Point Tarock

History and etymology

Point Tarock is part of a family of classic Austrian card games called Tarock games. The region of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire where these games are deeply rooted has been nicknamed Tarockania. They appear in works like Herzmanovsky-Orlando's Masquerade of the Genii and Johann Nestroy's Zu ebener Erde und im ersten Stock. The first known rules for Point Tarock were set down by Löw in 1954 under the name Illustrated Tarock.

He described it as following normal Tarock rules except for new announcements that obligate the declarer to earn extra points. In 1965, Beck swapped the names, calling this version Point Tarock, and kept that label for the next twenty years. The only later record of its rules came from Alscher in 2004, again under the name Illustrated Tarock, which by then had become more linked to its more complex and popular relative.

Cards

The game uses the 54-card French-suited Industrie und Glück deck, which includes 22 trumps numbered in Roman numerals except the highest, the Sküs or Fool. The second highest trump, XXI, is the Mond, and the lowest, I, is the Pagat. The Sküs, Mond, and Pagat are the Trull or Honours, worth 5 points each; other trumps are worth 1 point. The 32 plain suit cards consist of four courts—King, Queen, Cavalier, Valet—and four pip cards.

In black suits the pip rank is 10, 9, 8, 7; in red suits it is 1, 2, 3, 4. Kings and Honours are worth 5 points, Queens 4, Cavaliers 3, Valets 2, and pips 1. Two points are subtracted from each trick taken, and there are 70 card points per deal.

Rules

Dealing follows other three-hand Tarock games: after shuffling and cutting, the dealer sets out six cards face down as the talon, then deals each player 16 cards anticlockwise in two packets of eight. Forehand opens bidding with pass or Dreier; Middlehand may pass or raise to Unterer; Rearhand may pass or raise. Apart from Solo, contracts are bid in ascending order. A player overbid by a younger player may hold and has positional priority unless overbid again.

The highest bidder becomes declarer and plays alone against the two defenders. Bidding increments are Dreier (3 game points), Unterer (4), Oberer (5). The declarer exposes the talon, takes either the first or last three cards, discards three cards (shown to defenders) onto her trick pile, which counts as her first trick. Kings or Trull cards may not be discarded; other trumps cannot be discarded unless no other option.

The remaining talon cards go to the defenders' trick pile. The declarer then announces the number of card points she contracts to win: with 40 (3 game points), with 45 (6), with 50 (10), with 55 (15). Bids are cumulative and may be kontra'd in whole or in part. Bonuses typically include Pagat Ultimo (winning the last trick with the Pagat) and Valat (taking all tricks).

If the declarer achieves her target, she wins the points above; if she announces 'with 50' but scores only 46 card points, she pays each defender 1 point (10 for the lost 'with 50' minus 3+6 for the won 'with 40' and 'with 45').

Did You Know?

• Point Tarock is probably extinct, being noticeably absent from Bamberger's successor to Löw's and Beck's Tarock series.
• There are 70 card points in each deal, so to win the Declarer needs at least 36 points.