How to Play

Zwicken is an Austrian and Bavarian gambling trick-taking game for 2-5 players. A 32-card pack, a three-card hand, a permanent second-highest trump (the 7 of Diamonds), and a punishing 'bete' forfeit make every deal fast, tense, and costly for the overconfident.

Zwicken is an old Austrian trick-taking gambling game, popular from the 18th into the 20th century and still played today in Bavaria and the eastern Alps. It is a three-card game on a 32-card pack where the dealer antes a fixed stake, each player draws cards or drops, and the Seven of Diamonds rides permanently as the second-highest trump. The quirky 'hop-and-jump' cut rule and the forced lead of the trump Ace give Zwicken a distinctive rhythm: quick-fire, punitive if you misstep, and famously unforgiving if you stay in with a weak hand.

Players

Two to five players, best with four or five. Every deal is a free-for-all: no partnerships. Play proceeds clockwise.

Card Deck

• Use a 32-card German William Tell or French-suited pack (7 through Ace in four suits).
• Rank in a non-trump suit: A, K, Ober/Queen, Under/Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, high to low.Q♠J♠
• The trump suit ranks the same except for one permanent addition: the 7 of Diamonds ('der Belli') ranks immediately below the trump Ace regardless of which suit is trump. It is always the second-best trump.7♦
• If Diamonds is the trump suit, the 7 of Diamonds simply keeps its high position there.7♦

Objective

Win at least one trick each deal to collect your share of the pot; win all three tricks for bonuses; and avoid the 'Bete' (forfeit) that hits players who stay in and take none. The game is played for a running pot of chips, not to a target score.

Setup and Deal

1. The dealer antes three chips to the pot before the deal.
2. Shuffle. The player to the dealer's right cuts and turns the bottom card of the upper portion face-up for the 'hop-and-jump' check (see next section).
3. Deal two cards to each player clockwise, turn the next card up in the middle to fix the trump suit, then deal one more card to each player. Everyone now has three cards.
4. The flipped centre card is set aside face-up and is not played; it only names trumps.

The Hop-and-Jump Cut Rule

• If the card exposed during the cut is an Ace or 7 (other than the 7 of Diamonds), the deal is annulled; dealer takes their ante back, reshuffles, and re-deals.7♦
• If the exposed card is the 7 of Diamonds (Belli), the dealer pays three chips to each player between the cutter and themselves, the deal passes to the cutter, and a new cut begins.7♦
• Any other exposed card: proceed with the deal normally.

Exchange and Stay-or-Fold

1. Starting with the player to the dealer's left and going clockwise, each player announces 'Play' (stay in) or 'Pass' (drop out for this deal, forfeiting any claim to the pot this round).
2. Players who Play may exchange up to three cards with the top of the talon (undealt pack), one by one in rotation. Exchanged cards go to a side discard and cannot be recovered. You may also Play without exchanging any cards.
3. If a player holds the trump Ace they must stay in; dropping with the trump Ace is forbidden.
4. If the holder of the 7 of Diamonds stays in but the trump Ace is also held by another player still in, the 7 of Diamonds holder is obliged to play the Belli on the trick where the Ace is led, or be penalised (see Scoring).7♦

Trick Play

1. The player to the dealer's left leads first. If that player has dropped, the next seated player still in leads.
2. Each other player in turn must follow suit if they can.
3. If a player cannot follow suit, they must play a trump (the Belli counts as trump) if they have one; only if they have neither may they play any card.
4. The highest trump wins the trick; otherwise the highest card of the suit led wins.
5. Winner of each trick leads the next. Three tricks complete the deal.

Scoring Each Deal

• Collect shares of the pot per trick: each player who took at least one trick collects one-third of the pot per trick won.
• Bete (forfeit): any player who stayed in and took no tricks must pay a penalty equal to the dealer's ante (three chips) into the next pot. The penalty is called 'being gezwickt' ('pinched').
• Trump Ace held but not led at first opportunity: the holder is beted.
• Belli holder who fails to capture or release the Belli correctly (by playing it when the trump Ace is led): beted.
• Winning all three tricks ('Durchmarsch'): the player collects the whole pot and each other staying player pays one bete.

Winning

Zwicken has no fixed end; the party plays on until players agree to stop (commonly when chips are low or a round number of hands has been played). The player with the most chips at that point wins. In a more structured session, agree an end time or a bank target; whoever crosses the target first calls 'Schluss' and the count is made.

Common Variations

• Styrian Zwicken: Uses a 36-card pack (6 added in each suit) and promotes the 6 of Diamonds to 'Sechser-Belli' as a third permanent high trump.6♦
• Four-card Zwicken: Deals four cards instead of three and plays four tricks; common in Carinthia.
• Dreierzwicken: A stricter three-player form where the dealer must always deal themselves in; no folding allowed.
• Bavarian Zwicken / Zwickern: German-border variant using a Bavarian 36-card pack with the addition of 'Wenzels' (over Jacks) as extra high trumps.

Tips and Strategy

• Fold on weak hands. A hand with no trumps above the Jack and no Ace is almost always a beter; drop and save the penalty.
• Trump Ace alone is not enough. Unless you also hold the Belli or another top trump, you win one trick and gamble on two more. Better to drop than stay in hopeful.
• Exchange aggressively. With only three cards in hand, swapping all three for fresh cards from the talon can reshape a dead hand into a live one; it costs nothing unless you stay in.
• Remember the Belli. The 7 of Diamonds is the second-best trump in every suit; forget it and you lead the trump Ace into a prepared trap.7♦
• Pay attention at the cut. A 7-of-Diamonds exposure during the hop-and-jump shifts money without any cards being played.

Glossary

• Belli: The 7 of Diamonds, permanently the second-highest trump in every deal.7♦
• Bete: A forfeit; a player who is beted pays a fixed penalty into the next pot.
• Gezwickt: 'Pinched' ; another word for having to pay a bete.
• Talon: The undealt pack, used for exchanging cards.
• Durchmarsch: Winning all three tricks in one deal.
• Hop-and-jump: The cutting ritual that can trigger a redeal or a mandatory payout before cards are even played.