Scat Card game is one of the various types of card games that is also known popularly as Blitz or 31. However, do not confuse this one with games like Dutch Blitz, Skat, Baking game 31, etc. for resemblance in the name.
- Skat is German national card game which has no relation with this game.
- While German 31 (Schwimmen, Schnauz or Hosen ‘runter) is similar to this german game but in this, cards are exchanged central pool of three cards unlike the draw and discard mechanism.
- Greek banking game 31, the object is to draw cards that add up to as close to 31 as possible without passing them.
- Aim of Scat Card Game – To Collect cards of a one suit totaling hand value 31 or as close to 31 as possible.
- Total Number of Players – 2-9 players
- Number of Cards – standard 52 Deck playing cards
- Game Type – Draw and Discard game
- Game Audience – All Ages
Contents
How to Deal?
- The players can choose the dealer among themselves and the turn passes clockwise. (Deal determine the first dealer).
- Or usually the player to dealer’s left begins the game in clockwise manner.
- The cards are shuffle and the dealer passes them one at a time to each player, starting from the left. This is continued until each player gets 3 cards.
- The normal turn consists of drawing the top card of the discard pile is flipped and this becomes the discard pile. This discard pile is kept visible.
- During the game, the discard pile is always kept “squared up” so that only the top card is visible and available to choose from.
- If a player draws a card from the discard pile, they cannot discard the same card on the same turn.
How to play game?
- Player to the left of the dealer begins the game and the game proceeds clockwise.
- On their turn, a player can draw a card from the discard pile and discard a single card.
- No players are allowed to draw the top card from the discard pile and then discard it right away. However, you can discard the cards from the top of the deck in that turn itself.
Related keywords: player decides, scoring hands, same card, minimum score
Knocking
A player can knock when they believe that their hand is high enough to beat at least one of their opponents. When a player knocks, their turn ends and their current hand is kept the same or hand unchanged.
And when the player to the right of the knocker discards, the other players reveal their cards. Scoring is done by determining which is the ‘point suit’ and totaling up the cards’ value in that same suit.
Player with the lowest hand loses a life. A tie involving the knocker and other player results in loss of life of that player only.
Who Winds Scat Card Game?
The Player Calling 31.
When a player reaches the score of 31 either after draw and discard or with the cards originally dealt, players reveal their cards immediately and claim victory. The rest of the players lose. The game continues until one player becomes the loser.
On an occasion where two or more players get 31 on their inital deal, every player except the ones with 31 lose.
Scoring
A hand comprises of 3 cards. Players can add up 3 cards of the same suit to get the score. The game is played with all players having 3 pennies. When a player loses their life, they have to put one penny in the kitty.
On the contrary, if a player calls 31, all the other players have to put a penny in the kitty. And as you might have understood by now, if you run out of your pennies, you are out of the game.
This is how the game ends and the player who remains, wins scat card game.
- Ace = 11 Points
- King = 10 points
- Queen = 10 Points
- Jack = 10 Points
- Number cards = Face Value
Related keywords: two ten point cards, same suit, single suit
Variations
Just like any other game, the Scat Card game too comes with variations that can be fun to play by tweaking the original game. Here are some of the most popular scat variations –
- Straight Flush – This game counts for 30 points but except for A-K-Q which is 31 points.
- Three of a Kind – This game counts for 30 points.
- Throw Down – Players can call a throw down without looking at their cards and expose their hands. The rest of the players have to follow suit.
- Minimum Knock Score – This game counts for 17-21.
Some play that in the event of a tie between a Knocker and one or more players, the Knocker loses two lives while the other tied players lose one life. If a player declares 31 after hitting, the player is safe at 31, the hitter loses two life, and the other players lose one life each. With this variant it is possible for all remaining players to lose their last life at the same time. In this case, those players play another hand (in which everyone plays in their honor / county) to break the tie.
Some people play that if there is a tie with the knocker, only the knocker loses. While some bet that a knocker with the lowest score loses only one life, not two.
Knocking under the gun: In this variant, the very first player who is at the dealer’s left has an option say “Hammer” instead of drawing directly. Here, everyone must reveal their cards, no one can draw a card and the hand is scored exactly as a knock. If the first player who is called to expose their card has cards with lowest hand value then they lose two lives. If not, player with lowest score loses one life. If someone is lucky enough to get 31, all other players lose a life. Obviously, this round of play takes very little time, which speeds up the game.
Cadillac: This game variant has been described by Kate Hamilton where every player starts with four nickels. The player who loses a life has to pay a nickel to the pot. However, when a player who has no nickels is poor and a player who loses a life when poor is out of the game. In case, the knocker in the game ties with one more players due to lowest hand then the knocker ends up losing two lives while others don’t. “Cadillac” is declared when a player’s hand value becomes 31, after declaring rest of the players loses their lives. In this, there few special cases which need to be called out like “Grand Cadillac” worth 33 points. It is declared the same way when someone has three aces and its mechanism is same as cadillac.
Gin: Angie Barry described a variant called GIN where a hit is a promise to get the highest score. All three lives are represented by the letters in the word “gin” and a player who has all three letters is out of the game. Once knock is done, other player gets their turn and plays. If the knocker’s hand is the highest one or it is equal to highest then every other player excpet knocker, gets a letter. And if another player has the highest value then knocker will get a letter. That is how this variant works.
Ride The Bus: Ride the Bus variant has another way to track wins and losses. All the players begin to “sit” in the back of the bus. Players who lose a hand advance in a sequence. The order of a player in this bus is usually like: First you start from the back of the bus, then move to middle of the bus, after that in the front, then stairs & at last you get off the bus. The players who get off the bus are considered not to be riding the bus. Hence, they are removed from the game. If you win a hand, hold your position; You don’t take a step back when you win a hand.
The scoring system of this variant is quite flexible and somewhat different method as one can modify it according to number of hands players want to play. Since this game is very informal, this usually happens in the middle of the game by mutual agreement of all the players. For example, if a player is standing on the stairs and about to get off the bus, other players can mutually decide and declare that “player on second step” or “asking driver to stop the bus”. This is usually done when players are having fun & want to continue playing. This can be played free online.
Eric Kent Suggests The Game Might Be Better When Played With 3 Players.
A French-Canadian version of 31 in which after one player hits and everyone else has their turn, the player with the highest score receives a point. In the event of a tie, the player who did not knock wins. If there is a situation where there is tie between two players who have not knocked yet. gets one point. A player who makes 31 & declares scores a point immediately. This game apparently is continued until 31 is scored by a player as it is the maximum hand value.
There is another version of this which is described by Jeffrey Jacobs in which players can not knock unless they have three cards belonging to the same suit.
Mike Armstrong describes a slightly different version of 31 with a golf-like game mechanism. Here, every player receives 3 cards in face down manner and players can not look at the cards. The next card is dealt face up to start the discard pile, and the remaining undealt cards are stacked face down as a reserve.
- Take the top card from the discard pile or draw pile and place it face up instead of one of your (unknown) cards face down. The replaced card is discarded face up.
- Draw the top card from the deck, look at it, then
- You need to place this card face up in place of a face down card of yours
- Discard the drawn card face up and reveal one of your cards face down present in the draw pile.
That was it all about Scat card game. Hope you found the above article of use as well as have so much fun playing it. In case you have any related questions about this draw and discard game, feel free to ask us in the comment section below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
