User talk:Crellin/Klagg

The Game

Klagg is a trick-taking game played in numerous countries. This page is intended to document and clarify the rules and origins of the game. Klagg is a card game that is purported to have originated in the British Air Force. Klagg is a trick-taking game Similar to Hearts, Spades, and Bridge, Klagg is played with a trump suit. The trump suit changes for each hand and is determined by turning the next card in the deck after all the cards for each hand have been dealt. The game can be played by up to seven players; the optimal number of players is four.

Play

Players shuffle and deal as normal in card games. The game consists of three parts. First, there are seven rounds of normal play starting with one card per hand, increasing each round until each player receives seven cards. Second, the players play a series of variations on the game as discussed below. Third, the players play seven more normal rounds, starting with seven cards each hand and decreasing by one hand each round until the last round is played with one card.

Scoring

Players score according to what they bid. Players only earn points when they win the exact number of tricks they bid. Unlike Spades, winning more tricks than were bid results in no points for that player. The baseline for points is ten points when a player meets his bid. players receive two points for every trick they bid and meet above zero. I.e. a successful bid of zero tricks earns ten points, while a successful bid of three tricks earns sixteen points. Unsuccessful bids by any margin receive no points. Only in the Mizzaire rounds can a player receive negative points. Players do not bid in the Mizzaire round.

Special Rounds

After counting up from 1 card per hand to 7 cards per hand--and before counting down from 7 to 1--the players play six variations of the games. These special rounds include: No Trumps, Guess 'Em, Mizzaire (No Trumps), Mizzaire (Trumps), Blind, and Roll 'Em. All special rounds are played wtih seven cards.
1. No Trumps: The hand is played as normal except that there is no trump suit. Players bid as normal and the tricks are scored as normal.
2. Guess 'Em: The hand is dealt to each player, but each player must bid before the trump suit is determined.
3. Mizzaire (No Trumps): In this round, two points is deducted from a player's score for every trick he or she wins. If the player wins no tricks, that player receives ten points--each player is presumed to have bid zero. There is no trump suit for this first Mizzaire round.
4. Mizzaire (Trumps): The only difference in the Mizzaire (Trumps) round is that--not so surprisingly--the round is played with a trump suit as normal. Players do not bid and likewise as above are presumed to have bid zero.
5. Blind: In this special round, players must bid as to the number of tricks they will win without even looking at their cards or knowing the trump suit.
6. Roll 'Em: In this round, the players bid without looking at the seven cards dealt to them and then play the cards from the top of the pile.

Disagreements over the Rules

A disagreement exists as to whether a player loses two or three points for each trick won during the Mizzaire round of Klagg. The British version of the game deducts three points for each trick, while the Americanized version deducts two points for each trick. The debate is ongoing.

History

The game's origin can be traced to the Royal Air Force during WWII. The game is spelled "clag" in British circles and "Klagg" in American ones. The round of "Mizzaire" within the game appears to come from the term Misère used in other trick-taking games such as 500.