Card Games: How to Play War
We thank the many people who contributed information about this game and its variations.
Kaiser is a Canadian tower taking game played by four people - two against two as partners sitting in front of the other A pack of 32 cards is used every trick is worth one point and there are two special cards Lowest heart worth 5 points to the player in a turn and the lowest is -3 cat.
This game goes by several alternate names Name Kaiser by which he is commonly known today, may have been introduced during the First World War, during which the penalty Cat Card was considered Kaiser Wilhelm II representative and the bonus heart card was French General Joffre at QuГ spout some players still call the joffre game and there are special cards for the game in which the costumes reprent country and cards in various military ranks costume another version using special cards was published in 1893 under the name lost Heir it is even possible that lost heir was the original game, and Joffre and games played with standard cards were adaptations and improvements that before World war in QuГ beak it was usual to play with a package in which the Sevens were the highest card and the kings lower, and the game was called kings kings in Saskatchewan, some players Ukrainian call the triple-spot or troika as they use the three of spades like the pen map Alty was told that in Saskatchewan the game is also popular with American Indians.
The origins of this game are a bit of a mystery It has been played for generations in communities of French, German and Ukrainian, and some members of the three groups argue forcefully that the game was brought to Canada by their ancestors However, if until now I have found no direct evidence of the origin of this game in Europe or France or Germany or Ukraine so far, the first evidence of the game is QuГ beak, where it was certainly played in logging camps since before 1900, for example Ray Benoit reports that his grandfather learned the game the Kings QuГ beak and brought it with him to the United States date of immiogration is recorded in 1900, it may spread to other provinces because of the contact between soldiers from different regions of Canada duing World war One correspondent Saskatchewan claimed to have relatives in Kiev that play, but I direct confirmation of this, or whether the Canadian branch of the family learned it Ukrainians or vice versa, I would be interested to hear from anyone who has information about the history of this game - in particular further evidence of its being played at any time before 1900 in Canada or Europe.
I should also mention that the Canadian game Kaiser has absolutely no connection with the old Swiss card game called Kaiserspiel or Kaiserjass and under the cover of Kings he has no apparent link with the King collection game known France as King of the Game.
This game is played with 32 cards - 7 to ace in each combination, but with 7 replaced by 3 and 7 replaced by 5 cards in each row of the combination of top-down A, K, Q, J, 10 , 9, 8, 7, 5 or 3.
It is a game of turn taking, where each trick is worth one point Additionally, the 5 is more than 5 points and 3 is least 3 points on the side that takes them in their tricks The team chooses the increase bids trump suit and tries to take at least as many points as their submission.
Deal and play are clockwise The first dealer is chosen at random - one way is to deal the cards around the only players until someone receives a Jack After each hand turn to deal passes to the left the dealer deals any cards to the players, one at a time clockwise, so that everyone has eight.
Any player who is treated, not aces no image map and not 3 or 5 can throw in hand as maldonne, and the cards are shuffled and dealt again by the same dealer.
Each player in turn, starting with the player to the left of the dealer has an opportunity to bid or pass may offer a number; possible offers are six to twelve, or with a trump suit or no trump The trump suit is not specified in the offer, but a player who wants to play no trump is to say in the offer - for example, eight not an offer in any of the assets exceeds an offer equal to a combination, so that possible deals in ascending order are 6, 6 no, 7, 7 N, 8, 8 no, etc. The maximum possible bid is 12 no.
If a player, in his bid to be higher than the previous offer, except the dealer has the special privilege that it needs to match the previous bid to win the tender.
Example Player A passes is not sure how many points his team can make the player B offers 7 believes his team can do at least 7 points without asset deals Player C 8 8 believes he can do with an asset auction player D 8 8 points without asset player D wins the bidding player D may also bid 8, equal to the supply of C, and then choose a trump suit.
If the first three players pass, the dealer is obliged to bid at least the minimum.
The names of more unless the bidder trumps offer was no trumps and leads a card to the first trick play is clockwise after each player must play a card of the same color as the card led, if it can; if not, they can play another card if they wish strengths are played, the player of the highest trump wins the case; if no asset in the case are, it is won by the highest card of the suit led The winner of the tower leads to the next tip When all the cards have been played, the towers are counted and written notes.
The score depends on the offer, the number of turns taken and who took the 5 and 3 in their tips The first team to reach a cumulative score of 52 points or more wins.
Each team has how many points they took as follows.
Five more points to win a round containing 5.
Least three points to win a round containing 3.
The team score of tender If the team chose bangers at least as many points as their offer, they add to their score the number of points they have if they took less points their offer, they subtract their offer to their score if the team that won the tender played without assets, and took at least as many points as their submission, the add double the number of points that they have to their score if they do not make their offer then they withdraw their offer to their score if the opponents score the opponents of the team that won the tender have a cumulative score of less than 45 years they simply mark the points they have, regardless of whether the bid was won or lost, and regardless of whether he has played with or without it carries is possible for this team to score less than zero s' they took 3 with less than 3 laps; in this case, their cumulative score will drop if the opponents of the tendering team have a cumulative score of 45 or more, they can not add points to their score taken, but they still lose points if they are less than zero in FIGS.
In Saskatchewan, it is common to play Kaiser with a pack of 34 cards consisting of AKQJ-10-9-8-7 in each suit as well as 5 and 3 Eight cards are dealt to each player, and a prize pool of two cards is dealt face table bidder names the trump suit unless the offer was not taken away and captures the pot without showing the cards to the other players and then discards any two cards face down with the exception of May 3 .
Given that the tenderer has the advantage of using the prize pool, the minimum bid is usually set at 7.
This game is usually played with offers Low No Trump optional Bottom No Trump, the rank of the cards other than 5 and 3 is reversed, so that the 7 is the highest card of each color, followed by 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A ace is the lowest card in clubs and diamonds in hearts and spades 5 and 3 resepctively rank below the ace A low offer No Trumps ranks right au above the normal supply No matching Trump, so that the sequence Request in ascending order is 7, 7 N, 7, no low, 8, and so on.
No offers low Trump are marked in the same way as the top deals No Trump - the auction side scores double the number of points they have taken on success and loses twice their offer, if the other team scores it they have, without doubling, as usual.
Many bands play with low rates do not recognize you without a hand, no face, no 5, No. 3 as maldonne.
Some play that up and down no trump bid of equal rank in the bidding - can not outbid the other unless of course one of the players is the dealer, who can always outbid another player making an equal offer.
Some play that the intention of playing down is not mentioned in the tender The bidder asset no announcement if the game will be high or low before taking the pot a game that any offer, with or without assets can be played up or down it is announced before hitting the jackpot.
In QuГ beak, Kaiser is sometimes played with a pack of 32 cards including AK-7-6-5-4-3-2 Sevens in each suit are the highest in each suit and kings are the lowest as usual every thing is worth 1 point, is worth 5 points K and K is -3 points this version of the game is also known as the kings of kings, K being the good King K and the evil king Ray Benoit reports that his great -Father played this game at St. Mary Magdalene, В QuГ beak in the 1890s.
As usual 8 cards each are dealt auction begin at dealer's left each player gets just one chance to bid The minimum bid is 4 and a maximum of 12 There are no offers free asset If the first three players pass the dealer must bid 4 the last bidder declares asset and led to the first case.
The scores of the bidding team what they do provided it is at least as much as their offer, otherwise they lose the amount of their offer The non-submission team score always that they are the target score is 40 points If both teams reach 40 points or more on the same case, the team auction wins.
J HГ you described another version in which diamonds and clubs 8 s are used as the lowest cards instead of kings A tip containing K is 6 points and a tower containing the K -3 points Bid minimum is 5, the maximum is 12 and the board led by the bidder determines the trump color This game is also played to 40 points.
In some parts of QuГ Bęc a version of the Kaiser known Joffre is played with special cards The deck of 32 cards are blue suits representing England, green Russia, Germany and France brown red, each with cards 7 above zero down cards 7 to 1 represent military class, the general 7, Col. 6, Major 5, captain 4, Lt. 3, Sergeant 2 and Corporal 1 zero English is a coat of arms, Russian zero is a clown, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II is zero and zero is the french Joseph Joffre.
The game plays similarly to Kaiser, Kaiser worth -3 points and 5 Joffre The main differences are.
The target score to win the game is 40 or 41, or in some places 42.
The first card played by the bidder determines the color of the asset.
If Kaiser wins a trick that contains the Joffre card, the person who played Joffre loses 5 points for the insult.
Joffre is played with these cards in Bellechasse, for example to St. Anselm, but also in Sainte-Germaine BoulГ in western QuГ beak Since these locations are quite remote, it seems likely that it can also be known in other parts of QuГ beak.
Joffre The descriptions and illustrations of the cards are on the Joffre page copy archive St-Anselme website and attached to page BoardGameGeek Joffre.
A rather similar game, using a package of the same structure, was published by McLoughlin Brothers in 1893 as the lost heir and by other manufacturers The costumes represent American cities, Canadian or British, and the cards in each suit Mayor are 7, 6 police chief; 5 Commissioner, Detective 4, 3 Captain, Sergeant 2, 1 Policeman There are two blank cards, a card lost Heir worth 5 points and a map Poor Boy point value -3.
There must be several versions of the game, because the rules published by McLoughlin as reproduced in AGPC archive, specify a pack of 48 cards with 11 instead of 7 cards in each suit These rules are quite different from those of more games later, the suit led by the highest bidder is asset but lost the Heir still counts as the highest asset and the Boy False counts as the lowest asset both blank cards belong to any prosecution can not be played as releases when the owner can not even if a blank card is played the same trick as the lost heir or Bad Boy cancels the value of the cards there were individual versions and partnership of the game.
The bidding process was odd players other than the dealer offer for the right to lead first and do outweighs the dealer can accept the best offer and mark the amount of the bid, or reject, score nothing to offer, and make wins at the end of the game, each player or team scored the points they made, except that if the bidder has less points than the offer, his score for the hand was zero When playing in teams, partners have simply added their scores together the first player or team to 25 points was the winner.
It is clear that this game would be a little less interesting to play Joffre or Kaiser There is no possibility of capturing the Heir lost lucky player who dealt the best others can do is to cancel his tour with a blank card While there may be lost heir was the original game, which was developed and Kaiser Joffre later as a result of various improvements to its rules.
Target Score Many game that if a contract without carrying successfully is played during the game, the number of points required to win the game is from 52 to 62 It seems to be the normal rule in Saskatchewan Some play with a target score of 56 , increased to 62 if no trump public offering managed some play with a target score of 52, increased to 64 years if no trump public offering managed some play with a target score of 69 -52 loses the game when reading to 52, some play that if a team has a cumulative score of 52 or less worse, they lose the game and the other team wins with a different target, the loser score is adjusted accordingly for example, if the target score gain is 69, the game is lost if a team reaches -69 or worse the offer to win games that the limit to score points for tricks without tender is 47 points rather than 45 in this case, if your score is 47 or more, you po uvez not score for tricks, unless you are the team tender, or unless you capture 5 bidders who wins the game for you when the target score is increased to 62 by any public offer 'asset, the amount that can be marked without tender is also increased, for example to 56 Some allow a team to score without tenders if their high score, but the team can win by means of a successful public offering non-tender side can not win the game, even if their score is well above the minimum bid Many game target with a minimum bid of seven instead of six on the other, some allow a minimum bid of five years, but is considered by serious players that make the game too easy not score for overtricks some play that a successful bidding scores than the amount of the offer or double this asset amount without offering anything the scores next to Call additional offers for the points raised in the game beyond the offer three of spades Some play a team that takes 3 need three laps to delete worth 3 points if the team with 3 take only one or two rounds, their score for any hand less than 3 points with three rounds their score would be zero, and additional rounds count another point each as normal, 5 can also be counted for more than 5 points on condition that the team at least three rounds maldonne Some play that if the first three players pass, the dealer can also pass, in which case the cards are thrown as maldonne and shuffled and dealt again by the same dealer Some allow a player with four 10s , 9s or 8s to throw in his hand as maldonne the same modifications and offers new Kaiser offers merchant Some allow a Kaiser offers which means that the bidder seu l take 12 points in any asset - seven towers, five of hearts, but not the three of spades partner bidder must take no tricks, and opponents have to take a turn containing 3s That wins the game if successfuil and lose the game on failure Some groups play with Kaiser offer in which tendering team must take 12 points in any asset if they succeed they win the game if they fail they lose Som e play with a Kaiser offers 40 whereby the bidder agrees to win all eight rounds only partners do not take part in the game This brand 40 points if successful and loses 40 different card Passing Some play each player simultaneously pass a face down in partner before the tender other place has played each player two cards pass through the table Note that maldonne can only be called on the basis of the cards held before the pass CERTAI ns play a similar Hearts card swipe system in the first case each player spends two cards face down on the left; in the second case, each player spends two cards right; in the third case, each player spends two partner cards; in subsequent transactions the pattern is repeated 2 left, 2 right, 2 of 2 on the left, and so on A correspondent describes another variant in which two cards are passed between the partners after the Kaiser tender with Some play a pot that every time a team loses a bid, they contribute an agreed sum to the pot pot is collected by the team that wins the game This makes it less attractive to sacrifice by bidding 9 of a suit to stop the other team making no trump 8 six players it is possible for six people to play, be it two or three teams of two teams of three, using a deck of 48 cards without twos 5 and 3 remain the scorecards even when they are not the lowest cards of their costumes Five players Dennis Bell reports that Simon Fraser University, an individual version 5 players sometimes played using a deck of 40 cart es, including all cards down to 5, except that the 3 of spades replace 5 two players John Suchan described a version 2-player which each player is dealt a hand of 8 cards and four batteries 2 cards face down on the table after the tender, the top card of each pile is turned over and both players can see the cards in the game, you can play the hand or a face-up card from the table after the top card of a pile is played, the map as she returned front and becomes available for the game.
You can download a demo of the Kaiser Kevin Currie program for Windows from the KC Magic Data page.
Thank you to the many people who sent me information about Kaiser, its variations and history, including Dany Dard BГ Dennis Bell, Brian Berard Kim Bertholm Trevor Brown, Cindie Chair, Wayne Choi, Jeff Eggen, Bess Fai, J HГ you, Dale Holaday Leanne Jaeb, Gordon Joyce, Gerard Kopp, Steve Leigh, Michael Mee, Tereen Mowrey Tom Niwinski, Chris Pratt, Mel Prokop, Michael Scott, John Suchan, Simon Tanguay and John Thompson.
Rules Kaiser Card Games, rules, cards, games.