Welcome to Klaverjassen

One of the most popular and the most pleasantly addictive card games is klaverjassen. This game is played by two teams of two members each, sitting opposite each other. Klaverjassen is considered to be one of the trick-taking card games, and it uses a piquet deck (a pack of cards, which excludes four 6s).

The rules of klaverjassen are simple to learn fast and at the same time they provide a certain level of complexity, making the game really interesting. The main aim of each player is to score more. Considerably, the more suits you are able to follow, the more scores you have. As klaverjassen is played in pairs, the pair with the highest scores wins.

Despite the fact there are a lot of different variations of klaverjassen, core rules still remain the same, the differences are mostly about using trumps and scoring.

Going Back to Origins

Klaverjassen is a Dutch game, played throughout Netherlands not only at home but also at social clubs, pubs and cafes. The most amazing thing is klaverjassen is equally appreciated by all generations, being played by grandparents and their grandchildren.

What about the rules, each player has to follow the suit of cards played. As soon as he wins it, he scores certain amount of points. The points can be given just for winning the suit, or depending on the card, which won. These differences are referred to variations of the game. There are two main variations of klaverjassen, named Rotterdam and Amsterdam, due to the places of their development.

Step Forward to Change

However, as klaverjassen became national game, its rules are up to changing very frequently. As soon as there are players in a hurry, the amount of points to score to win is reduced. When the players have the entire evening of spare time, they increase the amount of points. Sometimes, you can even change the way of scoring points, for example, by making certain suits of cards more valuable than others. Mostly often, the first suit gets you 20 points, winning two or more suits one after another gives you additional points. It’s a good idea to make the last suit rewarding as well, increasing the mood of those who loses.

Thus, you get every member of klaverjassen satisfied and well-relaxed, helping each other to recover from the overloaded work week and deal with other problems.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.