Rules rikken card game
Rikken is a trick taking card game which is mainly played in the south of the Netherlands and north of Belgium. It is part of the Whist family of card games. In this article you will find the rules of the card game rikken. There are many local variations of the game. There are no official rules of the game. In this article we will try to explain the general rules of the game and some of the regional differences.
General rules
- Rikken is a card game usually played with 4 participants. It is also possible to play rikken with more than 4 people, with 4 players playing a round simultaneously and the remaining players sitting out.
- The game is played with all 52 playing cards, excluding the jokers.
- The lowest card is a 2 and the highest is an ace.
- The goal is for players to achieve their own contract or that of their partner, and/or for opposing players not to achieve their contract.
- As in most card games, the player to the left of the dealer plays the first trick at the beginning of the game.
- The player with the highest card wins the trick. If there is a trump suit, the player with the highest trump card wins the trick.
- The winner of the trick may come out on the next trick.
- The last trick played may be looked back at by any player while the subsequent trick is still in progress.
- Players must follow suit at all times if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, he or she may play another card of their choice.
Dealing cards
- Each player receives 13 cards.
- The dealing order used is 6-7 or 4-5-4.
Bidding round rikken
After dealing, the bidding round begins.
- The player to the left of the dealer begins to bid.
- The player next may overbid this bid. If a player’s bid is outbid then he is given the opportunity to make a new, higher bid. If a player bids piek or misère, then other players, who have not yet passed, may decide to bid this contract as well. You then play the same contract with several players.
- A player may pass at any stage. Once a player has passed, he may no longer bid.
- The bidding round ends when the highest bid is reached or when the last player has passed.
- When all players have passed, the dealer may choose whether to play the game one or five, or spades mie. These games are explained later on this page.
Overview bids rikken
Bid | Explanation |
Troela. Notice. This game is not played in all regions. | The troela is always mandatory. If someone has three aces on hand, he must report it. The one with the fourth ace is automatically his partner, and determines, without consultation, the trump suit. The trump may not be of the same suit as that of the fourth ace. The player with the 3 aces and the partner try to get at least 8 tricks. In the event that a player has 4 aces in his hand, this player asks for a king. Again, the partner determines the trump suit. |
Rik | A player who plays rik and the partner try to get at least 8 tricks. The player who wins the contract, called rikker, may determine a trump suit. The trump suit is announced after the bidding round. The rikker calls for an ace. The one with that ace is the rikker’s partner and plays with the rikker. The partner may not announce he is the partner. This becomes clear during the game. |
Better rik | A rik with hearts as trump. This bid takes precedence over an ordinary rik. |
Eight alone | This bid may only be bid after a rik has been bid. In this game the bidder must win at least 8 tricks with a self-determined trump suit. |
Eight better | Eight alone with hearts as trump. This bid takes precedence over a regular eight alone. |
Piek |
The bidder must win exactly 1 trick in this game. After a piek bid is made, other players who have not passed yet may also make this bid and thus also piek. As soon as the player(s) who plays piek achieves more than 1 trick, the game ends immediately. |
Nine alone |
This contract may only be bid after an eight only or peak is bid. In this game the bidder must obtain at least 9 tricks with a self-determined trump suit.
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Nine better | Nine alone with hearts as trump. This bid goes above a regular nine alone. |
Misère | In this game the bidder does not try to gain any tricks. The game ends immediately if the bidder does gain one trick. After a misère is bid, other players who have not yet passed may also make this bid and thus enter a misère. |
Ten alone | This game may only be bid after nine alone or misère has been bid. In this game the bidder must win at least 10 tricks with a self-determined trump suit. |
Ten better | Ten alone with hearts as trump. This bid is above an ordinary ten alone. |
Open piek | In this game the bidder must obtain exactly 1 trick, just like a piek. The bidder plays the first trick. After the other players have played a card that trick and the first card of the second trick is on the table, the ‘pieker’ places his own cards face up. Thus, the other players can view the pieker’s cards. The players may not confer among themselves. |
Eleven alone | This game may only be bid after ten alone or an open piek has been bid. In this game, the bidder must win at least 11 tricks with a self-determined trump suit. |
Eleven better | Eleven alone with hearts as trump. This bid goes above a regular eleven alone. |
Open misère | In this game the bidder does not try to win any tricks, just as in misère. In open misère, the bidder plays the first trick. After the other players have played their card that trick and the first card of the second trick is on the table, the bidder places his own cards face up. Thus, the other players can view the cards of the player who plays misère. The players may not confer among themselves. |
Open piek with a talk | This game is for the most part similar to an open piek. In an open piek with a talk, on the other hand, the players are allowed to confer, after the bidder reveals his cards. |
Twelve alone |
This game may only be bid after eleven alone or an open misère or an open piek with a talk has been bid. In this game, the bidder must win at least 12 tricks with a self-determined trump suit.
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Twelve better | Twelve alone with hearts as trump. This bid is above an ordinary twelve alone. |
Open misère with a talk | This game is for the most part similar to an open misère. In open misère with a talk, on the other hand, the players are allowed to confer after the bidder reveals his cards. |
Thirteen alone | This game may only be bid after twelve alone or an open misère with a talk has been bid. In this game, the bidder must win at least 13 tricks with a self-determined trump suit. |
Thirteen better | Thirteen alone with hearts as trump. This bid goes above an ordinary thirteen alone. |
Spades mie | When the first 3 players have passed, the last player can choose to play spades mie. The goal of spades mie is to not win the trick with the lady of spades and not win the last trick of the game. These tricks cost the winner of the trick points. No spades may be played during the first 3 tricks. From the fourth trick a spade may be thrown. |
One or five | When the first 3 players have passed, the last player can choose to play one or five. The goal of the game is to obtain exactly one or five tricks. |
Scoring table rikken
Below is the scoring table for rikken. Rikken is a zero sum game. The losers “pay” proportionally to the winners of the contract.
Contract | Achieved | Not achieved |
Troela | Players of the bid troela earn 10 points + 5 points per overtrick. | Players of the bid troela pay 10 points + 5 points per undertrick. |
Rik | Rikker and partner earn 10 points + 5 points per overtrick. If the rikker and partner have won all tricks, they earn a bonus of 35 points. | Rikker pays 10 points + 5 points per undertrick to opponents. Partner loses or gains nothing. |
Better rik | Rikker and partner earn 10 points + 5 points per overtrick. If the rikker and partner have won all tricks, they earn a bonus of 20 points. | Rikker pays 10 points + 5 points per undertrick to opponents. Partner loses or gains nothing. |
Eight alone | Bidder gets 10 points + 5 points per overtrick from each opposing player. |
Bidder pays 10 points + 5 points per undertrick to each opposing player.
|
Piek | Player gets 15 points from each opponent player. | Player pays each opponent 15 points. |
Nine alone | Bidder gets 20 points + 5 points per overtrick from each opponent player. | Bidder pays each opposing player 20 points + 5 points per undertrick. |
Misère | Bidder gets 25 points from each opposing player. | Bidder pays to each opposing player 25 points. |
Ten alone | Bidder gets 30 points + 5 points per overtrick from each opposing player. | Bidder pays to each opposing player 30 points + 5 points per undertrick. |
Open piek | Player gets 40 points from each opponent player. | Player pays each opponent 40 points. |
Eleven alone | Bidder gets 40 points from each opponent player + 5 points per overtrick. | Bidder pays each opponent 40 points + 5 points per undertrick. |
Open misère | Bidder gets 50 points from each opponent player. | Bidder pays to each opposing player 50 points. |
Open piek with a talk | Player gets 55 points from each opponent player. | Player pays to each opponent 55 points. |
Twelve alone | Bidder gets 50 points from each opponent player + 5 points for overtrick. | Bidder pays to each opponent player 50 points + 5 points for undertrick. |
Open misère with a talk | Bidder gets 60 points from each opposing player. | Bidder pays to each opposing player 60 points. |
Thirteen alone | Bidder receives 70 points from each opposing player. | Bidder pays to each opposing player 70 points. |
Spades mie | The players who did not obtain the lady of spades or last trick receive 5 points per trick from the remaining player(s). | The player(s) who obtained the queen of spades or last trick pay the remaining player(s) 5 points per trick. |
One or five | The players who achieved exactly 1 or 5 tricks will receive 10 points from the remaining player(s). | The players who did not make exactly 1 or 5 tricks pay 10 points to the winning player(s). |
The called ace
In the bid rikken, the rikker asks a partner to join him via the called ace. For example, if the bidder asks along the ace of hearts, then the player with the ace of hearts is the rikker’s partner. The rikker can only call for an ace of a non-trump suit of which he himself has at least one card. So the rikker can only call for the ace of hearts if he has at least 1 heart in his hand. In some cases this is not possible:
- The rikker has all 4 aces: in this case the rikker calls for a king (if he also has all 4 kings then he calls for a queen etc.).
- The rikker has the ace of each suit he has on hand: in this case the rikker calls for one of the aces of a suit he does not have blindly. The rikker also indicates this when calling the ace. The rikker may then, if the called ace has not yet been played, throw a card face down and this trick then counts as the first trick of the requested suit. At the end of the trick, the face-down card is revealed before the trick is cleared and play continues as normal.
The partner is obliged to throw the ace if the suit of the called ace is played (it does not matter if the rikker calls for the ace or an opponent comes out with the suit of the requested ace).
Shuffle
Unlike many other card games, in rikken the cards are turned over once (also called raising), rather than shuffled. This ensures that the cards stay together, increasing the chances of a good hand.
Learn more about other card games
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