Rikken Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Rules

Rules

1. The game is played with 52 cards, divided over four suits ("kleuren"). The suit of hearts ("harten") is the "better suit" and ranks above the other suits.

2. Rikken is a game for four players. With five players, one player sits out ("stil") each deal.

3. The standard game is Rikken, in which the Rikker (the highest bidder) determines the trump suit ("troefkleur") and who his or her partner ("maat") is. The game is then played two against two. The Rikker and the maat must win at least 8 tricks together. The order of rank is Ace-King/Ace-Queen (Heer-Vrouw)/Dame-Jack (Boer)-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. Note: "Beter Rikken" (Better Rikken) is always in hearts.

4. The dealer (dealing goes clockwise) gathers the cards together. The cards may be shuffled, or lifted/cut/"heffen", at most once. Deal in 6/7 or 7/6 cards. Each player therefore receives 13 cards and holds them so that only that player can see them. It is also not permitted to look at the cards of other players during the game.

5. The player to the left of the dealer begins the bidding. If that player passes, he or she may not bid again.

6. In the bidding round, Rikken (8), Piek (1) and Misère (0) are the opening bids.

• When bidding Rikken or Beter Rikken, you must ask for a partner by naming an "ace of a suit" ("kleur-aas"). You may only ask for a "kleur-aas" of a suit that is not the trump suit and in which the bidder does not hold the ace.

  • Exceptions:
    • If you hold all the aces yourself, you must ask for a "kleur-koning" (suit king) as partner.
    • If you cannot ask for a "kleur-aas" because you hold no card of that suit, you may ask "blind" for the "kleur-aas". You make this clear by saying so when you lead a card that is turned face down at random. The asked-for ace must then be played on this card, which makes the partner known. After the trick the "blind card" must be shown.

• If everyone passes, the dealer (the last bidder) must choose one of the following two options:

  • Schoppen Mie (Schoppen Vrouw): You must make sure that you do NOT take the Queen of Spades (Schoppen Vrouw). In the first 3 tricks no spades may be played at all. After that, anything may be played. The player who holds the Queen of Spades (Mie) must play it, after the third trick, the first time that player cannot follow suit. Also make sure that you do not take the last trick, because that also costs you points. Scoring for Schoppen Mie: you pay -5 per player for taking the Schoppen Mie and -5 per player for taking the last trick. If you take both the last trick and the Queen of Spades, you pay -10 per player, so the maximum you pay is -30 (3 x -10).
  • Choose 1 or 5 tricks: You choose 1 or 5 tricks. The player who takes 1 or 5 tricks wins and receives 10 from each losing player. If you win alone, you receive 3 x +10. If you win with two, you receive 2 x +10. If you win with three, you receive 3 x +10 as printed. You are paid at most -30 (3 x -10) points if you are the only player who loses.

  Transcriber's note: the printed figure for winning with three ("3x+10") is shown exactly as in the official text. Read against the two other cases, it may be a misprint, since with three winners and one loser each winner would collect 1 x +10. The printed figure has not been corrected here.

7. During the opening bids a raise (higher bid) may be made, such as "Beter Rikken" above Rikken, "8 alleen" (8 alone) above (Better) Rikken, "9 alleen" (9 alone) above Piek, "10 alleen" (10 alone) above Misère, and so on (see the scoring sheet). Only those who have made a bid or raise may respond to a new (higher) bid. Each raise may be made by one step of one bid at a time. For example, "9 alleen" may only be bid after an opponent has bid "8 alleen". This also applies to the game variants Piek and Misère. "Open" goes over that, and "open met een praatje" (open with talking) goes over that again.

8. When the bidding is complete, the game begins with the lead ("uitkomer"). The uitkomer is the player who leads first after the deal, or the player who leads after winning a trick, or the player who must lead in the case of "open pieken" (open Piek).

• If the uitkomer leads a suit, everyone must play that suit (follow suit), unless a player does not have that suit. That player may then play a suit or card of their choice. This of course also applies to the trump suit.
• If the uitkomer leads with the suit of the asked-for ace on the table, the asked-for ace (or king) must be played.

9. If a Rikken round is lost ("8-Rikken"), the Rikker pays alone. The maat receives 0 points.

10. Special games in addition to Rikken and Beter Rikken (hearts are trump and rank above the other suits):

• Alleen Rikken (Solo), also called solo: Rikken, but without a maat. This may only be bid if at least one Rikken has been bid. For solo 13 (13 alone), trump must be made and the uitkomer leads.
• Piek: Take 1 trick. The bidder must take exactly 1 trick in this game. After a Piek has been bid, the other players who have not yet passed may also bid it and so "meepieken" (Piek along). As soon as the "pieker/piekers" take more than 1 trick, the game ends immediately.
• Misère: Take 0 tricks. After a Misère has been bid, the other players who have not yet passed may also bid it and so play Misère along. As soon as the "misèrder/misèrders" take 1 trick, the game ends immediately.
• Open Pieken and Open Misère (both with and without "praatje", talking) are only played at the offline Rikkampioenschappen (championships). Further explanation: see point 12.

11. "Troela" (the mandatory or optional declaration of holding 3 or 4 aces) is not played during championships.

12. The following games are not played at the online championships and the hybrid finals:

• Open Pieken (without "praatje"): The bidder in Open Pieken leads himself or herself and lays his or her cards face up after the 5th card. If there are two Open Piekers, the first bidder leads first. The second Open Pieker then leads. After the 9th card (by the second Open Pieker), only the two Open Piekers lay their cards face up. Nothing may be communicated verbally or non-verbally about the game.
• Open Misère (without "praatje"): The "Open Misèrder" decides who leads. After the 5th card, only the Open Misèrder lays his or her cards face up on the table. Of course, nothing may be communicated verbally or non-verbally about the game here either.
• Open Piek (with "praatje") and Open Misère (with "praatje") are handled in the same way as described above. After the cards have been laid face up, the players may communicate openly with each other.

We wish every player a pleasant day with lots of card fun.