Vol. 3. Vienna: J.P. Sollinger. * Althaus, Hans Peter (2002). ''Mauscheln: Ein Wort als Waffe''. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Geiser, Remigius (2004).
"100 Kartenspiele des Landes Salzburg", in ''Talon'', Issue 13. * Grupp, Claus D (1975/1979). ''Karten-spiele'', Falken, Niederhausen. * Grupp, Claus D. (1976). ''Glücksspiele mit Kugel, Würfel und Karten,'' Falken Verlag, Wiesbaden. * Grupp, Claus D. (1996/97). ''Kartenspiele im Familien und Freundeskreis.'' Revised and redesigned edition. Original edition. Falken, Niedernhausen/Ts. * Hülsemann, Robert (1930). ''Das Buch der Spiele''. Leipzig: Hesse & Becker. * Kastner, Hugo and Gerald Kador Folkvord (2005). ''Die große Humboldt-Enzyklopädie der Kartenspiele'', Humboldt, Baden-Baden. *

Parlett, David David Parlett (born 18 May 1939 in London) is a games scholar, historian, and translator from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. He is the president of the British Skat Association. His published works include many po ...

(1992). ''The Oxford Dictionary of Card Games,'' Oxford University Press, Oxford. * * Ulmann, S. (1890). ''Das Buch der Familienspiele''. A. Hartleben, Vienna, Munich and Pest.

External links

Variant rules at mauschelarsch.de
{{Trick-taking card games Austrian card games German card games German deck card games French deck card games Rams group Gambling games 18th-century card games Multi-player card games