Lupfen (card game)
Lupfen is a card game for 3–6 players that is played mainly in Vorarlberg and Allgäu and mostly for money. The rules vary slightly in their details depending on the region, but the basic rules are identical in every variation.
history
The game is similar in many ways to the game Typing , which was already known in the 19th century and which is described in Meyer's Lexicon of 1905 as follows: Typing (Dreiblatt, Zwicken), a card game of chance very popular in Germany. It is played with 3–6 people with 32 hands, with even more participants with 52 hands. The dealer places 3 tribe tokens, gives each player 3 hands to 1 and then throws up a trump hand. If only the trunk is in place, all players have to "call" and whoever does not get a trick pays bête (whatever is in the pot). As soon as bête stands, the player who does not count on a trick may pass; but if someone has good cards he says: "I'll go with you" or "taps" the table with your finger. For each stitch you get the third part of the standing sentence. You have to use color or trump.
regulate
It is usually played with a simple German (or Bavarian) hand (acorn, scoop, bells, heart), of which only ace, 10, king, upper and lower (including the order of the card values) are used - a total of 20 Cards. The cards are shuffled and each player is dealt one card in turn, until each player has 3 cards in hand.
Compulsory round
The first round (either at the beginning of the game or when the pot (cash register) has been emptied) is always a compulsory round. H. all players have to play. Each player places a previously agreed stake in the so-called "pot" - a container that is placed in the middle of the table. The top card of the remaining pile is turned up and shows the trump suit. The player to the dealer's left comes out. The rule is that the first color played must be indicated. If the player has no card of this suit in hand, he MUST play a trump. If he has no trump either, he usually discards his lowest card, since a trick is not possible without specifying the suit or a trump.
Once the compulsory round has been played, the tricks are checked. Any player who has not taken a trick has to pay the contents of the pot (he puts the money in the pot). If every player has taken a trick (only possible with 3 players), a compulsory round is played again. This is repeated until at least 1 player does not take a trick.
Lupping
In this round, after the cards have been dealt, the top card of the pile is not revealed, but the players now decide in turn whether they want to do this. If a player has good cards in his hand and believes he can take one or more tricks with them, he turns over the top card of the pile (he “lifts”). The exposed card is again trump . All other players now decide whether to take on the challenge and play along. The player announces this by shouting “with!”.
Lead
The player who “lifted” and the players who called “with!” Now play for the pot. You get a third of the pot per trick (3 cards → 3 possible tricks). If a player revealed or played, but did not take a trick, he has to pay the contents of the pot as in the compulsory round. The lead round is repeated until the pot is empty.
Example 1: - Player A has lifted (turned up) - Players B and C call. - Player A takes 1 trick, player B takes 2 tricks, player C does not take a trick → player A gets 1 third of the pot, player B gets 2 thirds and player C has to pay the contents of the pot (the contents of the pot are retained)
Example 2: - Player B has lifted and takes all 3 tricks - Players A and C therefore both do not take a trick → Player B gets the whole pot, Players A and C both (!) Pay the contents of the pot (the pot has moved up doubled this round)
This is repeated until the pot has been split entirely (i.e. every participant in the round has taken a trick or one player has lifted and no other player calls). The end of the game is variable by agreement of the other players.
Special card combinations
There are also special card combinations for lupping:
3 under
If a player has 3 jacks in hand, he has automatically won if it comes to play. In a compulsory round this would mean that all other players would have to pay the pot. In a lead round, he reveals this hand and waits to see who of the other players calls. Every player who calls then has to pay the pot of course, as 3 under cannot be beaten.
"Discarded"
If a player has 2 under (jacks) and 1 upper (queen) - i.e. the worst possible hand - he can end the round prematurely by calling out "Rejected". In a compulsory round, the cards are then reshuffled and it is started all over - without a player having to pay anything. In a lead round, “discarded” can be withheld until the game starts. In other words, a player with “discarded” can “lift” and wait to see if someone calls. If nobody calls, they get the pot. If another player accepts the challenge, the "discarded" sheet is shown and the round is repeated.
"Stand"
A stand means that a player has 3 cards of the same suit in hand. This is indicated by knocking on the table immediately after receiving the third card.
variants
- Fee for giving cards: It can be agreed before the game whether the dealer has to pay an additional amount into the pot before handing out the cards. Usually the amount for shuffling = the basic stake. Any other amount can be specified, but the selected amount must be divisible by 3.
- Slide: If you play with a fee for giving cards, the dealer is free to shuffle and deal, or to pass it on to the next player after paying the fee. This can be repeated as often as you like. So the pot increases every round for the card deal fee, i. H. in the lead round, the greater the amount involved. The variant with the fee for the dealer lets the pot grow faster, since it also increases if every player has taken a trick in a compulsory round
- Mandatory lift with two aces: If a player has two aces in hand, he must lift
- Hearts are a must: If hearts are revealed as a trump, all players must call
- Blindlupf: The player reveals the Lupf card without having seen his own cards beforehand. The loser has to deposit double the pot.