Wergin on Skat and Sheepshead - Softcover

Wergin, Joseph Petrus

9784871874649: Wergin on Skat and Sheepshead

Softcover

ISBN 10: 4871874648 ISBN 13: 9784871874649

Publisher: Ishi Press, 2012

Skat and Sheepshead are card games popular in Germany but not as well known in the United States. They are trick-taking games, bearing some similarities to bridge. Bridge players sometimes play these games as a pass-time. Both games are much older than bridge, with longer traditions. A great advantage to Skat is that it is played with only three players. Bridge players are often looking for a fourth, much as Diogenes was always searching for an honest man. Skat can be played until the fourth is finally found. Skat has its own cards. There are many different styles and varieties in the design of the cards, depending on where they are played. German cards are different from Italian or Swiss cards, for example. There are also many different rules, with changes and innovations frequently. Skat was first played with Tarot cards. It can also be played just as well with a regular deck of cards, but with all the cards from two-through-six removed, leaving a deck of only 32 cards. The cards are dealt with each player receiving 10 cards and the remaining two cards left in the middle. Then the players bid, with the winning bidder claiming the two cards in the middle. Tricks are played with two players teaming up to try to defeat the winning bidder.

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About the Author:

Joseph Petrus Wergin, author of Wergin on Skat and Sheapshead, was introduced to the game of Skat at 17 years of age by his father, John. Skat was a family tradition and Joe and his brother, Gary, developed and refined their Skat skills during hours of entertaining play in the Wergin home. They soon became accomplished players and successfully competed in State and National Tournaments. Teaching Skat to others has always been one of Wergin's favorite pastimes, second only to Tournament Competition. His first protege was Jennie Anderson who won many awards during her career, including fourth place in a National Tournament. Jennie became the leading woman Skat player in the United States and was soon known in Skat circles as the "Sweetheart of Skat". Joe and Jennie were married in 1940 and began a lifetime together of teaching, playing, and promoting Skat and Sheepshead throughout the world. In 1942, before_entering military service, Wergin published his first Skat textbook and begun to teach the game with even greater enthusiasm. He presented his knowledge of Skat and Sheepshead in municipal recreation programs, in high schools and for seven years at the University of Wisconsin. Wergin later launched his Skat promotion on an international level when he introduced the game to the country of Panama and to military personnel in the Canal Zone. In 1974, Wergin escorted a group of 14 American Skat Experts to Germany, the birthplace of Skat, to compete in the 75th Congress and Tournament of the German National Skatverbund. The organization presented him with a special plaque in recognition of his great great efforts on behalf of the master card game. Mr. Wergin (or "The Fox" as the Germans call him) is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Education. He worked several years as a high school football and basketball coach. One of his cherished projects is The National Skat and Sheepshead quarterly, which he has been publishing since 1964 and which has a large circulation in the U.S. and foreign countries. Writing articles on Skat is not new to Joe, as his first Skat column appeared in a daily newspaper, The Sheboygan Press, as early as the 1930is. Wergin has been active in Skat and Sheepshead organizations as President and Secretary of the North American Skat League, President of the Wisconsin Skat League, Secretary of the National Sheepshead and member of the National Rules Committee for Skat and Sheepshead.

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