Sixty-six or 66 (), sometimes known as Paderbörnern, is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 24 cards. It is an ace–ten game where aces are high and tens rank second. It has been described as "one of the best two-handers ever devised".

Closely related games for various numbers of players are popular all over Europe and include Austria's national card game, Schnapsen, the Czech/Slovak Mariáš, Hungarian Ulti, Finnish Marjapussi and French Bezique. American pinochle also descends from this family. Together with the jack–nine family, these form the large king–queen family of games.

History

thumb|250px|upright|Plaque in [[Paderborn commemorating the purported first game of sixty-six in the pub at Eckkamp No. 66 1652. The pub no longer exists; the present address is Kamp 17]]

The ancestor of sixty-six is the German game of Mariage, which was first recorded in 1715 under the name Mariagen-Spiel "despite claims for its invention at Paderborn, Westphalia, in 1652". Although there is a commemorative plaque in Paderborn at Kamp 17 stating that the "world famous game of Sixty-Six was invented here in the pub at No. 66, Am Eckkamp in 1652", the conclusion of a 1960 investigation was that the story was probably a 19th century invention.

Sixty-six appeared in German card game compendia as a variant of Mariage around 1860, the main differences being that it was played with 24, not 32, cards, the bonuses for amour (holding the trump Ace and Ten in the hand) and whitewashing (taking all six last tricks) were dropped, and players could 'go out' on reaching 66 without playing to the end (whereupon the winner of the last trick won the game regardless). The last mentioned rule had been introduced to Mariage late in the day (for a score of 101 points).

In the Leipzig dialect, the game was known as Schnorps, Schnarps, Schnarpsen or Schnorpsen.

In 1901, sixty-six was reported to be one of the most popular penny ante games in the city of Pforzheim in Baden alongside Cego, Skat, Tapp and Tarrock (possibly Dreierles).

Sixty-six was widely played by Polish Americans in South Bend, Indiana, in the 1950s and '60s. There were regular tournaments and money games. Bidding was usually in Polish. There was a four-hand partnership game and a three-hand, "cut-throat" game involving seven cards per hand and a widow of three cards won by the first trick. Both were played to 15 points. In the 1970s and '80s, a more aggressive bidding approach was developed in familial games known as the Kromkowski style.

Schnapsen is considered a much tighter game than the 24-card version and is particularly popular in Austria and Hungary, where they sell specialized packs of cards called Schnapskarten specifically to play this game. It is regarded as a very strategic game, and articles and books have been written about winning strategy.

Four-handed and North American 66

North-American sixty-six is also a partnership game which uses a 24-card pack ranking 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace. A deck can be made with the cards 8 and below removed from a standard playing card deck. The game is played by two, three or four (in teams of two). Team members sit across from each other.

Scoring points

Each team gets a black 6 and a red 4, used for scoring. In Polish American communities of South Bend, Indiana, the game is played to 15, so a 7 and 8 are used for scoring. There are 30 points per suit, for a total of 120 points in the deck. Points are distributed amongst the cards as shown in the table.

In addition, points are awarded to players who have a marriage or meld. In order to get the points for the meld and marriage, the king or queen must be led (i.e. the first card played in the trick) and the other card must be in the same player's hand. It is not necessary to take the trick, just to lead. But the team may only count the meld if during the course of the hand they win at least one trick. The player must announce the marriage (as "40" or "20") when leading, otherwise the player does not receive the award. 40 points are awarded for a meld/marriage in trump, 20 points are awarded for a non-trump meld.

Points are kept in 33-point increments. Score is kept up to 10 points. Although, in money games and among certain playing communities the game has always traditionally been played to 15 points.

Bidding

The play to the left of the dealer initiates bidding. Bidding is done based on how many points the player thinks they will make in the hand. Each player either bids greater than the previous bid or passes. Each player bids or passes only once. The player who has the highest bid leads. Trump is determined by the first card played. Each tick on the scoresheet is 33 points. Bids are not additive: if your partner bids 1 and you bid 2, the bid for that hand is 2, not 3. Since bidding is based on number of points you want to take, bids equate to the following:

  • A bid of 1 is for 33 points – This can be fairly simple, since the player who gets the bid determines what trump is. If he has an Ace/Ten or Ace and two others in the same suit, a 1 bid may be safe. There are only 30 points per suit. If the player has a "marriage", he can lead that for 40 points, so he is always safe to bid 1 with a marriage.
  • A bid of 2 is for 66 points – This is slightly more than half the points in the deck. Rule-of-thumb – you should bid 2 when you have a marriage, because you already have 40 (you only need 26 more). Chances are that your partner will give you those points to reach your 2 bid.
  • A bid of 3 is for 99 points – This is tough, but with a trump marriage and strong trump, it is doable.
  • A bid of 4 is for 132 points – There are only 120 points in the deck, so this requires a meld to make it. Generally people do not bid 4.
  • A bid of 5 (also known as "moon" or "playing alone") – The partner's hand is placed face down and the partner does not play. Play is only between the 3 remaining players.

The bidding difficulty describes pre-1970s money games. Since then, innovations were made using aggressive bidding, notable in South Bend, Indiana.