Alkort

Players and equipment

Alkort is a trick-taking game for four, played in two fixed partnerships — you and the player sitting across from you share a side for the whole match, and nothing in the play ever moves you to a different partner.

Build the pack from an ordinary 52-card deck with every 10 and every 5 taken out, leaving 44 cards. Alkort's ranking depends on exactly those ranks being in play, so a stray ten or five left in by mistake throws the whole order off.

Cut for partners and for the deal, the way you would for Bridge or Whist.

The deal

Deal nine cards to each player, in batches of three, going clockwise. The eight cards left over go face down in the middle as the stock, and nobody looks at them unless one particular rule calls for it.

Look at your hand before play starts. If you hold nothing that could beat a low eight — the 8 of hearts, diamonds or clubs — were one led against you, you may show your whole hand to the table to prove it, discard every card but one, and take the eight-card stock in its place. That is the only way the stock is ever touched.

Before the first card is led, you and your partner show each other your highest card, so you each know roughly what the other is sitting on.

Play

Alkort's ranking is nothing like an ordinary pack's, and learning it is most of learning the game.

King of diamonds

top

highest in the pack, except when a seven is led

2 of hearts, 4 of clubs, 8 of spades, 9 of hearts, 9 of diamonds

high

the next five, in this order

The four aces

high

next tier down

The four jacks

high

next tier down

The four sixes, called the posts

middling

next tier down

The 8 of hearts, 8 of diamonds and 8 of clubs, the low eights

middling

next tier down

Every other card — every king but the king of diamonds, every queen, and the twos, threes, fours and nines not already named — is rubbish. A rubbish card that is led wins the trick outright if the other three players also follow with rubbish; nobody beats nothing with nothing, except for one wrinkle. A king that is not the king of diamonds, or a queen, is the weakest of the rubbish: a two beats a led king and a two or three beats a led queen, as long as nobody else at the trick has played anything above rubbish.

Sevens stand apart. Led, a seven cannot be beaten by anything in the pack, the king of diamonds included. Followed, a seven cannot beat anything — it loses to every other card, rubbish included. You may not lead a seven until your side has already won a trick.

Forehand leads to the first trick and the others play to it in turn, clockwise; whoever wins a trick leads to the next. The highest card by Alkort's own order wins the trick; if two cards of equal rank tie for highest — two jacks, two aces, or two pieces of rubbish — the one played earlier to the trick wins.

Scoring

A deal's worth is read off the pattern of who won the tricks, not just the final split. Most tables play all nine tricks; once a side has five and its opponents have broken the run, nothing later can change the score, so stopping there is fine too.

Plain win

1

five or more tricks, but not the first five in a row

Múk

5

the first five tricks, all in a row, with the other side on none

Stroke

6 to 9

more than five in a row from the very start, the other side still on none

A stroke scores one point for every trick in the unanswered run — a 6-card stroke is six points, and a 9-card stroke, the whole deal, is nine. Once both sides have won at least one trick inside the first five, nobody can múk or stroke that deal any more, and whichever side ends the nine tricks with five or more simply takes a plain win, worth one point however the rest split.

Add the deal's points to that side's running score on the sheet. SquareScores deals nothing and sees no trick — you enter the points a deal was worth under your side's column and 0 under the other side's. The match ends the moment a side's total reaches the line; End match, which is any member's to tap, is what banks it.

A worked deal

Your side leads first and wins the opening five tricks outright — already a múk, worth five points if the deal stopped there.

Tricks 1 to 5

múk secured

your side wins all five, unanswered

Trick 6

stroke: 6

your side wins again, still unanswered

Trick 7

stroke locked

the other side wins its first trick of the deal

Tricks 8 to 9

no change

split, one apiece

Deal result

6 points

a six-card stroke to your side

Six points go under your side's column. Had the other side instead won trick 5 rather than trick 7, your side's run would have stopped at four — short of a múk — and even winning every remaining trick in the deal would have scored only a plain win, worth one point.

Ending

The match ends the moment a side's running total reaches the target. Bank it with End match, which is any member's to tap, not only the side that crossed the line.

Defend the first five tricks above all

The whole value of a deal turns on whether the other side wins any of the first five tricks, not on who wins the deal overall. A side that is going to lose the deal anyway should still throw everything at winning one early trick, because stopping a múk costs you nothing you were going to keep, and stopping it is worth far more than the trick itself.

Don't lead rubbish you can't afford to win

Leading a card you think is rubbish can backfire if everyone else is also stuck with rubbish — you win the trick outright, whether you wanted it or not. Save a genuinely low card, like a king that isn't the king of diamonds, for when you need to lose a trick on purpose rather than win one you'd rather give away.

Hold a seven until you've won something

You can't lead a seven before your side has taken a trick, and it is rarely wise to even once you can, because a seven only wins when it is led — following with one is wasted. Keep it in hand as insurance: once your side has won a trick, a led seven cannot be beaten by anything in the pack, not even the king of diamonds.

Signal honestly with your highest card

Showing your partner your highest card before play starts is the only information you are given, so use it. If your partner's highest card is a low eight or worse, they are unlikely to win many tricks unassisted, and you should lead to protect the first five rather than attack.

Think twice before swapping for the stock

Trading your hand for the stock is tempting when you have nothing above a low eight, but the stock is unseen — you could be swapping a weak hand for a worse one. It is safest when you are nearly certain your hand as dealt cannot win a single trick.

2-man Alkort

The old descriptions of Alkort mention a two-handed version alongside the four-handed partnership game described here, calling it "very similar" without spelling out its deal or its stock. Treat it as a different game from the one scored here rather than guessing at the four-handed rules simply halved — launch it as its own table once your group has agreed how the pack and the stock split for two.

A longer or shorter target

Nothing in the old descriptions of Alkort fixes how many points win the match, and tables differ: some race to a short line, others play a long sitting. Set the target on the sheet to whatever your table agrees before the first card is dealt — a stroke worth up to nine points can end a short race in one deal, so a higher target leaves more room for a bad deal to be clawed back.

How many points do you need to win Alkort?

There is no fixed target in the old descriptions of Alkort — tables agree their own line before dealing, and the sheet starts at 11 and lets your host move it. One stroke can be most of a short race, while plain wins at a point apiece make it a long one; a higher line gives a run of bad deals more room to be clawed back.

What is a "múk" in Alkort?

A múk is winning the first five tricks of a deal in a row, with the other side still on none — it scores five points rather than the one point an ordinary win is worth. It only counts if the run starts from the very first trick of the deal; winning five tricks spread across the deal, with the other side having already won one, is a plain win instead.

What is a "stroke" in Alkort?

A stroke is a múk that keeps going: your side wins six, seven, eight, or even all nine tricks in a row from the start of the deal, with the other side never once getting one. It scores as many points as tricks taken in the run, so a 9-card stroke — the whole deal, unanswered — is worth nine points, the richest single deal in the game.

How many cards are dealt in Alkort?

Nine cards to each of the four players, dealt three at a time, out of a 44-card pack with every ten and every five removed. The eight cards left over sit face down as the stock, used only by a player whose hand has nothing capable of beating a low eight.

Can you play Alkort with two people?

The old descriptions mention a two-handed Alkort alongside the four-handed partnership game described here, but they do not spell out its deal or its stock, only that it is "very similar." Treat it as a different game from the one scored here rather than guessing at the four-handed rules halved.

Why can't you lead a seven at the start of a deal?

Because a led seven cannot be beaten by anything in the pack, including the king of diamonds, so forehand could take the first trick of every deal for nothing. Every later leader has just won a trick, so in practice the rule only stops a seven being led to the very first trick.

Why would you ever swap your hand for the stock?

Because a hand with nothing that could beat a low eight will rarely take a trick except by luck, and the stock — eight unseen cards nobody has looked at — gives you a chance at something better. It costs you your whole hand but one card, so it is a gamble for a player who expects to lose almost every trick anyway.