🎯 What Is Klaverjas?

Klaverjas is a classic Dutch trick-taking card game for 4 players in 2 teams. You and your partner (North) play against East and West. The first team to reach 1,500 points across multiple rounds wins the match.

🃏 The Deck

Klaverjas uses 32 cards — only the 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of each suit. Each round, all 32 cards are dealt out equally — 8 cards per player.

📊 Card Point Values

When a card is in the trump suit (the special suit chosen each round), points change dramatically:

• Jack = 20 9 = 14 Ace = 11 10 = 10
• King = 4 Queen = 3 8 = 0 7 = 0

When a card is NOT trump:

• Ace = 11 10 = 10 King = 4 Queen = 3
• Jack = 2 9 = 0 8 = 0 7 = 0

Every round has a total of 162 points up for grabs.

🏷️ Choosing Trump (Bidding)

At the start of each round, players take turns starting left of the dealer. You can either name a trump suit (♠ ♥ ♦ ♣) based on your strongest cards, or Pass. If everyone passes, the dealer must choose a trump suit — no passing allowed for the dealer.

Whoever picks the trump suit becomes the declaring team — they are expected to win more points than their opponents this round. If they fail, they get penalised (see "The Pit" below).

▶️ How a Trick Works

One player leads a card. Going clockwise, each player plays one card. The highest card wins the trick and that player leads next. There are 8 tricks per round.

Trump cards always beat non-trump cards, regardless of rank. Among trump cards, the order is: J (highest) → 9 → A → 10 → K → Q → 8 → 7. Among non-trump cards, the normal order applies: A (highest) → 10 → K → Q → J → 9 → 8 → 7.

📝 Examples — How Tricks Play Out

Example 1 — Simple follow suit (Trump is ♥):
West leads 10♠. You have ♠ cards, so you must follow suit. You play A♠. North plays 7♠. East plays K♠.
→ Your A♠ is highest → you win the trick (25 pts: A=11 + 10=10 + K=4).

Example 2 — Trumping in (Trump is ♥):
West leads A♦. You have no ♦ cards, so you must play a trump. You play 8♥. Even though 8♥ is a low card, it's trump — it beats the A♦.
→ Trump always wins over non-trump.

Example 3 — Must overtrump (Trump is ♥):
West leads K♦. North (your partner) plays 7♦. East has no ♦ and plays 8♥ (trump). Now it's your turn — you have no ♦ either, but you have Q♥ and J♥. You must overtrump East's 8♥ — and since J♥ beats Q♥ in trump, you could play either. You play J♥.
→ You must beat the existing trump if you can.

Example 4 — Partner is winning (exception!) (Trump is ♥):
West leads Q♣. North (your partner) plays A♣ — currently winning. East plays 9♣. You have no ♣ but you have trump. Since your partner is already winning, you do NOT need to trump — you can discard any low card instead.
→ Don't waste trump when your partner has the trick.

⚡ Strict Playing Rules

Klaverjas has strict rules about what you can play — you cannot play just any card:

• Must follow suit — if the led suit is Hearts and you have Hearts, you must play a Heart.
• Must overtrump — if trump was led and you have a higher trump than what has been played, you must play it.
• Must trump when void — if you have no cards in the led suit, you must play a trump card (if you have one), and you must beat any trump already played if possible.
• Exception — you do NOT need to overtrump if your partner is currently winning the trick.
• No trump either? — if you cannot follow suit and have no trump, you may play any card.

The game highlights your legal plays automatically — look for the glowing cards in your hand.

🌟 Bonuses (Stuk & Roem)

Bonuses are extra points declared at the start of the first trick:

• Stuk (+20 pts) — holding both the King and Queen of the trump suit.
• Roem — holding 3 or more cards in a row of the same suit (e.g., 7-8-9 of Hearts). Three in a row = +20, four = +50, five or more = +100.

If both teams have Roem, only the team with the single highest Roem scores. In a tie, the declaring team wins it.

🏆 Slam Bonus

If one team wins all 8 tricks in a round, they earn a Slam bonus of +100 points on top of the 162 card points.

⚠️ The Pit (Going Set)

If the declaring team (the team that chose trump) fails to score more card points than their opponents, they fall into the Pit. They score 0 points for the round, and the opposing team gets all 162 points. Bonuses like Stuk and Roem still count normally.

💡 Tips for Beginners

• Only choose trump when you have strong cards in that suit — especially the Jack or 9 of trump.
• Lead with trump early to draw out opponents' trump cards.
• Pay attention to which cards have been played — knowing what's left helps you plan.
• When your partner is winning a trick, save your strong cards for later.