Polignac - card game

A trick-taking avoidance game.
Origin	French
Alternative names	Four Jacks
Family	Trick-taking
Players	3-6
Cards	32
Deck	French
Play	Clockwise
Playing time	20 min.
Random chance	Easy
Related games
Hearts, Black Lady

Polignac (a.k.a. Jeux des Valets), the version of Knaves, is a French 18th century trick-taking card game ancestral to Hearts and Black Maria. It is played by 3-6 players with a 32-card deck. It is sometimes played as a party game with the 52-card pack, however, it is better as a serious game for four, playing all against all. Other names for this game include Quatre Valets and Stay Away, being the German Slobberhannes, also called Slippery Jack, one its reminiscents.

Game

Unless four play, remove the black Sevens. The turn to deal and play passes always to the left. The cards should be divided evenly among the players, with the dealer dealing the cards in 2s and 3s. The aim of the game is to avoid capturing any Jacks in tricks, and specially the J ♠, called Polignac. The rank of the cards are: K Q J A T 9 8 7 in each suit.

Eldest leads first and the other players follow suit if possible, otherwise they may play any card. The trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. There are no trumps.

Score

The players lose 2 points for capturing the J ♠, and 1 for each other Jack captured. The first player to reach an agreed total of penalties, which may be 10 or 20 points, then loses the game.

Notes

• Any player may bid capot before the opening lead is made. This is an undertaking to win every trick. If succeeded, each opponent loses 5 points; if not the bidder loses 5.
• Eventually, the position of the Ace, common to old French card games, may be changed. If players prefer to make Ace high, penalties should attach to Queens instead of the Jacks. The players may decide to try and take all the tricks in a hand. This is known as "general" and the player must announce his intention before he leads to the first trick. If he succeeds, all the other players score 5 penalty points. If he fails, the Jacks score 5 penalty points in the usual way against the players who take them.

Variations

Slobberhannes

A simple German variation similar to Polignac. The name means "Slippery Jack", though the card in question is a Queen.

• A 32-card deck is used and cards rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 in each suit. If five or six play, the black Sevens are removed. The turn to deal and play passes always to the left. Deal all the cards out one at a time. The aim is to avoid winning the first trick, the last trick, and the trick containing the Q♣.
• Eldest leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Follow suit if possible, otherwise play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led. There are no trumps in the game.
• A player loses 1 point for winning the first trick, 1 for winning the last, and 1 for winning the Q♣ in a trick. A player winning all of these, loses 4 points or may, instead, to win 4, if so agreed. The overall winner is the player with the fewest penalty points when someone reaches a previously agreed total. If played for hard score, everyone starts with ten units, and pays the appropriate penalty into a pool immediately upon incurring it. The pool is divided equally among the winners when one player goes broke.

Notes

Possession of the Queen of Clubs is not always dangerous. If it is well "guarded" and one can rely on it not being forced out by the Club leads of the other players,, and one will, sooner or later, be able to discard it. As in Black Maria and those Misere hands which lend so much interest to Solo, one wants to conserve as long as possible the low cards which control the suit.

Bassadewitz

First recorded in the early nineteenth century and still played as a family game in parts of German-speaking Europe. It is a member of the trick avoidance group of playing cards.

Dealer put up a pool of twelve chips and deals eight cards each from a 32-card pack ranking and counting as follows:

• A K Q J 10 9 8 7
• 11 4 3 2 10 0 0 0

Eldest leads to the first trick and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Suit must be followed if possible. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led. There are no trumps.

Whoever takes fewest card-points win 5 chips, second fewest 4, third fewest 3. Ties are settled in favour of the eldest player, but a player taking no trick beats one who merely takes no card-points.

A player winning every trick is paid 4 each by the others and a player taking 100 or more in card-points, but failing to win every trick, pays 4 each to the other players. In these cases, the pool remains intact and the same dealer deals again, as also if all four take the same number of card-points.

Notes

Ace may count 5 points instead of 11, and each player adds 1 point per trick to his total of card points, which may be classified as the easiest form to play the game.

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• Hearts (card game)