CHEATING. As in all games in which the cards are dealt in groups, the greek will find many opportunities in Skat. The clumsiest shuffler can usually locate some of the Wenzels at the top or the bottom of the pack, before presenting it to be cut, and if the players do not insist on the cards being dealt always in the same manner, the sharper can secure to himself two or more Wenzels, either in his hand or in the Skat. Any person who deals the cards sometimes three at a time, and again five at a time, should be stopped immediately, and no such excuses as changing his luck should be listened to for a moment. Any person who habitually picks up the cards with their faces towards him, and straightens them by lifting them from their positions in the pack, should be stopped at once, and requested to straighten the cards face down.
Dealing seconds is very difficult when the cards have to be “pinched” in threes and fours. A second dealer holding back a Wenzel on the top may give his adversary two underneath without knowing it. Marked cards are of advantage only when the dealer plays, and are of little use beyond telling him what he can turn up for a trump, or what he will find in the Skat. The rule for having four in the game, if possible, is one of the greatest safeguards, unless the dealer is in secret partnership with one of the players.
SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. The chief things to master in Skat are the values of the hands, the principles of bidding on them, the best methods of playing them, and the proper methods of combining forces with your partner for the time being, in order to defeat the single player.
Bidding. Some persons attach a great deal of importance to the odds for and against certain cards being in the Skat. If a player without three is forced to risk finding a Matadore in the Skat, it is usually enough for him to know that the odds are about 3 to 1 against it. It is much more important for him to consider what cards may make against him, and what they would count. It is often necessary to estimate very closely the number of points that must fall on a certain number of leads. For instance: You are Vorhand, and hold these cards:—
Even if you find the Ace and Ten with the best Wenzel in one hand against you, you have an almost certain club Solo, for if you lead a Wenzel, your adversary must either take it, or give you the Ace or Ten. If he wins it, and his partner gives him a Ten of another suit, and they then proceed to make both the Aces and Tens of your weak suits, that will give them only 56 points, and you will make every other trick. The only thing that could defeat you is for one player on the fourth trick to lead a suit of which his partner had none. This would require one player to have all the spades and the other all the hearts, which is almost impossible.
Another familiar example is the following: You are Vorhand with these cards:—
Although you cannot possibly win more than six tricks, and must lose every trick in the red suits, you have an invincible Grand; because the adversaries have not a sufficient number of Fehlkarten to give you to avoid adding 16 points to the 46 you already have in your hand, which must make you 62 before they get a trick.
It is better to bid on a doubtful Solo than on a risky Tourné, and if you have a choice of two numerically equal suits, it is better to bid on a suit containing small cards in preference to one containing A 10. In bidding Tournés, you must remember that the more cards you hold of a suit, the less your chance to turn up one.