What’s a Trump?
Which cards are trump — the Ober, the Unter, and the whole Herz suit.
The most important thing in Schafkopf — and the one beginners trip over most. After this lesson you’ll know which cards are trump (Trumpf) and which aren’t.
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Ober and Unter are always trump
In a normal game — a Sauspiel or a Solo — the four Ober and the four Unter (the top two ranks of trumps) are always trump, whatever suit is painted on them: a Schellen-Unter is not a Schellen, it’s a trump. On top of that come the remaining six Herz cards (Sau, Zehn, König, Neun, Acht, Sieben — ace, ten, king, nine, eight, seven). That makes 14 trumps in all.
14 trumps high to low
- Eichel-Ober
- Gras-Ober
- Herz-Ober
- Schellen-Ober
- Eichel-Unter
- Gras-Unter
- Herz-Unter
- Schellen-Unter
- Herz-Sau
- Herz-Zehn
- Herz-König
- Herz-Neun
- Herz-Acht
- Herz-Sieben
Every other card — Eichel, Gras and Schellen without their Ober and Unter — is “Farbe” (a plain suit). Those never beat a trump.
Ober over Unter, then the Herz
The Ober beat all Unter. And among the Ober, just like among the Unter, the order follows the suit: Eichel before Gras before Herz before Schellen. Below them come the remaining Herz.
Remember: the Eichel-Ober is the highest trump in the whole game, the Herz-Sieben the lowest. Everything else falls in between in that order.
Trump beats suit
Every card has one effective suit (wirksame Farbe) — either trump or its natural suit. In a Stich (trick) the winner is:
- If a trump is in it, the highest trump wins.
- If no trump is in it, the highest card of the suit that was led wins.
- A trump always beats a suit card — even if it’s only a Sieben and the suit card a Sau.