NUMBER OF PLAYERS 3 to 8It’s hard to know if Toepen is more enjoyable played as a drinking game (all losing players must drink!) or as a low-stakes gambling game (all losing players must pay!).
NUMBER OF PLAYERS 3 to 8
HOW TO DEAL Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove all 2s through 6s, leaving thirty-two cards total. Card rankings are (high to low) 10, 9, 8, 7, A, K, Q, J. Deal each player four cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table.
All players start with an equal number of tokens or chips (10 is good for three to five players; 6 or 8 is better with six or more players). Players typically pay a small amount to “purchase” tokens, and the eventual game winner is awarded this buy-in money.
SCORING The goal is simply to win the last trick. Doing so means the losing players each forfeit one token to the pot. The game ends when all players but one run out of tokens. In knock games, all losing players must forfeit the number of knocks + 1 (e.g., if two players knock, you eventually lose three tokens).
HOW TO PLAY Any player dealt only aces, kings, queens, and jacks may throw the cards in and take four replacements from the deck. There’s a bluffing element here—you may attempt to exchange your hand even if it contains cards other than aces, kings, queens, and jacks. If nobody challenges, you’re in the clear. If you are challenged, you either forfeit a token for lying or the challenger forfeits a token for doubting your integrity. You keep the new hand either way.
After the exchange of cards, the player to the left of the dealer leads any card. Players must follow suit if possible. Tricks are won by the highest card in the leading suit. Trick winners lead the next trick. Scores are tallied after a player wins the fourth and final trick. The winner deals the next hand.
A player may knock once all players are dealt cards. Knocking increases point scores. In response to a knock, other players may fold (drop their cards on the table, face down) and forfeit a token, or accept the challenge and continue play. Traditionally, players must make a snap decision whether to fold or to stay—if players hesitate at all, they are in. If a player folds on the second knock, she must forfeit two tokens, and three tokens on the third knock, etc. There’s no limit to the number of knocks per hand; the only restriction is that the same player may not knock two times in a row. If a player knocks and all other players fold, the losing players forfeit their tokens as usual, and the winning player deals the next hand.