Kaiser (card game)

Kaiser
Typical score sheet from a game of Kaiser.
Origin Canadian Prairies
Alternative name(s) Three-Spot
Type Trick-taking
Players 4
Skill(s) required Memory, Tactics, Communication
Cards 32
Deck French
Play Clockwise
Card rank (highest to lowest) A K Q J 10 9 8 7 5 3
Random chance Medium
Related games
Euchre

Kaiser, or three-spot, is a trick-taking card game popular in the prairie provinces in Canada, especially Saskatchewan and parts of its neighbouring provinces. It is played with four players in two partnerships with a 32-card deck.


Origins

The origins of this game are a mystery and there seems to be no historical record (spoken or written) that justifies it being a solely Saskatchewan-area game. It is especially popular among Ukrainian communities, and was possibly brought to Canada by Ukrainian immigrants, although it is not now played in Ukraine.

Kaiser means "emperor", the ruler of Germany from 1871 to 1918. During the Second World War a game referred to as troika (Russian troĭka, from troe "three"; akin to Old English thrīe "three") and the English version, three-spot, was played by war veterans in particular. These games were known for their bidding and trumping and the three in particular. The highest bid in these games was called a kaiser bid (12 notrump). It is because of this that it was referred to as that “kaiser bidding game” and eventually just that kaiser game.

Dealing

Kaiser is played by four people: two teams of two players each. Unlike many card games, only 32 cards are used out of a normal 52-card deck. The deck contains the cards from eight to ace inclusively (8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace) for each suit. The other four cards are the seven of clubs, seven of diamonds, five of hearts and three of spades. All 32 cards are dealt out: eight to each player. The cards may be dealt in any order to any player at so long as each player ends up with eight cards.

Rule variations

Even though kaiser is a rare game, rules do vary between groups and between regions. Some variations on the popular rules include:

References