Durak (card game)
Durak ( Russian Дура́к Durák , German 'Dummkopf' ) is a traditional Russian card game . The aim of the game is to get rid of all cards as quickly as possible after the deck is used up. The last player to have cards in hand is called Durak. There is no real winner in Durak; as long as more than one player has cards in hand, the round continues with the remaining players. A further development of the game is the German Baltic card game Müller Matz .
Classic rules
preparation
Durak is played with a deck of 36 cards (6–10, jack, queen, king, ace) by two to six players. After shuffling, each player receives six cards, one more is placed face up crossed under the remaining deck - for good visibility. It shows the trump symbol (eg "heart") and belongs to the deck from which cards are drawn in the further course of the game. If there are six participants, the last card dealt determines the trump. If a player has five or six cards of the same suit (say five or six hearts), he can arrange for a new shuffle and deal, provided he has no trump in hand.
Course of the game
It is played clockwise and in rounds . A round begins with the attacker attacking the neighbor on his left, the defender. If the defender can parry, the round is over and he starts a new round with his own attack to the left. However, if the defender has to take on, he may not attack himself. The next player then begins his attack.
Game start
The player with the lowest trump starts the first attack in the first game. If there are several games, the last Durak is attacked at the beginning (“teach the fool”), alternatively the player who comes after the last Durak begins to “protect” the latter. If the rules of the game or the number of players change, the lowest trump will be used, as will a tie.
attack
The attack begins by revealing cards that must be covered by the defender (higher value trumps lower value, trump trumps non-trump). There can be several cards, provided they have the same values. The player to the left of the defender can give the attacker more cards, provided that their values match those that have already appeared in the fight (alternatively all players, but if there are several players it is almost impossible for the defender to cover all cards). This also takes place in a fixed order according to classic rules. Only when the original attacker cannot or does not want to give the defender any more cards, the next free player may add clockwise. Before the first trick, only 5 cards can be captured, after that a maximum of 6 cards can be captured. Sometimes, however, this clause is waived in order to increase the pace of the game and the fun factor by throwing cards wildly.
defense
The defender can beat the cards presented to him with cards of the same suit and higher value. Cards with the trump suit beat all other suits. Trumps can therefore only be beaten by higher trumps. You cover the card to be hit with the hitting card. The defender can only be shown as many cards to capture as he has in hand, up to a maximum of six. If the defender has a card with the same value, he can also push, in this case the stack is pushed on to the left player. This is also possible if the person sitting next to you has fewer cards in hand than there are on the pile. The defense is successful when all attacking cards are captured according to the above rules and the remaining players do not want to or cannot add any more. The discarded cards are eliminated from the game and the round is over. If the defender cannot capture all cards, e.g. For example, if he does not have the right suits, values that are too low or too few trumps, the round ends by taking up all cards that were beaten and still open in this round. If the cards cannot be captured, the attackers may continue to throw cards of the same value afterwards. However, as many as could have been blocked. In addition, it is allowed to put the same cards aside, but it must be all four cards (e.g. 8 of diamonds, 8 of spades, 8 of hearts and 8 of clubs).
End of round
At the end of a round, all players must draw cards from the deck until everyone has exactly six in their hand again. The original attacker picks up first, the defender last. This is strategically relevant as the last card is inevitably a trump card and a successful teeing off towards the end increases the likelihood of being eliminated. If the deck is used up, the game continues without moving. Whoever got rid of all cards is successfully eliminated from the game.
Playing
The game ends when only one player has cards left. This is the loser, the Durak, and has to shuffle and deal again and initially outbid. If each player plays all remaining cards in the last round, there is a tie.
variants
Durak is a flexible game that allows numerous variations.
- Push: Instead of refusing an attack, you can pass it on by adding one or more cards of the same value to the attacking card (s). So you push the attack on to your left neighbor. If there is a possibility, this can also slide. With up to four players it can happen that you have to reject your own attack at the end.
- Pushing with a ticket: the same rule as pushing, except that you only need to show a trump card to move on without playing it. Possible restrictions on this maneuver are once per round or once per game.
- Same number of shuffles: To continue shuffling, you have to bring as many cards of the same value into play as are pushed to you. If you get z. B. presented two sevens to hit, you can only push them with at least two sevens. Otherwise you have to hit.
- Change of direction: When you push, you can decide in which direction to push. Other possibilities concern the permanence of the change of direction and the players who can decide about it. Trumps cannot be pushed.
- More than six players: The 36-card deck limits the number of players to six. You can avoid this with a larger (e.g. 52) or several decks. With a smaller number of players, a larger deck extends the game.
- Team play : You can form teams within which you don't attack each other and instead concentrate on pouring cards over your opponents. Details such as seating arrangements or victory conditions are variable by arrangement. For example, a team can win if just one member leaves.
- Cheating: A very adventurous and fun option is allowing cheating. As long as nobody notices it in time, any form of fraud can be carried out. However, if this is noticed by the suffering player before the game continues, it must be reversed and may be sanctioned. Even if other players notice the cheating, the move must be reversed. (e.g. if the cards are knowingly knocked off even though cheating has taken place)
- Swap trump card: If a player has the smallest trump in hand, he can swap it with the revealed trump at any time
- Changing trump : Under the card that is turned over as a trump, there is another face-down card that counts as a new trump as soon as it is drawn
- Number trump : Not only the color counts as a trump, but also the number of the trump card. Is z. If, for example, the eight of diamonds is revealed as a trump card at the beginning, all of the diamonds and the four eighties are trumps. Depending on the variant, the number trump or the color trump is higher value (i.e. either eight of spades or nine of diamonds is higher value). With this variant it is advisable to determine a ranking of the card colors beforehand (e.g. diamonds - clubs - hearts - spades).
- Game with 52 cards: Instead of 36 cards, 52 cards are used. In this variant, each player receives nine cards instead of the usual six and can be attacked up to nine times. This makes the game much more challenging, especially when the "team game" is played two on two. In addition, the playing time of a game is about twice as long, which promotes the strategic component of the game.
- Pushing with fewer cards: Pushing is only possible if the attacked player has the same number of cards in hand; if he has fewer cards in hand, this is not possible.
Less common game modes
There are a number of other deviations from the original game concept, but they are much less common. They mostly arise either from the need for more tactical depth or from the joy of experimentation.
- Cross rule : The cross rule, which states that the cross can only be hit with a higher cross, brings additional tactical pitfalls . Further experimental modifications work e.g. B. completely without trumps or with various other ratios of the colors to each other.
- Quicky : The quicky describes a fast type of game in which no more cards are drawn after the end of a round. In addition, there is the option of removing all played cards from a completed game and continuing to play with the remaining deck.
- Nothing is unbeatable : the lowest card of a suit beats the highest card of the same suit.
- Secret : This variant differs from others only in that each player receives 2 additional cards. However, these cards must remain face down - until there are no more cards in hand. Normally such a player would already win. Not so with Secret : Here you have to continue playing with the last two cards that were unknown up to this point.
- Weli : This variant of the game is based on bells 6 from the double German sheet. She is kind of a wild card . If a six is played, it remains a six, but you can choose the color. This variant is very useful for the final shot. So it is possible to play two trumps or two cross cards at the same time with one deck.
- Re-throwing: With this variant it is possible for the defender, if he cannot refuse all cards and has to take up, to discard all card values that are in front of him, so that he also has to take them up. The maximum 6 card rule is therefore overridden when the cards are accepted.
- Fusion rule for 1 against 1: If you have the nine of hearts, you have the option of merging a desired card in 1 against 1. Here 2 cards and the fusion card are issued from your own deck of cards. You receive the desired card, regardless of whether it is in the card graveyard or with the opponent. If the opponent has the card, you give him one of the two cards.
- Joker rule : With this variant you use the standard cards of a Durak game plus 3 joker cards. The essential difference to the conventional Durak game is that you take the joker cards, which can be referred to as "changing cards", into the game, with a distinction between attack and defense.
Attack: Here you can transfer the joker card to any card already played in this turn and, if necessary, even change the color (transferring to a trump is also possible). Example: The cards 6 (clubs) and 10 (hearts, trumps) are in play. Now you can play a joker card and convert it into a 6 (any color) or 10 (any color). If you play the joker card as the first card, it can correspond to any card.
Defense: When defending, you can convert the joker card into any card.
So it can happen that you can have up to 4 ace trumps, so to speak, which increases the fun and excitement enormously.
Sanctions
The game lives in its way from the mutual humiliation of the players. Accordingly, there are a few ways to implement this.
badge
If, in the last round of a game, the Durak receives a six as the last card, this six can be hit on the shoulder, which symbolically serves as a badge of rank. He can then be solemnly appointed "durak s pogonami" (дурак с погонами, "fool with shoulder pieces"). This outcome of the game is also degrading for the Durak, because at the end of the game, where high values are usually played, you have to put in the smallest possible. In the following games you can “promote” the loser with the help of gradually higher values up to the ace. In a further variant, the promotion can be made a central game goal, so that after a certain number of games the aim is to give the opponent the highest possible rank.
To the newcomer
Also popular is the possibility that the newly arrived player is attacked at the beginning of the game by bypassing the other procedure. If there is more than one newcomer, the last of them will be attacked. There is also a rule that the newcomer has to shuffle the cards, regardless of the actual Durak, who should normally do this.
Web links
- Instructions and information on jethon.de