Watten (game)

Watten, regionally also called ''Watteln'' or ''Wattlung'', is a card game that is mainly played in Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol. There are several main variants: Bavarian, Bohemian, South Tyrolean (''Stichwatten''), (Austrian) Tyrolean, Kritisch and Blind Watten. It is usually a 4-player game, which is "by far the most interesting", but it may also be played by 2 or 3 players. According to Parlett, Watten is "hard to describe" but "fun to play and easy to learn."

Origin

According to tradition the game emerged in its present form in the Kingdom of Bavaria during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. At that time, allied French and Bavarian troops spent their spare time together in their military encampments. The name came from the French phrase, va tout, which meant "last trump". However, Tyrolean historian, Hans Fink, believes the game originated in formerly Austrian South Tyrol and came from the Italian word ''battere'', "beating" or "thumping".''The History''
at www.wattn.com. Retrieved 2 Jun 2018.

Historical references are patchy, but in 1911 in Chieming an altercation over cheating arose during a ''Wattspiel'' (game of Watten) in which a man was stabbed.

Cards

In the following section, the rules of the variant common in Bavaria are explained first. Game variations from other countries or regions are explained subsequently.

Watten is a game for four players, with the partnered pairs of players sitting opposite one another across the card table. It is usually played with a German deck or one of its regional variants (such as a Bavarian deck, etc.), each player being dealt five cards. The aim for each pair is to win three tricks per game.

The suits of the German deck:

Criticals

The three highest trick-winning cards are the three "Criticals" (''Kritische'' or ''Kritten''), also called "Greeks" (''Griechische'' or ''Griechen'') regionally:

* K is ''Maxi'', the highest card in the game, named after King Maximilian I of Bavaria. Other nicknames include ''Max'', ''Mäxle'', ''Maxl'', ''Mattl'', ''Papa'', ''Maler'' ("Artist"), ''Machtl'', ''Erdbeer-Schorsch'' ("Strawberry George")
* 7 or 6 is ''Belli'', the second highest card, the ''Weli'' (also called ''Benno'', ''Bello'', ''Belle'', ''Bölle''). In Austria and South Tyrol, the 6 is used.
* 7 is ''Spitz'' ("Point"), also called ''Spitze'', ''Seuchl'', ''Soacher'', ''Soach'', ''Bsoachter'', ''Sächer'', ''Bisi'', ''Bise'', ''Gspeitz''.

Strikers

Then follow the four Strikers (''Schläge''; singular ''Schlag''), four cards of a specified number or rank. The Chief Striker (CS) is the highest; the remaining 3 Strikers (3xS) are equal in rank.

Trump suit

The next lowest category after the Strikers are the cards in the trump suit. Trumps beat all the remaining cards that are not Criticals or Strikers. The trumps rank in the following order as far as tricks are concerned:

* Sow (''Sau''), sometimes called the Deuce (''Daus'') or, less often, the Ace (''Ass'')
* King (''König'', ''Sesseldrucker'' = "armchair potato")
* Ober (''Saalflitzer'' or ''Speisenträger'' = "waiter")
* Unter (''Bochramma'')
* 10 (''Eisenbahner'' or ''Bahner'' = "railwayman", ''Bahnschwellenhupfer'')
* 9 (''Brotzeit'' = "snack")
* 8 (''Fenstersteck'' = "window frame")
* 7 (''Notschrei'' = "cry for help")

Ranking and use

The card which is both a Striker and a Trump is called a Chief Striker (''Hauptschlag''), Captain (''Hauptmann'') or Right One (''Rechter''). In German it also goes under various other names including ''Haubi'', ''Hauwe'', ''Haube'', ''Haut'' or ''Hawe''. It is the fourth highest card after the Criticals. The three remaining Strikers, also called Left Ones (''Linke'') do not have a particular order of precedence; instead the first one played always wins.

Unlike many other card games, there is no compulsion in Watten to follow suit or win the trick. An exception is the playing of the Chief Striker as the first card of a game. In this case, the opponents must comply with the call "Trump or Critical!" (''Trumpf oder Kritisch!''; colloquially ''Kirch oda Kapejn'') and either play a Critical or a card of the trump suit (the other Strikers are exempt from this rule). The partner has to play a trump, but does not have to play a Critical. If the Chief Striker is beaten by a Critical, the remaining players no longer have to play a trump. Prior to leading with the Chief Striker, the player may ask the partner "will it cause damage?" (''schadet er?'') to check whether it will weaken the partner's hand.

A player who has all three Criticals or (regionally different) another card combination which, regardless of the order in which it is played, inevitably leads to winning at least three tricks, a so-called Machine or Engine (''Maschine''), must reveal them along with the rest of the hand before play begins. This automatically wins the game with 2 points. Another rule variant provides for the player to choose between revealing the cards and automatically receiving 3 points, or continuing to play in the hope of achieving 4 points by bluffing.

Bavarian Watten

Shuffle and cut

Before the cards are dealt, they are shuffled by the dealer and cut by the player to the right. If the bottom card of the cut stack is a Critical, the cutter may ''schleck'' ("keep") it. The dealer then has the right to view and take the next card if it is Critical. In the rare case of a third underlying Critical, the cutter may take that too. If the cutter waives the right to ''schleck'', the dealer may not ''schleck'' either. The cutter may also take a card that is not Critical as a bluff. However, if all five moves of the game are executed without the cutter playing a Critical, the team are penalized 2 points.

Deal

The dealer deals five cards each, usually in packets of three and two, clockwise and in turn beginning with forehand. If the cutter or dealer have taken a Critical, they get fewer cards at this point in order to get a hand of five cards.''Watten''
at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 2 Jun 2018.

Strikers and trumps

Dealer and forehand look at their cards. Forehand then nominates any card rank as Strikers i.e. A, K, O, U, 10, 9 8 or 7. The dealer then selects the trump suit. Before these announcements, either the dealer or forehand may ask for a redeal by saying "better ones please!" (''Schönere!''). If the other player agrees, both their hands (but not those of the other players) are discarded and they are dealt five more. Alternatively, the other player can refuse and play must continue with the cards already dealt.

It is common to offer the dealer the option of a "striker swap?" (''Schlagwechsel'' or ''Schlagtausch''), i.e. to exchange who announces Strikers. The dealer may accept this and announce the Strikers, whereupon forehand announces trumps; forehand continuing to play first. Alternatively the dealer may reject the request, in which case everything stays as it was.

Play

Once Strikers and trumps are settled, forehand leads to the first trick, followed by the other players in clockwise order. The trick is won by the highest trump or the highest card of the led suit if no trumps were played. The trick winner leads to the next trick and the remaining players follow in turn. If a trick is won without a Critical, Trump or Striker, i.e. only with a higher-quality card in the suit played, it is described as being ''dant gestochen'' ("won effortlessly").

Winning the hand

The pair that is first to win three tricks wins the game. Winning a game simply scores two game points.

Challenges

If a player or team feels in a strong position, they can bet, i.e. raise by one the number of points played for during the game. Their opponents may either give up without a fight whereupon the challengers immediately win the game with two points, or accept the challenge and continue playing for the higher score. The challenge may be repeated as often as desired, but only alternately by the two teams. As in poker, this gives an opportunity to bluff. Challenging is done by asking " re yougoing?" (''Gehst?'' or ''Geht?''). The response may be "we'll see!" (''Schauen!'') or "No!" (''Nein'') if the challenge is accepted, or "okay" (''Ja'') and the cards thrown in face down if the player or players challenged choose to give up. Alternatively the opponents may reveal a card in order to accept the challenge.

Winning the game

A game is usually won by scoring 11 (or 15) points. At 9 or 10 (13 or 14) points you are 'tight' (''gespannt''), which means you cannot raise the score. The tight party marks this by crossing out its previous points on the score sheet, so it is also called "struck out" (''gestrichen''). Each hand is then played for three points, but the tight team, if it feels it will lose, may 'go' after the announcement of trumps and Strikers, conceding just 2 points to their opponents.

In one variant, both parties may no longer 'eliminate' in this situation; the tight team receives 2 points for a win, the trailing team automatically receives 3 points for a win (even if their opponents give up). But it may be raised to a 4-point game.

At the end of a hand, either the winning or losing team receives a black blob (), the so-called ''Bummerl'' or a ''Bohne'', on the scoresheet.

A penalty of 3 points is often imposed for game infringements, for example if a 'tight' player bets.

The surreptitious removal of so-called 'trick-winning cards' is often referred to as ''Packeln'' or packing.
In some regions packing is not only allowed, but is an integral part of the game.

''Deuten''

Because the partners in a team do not know the cards that each has, signalling to one another (known as ''deuten'', ''funken'' or ''mucken'') using facial expressions and gestures is not only allowed, but a full part of the game. To that end, partners agree secret signals beforehand. Typical signals are:
* ''Max'' or ''Mattl'' - purse lips
* ''Weli'' - wink right eye
* ''Spitz'' - wink left eye
* Captain / Chief Striker - shrug right shoulder
* Striker - shrug left shoulder
* Trump 7-10 - move little finger
* Trump Unter - move ring finger
* Trump Ober - move middle finger
* Trump King - move index finger
* Trump Sow - move thumb or fist
* No trumps (void) - look upwards

Other signals may be sent, e.g. to suggest who should (attempt to) beat which of the opponents' cards or what card the player will play. No signalling is allowed before the Strikers and Trumps are decided; up to that point only the dealer and forehand may look at their cards.

Usually one of the two partners in a team takes the lead (for one or more rounds).
It is important to leave one's opponents unclear about one's own cards and, at the same time, to learn as much as possible about their cards by observation and deduction.

In South Tyrol, by contrast, ''deuten'' is forbidden.

Variants for two, three and six players

There are variants for two players (forehand decides the ''Strikers''; dealer chooses ''Trumps''), three players (forehand cuts, chooses ''Strikers'' and ''trumps'' and plays against two defenders, who form a team) and six players (in South Tyrol 2 teams of 3 players).

Regional differences

There are regional variations of Watten, so it is advisable for players new to the area to enquire about any differences.

The way cards are dealt varies from region to regions. They may be dealt individually, or in two packets of 3 + 2 (Bavaria) or 2 + 3 (South Tyrol) cards.

Bavaria

In Bavaria they usually play Watten with 32 cards and the ''Criticals'' are: K, 7 and 7.

In several parts of Bavaria, the demand "Trump or Critical" (''Trumpf oder Kritisch'') or "Trump or Fool" (''Trumpf oder Narrisch'') may be announced. This means that the Striker is also regarded as a trump if the first player to follow the leading player has no trumps. The Striker must then be played ("Pepper" variant). Although not all cards are dealt in Watten, in Bavaria for traditional reasons it was not considered as illegal gambling even when betting for money. On the contrary, Watten prize competitions are very popular and strongly promoted by the organizers. This assessment of Watten is, however, no longer undisputed. At least one criminal complaint of unauthorized gambling has been made.

In Franconia, they usually play the Bavarian variant described above, but with some variations. Thus, the first time the Chief Striker is played, all other players with a trump card must declare the fact, even if the Chief Striker is beaten by a Critical. Here a player is "officially" allowed to ask the partner ''schadd er'' (East Franconian for ''schadet er'') to find out whether this move takes an important trump out of the partner's hand and thus endangers their chances of success (e.g. if the partner only has a single, relatively high trump). Also terms like ''Ausschaffen'' (to "expel" i.e. to raise or bet) and ''Schub?'' ("push?" i.e. "are you going?") are used instead of the more usual ones.

Austria

In Austria, especially in North Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austria the main difference is that the second highest ''Critical'' is the 6 or ''Weli''. In certain parts of Carinthia a fourth Critical is added: the U (''Bugl''), which is then the highest Critical card. Typically, they play for up to 11 points in Carinthia. From 9 points you are ''gsponnt'' ("taut") or ''kronk'' ("unwell") and may no longer make a bet, since 2 points (the minimum bet in a game) ensures victory. If this happens, the opposing team records. In many places in Carinthia, so-called "Watter Tournaments" are played, where the valley communities play different variants, mostly however critical or non-critical - four-player Watten. There is usually an entry fee and prizes. It is often also possible to ''nachkaufen''. Mostly, however, as in regional and national tournaments, a 'non-critical' variant is played, in which only Strikers and trump cards have greater trick-taking power. Practically unbeatable cards are called the ''Rechters'' (e.g.: ''Chief Striker'' + another Striker: two ''Rechters'') and cards that can only be beaten by the ''Chief Striker'' are called the ''Linken'' (e.g.: three Strikers + Sow of Trumps: four ''Linke''; two Strikers + Sow of Trumps: three false ''Linken'').

In North Tyrol, as in South Tyrol, they often play with a ''Guaten'' as the highest card and less often with a ''Beasn'' (the card just below the ''Rechter'') as the second highest card. Furthermore, in North Tyrol the four-player ''Ladinern'', also called ''Ladinisch Watten'' or ''Blind Watten'', is very popular.

Related card games

Bohemian Watten

An unusual variant is Bohemian Watten (''Böhmisch Watten'', ''Kuddeln''''Tratsch:Wallachen''
at sauspiel.de. Retrieved 23 April 2021. or ''Hudln'') or Bohemian Ramsen.Fink, Hans (1983). "Zum Kartenspiel in Südtirol" in ''Der Schlern'', Bozen: Athesia. pp. 195ff. The number of players is not restricted because there are no teams and everyone plays alone. The biggest differences compared with standard Watten are ''Farbzwang'', the requirement to follow suit (i.e. even if you have a higher card with which you could head the trick, you may not play it, if you have cards in the leading suit) and '' Stichzwang'', the obligation to head (i.e. if you have a higher card, you must play it). The trump suit and trump striker are not determined by ''announcements'', but by revealing a card when dealing, which the dealer then takes. This card is revealed between dealing the two packets of three and two cards, respectively.

Once dealt, each player may exchange up to three cards, but the dealer, who has the right to exchange with the trump card that was initially dealt face up, may only exchange two for that reason.

Each player starts with a tally of 20 points, the aim of the game is to reach zero. For each trick taken, one point is deducted from the tally; if no trick is taken in a game, 5 penalty points are added. If Hearts are declared as the trump suit, the points count double, i.e. -2 points per trick or +10 points for no trick, and you may not go out, which is possible with other suits. If a player has made more tricks in a game than points left, the difference is added to the original score. In some regions, however, the score does not have to be reached exactly and the game can be ended with minus points.

Bohemian Watten is similar to Zwanzig ab, Schnellen and Schnalzen.

Blind Watten

In the South Tyrolean variant, Blind Watten (also ''Blindwatten'', '' Ladinish Watten'', ''Latinern'') neither ''Deuten'' nor discussing tactics are allowed. This considerably increases the difficulty of the game because the two partners who have not bet must either guess or find out by observation what was bet.

Another different in the South Tyrolean variant is that, for those players who have bet, ''Farbzwang'' applies, so that should a trump card, the ''Rechte'' or the ''Guate'' be played, they must follow suit with a trump if they have one (the ''Rechte'' and the ''Guate'' do not have to be played). Alternatively they can take the trick with a better card.

In Blind Watten, trumps and Strikers are determined as follows: after the deal, the dealer and forehand show each other their lowest cards. Unlike Blind Watten, in Latinern the cards need not be sorted beforehand in order to prevent manipulation of the lowest card. The suit of the dealer's lowest card determines the trump suit for this hand. The value of forehand's lowest card determines the Striker. After the cards are revealed to each other, one player from each team knows the trump suit and the Striker, the other two have to guess this information during the course of the game. Only after the end of the hand - if necessary - is the trump suit made known.

To make it a little easier for the two players who are initially playing 'blind', it is useful to reveal the last trick played after the winner of the trick has been announced. This makes it easier to work out the trump suit and Strikers by a process of elimination. After the next trick is finished, the old trick is then turned over and can no longer be examined.

A team immediately loses the current hand if one of the two players makes statements or gives clues that give away the trump suit or Strikers.

Footnotes

References

Literature

* Auer, Hubert (2015). ''Watten, Bieten und Perlaggen''. Perlen-Reihe Vol. 659. Perlen-Reihe Verlag, Vienna.
* Förderkreis Perlaggen Südtirol (2014). ''Perlåggen in Südtirol: mit Watten & Bieten''. Raetia, Bozen.
* Hafele, Max and Meinhard Eiter (1999). ''Das Tiroler Watterbuch''. Löwenzahn. .
*
*
* Sirch, Walter (2008). ''Vom Alten zum Zwanzger – Bayerische Kartenspiele for Kinder and Erwachsene – neu entdeckt.'' Bayerischer Trachtenverband.

External links

''Watten''
rules at pagat.com (in English)

''Watten: Tirols liebstes Kartenspiel''
("Watten - Tyrol's most popular card game" - in German)


("A Bavarian export hit explained by a professional" - in German)


at wattturnier.de (in German)


at www.kartenspiele-regeln.de (in German)

''Online Watten''
at www.ultra-watten.com (in German) - Play the card game online or with an app

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German traditions
Austrian card games
German deck card games
Trump group
Bavarian card games
Two-player card games
Three-player card games
Four-player card games
Swiss card games
William Tell deck card games
Card games involving signalling
South Tyrolean card games