Doppelkopf’s natural habitat is the pub or other laid-back environments. It’s all about having fun and not taking yourself too seriously.

Yet there are some unwritten rules in Doppelkopf (and card games in general) you should keep in mind to keep things fun. Especially when playing a proper tournament, these rules are taken pretty seriously and can lead to penalties should you ignore them. When playing a casual game with friends, sticking to some of these manners and rules will also help keep things fun and engaging.

Dropping hints and chatting

Doppelkopf is an exciting game particularly because players have unequal amounts of knowledge about their partners for a long time. Partners find each other by making clever moves or deliberate announcements and bids — and that should be the only way to find your partner.

Don’t chat about your cards or the game. Don’t drop any hints. No winking, no signalling, no gesturing, no commenting. Anything else would ruin the fun of the game and ensure you’d upset the other players. Don’t even drop a seemingly innocent “wow, I don’t have the slightest clue who I’m playing with” — it will reveal more than you think.

It’s best to talk about something different than the game entirely.

Cheating

This doesn’t need much explaining: Don’t cheat. Don’t peek into other players hands, don’t exchange cards with your partner, don’t kick your partner’s shin to nudge them to play a fox.

If you think you’re being clever trumping that spades trick even though you had to follow suit, you’re wrong: Other players will notice a few tricks later and you and your partner will lose the game (a lot of groups even scoring that game as if you had scored 0 card points).

Don’t ruin the game for yourself and the other players. Don’t cheat.

Counting cards

We’re not in Vegas. This is not gamble, this is a strategic game. Experienced Doppelkopf players count cards a ton. It is super valuable to know whether a non-trumps trick of spades or clubs has already been played, which player had to follow which suit and who was able to trump other suits. Equally it’s smart to know how many key cards (Dullen, queens of clubs, foxes) are left in the game.

Once you have some basic mastery of the game you should start practicing memorizing and counting the most important cards and facts about the current game. If you play over a few beers, this can be more challenging than you think.

Seeing the previous trick

To help you with counting (or jog your short-term memory) a lot of groups allow to revisit the previous trick (and only the previous one!). Just ask if you can see the previous trick once more and the respective player will reveal the four cards of the previous trick for all players once more.

Shuffling, dealing, leading

When it comes to shuffling, dealing, and leading to the first trick, there’s a strict order. Players take turns in clockwise order. One player shuffles and deals the cards, the player to their left gets to lead to the first trick. In the next game the next player in clockwise order becomes the dealer, the player to their left leads to the first trick, and so forth.

When playing tournaments, all of this is much stricter (but casual players usually don’t care about this): The dealer needs to pass the cards to the player to their right, ask them to cut the cards, and then deal in a “four times three” pattern. Should you ever play a proper tournament, the organizers will certainly explain this to you in more detail if they really care.

Special rules and variations

Doppelkopf has tons of special rules and variations. Over the years lots of (sometimes regional) rules have been established and gained popularity. You can apply these rules to your game as much as you like. You are free to tweak and change rules from game to game, establish your own house rules, or stick to a known set of rules to your hearts contents.

Have fun

Most importantly: Have fun. Doppelkopf is a game that connects people and fun should take precedence. Create your own rules and rituals, figure out what works for you and what doesn’t and don’t take yourselves too seriously. Tournaments happen to have a stricter rule set that can feel overwhelming — but all these rules don’t need to bother you in your casual group.

Players with their own Doppelkopf group often enjoy years of fun and company. It take a bit of time to become an experienced Doppelkopf player. Practice makes perfect. Don’t be afraid to make silly mistakes and learn as you go. Just grab a few friends and start playing. In the meantime, you can practice any time here at the Doppelkopf Club.