Black cat (card game)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The queen of spades is the black cat , creeping Johanna or black lady

The Black Cat or The Creeping Johanna is a card game for three or more people. In Great Britain this game has been known as Black Lady since the beginning of the 20th century and is played in many variations, see Hearts . In a broader sense, it is one of the many different whist variants .

The rules

Preparations

You play with a pack of 52-sheet French playing cards .

Each player receives the same number of cards; all cards are dealt. With nine players, each participant would receive five cards and seven cards would remain - in this case, the lowest seven cards ( ♣  2, ♦  2, ♠  2, ♣  3, ♦  3, ♠  3, ♣  4) put aside; Heart cards, however, remain in play.

If the package is shortened according to the number of players, it is mixed, withdrawn and divided.

The game

The player to the left of the dealer is forehand and leads to the first trick . He may play any card (but see rule variants ).

You have to show your colors , but you don't have to sting. Who does not have the played suit, can - as these cards give minus points - the Pik -Dame or a heart discard card.

There is no trump suit ; the cards are in the usual order: the ace wins the king, the queen the queen, etc.

The billing

  • If you don't take a trick you get 50 plus points.
  • If you hold the queen of spades in your tricks, you get 40 minus points.
  • The heart cards contained in the tricks are rated as follows:
    • the number cards two to nine count two to nine minus points,
    • Tens and picture cards each have ten minus points,
    • the ace of hearts eleven minus points (sometimes only ten).

A total of 135 (or 134) minus points are therefore awarded in one game.

The lot

After a predetermined number of games, usually five to ten, the game is over.

The player with the fewest bad points is the winner.

Rule variants

In the Piatnik rulebook, there is also the rule that a heart card may only be played as the first card to a trick if the player is no longer holding a card of a different color in his hand.

In addition, there are many variations in billing in use.

swell

  • Rulebook from Piatnik, Vienna, 1976
  • Card Games. Victorian Patience and Other Games for One or More Participants , London, 1993
  • Peter Arnold, Editor: The Complete Book of Card Games , Chancellor Press, London 2002
  • David Parlett : Oxford Dictionary of Card Games , Oxford University Press Oxford New York 1992/96
  • The United States Playing Card Company, Joli Quentin Kansil, Editor: Official Rules of Card Games , 90th Edition, 2004