How to Play Doppelkopf

What is Doppelkopf?

Doppelkopf ("double head", often just Doko) is one of Germany's most popular card games, a trick-taking game for four players with a deck that holds every card twice. Nobody sits with a fixed partner: the two players who hold the queen of clubs form one side, called Re, and the other two form Kontra. Nobody says who is who. You work out your partner from the cards they play and from what they announce.

Re needs 121 of the 240 card points to win. Players can raise the stakes by announcing Re or Kontra, and further by promising the other side will not even reach 90, 60 or 30. Before the first card a player with a special hand may claim a Vorbehalt and play a Hochzeit (with both queens of clubs) or a solo against the other three.

Doppelkopf is played with many house rules. This page explains the tournament rules of the Deutscher Doppelkopf-Verband (DDV), the German Doppelkopf Association, which is exactly how the game works when you play Doppelkopf online at bs.fyi.

Doppelkopf rules at a glance

Players

4: Re (the two queens of clubs) against Kontra, partners secret

Deck

48 cards: two of each 9, 10, J, Q, K, A in every suit (40 without the nines)

Card points

A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2, 9 0; 240 in all

Deal

12 cards each (10 without nines); the player left of the dealer leads

Trumps

♥10 (Dulle), ♣Q ♠Q ♥Q ♦Q, ♣J ♠J ♥J ♦J, ♦A ♦10 ♦K ♦9

Plain suits

♣ and ♠: A 10 K 9; ♥: A K 9

Equal cards

The first one played wins, except that the second Dulle beats the first

To win

Re needs 121 card points, Kontra 120

Announcements

Re / Kontra, then keine 90, keine 60, keine 30, schwarz

Game

24 or 12 games (deals); the highest total wins

How to play Doppelkopf, step by step

1. 1

   Deal the cards

   The dealer shuffles and deals three cards at a time, starting on their left, until everyone has twelve. The deal passes one seat to the left after every game, so in a game of 24 everyone deals six times.

2. 2

   Gesund or Vorbehalt

   Starting with the player on the dealer's left, everyone says "gesund" (healthy: a normal game is fine with me) or "Vorbehalt" (I have a reservation). If anyone has a Vorbehalt, they then say what it is: a Hochzeit or a solo.

3. 3

   Find out who you are

   Look for the queen of clubs. If you hold one, you are Re and your partner holds the other one. If you don't, you are Kontra with the other player who doesn't. You don't know who that is yet.

4. 4

   Play twelve tricks

   The player left of the dealer leads. Everyone must follow the suit led if they can, and all trumps count as one suit: a queen or jack led asks for a trump, not for its own suit. With none of the suit you may play any card. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.

5. 5

   Announce when you are strong

   Early in the game you may announce Re or Kontra, which tells everyone your side and is worth two extra points to the winners. Very strong hands can go further: keine 90, keine 60, keine 30 or schwarz.

6. 6

   Count and score

   After the last trick each side counts its card points. Re wins with 121, Kontra with 120. The winners score game points (one for winning, more for the losers' low total, announcements and Sonderpunkte), and the losers lose the same.

The cards and their points

Doppelkopf is played with two copies of a 24-card deck: the nine, ten, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit, 48 cards in all. Each player gets twelve. Some tables leave the nines out and play with 40 cards and ten each ("ohne Neunen"); the nines are worth nothing, so the total stays the same.

The card points (Augen) add up to 240. Re needs more than half, 121; Kontra wins with 120, because a tie goes to Kontra.

Ace

11

Ten

10

King

4

Queen

3

Jack

2

Nine

0

Trumps and plain suits

In a normal game 26 of the 48 cards are trumps. From the highest down: the two tens of hearts, called the <strong>Dullen</strong> (one is a Dulle); the queens of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds; the jacks of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds; then the ace, ten, king and nine of diamonds. Diamonds are the trump suit, so every diamond is a trump.

Clubs, spades and hearts are the plain suits (Fehlfarben). Clubs and spades rank ace, ten, king, nine and have eight cards each. Hearts have only six, ace, king and nine, because both tens of hearts are trumps. That makes hearts a short suit: the second time hearts are led, someone is often already out of them and trumps in.

Because every card exists twice, two equal cards can fall in the same trick. Then the one played first wins. The only exception is the Dulle: if both tens of hearts fall in one trick, the second one wins. Under DDV rules this holds in the last trick too.

Re and Kontra: the secret partnerships

The two players with a queen of clubs are <strong>Re</strong> and play together against the other two, <strong>Kontra</strong>. At the start nobody knows the partnerships except from their own hand. A player who plays a queen of clubs shows that they are Re; an announcement of Re or Kontra shows a player's side too. Until then, smearing points onto a trick (schmieren) is a gamble: you might be feeding your opponent.

Re wins with 121 card points or more, Kontra with 120 or more. Watching the queens of clubs, who smears whom and who trumps what is the heart of Doppelkopf.

The Vorbehalt: Hochzeit and solos

Before the first card, every player says in turn whether they are "gesund" or have a "Vorbehalt". A Vorbehalt is a Hochzeit or a solo. When more than one player has one, a solo beats a Hochzeit, and among solos the player sitting first (from the dealer's left) plays.

<strong>Hochzeit</strong> (wedding): a player holding both queens of clubs may announce it. The first other player to win one of the first three tricks becomes their partner, and the two of them are Re against the other two. If the Hochzeit player wins all three tricks, they play alone, as a solo. The trick that settles the partnership is called the Klärungsstich.

<strong>Stille Hochzeit</strong> (silent wedding): a player with both queens of clubs who says "gesund" plays a secret solo. Everyone else thinks it is a normal game and looks for a partner who doesn't exist. It is scored as a solo.

<strong>Solos</strong>: one player plays alone against the other three, who are Kontra together. A solo counts three times for the soloist. At bs.fyi every solo is voluntary (a Lustsolo): the player left of the dealer leads, and the deal moves on as usual. There is no compulsory solo (Pflichtsolo) as in DDV tournaments.

Damensolo

Only the eight queens are trumps; plain suits A 10 K J 9

Bubensolo

Only the eight jacks are trumps; plain suits A 10 K Q 9

Fleischloser

No trumps at all; every suit A 10 K Q J 9

Farbsolo (♣ ♠ ♥ ♦)

Dullen, queens and jacks, then A 10 K 9 of the chosen suit (♥: A K 9)

Karosolo

The normal trumps, played alone

Announcements: Re, Kontra and keine 90

A player may announce <strong>Re</strong> (if they are Re) or <strong>Kontra</strong> (if they are Kontra) before playing their second card, that is while they still hold at least 11 cards. The announcement is worth two points to whoever wins the game, and it tells everyone the player's side.

Further announcements (Absagen) promise that the other side will stay below a total: <strong>keine 90</strong> (no 90, the others will have under 90 points) with at least 10 cards in hand, <strong>keine 60</strong> with 9, <strong>keine 30</strong> with 8 and <strong>schwarz</strong> (the others will not take a single trick) with 7. A higher announcement includes the lower ones, so keine 60 also says Re or Kontra and keine 90.

Once one side has announced, the other side may still answer with its own Re or Kontra one card later than the announcement was allowed. In a Hochzeit no announcements are made until the partnership is settled; after that every limit moves back by the number of the Klärungsstich. Without the nines every limit is two cards lower.

Who wins

Without any further announcement Re needs 121 card points and Kontra 120. If only Kontra announced and Re did not, Re wins with 120 and Kontra needs 121.

A side that announced keine 90, keine 60, keine 30 or schwarz must make it: the other side must finish under 90, 60 or 30 points, or without a trick. If it fails, it loses. The other side then only needs 90 against keine 90, 60 against keine 60, 30 against keine 30, or one trick against schwarz.

If both sides announced keine 90 or more and neither makes its announcement, nobody wins. Only the points for reaching 120, 90, 60 or 30 against an announcement and the Sonderpunkte are counted.

Scoring by DDV rules

Each game is worth a number of game points. Each player on the winning side scores the value and each player on the losing side loses it. A soloist wins or loses three times the value, so the four scores always add up to zero.

Sonderpunkte (special points) count only in normal games and Hochzeiten, never in a solo. Each side scores its own, and they are set against the other side's points: if Re wins a plain game (1 point) but Kontra caught a Fuchs (1 point), the game is worth nothing.

Won

1

Against the old ones (Kontra wins a game that is not a solo)

1

Losers under 90 / under 60 / under 30

1 each

Losers without a trick (schwarz)

1

Re announced / Kontra announced

2 each

keine 90 / 60 / 30 / schwarz announced (by either side)

1 each

120 against keine 90, 90 against keine 60, 60 against keine 30, 30 against schwarz

1 each

Fuchs gefangen: winning a trick with the other side's ace of diamonds

1

Doppelkopf: a trick worth 40 points or more

1

Karlchen: the jack of clubs wins the last trick

1

A game of 24 or 12

At bs.fyi a game (Partie) is 24 deals by default, so everyone deals six times, or 12 for a shorter game. The running totals are kept on the score sheet, and the highest total wins. The Daily Challenge is always 12 games with the nines.

Doppelkopf tips for better play

• •Cash your aces early On the first round of clubs or spades there are eight cards, so an ace usually wins. By the second round someone is often out of the suit and trumps in. Hearts are even shorter: lead a heart ace only once.
• •Show your queen of clubs at the right moment As Re, playing a queen of clubs tells your partner who you are, so they can smear points onto your tricks. Holding it back keeps Kontra guessing.
• •Smear onto a safe trick When your partner's trick cannot be beaten any more, throw on an ace or a ten. Points dropped on an opponent's trick are points lost, so be sure first.
• •Mind your Fuchs The ace of diamonds is a weak trump worth 11 points and a Sonderpunkt to whoever catches it. Play it onto a trick your partner will surely win, never in front of an opponent's queen.
• •Announce with a strong hand Re or Kontra doubles your gain when you win and helps your partner find you. Seven or more good trumps, the Dullen or high queens, and a few aces are a fine start.
• •Count the trumps There are 26 trumps in a normal game. Counting how many have fallen tells you when your low trumps become winners and when it is safe to cash your plain cards.

Doppelkopf rules: frequently asked questions