Rulebook

The game is played with thirty-six Trappola cards in four suits:

Each suit contains nine cards in ascending order of Stich strength:

A bowl into which stakes and Stich bonuses are placed.

A small plate on which the eighteen cards left over after the deal are placed. The bottom card of the stack lies face up and tells both players which card is certainly out of play.

Tokens are optional. If none are used, the game is played for money.

The winner of each Partie stays at the table and becomes dealer of the next Partie.

The loser joins the back of the queue. The next challenger is whichever player has waited longest.

A player may leave the game at any time, provided they are not currently taking part in a Partie; a Partie that has already begun must be played to the end.

Whoever leaves the game has no claim on the contents of the Bulka; the stake they have already paid remains in it.

A further player may join a game in progress only if all players agree and, in addition, the Bulka is empty or so few Parties have been played since it was last emptied that the newcomer — placed at the back of the queue — would not yet have had their turn as challenger.

A player who joins is always placed at the back of the queue.

The waiting players must keep silent during a Partie in progress; remarks on the course of play, hints and any other influence on the active players are forbidden.

Advising an active player is permitted only in the Pro Partie; the details are governed by section 5.3.

After each Partie the winner's winning streak increases by one; the loser's winning streak is reset to zero.

Pro may be announced by a player whose winning streak comprises at least two consecutive wins. The announcement is made before the next Partie begins. The player may play any number of further Parties before announcing Pro; without an announcement he wins the Partie in question in the ordinary way, but not the Bulka.

In addition to the base stake, the Pro player pays a further stake into the Bulka.

During the Pro Partie the non-playing players are permitted, by way of exception to section 4.4, to advise the defender. Misleading remarks are allowed as well; only cheating is forbidden, in particular looking at a player's cards.

The advisers have no authority to direct play: every card and every announcement is decided by the defender alone.

If the Pro player wins the Partie, he receives the entire Bulka; his winning streak is reset to zero.

If the Pro player loses, the opponent begins a new winning streak with one win.

If the Pro player wins the Partie, he then sits out and joins the back of the queue; the seats at the table are filled from the queue.

With four players his defeated opponent sits out as well, joining the queue immediately ahead of the Pro winner. The two longest-waiting players become active, and the one who has waited longest becomes dealer.

With three players only one waiting player is available; the defeated opponent therefore stays at the table, becomes dealer and plays against the player who had been sitting out.

If, on the other hand, the Pro player loses, the ordinary rotation applies: only the Pro player sits out, while the defender plays on as the new winner.

At the start of the Partie both active players pay the base stake of ten tokens into the Bulka.

Before play begins the players may agree on a multiple of this base stake; all payments and Stich bonuses then scale accordingly.

Both active players may shuffle the deck; the dealer shuffles last. The opponent then cuts.

Nine cards are dealt to each player in three packets of three cards each. The opponent receives the first packet.

The remaining eighteen cards are placed face down as a stack on the small plate; the bottom card of the stack lies face up.

The challenger opens the first Stich. Nine Stiche are played in total.

The leader plays a card; its suit is the suit led. In the first Stich the leader is the challenger, and in every further Stich the winner of the preceding Stich (section 8.4).

If the following player holds a card of the suit led, they must play a card of that suit. Where they hold several cards of the suit led, the choice is theirs.

There is no obligation to play higher or to win the Stich. If a player does not hold the suit led, they may play any card.

The highest card of the suit led wins the Stich; there is no trump. The winner of the Stich opens the next Stich.

A card once played is final. A correction is permitted only if the mistake is noticed before the opponent has played their card.

Breaches of the obligation to follow suit and comparable rule violations are penalised under Article 12.

Figura are announcements by which a player reveals information about their hand.

Mehrere Figura dürfen in derselben Partie kombiniert werden, sofern jede für sich die Bedingungen erfüllt — insbesondere können Ass-Ansage, Zwei-Figura und Blans nebeneinander angesagt werden.

When playing their first card, a player may announce a Figura of three or four cards of equal rank (Aces excepted — these are governed by section 9.1.3). The announcement takes the form “Könige für 6”, “Cavalle für 6”, “Buben für 6” or “Zweier für 10”, and with four cards of equal rank the form “Könige für 12”, “Cavalle für 12”, “Buben für 12” or “Zweier für 20”. Points and the opponent's payment:

Manko applies only to three-card Figura. When playing their second card the opponent may call “Manko?”; the announcer must then name the missing suit. For four-card Figura, Manko is excluded.

Beim Ausspielen seines ersten Asses darf ein Spieler den Besitz von drei oder vier Assen ansagen; die Ansage erfolgt in der Form „Asse für 30“ bzw. „Asse für 40“. Bis dahin darf er die Ansage zurückhalten; spielt er sein erstes Ass aus, ohne anzusagen, so ist die Ansage in dieser Partie für die jeweilige Anzahl Asse nicht mehr möglich. Punkte werden nur dann endgültig gutgeschrieben, wenn alle angesagten Asse ihren jeweiligen Stich gewinnen; andernfalls reduziert sich die Punktzahl auf den Mißerfolgswert. Verlorene Asse zählen unabhängig davon dem Stichgewinner als Kartenpunkte (Art. 11). Manko ist bei Ass-Ansagen ausgeschlossen.

Blans and Bianka are announcements that one's own hand does not contain certain high cards. They are announced by calling “Blans” or “Bianka”:

Blans is announced, like the other Figura, when the first card is played; a player who plays their first card without announcing can no longer announce Blans in that Partie. Bianka, by contrast, may be announced at any point during the Partie.

Other announcements that reveal no information about one's own hand.

Alifer is triggered automatically when the scores are level at the end of the Partie; besides that, the players may declare Alifer at any time by mutual consent.

On Alifer the Partie is replayed with the same dealer. The stake multiplier doubles; all payments from announcements and Stich bonuses scale accordingly. The point values (card, announcement and bonus points) remain unchanged.

Pro is the announcement of a player whose winning streak comprises at least two consecutive wins. The requirements, procedure and consequences are governed by Article 5.