Thirty-Three

A card game

I’m aware of what happened on Tuesday. It’s not interesting to me, and the facts haven’t changed. I won’t waste more of anyone’s time than has already been wasted.

Instead, here’s a fun card game. I came up with it in the early 2010s, and realized I never published it. It’s been playtested enough for me to say that it has no major glitches or imbalances, and the original name is immature cringe I will not be repeating. Instead, I’ll call it Thirty-Three, because it uses a 33-card deck, and naming things is hard.

1. Introduction

Thirty-Three is a 3-player trick-taking game inspired by Skat. It uses a 33-card deck:

• Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 of four suits (♦, ♠, ♥, ♣).

• One Joker (“the Bug”). Use the 6♦ if you don’t have one.

2. The Seven Games

Each round of trick-taking will be played in one of seven games: Diamonds, Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Nines, No Trump, or Misère. The first four of these are called suited games and differ only in which suit is used as trump.

In Misère, each player’s objective is to lose tricks. In all other games, it’s to win points taken in tricks, with the worth of each card as follows:

• Aces, eights, and the Bug: 2 points.

• Kings, queens, and jacks: 1 point.

• All other cards: 0 points.

The last trick is worth 3 points; the total value is 33.

3. Bidding

Choose the first round’s dealer at random; the designation moves clockwise throughout the game. Each round, the dealer deals 10 cards to each player. The remaining three go to a central region called “the boat” where they remain face-down until the auction.

Every bid has a game and level. The levels are:

18 < 20 < 22 < 24 < 26 < 28 < Slam < Slam Hand < Slam Ouvert.

A bid of 18 Diamonds, for example, is a bid to take at least 18 points in tricks, with diamonds as trump. A Slam bid is a bid to take all 10 tricks.

The 18-level Misère game is called “Low.” The contract is to take fewer tricks than either defender—losing ties, unless the declarer takes zero. The higher levels of Misère are Null contracts—to win no tricks at all.

Each contract has a contract value (CV) as below:

Level || ♦ | ♠ | ♥ | ♣ | 9s | NT | Misère

18 _____ || 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 17/Low

20 _____ || 27 | 30 | 33 | 36 | 39 | 42 | 29/Null+3

22 _____ || 36 | 40 | 44 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 43/Null+2

24 _____ || 45 | 50 | 55 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 59/Null+1

26 _____ || 54 | 60 | 66 | 72 | 78 | 84 | 77/Null Hand

28 _____ || 63 | 70 | 77 | 84 | 91 | 98 | 97/Null Ouvert

Slam ___ || 90 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 130 | 140 | --

S Hand _ || 117 | 130 | 143 | 156 | 169 | 182 | --

S Ouvert || 144 | 160 | 176 | 192 | 208 | 224 | --

(Apologies for the ugly-ass Substack table.)

Bidding starts at the dealer’s left. In clockwise order, players either:

• say “Pass” and withdraw from bidding.

• name a game and the level they intend to achieve. The level must be higher than the current winning bid, and the contract value must be equal or higher.

Once a player’s bid stands unopposed, a contract is formed. That player becomes the declarer and the other two are called defenders.

If all three players pass, the hands are turned in; the round is redealt by the same dealer.

4. The Boat

Null Hand (26 Misère), Null Ouvert (28 Misère), Slam Hand, and Slam Ouvert are all contracts to play from the hand—without using the boat. The cards are removed from the game for the rest of the round. In Null+2 and Null+1, the declarer draws two or one cards (respectively) from the boat; the rest are removed.

In all rounds but those listed above, the declarer takes all three boat cards and forms a new 10-card hand; discards are returned to the boat, playing no role in trick-taking, but will count in the declarer’s favor toward making the contract.

5. Kontra and Rekontra

A defender who made at least one bid that round (i.e., was overbid) and who believes the declarer is unlikely to win the contract may declare Kontra—a side bet that the declarer will fail—before the play of tricks begins. If Kontra was called, the declarer may call Rekontra, further raising the stakes.

Note: the declarer may call Rekontra after viewing the boat.

6. Common Trick-Taking Rules

The declarer leads to the first trick in all games but Misère, in which they may lead or assign the initial lead to either defender. The winner of each trick leads to the next one. A player who has at least one card in the led suit must play in that suit. (There are no other restrictions; a player with no cards in the led suit may play anything.) Play continues until the hands are exhausted—after ten tricks.

In a Slam Ouvert or Null Ouvert (28 Misère) contract, the declarer reveals their hand before the first trick and plays open-handed.

7. Suited Games: Diamonds, Spades, Hearts, Clubs

All suited games use an ace-ten rank order. However, the jack of the trump suit (“right bower”) is the highest trump, and the other jack of the same color (“left bower”) is the second-highest. (It is not part of its on-face suit.) The Bug is always the lowest trump.

Thus, in Clubs, the trump suit’s order is:

J♣ > J♠ > A♣ > 10♣ > K♣ > Q♣ > 9♣ > 8♣ > 7♣ > Bug.

The other suits use the ranking:

A > 10 > K > Q > (J) > 9 > 8 > 7.

Example: the game is Diamonds and the 8♥ has been led. A player holding the 7♥ and J♥ is forced to play the seven, because the J♥, the left bower, counts as a diamond.

8. The No-Trump Game

If a No-Trump declaration is made, there is no trump suit. All suits use the ace-ten ranking:

Ace > 10 > King > Queen > Jack > 9 > 8 > 7 > (Bug).

The Bug is the lowest diamond; it plays as if it were the 6♦.

9. Nines

The Nines game has a five-card trump suit with the following order:

9♦ > 9♠ > 9♥ > 9♣ > Bug

The nines lose their on-face suits; e.g., the 9♥ is not considered a heart.

The ace-ten ordering is used for all other suits:

A > 10 > K > Q > J > 8 > 7.

10. Misère Games: Low and Null

In a Misère game, each player’s objective is to avoid winning tricks. There is no trump, and an ace-king ranking is used:

A > K > Q > J > (Bug) > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7.

The Bug is a diamond and ranks between the jack and ten.

11. Scoring

The declarer gains points equal to the contract value (CV) if the contract is made, and loses that number of points if the contract is failed. In a non-Misère game, defenders score points taken for tricks. In Misère, defenders score 10 points, minus 1 for each trick taken.

If Kontra is called and the declarer succeeds, the caller pays ½CV points to the declarer. If Kontra is called and the declarer fails, and the defender takes at least one trick, the declarer pays ½CV to the defender. The requirement to take at least one trick is waived in Misère. If Rekontra was called, the size of the payment is CV rather than ½CV.

The first player to win three contracts gets 25 points; the first to win five also gets 25 points. The first player to win seven (nine, eleven, and so on) contracts gets 50 points.

12. Game-Ending Condition

The game ends when a player reaches +200 or -200 points, and is won by the person with the highest score—do not break ties. If a player reaches or exceeds 200 in a round without winning a contract or a Kontra, their score is set to 199.

13. Odd Cases

Kontra and Rekontra should be declared before the play of tricks begins. In casual settings, it’s fair to say the deadline is “a reasonable interval”—i.e., within a few seconds, and before a player takes any action—because Kontra is rare enough not to deserve a dedicated phase. In a tournament or money setting, the declarer should prompt the defenders to decide.

An eligible defender may call Kontra in response to the other defender’s Kontra.

Accidental revoke (failure to play in the led suit when able to do so) should be repaired if possible. If it can’t be repaired, the round ends, and the offender is penalized at the contract’s value. Intentional or strategic revoke is cheating and never allowed.

It’s rare for a hand to be passed out. In the groups I’ve played with, it happens about 5 percent of the time. Maybe less.