The Basics
How a round gets set up — shuffle, cut, deal.
Before any cards are played, the deck gets shuffled, cut, and dealt. A few simple steps — then you’re off. Here you’ll learn how a round of Schafkopf is set up.
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Four players, forty-eight… no, 32 cards
Schafkopf is played by four, going clockwise. You play with the langes Blatt (the long, 32-card deck) — 32 cards in the four suits Eichel, Gras, Herz, Schellen (acorns, leaves, hearts, bells), each running from the Sau (ace) down to the Sieben (seven). Every player gets 8 cards in hand.
8 cards
The player right of the dealer cuts
One player is the Geber (dealer) — they shuffle the deck well. Then the player to the dealer’s right cuts: they lift part of the stack off and set it underneath. They must lift at least three cards and also leave three underneath.
Cutting isn’t a hassle — it just makes sure nobody knows where which cards ended up.
Two rounds of four
The dealer deals — in two rounds of four cards each (4 + 4). First everyone gets four, then four more. That’s eight per player, and all 32 cards are handed out.
Left of the dealer leads off
Play starts to the left of the dealer: that player announces first (a Sauspiel — the called-ace partner game — a Solo… or Weiter, meaning pass) and also leads the first Stich (trick). After each game the deal moves one seat on — so everyone gets a turn.