Sedma
Encyclopedia
Sedma, Zsírozás or Şeptică is a Central Europe
an 4-card trick-and-draw game played by 4 four players in fixed partnerships with a 32-card piquet deck. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order. A trick is won by the last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led. Hola is a similar, slightly earlier game.
The games have been described as highly unusual members of the Ace–Ten family, immediately related only to the Finnish
card game known as Ristikontra
or Ristiklappi.
The game is played by four players in fixed partnerships, sitting crosswise. Normally a German-suited piquet deck is used, but as in Skat and other games played with this pack it can be replaced by a French-suited piquet deck consisting of the 32 cards of the ranks ace, king, queen, jack, ten and 7–9. The suits are irrelevant for this game, and the ranks are not ordered in a hierarchy. Aces and tens have card-point values of 10 points each, while all other cards have no card-point value. This schedule appears to be a simplification of the usual schedule in Ace–Ten card games used by Ristikontra. Together with the 10 points awarded for winning the last trick, there are 90 points in a deal. The object is to win more than half of them, i.e. at least 50 points.
Every player is dealt 4 cards. The remaining cards form a stock from which the players fill up their hands while it lasts.
Eldest hand leads any card to the first trick. The remaining players are completely free in which card to play to the trick. The last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led wins the trick, is the first to replenish his or her cards from the stock, and leads to the next trick. The sevens function as jokers, i.e. they replace they assume the rank of the first card in the trick. However, if a seven is led to a trick, it just represents a seven.
Each party simply scores the number of points they won, with a bonus of 80 points for hola (naked) if a party won all tricks. If dealer's party scored the majority of points (50 or more), dealer deals again. Otherwise deal passes to the next player. The game is played for 200–500 points.
For this game also some variations have been described.
for naked. The game of this name is played among Ukrainian Canadians, but is believed to be of Polish
origin. It has been estimated to date from around the middle of the 20th century, slightly earlier than Sedma.
Sedma and Şeptică are Czech
and Romanian
for seven and little seven, respectively (referring to the wild cards), and zsírozás is Hungarian
for to fatten (referring to the play of aces or tens into tricks). This game may have originated in Hungary
or Poland
and found its way to Czechoslovakia
in the middle of the 20th century or it may have come from Russia
It quickly became one of the most popular games in the country, together with the Crazy Eights
variant Prší and a game called Žolík.
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an 4-card trick-and-draw game played by 4 four players in fixed partnerships with a 32-card piquet deck. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order. A trick is won by the last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led. Hola is a similar, slightly earlier game.
The games have been described as highly unusual members of the Ace–Ten family, immediately related only to the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
card game known as Ristikontra
Ristikontra
Ristikontra or Ristiklappi, sometimes translated as Cross-clap, is a Finnish point-trick game for four players using a standard 52-card pack. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order...
or Ristiklappi.
Basic four-player rules
| Rank | A | 10 | K | Q | J | 9 | 8 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 10 | – | ||||||
Every player is dealt 4 cards. The remaining cards form a stock from which the players fill up their hands while it lasts.
Eldest hand leads any card to the first trick. The remaining players are completely free in which card to play to the trick. The last player to play a card of the same rank as the card led wins the trick, is the first to replenish his or her cards from the stock, and leads to the next trick. The sevens function as jokers, i.e. they replace they assume the rank of the first card in the trick. However, if a seven is led to a trick, it just represents a seven.
Variations
- Two can play without further adaptations. For three players two eights can be removed to make the number of cards divisible by three.
- In the four-player game all cards may be dealt, so that a hand is 8 cards and there is no stock.
- A party wins double if it makes the opponents bald by winning all card-points (or all 90 points in the game), and it wins triple if it makes them naked by winning all tricks.
- Especially in a two-player game, once all players have played to a trick, the player who led the first card may keep it alive for another round. To do this, the player must play another card of the same rank as the first card in the trick (or a seven). In an extreme case, a single multi-trick can last until all hand cards have been used up even though there may still be cards in the stock. Players only fill up their hands after the multi-trick is over. Rules differ as to whether a player may keep a trick alive when it is currently owned by his or her partner.
- Sevens function as trumps rather than jokers. Once a trick has been trumped, it can no longer be won by a regular card of the rank led. When playing with multi-tricks, a trumped trick can only be kept alive by another seven.
- In the four-player partnership game, communication between partners may be allowed so long as it consists only in one of the following four messages: take the trick, don't take it, fatten it (i.e. play an ace or ten), or don't fatten it.
- In Romania, the card-point value of aces and tens is 1, not 10.
Hola
This game is very similar to Sedma, but like its more distant relative Ristikontra it is played with a full deck of 52 French-suited cards. In addition to the sevens the twos are also jokers. The multi-trick system is different. The player who led to a trick may always decide to fight by leading to a new trick while the old one is still in the middle of the table. In this case the trick is kept in abeyance. This can be repeated until the players have no cards left. The new trick is won by matching the newly led card, but the winner also collects all the previous tricks that were held in abeyance.Each party simply scores the number of points they won, with a bonus of 80 points for hola (naked) if a party won all tricks. If dealer's party scored the majority of points (50 or more), dealer deals again. Otherwise deal passes to the next player. The game is played for 200–500 points.
For this game also some variations have been described.
- If one party wins a single trick (possibly part of a multi-trick) consisting of all four cards of one rank, then the opponent party is burned, i.e. they have their total score reset to zero.
- There is no bonus for hola. Instead, the opponents are burned.
- Two can play without further adaptations. Six can play in two teams, seated alternately. In this case two full packs are used.
- For three players, a three can be removed to make the number of cards divisible by three.
History
Hola is PolishPolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
for naked. The game of this name is played among Ukrainian Canadians, but is believed to be of Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
origin. It has been estimated to date from around the middle of the 20th century, slightly earlier than Sedma.
Sedma and Şeptică are Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
for seven and little seven, respectively (referring to the wild cards), and zsírozás is Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
for to fatten (referring to the play of aces or tens into tricks). This game may have originated in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
or Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and found its way to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in the middle of the 20th century or it may have come from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
It quickly became one of the most popular games in the country, together with the Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players. The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all the player's cards to a discard pile. The game is considered a pre-extension of Switch and Mau Mau, much favoured in schools during the 1970s.A standard 52-card deck is...
variant Prší and a game called Žolík.
External links
- Freeware four-player Hola game
- Online two-player Şeptică (in Romanian; requires JavaScript)