Doppelkopf
| Origin | Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Players | 3-7 (4 Best) |
| Skills required | Tactics & Strategy |
| Cards | 2 x 24 |
| Deck | Doppelkopf (modified French or German) |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A 10 K Q J 9 |
| Playing time | 20 min. |
| Random chance | Tactics & Strategy |
| Related games | |
| Schafkopf, Sheepshead, Skat | |
Doppelkopf (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔpl̩kɔpf], lit. double-head), sometimes abbreviated to Doko, is a trick-taking card game for four players. The origins of this game are not well known; it is assumed that it originated from the game Schafkopf.
In Germany, Doppelkopf is nearly as popular as Skat, especially in Northern Germany and the Rhein-Main Region. Schafkopf however is still the preferred trick-taking variant in Bavaria. Unlike in Skat, there are numerous variants.
Although the Deutscher Doppelkopf-Verband developed standard rules for tournaments, informal games often play many variants and players adopt their own house rules. Before playing with a new group of players, it is therefore advisable to agree on a specific set of rules before the first game.
Note: In the following section, the most common rules are described.
Doppelkopf is a team game where each team normally consists of two players. The most distinguishing feature of the game is that the actual pairing is not known from the start, which is what makes the game interesting for most players.
The deck of cards consists of either 48 or 40 cards:
Each group of 8 cards consists of 2 cards from each suit: Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Clubs. Each card exists twice in the deck (which leads to the name Doppelkopf) resulting in a total number of 240 points. In the following explanation, the more common 48-card version is assumed. The rules for the 40-card variant are the same, the only difference is that the Nines are missing. Some card players prefer to use the German deck, which includes the following suits: Bells 
, Hearts 
, Leaves 
and Acorns 
. The ace is replaced by the Daus (A), the Queen by the Ober (O), and the Jack by the Unter (U).
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Wikipedia