FreeDoko Rules
Author: Diether Knof, Borg Enders

# FreeDoko - Rules of the Game

### Content:

- The Doppelkopf Cards
- Ranking Of The Cards
- Teams
- Aim of the game
- end of game
- Determination of the game type
- Gameplay
- Announcements and Denials
- Genscher
- Counting

back to FreeDoko-Manual.

All supported rules of FreeDoko are explained in the following text.

# The Doppelkopf Cards

Doppelkopf is played with 12 cards of each of the four colors club (club), spade (spade), heart (hearts) and diamond (diamond), which are (value for counting in brackets) per color two aces (11), two tens (10), two kings (4), two queens (3), two jacks (2) and two nines (0). Optional can FreeDoko be played without nines. So in each color there are 60 points, which means all cards together have a value of 240 points.

# Ranking Of The Cards

Each card is either of one of the equally good "miscolors" or one of the trump cards. Each trump card is higher in rank than any card of a miscolor. The ranking of the cards depends on the type of the game, which will be determined at the beginning of one single game. There are two game types: Solo and normal game. The ranking of the cards for a Solo game will be explained in the chapter Solo.
The ranking of the cards in a normal game is like the following:
The descending ranking of the twice in game trump cards is:
(hearts ten,) club queen, spade queen, hearts queen, diamond queen, club jack, spade jack, hearts jack, diamond jack, diamond ace, diamond ten, diamond king and diamond nine. For the three miscolors the descending ranking of the also twice in game cards is: ace, ten, king and nine.
Fundamental there is the duty of following suit. If one played card can not be followed suit, you can play any card from your hand. If there are two equal cards in one trick, then the first card played is higher than the second.

## Heart Tens

In FreeDoko the hearts tens are trumps, but optional they can be only miscolor cards. If they are trump, then the hearts tens are in the ranking of cards higher then the club queens. But there are optional two different types of ranking for two hearts tens in one trick:

1. the first jabs the second.
   - but (optional) not in the last trick.
2. the second jabs the first.
   - but (optional) not in the last trick .

## Swines

In FreeDoko there is optional the possibility of higher trumps than the club queens or, if they exists, even higher than the hearts tens. These trumps are named Swines and Hyperswines. Swines consist of two diamond aces on one hand and have to be announced, before they are valid. This cards are the highest trumps in the game, till the announcement of Hyperswines. Hyperswines are two diamond nines on one hand, if Swines are already announced and only then they are valid.
For the time of announcement of Swines and Hyperswines there are optional different possibilities:

- For Swines:
  - Announcement before the game.
  - Announcement in the moment of playing the first Swine.
  - If the first ace is won by the own team, then the second diamond ace is a Swine and announced. In this special case there are no Hyperswines allowed.
- For Hyperswines:
  - Announcement before the game.
  - Announcement when the first nine is played.

There is also the possibility to determine if swines and hyperswines should be also be valid for Solo games.

# Teams

Doppelkopf is played with four players. In a normal game the players with club queens are playing together (Re-team) versus the other two players (Contra-team). There is also the possibility that one players plays a solo versus the other three players. In this case the solo player forms the Re-team and the other three players the Contra-team.

# Aim of the Game

Each team tries to get more points with cards than the opposing team and at the same time to reach as much game points as possible.

# End of a game

For Doppelkopf a tournament is played for a given number of points (pot of points) or a given number of games.

# Determination of the game type

By the determination of the game type the point is to decide if a normal game, a poverty, a marriage or a solo is played.

## Question of reservation

Before a game starts the game type must be determined in the question of reservation. Starting with the left neighbour of the dealer the players are asked in continuous order for reservations. If one player wants to declare a duty solo, a lust solo, a poverty or a marriage, then he says loud: "Reservation". One player who doesn't want to declare a "Reservation" says loud: "Healthy". If all players are "Healthy" then a normal game is played. If only one player has declared a "Reservation", he must name it, which means, he must say if he will play a solo, a poverty or a marriage. If there are more than one "Reservations" the following ranking is valid:

1. duty solo
2. lust solo
3. poverty
4. marriage

To determine which "Reservation" is the highest, all players are asked in the order duty solo, lust solo, poverty, marriage, if one player has such a reservation. If a player affirms, the first in order has to name it and all other reservations are invalid. An announced "Reservation" is obligatory, that means, this "Reservation" must be named, if there is no higher "Reservation" in this game.

### Solos

A Solo is a game where one player plays alone versus the other three players.

Color-Solo:
  (\Optional: hearts tens, Swines of chosen color,) All queens and all jacks are trump like in a normal game. diamond ace, diamond ten,diamond king and diamond nine are replaced by the cards of the chosen trump color (club, spade, hearts or diamond). Important for a hearts-Solo is, taht the Dullen (the hearts tens as trump) are still high. So there are 24 or 26 cards of trump. When playing without nines there are two trumps less.
Meatless:
  There are no trumps. The following ranking of cards is valid: ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine.
Queen-Solo:
  All queens are trump with the following ranking club, spade, hearts, diamond. So there are eight trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, king, jack, nine.
Jack-Solo:
  All jacks are trump with the ranking club, spade, hearts, diamond. So there are eight trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, king, queen, nine.
Queen-Jack-Solo:
  All queens and jacks are trump with the following ranking club queen, spade queen, hearts queen, diamond queen, club jack, spade jack, hearts jack, diamond jack. So there are sixteen trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, king, nine.
King-Queen-Jack-Solo:
  All kings, queens and jacks are trump with the following ranking club king, spade king, hearts king, diamond king, club queen, spade queen, hearts queen, diamond queen, club jack, spade jack, hearts jack, diamond jack. So there are twentyfour trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, nine.
King-Solo:
  All kings are trump with the ranking club, spade, hearts, diamond. So there are eight trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, queen, jack, nine.
King-Queen-Solo:
  All kings and queens are trump with the following ranking club king, spade king, hearts king, diamond king, club queen, spade queen, hearts queen, diamond queen. So there are sixteen trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, jack, nine.
King-Jack-Solo:
  All kings and jacks are trump with the following ranking club king, spade king, hearts king, diamond king, club jack, spade jack, hearts jack, diamond jack. So there are sixteen trumps. All the other cards are miscolors with the ranking ace, ten, queen, nine.

## duty solos

Optional there is the possibility in FreeDoko to set a free chosen number of duty solos. Each kind of solo can be played as a duty solo. The solo player plays the first card of this game. If the number of remaining games equals the number of still to play duty solos of all players or the pot of points is empty, the player to the left of the dealer has to play a duty solo, that means the player is forced to play a solo. A forced duty solo is not dealt again.

## lust solos

When a player has played all of his duty solos he may play lust solos. A lust solo can be each type of solo. For a lust solo the first card of the game is played by the player to the left of the dealer. Lust solo don't interrupt the order of players to distribute cards. Optional you can choose to let the cards be distributed for after a lust solo by the same player again.

## Marriage

If one player has both club queens on his hand, he can decide between two game types. He can either announce a marriage or play a "silent marriage" (color solo in diamond). If the player with both club queens doesn't want to play a solo, he announces in the question of reservation "Reservation". By the announced marriage the player has different possibilities in finding his partner. Therefore he chooses one of the following options:

- first foreign trick decides
- first foreign color trick decides
- first foreign trump trick decides
- first foreign hearts trick decides
- first foreign spade trick decides
- first foreign club trick decides

The player who wins the first trick, which meets the chosen form and who doesn't own the club queens plays together with the person with both club queens. Optional you can determine which trick should be the last trick in which the player with both club queens can find his partner. If he doesn't find a partner till the end of that trick the game continues as diamond solo.

## Poverty

In FreeDoko there are optional three forms of poverty. Poverties are only prevented by playing a solo.

### Throwing nines

If one player owns more than four nines on his hand, than he is allowed to decide, whether he wants the cards to be redistributed or if he wants to play a normal game.

### Throwing kings

If one player owns more than five kings on his hand, than he is allowed to decide, whether he wants the cards to be redistributed or if he wants to play a normal game.

### Poverty of trump (fox highest trump)

When the highest trump of one player is a fox, than he is allowed to decide, whether he wants the cards to be redistributed or if he wants to play a normal game.

### Poverty of trump (less then four trumps)

This poverty is given, if one player has no more than three trumps. In this case there are two possibilities in FreeDoko, which can be chosen \optional.

- The first version is to redistribute the cards.
- In the second version the player with the poverty puts three cards covered on the table. These cards must be his trumps and if he has not three trumps there are some cards of a miscolor too. Now each player decides, whether to take them or not. If no player wants to take the cards, all cards are redistributed. Otherwise the player, who has taken the cards, gives the player with the poverty any three of his cards and announces, how many trumps he has given away.
  The player who has accepted those cards will then be within the Re-team together with the one who has had the poverty. The club queens are not any longer relevant for finding the teams. The rest of the game is played like a normal game.

# Game Play

## Serving

The first card of the first trick is played by the left neighbor of the dealer. The first card is played after the question of reservation is settled. In the following tricks always the winner of the last trick plays the first card. Once a card is played it must not be taken back.

## Following Suit

For each trick the players must follow suit, which means, each player must play a card of the played miscolor or trump if possible. A Player who does not own a card of the played miscolor may either play a trump card, which means jabbing, or any card of any miscolor. If the first card in the trick is a trump card, but the player doesn't own a trump card, he may play any other card.

## Looking at played tricks

It is always allowed to take a look at the last trick. In Freedoko the number of the aready played tricks, which may be viewed by the players, can be set \optional.

# Announcements and Denials

## Announcements

With the announcement "Re" (Re-team) or "Contra" (Contra-team) the player who announces shows, that he thinks he can win this game with his partner. An announcement is as long allowed till the player has played his card of the second trick or for a marriage the first card after the last trick which determines who plays together with the owner of the club queens. But the announcement may be first done after the settlement of the question of reservation. For each Team there may be only one announcement.

## Denials

For Doppelkopf there are the following denials with their meanings:

No 90:
  the opposing team gets no 90 points, announcement of the own team must be made before this.
No 60:
  the opposing team gets no 60 points, no 90 must be said before this.
No 30:
  the opposing team gets no 30 points, no 60 must be said before this.
Black:
  the opposing team gets no trick, no 30 must be said before this.

For FreeDoko you can optional configure how many and till to which trick each denial is allowed. You may leave out denials, when all denials left out are still allowed. The denials left out are treated as if they were said too. For each denial you may announce "Re" or "Contra" if you haven't already announced this. Ass far as a marriage is concerned all points of time for each denial are moved regarding the number of tricks until the player with both club queens has found his partner. Which means if he finds his partner in the second trick all denials may be said till two tricks later.

# Genscher

Not yet implemented.
Optional in FreeDoko there is one special rule for all players who want some unfair parts in the game. This rule is named "Genscher" and can be used, if one player owns both diamond kings. In this case the player may choose any other player for his partner, while playing the first diamond king (Genscher). If the Genscher is used all denials are obsolete and only the announcements done before are still valid.
This special rules cannot be used in solo games or poverty.

# Scoring

## Steps of Winning and criteria of Winning

The cases for which one team has won and gets the base value of one game point are listed completely in the following.
The Re-team has won in one of the following case:

1. with the 121. point, if there were no announcements or denials.
2. with the 121. point, if only "Re" was announced,
3. with the 121. point, if "Re" and "Contra" were announced,
4. with the 120. point, if only "Contra" was announced,
5. with the 151. (181., 211.) point, if the team has denied the Contra-team "no 90" ("no 60", "no 30"),
6. if the team gets all tricks, for denying the Contra-team "black"
7. with the 90. (60., 30.) point, if the Contra-team has the Re-team denied "no 90" ("no 60", "no 30") and the Re-team has not to reach more points because of an own denial.
8. with the first trick, which the Re-team gets, if the Contra-team has denied the Re-team "black" and the Re-team has not to reach more points because of an own denial.

The Contra-team has won in one of the following case:

1. with the 120. point, if there were no announcements or denials.
2. with the 120. point, if only "Re" was announced,
3. with the 120. point, if "Re" and "Contra" were announced,
4. with the 121. point, if only "Contra" was announced,
5. with the 151. (181., 211.) point, if the team has denied the Re-team "no 90" ("no 60", "no 30"),
6. if the team gets all tricks, for denying the re-team "black"
7. with the 90. (60., 30.) point, if the Re-team has the Contra-team denied "no 90" ("no 60", "no 30") and the Contra-team has not to reach more points because of an own denial.
8. with the first trick, which the Contra-team gets, if the Re-team has denied the Re-team "black" and the Re-team has not to reach more points because of an own denial.

## Values of the game

Values of one single game are counted in game points.

1. won: 1 point as base value
   1. played below 90 : 1 more point
   2. played below 60 : 1 more point
   3. played below 30 : 1 more point
   4. played black : 1 more point
2. there was
   1. an announcement of"Re": 2 more points
   2. an announcement of "Contra": 2 more points
3. The re-team has said the denial:
   1. "no 90": 1 more point
   2. "no 60": 1 more point
   3. "no 30": 1 more point
   4. "black": 1 more point
4. The Contra-team has said the denial:
   1. "no 90": 1 more point
   2. "no 60": 1 more point
   3. "no 30": 1 more point
   4. "black": 1 more point
5. Re-team has reached:
   1. 120 points when "no 90" was said by the Contra-team: 1 more point
   2. 90 points when "no 60" was said by the Contra-team: 1 more point
   3. 60 points when "no 30" was said by the Contra-team: 1 more point
   4. 30 points when "black" was said by the Contra-team: 1 more point
6. Contra-team has reached:
   1. 120 points when "no 90" was said by the Re-team: 1 more point
   2. 90 points when "no 60" was said by the Re-team: 1 more point
   3. 60 points when "no 30" was said by the Re-team: 1 more point
   4. 30 points when "black" was said by the Re-team: 1 more point

Special points can only be won by both teams in a normal game. This points are counted first against the points of (1-6) then between each other. There are the following special points:

- versus club queens won: 1 special point, or optional the points are doubled
- Doppelkopf (a trick 40 points or more): 1 special point
- diamond ace (fox) of the opposing team caught: 1 special point
- optional club jack (Charly) wins the last trick: 1 special point
  - optional 2 special points for double Charly: both club jacks of one team are winning the last trick
  - optional 1 special point for catching Charly: if the club jack is jabbed from the opposing team in the last trick
  - optional 2 special points for catching both Charlies: if both club jacks are jabbed in the last trick by the opposing team
- optional 1 special point for fox in the last trick: the last trick is won with diamond ace (no Swine)
  - optional 2 special points for double fox in the last trick: the last trick is won with both diamond aces of one team
- optional 1 special point for Dullen beating, if one hearts ten jabs the other
- optional 1 special point for a not jabbed trick of hearts

In a solo game there are no special points. The same is valid for a "silent marriage".

## Counting

For FreeDoko there is an optional possibility of choosing one of three counting types:

- all points are only counted positive for the winners
- all points are only counted negative for the losers
- all points are counted positive-negative, which means each winner gets the points positive and each loser gets the points negative. In this case the sum of all points is zero. So for a solo the solo player gets the points three times and each other player only one time.