How to Play Klaverjassen

What is Klaverjassen?

Klaverjassen (playing klaverjas) is the national card game of the Netherlands, played in cafés, clubs and at kitchen tables all over the country. Four players form two teams of two, partners sitting opposite each other, and play eight tricks with a 32-card deck. One player chooses the trump suit, and their team then has to score more than half of all the points in the deal.

Like its French cousin Belote, Klaverjassen gives every card a point value and lifts the jack (de boer) and the nine (de nel) of trumps above the ace. What makes it Dutch is roem: bonus points for cards that fall together in one trick, such as three in a row or the king and queen of trumps (stuk). And if the playing team doesn't make it, they go nat and the other team takes everything.

This page explains the standard club rules, in the two versions you'll meet at Dutch tables: Rotterdams and Amsterdams. Both are available at bs.fyi, and everything here works exactly the same at the table.

Klaverjas rules at a glance

Players

4, in two teams of two; partners sit opposite

Deck

32 cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A in each suit

Trump order

J (20), 9 (14), A (11), 10 (10), K (4), Q (3), 8, 7 (0)

Plain suits

A (11), 10 (10), K (4), Q (3), J (2), 9, 8, 7 (0)

Deal

8 cards each, dealt 3, 2, 3; no card is turned up

Trumps

From the dealer's left, each player may choose a trump suit or pass; if all four pass, the player left of the dealer must choose

Play

Follow suit. Out of the suit, trump; over a trump, overtrump. Rotterdams: even on your partner's trick. Amsterdams: not when your partner is winning

Points

162 per deal (152 in the cards + 10 for the last trick), plus roem

Roem

Three in a row 20, four in a row 50, stuk (K + Q of trumps) 20, four of a kind 100, four jacks 200

Contract

The playing team needs more than half of all points, roem included; otherwise it is nat

Game

16 deals (een boom), or 8 in a short game; the higher total wins

How to play Klaverjassen, step by step

1. 1

   Sit in teams

   Four players form two teams of two, and partners sit opposite each other, so the turn always passes from one team to the other. All points are counted per team.

2. 2

   Deal eight cards

   The dealer gives everyone three cards, then two, then three, starting with the player on their left, so each player has eight. No card is turned up. The deal moves one seat to the left every hand.

3. 3

   Choose trumps

   Starting left of the dealer, each player in turn may choose any suit as trumps or pass. The first player who chooses ends the bidding; their team is now the playing team (spelend). If all four pass, the player left of the dealer must choose a suit anyway (verplicht).

4. 4

   Play eight tricks

   The player left of the dealer always leads the first trick, whoever chose trumps. Everyone must follow suit if they can. If you can't, you must trump, and if a trump has already been played you must go higher. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led, and the winner leads the next trick.

5. 5

   Count the roem

   When cards in the same trick form a sequence, the king and queen of trumps, or four of a kind, that trick carries roem: bonus points for the team that wins it.

6. 6

   Score the deal

   Each team adds up its card points, 10 for the last trick and its roem. If the playing team has more than half of the total, both teams score their own points. If not, the playing team is nat: it scores nothing, and the other team scores all 162 points plus all the roem.

Card order and card points

In the three plain suits the ten ranks just under the ace: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7. In the trump suit the jack (the boer) becomes the highest card and the nine (the nel) the second highest: J, 9, A, 10, K, Q, 8, 7.

Every card is worth points, and the jack and nine of trumps are worth much more than in a plain suit. Together the 32 cards are worth 152 points; the team that takes the last trick gets 10 more, which makes 162 points in every deal, before roem.

Jack

20 in trumps, 2 otherwise

Nine

14 in trumps, 0 otherwise

Ace

11

Ten

10

King

4

Queen

3

Eight, seven

0

Last trick

+10

Choosing trumps: vrij or verplicht

Choosing trumps means promising that your team will take more than half of the points in the deal. The usual way to play is vrij (free): starting left of the dealer, each player either names a trump suit or passes. A good reason to choose a suit is holding its jack, or the nine with two or three other trumps, plus an ace or two on the side.

If all four players pass, the player left of the dealer has to choose a suit after all. That is called verplicht (compulsory). Some clubs always play verplicht: the player left of the dealer chooses every time, with no passing. You can pick either rule before a game on bs.fyi.

Following suit and trumping: Rotterdams and Amsterdams

If you have a card of the suit led, you must play one (bekennen). When trumps are led you must also play a higher trump than the ones already in the trick if you can, even over your partner's trump.

If you can't follow suit, the two versions differ. In <strong>Rotterdams</strong> klaverjassen you must always trump, and overtrump if a trump has already been played, even when your partner is winning the trick. In <strong>Amsterdams</strong> klaverjassen you don't have to trump when your partner is winning the trick: you may play a card of another suit. But if you do trump, you must still go over any trump already played. When an opponent is winning, Amsterdams is the same as Rotterdams.

In both versions you may not undertrump (ondertroeven): if a trump is already in the trick and you can't beat it, you play a card of another suit instead of a lower trump. Only when you have nothing left but lower trumps do you have to play one. Not following these rules is called verzaken; at bs.fyi the game simply won't let you play a card that isn't allowed.

Roem

Roem is the bonus that makes Klaverjassen special. It is not declared from your hand, as in Belote: it comes from the four cards that lie together in one trick, and it goes to the team that wins that trick. Sequences are three or four cards of the same suit in a row, in the order 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A (here the ten sits between the nine and the jack, also in trumps).

Stuk, the king and queen of trumps in the same trick, counts on top of a sequence: the jack, queen and king of trumps in one trick are three in a row (20) plus stuk (20), so 40 roem. Four sevens, eights or nines score nothing.

At bs.fyi nobody has to call out "roem!": the game counts the roem in every trick for everyone, bots and players alike, and shows it on the table as the trick ends.

Three in a row (driekaart)

20 roem

Four in a row (vierkaart)

50 roem

Stuk (K + Q of trumps)

20 roem

Four aces, tens, kings or queens

100 roem

Four jacks

200 roem

Pit (all eight tricks)

100 roem

Scoring a deal: made, nat or pit

At the end of the deal each team adds up its card points, the 10 for the last trick and the roem from the tricks it won. The playing team has to score more than half of everything in the deal, which is the same as scoring more than the other team. Exactly half is not enough.

If the playing team makes it, both teams score their own points. If it doesn't, it goes <strong>nat</strong> (wet): the playing team scores nothing, and the other team scores all 162 card points plus all the roem of both teams. A team that wins all eight tricks makes <strong>pit</strong> (also called a mars) and gets 100 roem more.

Made

Playing team 92 + 20 roem = 112, opponents 70: they score 112 and 70

Nat

Playing team 70 + 20 roem = 90, opponents 92: opponents score 162 + 20 = 182, the playing team 0

Exactly half

Playing team 81, opponents 81: nat

Pit

Playing team takes all 8 tricks: 162 + 100 + its roem

Winning the game

A game of Klaverjassen is usually a boom: 16 deals, so that each player deals four times. Scores add up from deal to deal and the team with the higher total after the last deal wins. A short game of 8 deals is also available at bs.fyi. If the two teams are level after the last deal, one more deal is played until they aren't.

House rules on bs.fyi

Klaverjas strategy tips

• •Play with the jack. The jack of trumps can't be beaten and is worth 20. With the jack and one or two more trumps, plus an ace on the side, choosing that suit is usually right.
• •Draw trumps when you play. As the playing team, lead your top trumps early so the opponents can't use theirs to trump your aces later.
• •Feed your partner. When your partner is sure to win a trick, play your tens and aces on it (in Amsterdams you can do that even when you're out of the suit). When the trick is still in doubt, play your smallest card.
• •Watch the roem. Don't drop the card that completes a run of three in a trick the opponents will win. When your team has the trick, look for the card that adds roem.
• •Count the trumps. There are eight. Once you know how many have fallen, you know when your plain-suit aces and tens are safe.
• •Mind the last trick. The last trick is worth 10 extra points, often enough to keep a close deal from going nat. Keep a winner for the end if you can.

Frequently asked questions