How to Play Klaberjass
How to Play Klaberjass
Klaberjass is a lively two-player card game about choosing trump, building melds, and winning valuable tricks. You need a normal deck of cards; you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. This guide uses one common version, and house rules can vary.
Quick facts
| What to know | Details |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 |
| Cards | 32 cards: 7 through ace in each suit |
| Cards per player | 9 after the trump suit is chosen |
| Goal | Reach 501 points first |
| Main skills | Choosing trump, melding, and taking tricks |
What you are trying to do
Your aim is to score more points than your opponent over several hands. A trick is one round in which each player plays one card; the stronger card wins all cards in that round. You score the cards in your tricks, plus bonus points for certain combinations called melds. The first player to reach 501 points wins the game.
Klaberjass has an important risk: the player who chooses trump is the maker. The maker must finish the hand with a higher score than the opponent. If the maker ties or loses, the opponent receives the hand’s points under the scoring rules below, so choose trump thoughtfully.
What you need
Use a 32-card pack. From a normal 52-card deck, remove the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s. Keep the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. You also need paper and a pencil, or a notes app, for the running score.
Card values are different in trump. In a non-trump suit, the order from high to low is ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9, 8, 7. In the trump suit, the order is jack, 9, ace, 10, king, queen, 8, 7. The trump jack is called the jass, and the trump 9 is sometimes called the menel.
Set it up
Choose a dealer at random. The other player is the non-dealer and leads the first trick. Shuffle, then deal six cards to each player in two groups of three. Put the undealt cards face down in the middle as the stock, and turn the top card face up beside it. That face-up card suggests the first possible trump suit.
The non-dealer first decides whether to accept the face-up card’s suit as trump. If they pass, the dealer may accept it. If both pass, the non-dealer may name any of the other three suits as trump, and the dealer may do the same if necessary. If everyone passes again, redeal with the same dealer. The player who names or accepts trump becomes the maker.
Once trump is fixed, deal three more cards to each player. Each hand now contains nine cards. If the turned-up card’s suit became trump, the holder of that suit’s 7 may exchange the 7 for the face-up trump card before declaring a meld or playing.
How to play
- Check for melds. A sequence is three or more consecutive cards of one suit in the natural order ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7. A sequence of three is worth 20 points, called a twenty. A sequence of four or more is worth 50 points, called a fifty. Only the player with the better sequence scores their eligible sequences. Compare longer sequences first; for equal lengths, compare the highest card, with a trump sequence winning an otherwise equal comparison. Declare a sequence before playing to the first trick. You may choose not to declare one.
- Remember bela. The king and queen of trump form bela, worth 20 points. When you play the first of these cards, announce “bela,” and when you play the second, announce “from bela.” Unlike a sequence, bela is announced during trick play.
- Lead the first trick. The non-dealer plays any card. The other player responds, then the winner of the trick leads the next one.
- Follow suit when possible. If you have a card in the suit led, you must play that suit. If you do not, you must play a trump if you have one. If trump is led, you must play a higher trump when possible. The same higher-trump rule applies when the other player has trumped a suit you could not follow. If you cannot follow suit and have no trump, play any card.
- Take the trick. The highest trump played wins. If no trump appears, the highest card of the suit led wins. Put the won cards in a face-down pile, keeping your tricks separate so you can count them later.
- Draw after each trick. After the winner collects the trick, that player draws the top card of the stock first, followed by the other player. Continue until the stock is empty. Then play the remaining cards in your hands without drawing.
How you win
There are nine tricks in a hand. When they are finished, count the points on the cards in your tricks. The jass is worth 20 points, the menel 14, each ace 11, each 10 ten, each king 4, each queen 3, and each ordinary jack 2. The winner of the last trick adds 10 points. Add any sequence and bela points that were earned.
Compare the two final hand totals. If the maker has more points, each player adds their own hand score to their running total. If the hand scores tie, the opponent adds only their own hand score to their running total, while the maker adds nothing. If the opponent has more points, the opponent adds both hand scores and the maker adds nothing. The winner of the hand deals next. Keep playing hands until one player reaches at least 501 points; the higher total wins if both pass the target during the same hand.
Easy first-game tips
Do not accept a trump suit merely because its turned-up card looks useful. Count your strong trumps, especially the jack and 9, and notice whether you have enough cards to control several tricks. Save a high trump for a moment when it can capture an important trick.
Keep track of which suits your opponent has already failed to follow. If they are out of a suit, leading that suit later may force them to spend a trump. Also remember that the last trick is worth an extra 10 points, so a small card can become valuable when the stock is gone.
For a first game, announce every meld clearly, keep the scoring on paper, and pause before each play to check the follow-suit rule. The unusual trump order feels strange at first, but after a few tricks the jass and menel will become easy to spot.
Quick questions
Can I play a trump even when I can follow suit?
No. If you have a card in the suit led, you must follow that suit. You may trump only when you cannot follow suit.
What happens if the maker does not outscore the opponent?
If the scores tie, the opponent adds only their own hand score. If the opponent scores more, they add both hand totals, while the maker adds zero.