How to Play Mizerka
How to Play Mizerka
Mizerka is a clever Polish draw-and-discard trick-taking game for three players. You need a normal deck of cards, plus paper or a notes app for scores. If you need one, you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. This guide uses one common version; house rules and regional details can vary.
Quick facts
| Players | 3 in the standard version |
|---|---|
| Cards | One standard 52-card deck |
| Type | Trick-taking game with contracts |
| Cards per player | 13, plus a 13-card face-down talon |
| Game length | 18 deals |
| Goal | Earn the highest total score |
What you are trying to do
In most deals, you try to win a certain number of tricks. A trick is one card played by each person, with the strongest legal card taking the group. In one special contract, called mizerka, your aim is reversed: you try to avoid winning tricks.
Before each deal, the player on the dealer’s left chooses a contract. A contract is the target and card condition for that deal. The six choices are clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, no trumps, and mizerka. In a suit contract, the named suit is trump, meaning a card of that suit can beat cards from the suit that was led. In no trumps, no suit is stronger than another. Mizerka also has no trumps, but rewards players for taking fewer tricks.
What you need
Use a normal 52-card deck with no jokers. You also need a flat place to play and something to record each player’s running score. Cards rank from ace, high, down through king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, to 2, low. Choose a first dealer in any friendly way. After that, the deal moves clockwise, so the next dealer is the player who was on the dealer’s left.
Set it up
The dealer shuffles and deals one card at a time into four piles: one hand for each player and one face-down talon, which is the extra pile used for drawing. Deal six cards to each pile, then pause. The player on the dealer’s left looks at those six cards and chooses one of the six contracts.
Once the contract is announced, finish dealing until every player has 13 cards and the talon has 13 cards. The same player who chose the contract now gets the first chance to exchange cards. The player to the dealer’s right acts next, and the dealer acts last if cards remain in the talon.
How to play
- Choose and mark the contract. The player left of the dealer chooses a suit, no trumps, or mizerka. Each player must choose each of the six contracts once during the full game, so mark the choice on your score sheet. This creates 18 deals in total.
- Exchange cards. The contract chooser may discard any number of cards from their hand, from none to all 13, then draws the same number from the top of the talon. A discarded card is set aside and cannot be picked back up. After drawing, that player’s exchange is finished. The player right of the dealer may then do the same, using only the cards still available in the talon. Finally, the dealer may exchange if any talon cards are left. Nobody has to exchange.
- Lead the first trick. The player left of the dealer plays any card. This first played suit is called the led suit. The other two players then play one card each.
- Follow the led suit. If you have a card in the led suit, you must play one. If you do not, you may play any card, including a trump in a suit contract. You do not have to play a higher card, and you do not have to trump when you are void in the led suit.
- Find the winner. In a suit contract, the highest trump wins the trick. If nobody played a trump, the highest card of the led suit wins. In no trumps and mizerka, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner collects the three cards and leads the next trick.
- Continue until all cards are played. There are 13 tricks because each player began with 13 cards. Keep each player’s won tricks in a separate face-up pile so counting is easy at the end.
How you win
After the 13 tricks, count how many each player won. In a suit or no-trumps contract, the quotas are 7 tricks for the player left of the dealer, 5 for the player right of the dealer, and 1 for the dealer. A quota is the number of tricks used as the scoring target. For every trick above a player’s quota, add 1 point. For every trick below it, subtract 1 point.
Mizerka uses the same quotas but changes the direction of the scoring. The player left of the dealer has a quota of 1, the player right of the dealer has a quota of 5, and the dealer has a quota of 7. For every trick above the quota, subtract 1 point; for every trick below it, add 1 point. Reaching the quota scores zero for that deal.
Record the result, then move the deal clockwise. The game ends after all three players have chosen each contract once, making 18 deals. Add the scores. The player with the highest total wins.
Easy first-game tips
Start by checking how many cards you hold in each suit. A long, strong suit may make a suit contract attractive, while a hand full of small or awkward cards may suggest mizerka. Remember that your position matters: the player left of the dealer has a demanding seven-trick target in ordinary contracts, while the dealer needs only one.
During an exchange, do not automatically replace every weak card. Think about the contract first. In a trump contract, keeping several cards in the trump suit can help you control tricks. In mizerka, high cards are often dangerous because they are more likely to win when you would rather lose. Watch which suits disappear from other hands, and remember that the person who wins a trick leads next.
Quick questions
Can I play Mizerka with two or four players?
The standard rules described here are for three players. Two- or four-player versions can be adapted, but they need agreed changes to the deal, contracts, and quotas before you begin.
What happens if I cannot follow suit?
You may play any card. In a suit contract you can play a trump, but you are not required to; if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins.