Letzter Stich♠

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A name that needs a rules label

Letzter Stich means “last trick” in German, a description used for different games rather than proof of a single inventor. This guide follows the German game printed in Noris’s game collection: taking the last trick is bad unless you take every trick. Online summaries sometimes describe the opposite objective with trumps. Do not combine those summaries with this no-trump game. A precise origin date is not established here.

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An eight-card hand for everyone

For 4 players use 32 cards: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 in every suit. For 3, remove all sevens and eights, leaving 24. Deal 4 cards each, then another 4, so everyone has 8. No stock, trump or exposed indicator exists. Rank high to low as listed. Give each player 5 counters, with an initially empty central pot. Choose the first dealer randomly; for this session rotate the deal clockwise after each hand.

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Follow suit without trumps

The player left of the dealer leads any card. Each other player contributes one clockwise. Follow the led suit if possible; otherwise discard any card. There is no obligation to beat a previous card. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick and its winner leads next. An off-suit ace cannot win. Keep won tricks distinguishable so an attempted sweep can be checked. Play until all 8 tricks are complete.

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The last trick costs a counter

The last-trick winner pays 1 counter into the pot, unless that player won all 8 tricks. A sweep instead earns 2 from the pot and no last-trick payment. To resolve a short pot without inventing chips, our announced session convention is to pay only what the pot contains, without debt. Earlier tricks have no individual score. The match ends when someone has no counters; most counters wins, tied leaders share. Do not distribute the remaining pot to change that result.

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A high off-suit card does not help

Last trick: A leads 9♠, B follows K♠, C has no spades and discards A♥, D follows Q♠. B takes the trick: K♠ beats both spades, and A♥ has no power outside its suit. If B did not take every earlier trick, B pays 1 into the pot. If B already took the previous 7 tricks, this is a sweep: B takes 2 from a sufficiently funded pot instead. The diagram is a final position, not a full opening hand.

← On a small screen, scroll the diagram horizontally. →

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Avoid a forced ending

Look ahead to the card you will keep for the last trick. A high card can be dangerous if you are forced to lead it, while winning the penultimate trick can lock you into that lead. Taking many early tricks is not a sweep unless you take every one. At the start agree the short-pot convention and counter-only play. The positive last-trick game with a trump indicator is a separate variant, not a mid-hand change.

Common questions