Calling the Twenty: The Three-Round Playalong

The Debrief

What three hands just taught you

The Call · Won

The Forehand and the Partner captured more than half of the deck’s Card Points.

No-Trump · Failed

Three sure no-trump winners were not enough to win a No-Trump alone.

Solo · Failed by One Card Point

The silent Pagat Ultimo still scored its Victory Point.

Victory Points per round
HandP1P2P3P4
Round 11001
Round 24044
Round 34414
Total9459

Player 1 and Player 4 share first place with 9 Victory Points each.

Calling the Twenty

All five contracts

You have now played three hands, the Call, a No-Trump and a Solo, and they cover the basics of the game. Calling the Twenty has five contracts. Here they are in one list to keep beside you when you play.

ContractVPWhat you must do
the Call1You hold it as the Forehand from the start and call a secret Partner, usually the holder of the XX. The Taroks are trumps, and the two of you need more than 44 of the 88 Card Points.
No-Trump / Farberl4You play alone, and the Taroks play as a plain suit. You need 45 Card Points.
Solo4You play alone, and the Taroks are trumps. You need 45 Card Points.
Valat / announced12You bid it like any other contract, then play alone with the Taroks as trumps and must win all ten tricks. If you lose even one, each Defender scores 12 instead.
Forehand only, after the other three all pass
Dodge Round / Trischaken5Everyone plays alone, with the Taroks as trumps. The player who captures the most Card Points loses and scores nothing; every other player scores 5.

A Declarer who plays alone and wins scores the value once; if that Declarer loses, each Defender scores it.

In the Dodge Round one more rule is added to those under Which card you may play, the Rising Rule: among the cards those rules allow, you must play one that beats the highest card in the trick whenever you can.

Bonuses and Announcements

Before the first card is led, a player who holds all three Trull cards, the Skus, the Moon and the Pagat, must say “Trull!” to declare it. At the same moment the holder of the Pagat may announce Pagat Ultimo, the promise to win the last trick with it. Each bonus is scored by every player on the side that earned it. In No-Trump only the Trull scores, and in the Dodge Round no bonus is scored.

Bonuses are scored regardless of who won the contract.

BonusVPWhen it scores
Trull, declared1One player holds the Skus, the Moon and the Pagat and declares it.
Pagat Ultimo, silent1The Pagat wins the last trick, and nobody announced it.
Pagat Ultimo, announced2The Pagat wins the last trick after its holder announced it.
Pagat Ultimo, failed2The announced Pagat is beaten in the last trick or played earlier; each player on the other side scores.
Surprise Valat6Your side wins all ten tricks without having bid Valat.

Calling the Twenty

More about the bidding

You have bid three hands now. Here is the one rule of the bidding that did not come up tonight, and the book’s advice on what to claim.

The hold

When another player names a contract, the Forehand may say “I hold” instead of bidding higher and takes that contract over; the other player must then bid higher or pass. Only the Forehand may hold. In hand two, Player 1 could have held Player 2’s No-Trump, and Player 2 would have had to name a Solo or pass.

Should you claim it?

This is a simple guide for beginners, to help you get started; with practice you will judge a hand by feel. Before you bid, score your hand: 1 for each Tarok below the XV, 2 for each Tarok from the XV up, and 1 for each King. Then read the table.

ContractClaim it when your hand has
the Calla count of 9 or more; the secret Partner brings the rest
No-Trumpfive sure no-trump winners, Kings and Queens with real length behind them, Taroks few or none
Soloa count of 12, the Skus and the XXI
Dodge Roundonly small cards, no big Taroks and no Kings, and the other three have all passed

Calling the Twenty

Notes for edge cases

You hold the XX yourself. In the Call you then call the highest Tarok below it that you lack, down to the XVI: holding the XX and the XIX, you call the XVIII. If you hold all five Taroks from the XX down to the XVI, nobody is left to call, and you must play a Solo instead.

Nobody bids. When the other three all pass, the Forehand may declare the Dodge Round instead of playing the Call, and then loses like anyone else who captures the most Card Points.

A tie in the Dodge Round. If two or more players tie for the most Card Points, all of them lose, and every other player scores 5 Victory Points.

Skus, Moon and Pagat in one trick. If the Skus, the Moon and the Pagat all fall in the same trick, the Pagat wins it.

Rule expansions and more variants are online on the Calling the Twenty page and in the Tarok Exploration Book, and many groups add house rules of their own.

Calling the Twenty

Your own hands

Now play a hand of your own with the same forty cards. The deal passes to the left: Player 1 shuffles, Player 3 cuts, and Player 1 deals five cards to each player, then five again, so Player 2 is the Forehand. Score it in the fourth block of the sheet, then carry the Totals to the second sheet. The evening ends with the round in which someone reaches 30 Victory Points; the highest total wins.

Calling the Twenty

Traditional Scoring

Most groups score Calling the Twenty the traditional way. This playalong uses Simplified Scoring because it makes the game easier to learn. In the traditional way the contract values stay the same, but the losers subtract them. Win the Call, and you and your Partner each add 1 Victory Point while each Defender subtracts 1 Victory Point.

When one player plays alone, that player wins or loses the value against each of the three Defenders: win a Solo worth 4 Victory Points and you add 12 Victory Points while each Defender subtracts 4 Victory Points; lose it and you subtract 12 Victory Points while each Defender adds 4 Victory Points. Bonuses are settled the same way, for the side that earned them. In the Dodge Round the loser settles with all three: minus 15 Victory Points, and each other player adds 5 Victory Points. The contracts are explained under All five contracts.

ContractTraditional value
the Call1
No-Trump4
Solo4
Dodge Round5
Valat12

Where next?

You can read the full rules in the Tarok Exploration Book, in the chapter Calling the Twenty, and the book has five more games. The full rules are also online. You can find more guided hands online.

The other five games

Tarok is a large family of games. The book teaches five more, which you can play with the same Alpine Tarok deck, and plenty more have their rules online, under all the games.

Calling the King
Four players play with all 54 cards, and the Declarer calls a King to find a secret Partner.
Slovenian Tarok
Three or four players play with all 54 cards. You win the contract you take in the bidding alone or with the player who holds the King you call.
Hungarian Tarokk
Four players play with 42 cards, and as tonight, the Declarer calls a Tarok to find a secret Partner.
Strawman
Two players play one against the other. Besides the hand, each player plays the face-up top cards of three piles, the Strawmen.
Dappen
Six to eight players play with all 54 cards. One player, the Dapper, plays alone against all the other players, who play together as one team.

You can find all the games in one place.

Calling the Twenty · beginner sheet

Download this sheetthe digital scorekeeper

Bonuses are scored regardless of who won the contract. Write your names on the lines under P1 to P4. On each hand’s top line, write the Declarer, the contract and any bonus announced before the first card. Write a 0, never a blank.

Keep exploring

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