The Wenz
Only the Unter are trump — one against three.
The Wenz is a solo game: one against three. And the special thing — there is no trump suit. Only the four Unter are trump, nothing else. Everything else is plain suit.
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Only the Unter win
In a Wenz only the four Unter are trump — no more. No Ober, no Herz, no suit is trump. The Unter among themselves go by the suit order: Eichel above Gras above Herz above Schellen.
4 trumps that’s all there is in a Wenz
- Eichel-Unter
- Gras-Unter
- Herz-Unter
- Schellen-Unter
For comparison: in a Sauspiel there were 14 trumps. In a Wenz just four — so here every Unter counts all the more.
Watch out: the Ober is only a suit card
This is the big trap in a Wenz: the Ober is not trump! It’s an ordinary suit card — and within its suit it stands below the König. The order within a suit in a Wenz is: Sau, Zehn, König, Ober, Neun, Acht, Sieben.
Remember: your fine Eichel-Ober wins a trick only if nobody lays an Unter or a higher Eichel on top.
The Wenz plays alone
Whoever announces the Wenz plays all alone against the other three — no called Sau, no hidden partner. The other three automatically hold together against the Wenz player.
Because the Wenz stands alone and has only four trumps, it’s dearer than a Sauspiel — more on that in the settlement.
The Geier
The Geier is the very same game with the other honour: here only the four Ober are trump. And the trap flips with it — in a Geier it is the Unter that drops into its suit, below the König.
Watch out: in a Wenz the Ober falls into the suit; in a Geier the Unter does. That is the easiest pair in the game to swap. In the ranking the Wenz sits above the Geier.