British Skat Association

Here are some more hands from session 2 last Sunday.

a. Mittelhand
J: CD
C: AK9
S: AT
H: AQ
D: Q

You win the bidding at 24 over Vorhand's 23. The skat gives you H8 and D9. Clubs or Grand?
Does it make a difference if Hinterhand had said 24? Would you have held that bid?

b. Vorhand
J: CH
C: Q8
S: ATK
H: 97
D: T

How high do you bid?

c. Mittelhand
J: S
C: 8
S: K7
H: AK
D: A987

How high do you bid?

d. Hinterhand after the exchange, having won the bidding at 18
J: CH
C: A
S: AK97
H: TQ7
D: A9

Spades or Grand? What do you discard?

e. Mittelhand after the exchange, having won the bidding at 20 over Vorhand's 18
J: D
C: ATK9
S: K8
H: AQ98
D: A

Presumably you discard the spades and play in a suit, but which one?

a. Grand. Yes I would have held 24.

b. 20. It's very unlikely that I will want to play diamonds. There is an argument for passing 20 because (i) I don't really want to play in hearts if someone is bidding them against me and (ii) now that the other player probably isn't playing diamonds I have quite a good defensive hand, but at the table I still think I would probably hold 20.

c. Probably 18 - pass if pessimistic.

d. I am strongly tempted to play Grand and discard the SK and HQ. This will partly depend on my assessment of the opponents and how likely they are to start by leading hearts.

e. Hearts. I will use the clubs to force trumps if necessary. I will lose the cT that way, but I might lose it in any case if I make clubs trump.