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Frog (American card game)

January 01, 1970

This article is about the 3-player card game. For other uses, see Frog (disambiguation).

Frog, sometimes called solo sixty, is a trick-taking, card game for 3 players that is or was popular in southern USA and Mexico (where it is known as rana). It is a member of the German Tarok group of games that originate from an attempt to play the tarot card game of Grosstarock with non-tarot cards.

Frog
Hearts are trumps in Frog and Grand
OriginUnited States
TypeTrick-taking
FamilyGerman Tarok group
Players3–5 (3 active)
Cards36
DeckFrench
Rank (high→low)A 10 K Q J 9 - 6
PlayClockwise
Related games
German Tarok • Bavarian Tarock • Six-Bid • Tapp
Contracts: frog (pick-up), chico (simple solo) and grand (heart solo)

Background edit

Frog is an American derivative of the south German game of Tapp, with which it is almost identical[1] and which, in turn, descends from German Tarok (Deutschtarok). German Tarok was originally an adaptation of the Tarot card game, Grosstarock, to use standard 36-card German- packs. Later, French-suited cards were also used in Germany. Even the terminology is of German origin: frog being the equivalent of the Tarok bid, Frage (Bavarian: Froag), and 'blind' being a translation of the German word, Blinde, a skat or talon. The three bids of frog, chico and grand equate to the contracts in Tarok known as: Frage, Solo and Herzsolo.

The earliest rules for frog appear in the 1907 edition of Hoyle's Games.[2] Virtually identical rules appear in the 1908 edition of Foster's Complete Hoyle where it is also described as "a very popular game in Mexico, and seems to be an elementary form of Skat, which it resembles in many ways." Almost every American author follows Foster in speculating that frog is derived from Skat, however, as Dummett remarks, "this is, of course, a complete mistake." Moreover, there is no direct evidence that frog or Rana was ever played in Mexico; all the early sources are American.[1][3]

The variants of Solo or Slough, Straight Solo and Coeur d'Alene appear in the 1922 Official Rules before disappearing again only to resurface in Wood & Goddard (1938). Progressive Solo or Denver Progressive Solo appears in the 1924 Hoyle's Standard Games and is recorded sporadically into the 1960s. The only variant to attain real popularity is the elaboration known as Six Bid Solo which appeared alongside Progressive Solo in 1924 but whose rules are still published today along with frog itself.[a]

Rules edit

The rules of frog have varied little over time. The following are based on the 1909 edition of Foster's Complete Hoyle which describes it as a "very popular game in Mexico".[3]

Players edit

Three to five may play, but there are only ever three active players at one time. With four players, the dealer sits out; with five, cards are dealt to the two players on the left of the dealer and the one on the left. Deal and play are clockwise.

Cards edit

Frog is played with a pack of 36 cards, the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s being removed from a standard 52-card French-suited pack. The cards rank and score, as in most ace–ten games, as follows:

Rank A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 6
Value 11 10 4 3 2 –

Deal and auction edit

The first dealer is chosen by any desired method. The dealer deals a packet of 3 cards to each player, beginning with eldest hand to the left, then 3 face down on the table as the widow (or blind in British rules), and finally two rounds of 4 cards each, i.e. 3-(3)-4-4, so that each player has a hand of 11 cards.

Beginning with eldest, players may pass or bid for one of the following games:

Frog
Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips/point
 Frog Yes ♥ only x 1
Chico No ♣, ♠ or ♦ x 2
Grand No ♥ only x 4

There is one round of bidding, but a player who announced "Frog" and is outbid by "Chico" may immediately raise to "Grand"; otherwise must pass. The winner of the auction is called the "bidder"[b] and plays alone against the other two active players. The bidder may not play a higher contract than that which won the auction. In a Frog the bidder exposes the widow, picks it up and discards 3 cards, placing them face down to one side. In Chico and Grand, the widow is untouched.

Play edit

Eldest leads to the first trick. Players must follow suit if able; if unable to follow, they must trump if possible. There is no requirement to head the trick. The trick winner takes up the trick and lays it face down before leading to the next trick.

Scoring edit

Once the eleventh trick is played out, players count up their card points. For this purpose the widow belongs to the bidder. There are 120 points in the pack and the bidder must score at least 60 to win.[c] In Frog, he scores 1 chip for every point above 60 from each active player. Chico scores double, and Grand quadruple (see table above). If the bidder loses he pays the same rate to every player at the table. This means that if four or five play, the non-active players are also paid by a bidder who loses, but are not required to pay if the bidder wins.

Rule variations edit

Since the 1950s, most sources modify the pre-war rules slightly as follows:[d]

  • The dealer deals 4-(3)-3-4 cards instead of 3-(3)-4-4.
  • The widow is not exposed in a Frog

Variants edit

Solo or Slough edit

The 1922 Official Rules published a variant of Frog called Solo or Slough. There were changes to some of the contract names and values:[4]

Solo or Slough
Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips/point
 Frog Yes ♥ only x 1
Simple Solo No ♣, ♠ or ♦ x 2
Heart Solo No ♥ only x 3

Other differences were:

  • The number of possible players increased to seven
  • The cards were fanned face down; the player with the lowest chose whether to be dealer or eldest hand for the first deal
  • Cards were dealt singly, the 1st, 4th and 8th going to the widow which was called the slough
  • In a Frog, the slough was not exposed
  • Players started with 11 chips of one colour each worth 10, and 10 chips of another colour, each worth 1
  • The first player unable to pay for winnings lost the game
  • There were three systems for payments to or from non-active players:
    • They only received payments
    • They paid and received
    • They paid and received for a Solo, but only received for Frog
  • In a variation called Penalty Frog, the bidder paid the Heart Solo rate if a Frog contract was lost

Straight Solo edit

The same rules mentioned a Straight Solo in which the only change to the Solo/Slough rules above was that the Frog contract was omitted. In a Simple Solo contract, 1 chip was paid per point and 2 chips in a Heart Solo.[4]

Straight Solo
Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips/point
Simple Solo No ♣, ♠ or ♦ x 1
Heart Solo No ♥ only x 2

Coeur d'Alene Solo edit

The same rules introduced a variant called Coeur d'Alene Solo or simply Coeur d'Alene, this being the name of a town in Idaho. This was the same as Solo or Slough except that there were fixed payments for winning instead of point-based payments. Payments were in the ratio 1:2:3 e.g. 25¢ for Frog, 50¢ for Simple Solo and 75¢ for Heart Solo.[4]

Coeur d'Alene
Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Payment
 Frog Yes ♥ only 25¢
Simple Solo No ♣, ♠ or ♦ 50¢
Heart Solo No ♥ only 75¢

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ See, for example, Parlett (2008) and Beattie (2018).
  2. ^ Usually called the "declarer" or "soloist", but here "bidder" is used consistently.
  3. ^ A score of 60 is, in effect, a tie and no payments are made.
  4. ^ For example, Culbertson (1957), Goren's Hoyle (1961), Pennycook (1982) and Parlett (2008).

References edit

  1. ^ a b Dummett (1980), p. 570
  2. ^ Hoyle's Games (1907), pp. 241–242.
  3. ^ a b Foster (1909), pp. 441–442.
  4. ^ a b c Official Rules (1922), pp. 213–216

Literature edit

  • _ (1907). Hoyle's Games. NY: McClure.
  • _ (1922). Official Rules of Card Games. Cincinnati: USPC.
  • _ (1924). Hoyle's Standard Games. Cincinnati: USPC.
  • Beattie, Rob (2009). The Art of Playing Cards. NY: Quarto. ISBN 9780785836698
  • Culbertson, Ely (1957), Phillips, Hubert (ed.), Culbertson’s Card Games Complete, Watford: Argo
  • Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0715610147
  • Foster, R.F. (1909). Foster's Complete Hoyle. NY: F.A. Stokes.Southern
  • Goren, Charles (1961). Goren's Hoyle - Encyclopedia of Games. NY: Chancellor Hall, Ltd.
  • Parlett, David (2008), The Penguin Book of Card Games, London: Penguin, ISBN 978-0-141-03787-5
  • Pennycook, Andrew (1982). The Book of Card Games. London/NY: Grenada. ISBN 0246117567

January 01, 1970
frog, american, card, game, this, article, about, player, card, game, other, uses, frog, disambiguation, frog, sometimes, called, solo, sixty, trick, taking, card, game, players, that, popular, southern, mexico, where, known, rana, member, german, tarok, group. This article is about the 3 player card game For other uses see Frog disambiguation Frog sometimes called solo sixty is a trick taking card game for 3 players that is or was popular in southern USA and Mexico where it is known as rana It is a member of the German Tarok group of games that originate from an attempt to play the tarot card game of Grosstarock with non tarot cards FrogHearts are trumps in Frog and GrandOriginUnited StatesTypeTrick takingFamilyGerman Tarok groupPlayers3 5 3 active Cards36DeckFrenchRank high low A 10 K Q J 9 6PlayClockwiseRelated gamesGerman Tarok Bavarian Tarock Six Bid TappContracts frog pick up chico simple solo and grand heart solo Contents 1 Background 2 Rules 2 1 Players 2 2 Cards 2 3 Deal and auction 2 4 Play 2 5 Scoring 3 Rule variations 4 Variants 4 1 Solo or Slough 4 2 Straight Solo 4 3 Coeur d Alene Solo 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 LiteratureBackground editFrog is an American derivative of the south German game of Tapp with which it is almost identical 1 and which in turn descends from German Tarok Deutschtarok German Tarok was originally an adaptation of the Tarot card game Grosstarock to use standard 36 card German packs Later French suited cards were also used in Germany Even the terminology is of German origin frog being the equivalent of the Tarok bid Frage Bavarian Froag and blind being a translation of the German word Blinde a skat or talon The three bids of frog chico and grand equate to the contracts in Tarok known as Frage Solo and Herzsolo The earliest rules for frog appear in the 1907 edition of Hoyle s Games 2 Virtually identical rules appear in the 1908 edition of Foster s Complete Hoyle where it is also described as a very popular game in Mexico and seems to be an elementary form of Skat which it resembles in many ways Almost every American author follows Foster in speculating that frog is derived from Skat however as Dummett remarks this is of course a complete mistake Moreover there is no direct evidence that frog or Rana was ever played in Mexico all the early sources are American 1 3 The variants of Solo or Slough Straight Solo and Coeur d Alene appear in the 1922 Official Rules before disappearing again only to resurface in Wood amp Goddard 1938 Progressive Solo or Denver Progressive Solo appears in the 1924 Hoyle s Standard Games and is recorded sporadically into the 1960s The only variant to attain real popularity is the elaboration known as Six Bid Solo which appeared alongside Progressive Solo in 1924 but whose rules are still published today along with frog itself a Rules editThe rules of frog have varied little over time The following are based on the 1909 edition of Foster s Complete Hoyle which describes it as a very popular game in Mexico 3 Players edit Three to five may play but there are only ever three active players at one time With four players the dealer sits out with five cards are dealt to the two players on the left of the dealer and the one on the left Deal and play are clockwise Cards edit Frog is played with a pack of 36 cards the 2s 3s 4s and 5s being removed from a standard 52 card French suited pack The cards rank and score as in most ace ten games as follows Rank A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 6 Value 11 10 4 3 2 Deal and auction edit The first dealer is chosen by any desired method The dealer deals a packet of 3 cards to each player beginning with eldest hand to the left then 3 face down on the table as the widow or blind in British rules and finally two rounds of 4 cards each i e 3 3 4 4 so that each player has a hand of 11 cards Beginning with eldest players may pass or bid for one of the following games Frog Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips point nbsp Frog Yes only x 1 Chico No or x 2 Grand No only x 4 There is one round of bidding but a player who announced Frog and is outbid by Chico may immediately raise to Grand otherwise must pass The winner of the auction is called the bidder b and plays alone against the other two active players The bidder may not play a higher contract than that which won the auction In a Frog the bidder exposes the widow picks it up and discards 3 cards placing them face down to one side In Chico and Grand the widow is untouched Play edit Eldest leads to the first trick Players must follow suit if able if unable to follow they must trump if possible There is no requirement to head the trick The trick winner takes up the trick and lays it face down before leading to the next trick Scoring edit Once the eleventh trick is played out players count up their card points For this purpose the widow belongs to the bidder There are 120 points in the pack and the bidder must score at least 60 to win c In Frog he scores 1 chip for every point above 60 from each active player Chico scores double and Grand quadruple see table above If the bidder loses he pays the same rate to every player at the table This means that if four or five play the non active players are also paid by a bidder who loses but are not required to pay if the bidder wins Rule variations editSince the 1950s most sources modify the pre war rules slightly as follows d The dealer deals 4 3 3 4 cards instead of 3 3 4 4 The widow is not exposed in a FrogVariants editSolo or Slough edit The 1922 Official Rules published a variant of Frog called Solo or Slough There were changes to some of the contract names and values 4 Solo or Slough Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips point nbsp Frog Yes only x 1 Simple Solo No or x 2 Heart Solo No only x 3 Other differences were The number of possible players increased to seven The cards were fanned face down the player with the lowest chose whether to be dealer or eldest hand for the first deal Cards were dealt singly the 1st 4th and 8th going to the widow which was called the slough In a Frog the slough was not exposed Players started with 11 chips of one colour each worth 10 and 10 chips of another colour each worth 1 The first player unable to pay for winnings lost the game There were three systems for payments to or from non active players They only received payments They paid and received They paid and received for a Solo but only received for Frog In a variation called Penalty Frog the bidder paid the Heart Solo rate if a Frog contract was lost Straight Solo edit The same rules mentioned a Straight Solo in which the only change to the Solo Slough rules above was that the Frog contract was omitted In a Simple Solo contract 1 chip was paid per point and 2 chips in a Heart Solo 4 Straight Solo Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Chips point Simple Solo No or x 1 Heart Solo No only x 2 Coeur d Alene Solo edit The same rules introduced a variant called Coeur d Alene Solo or simply Coeur d Alene this being the name of a town in Idaho This was the same as Solo or Slough except that there were fixed payments for winning instead of point based payments Payments were in the ratio 1 2 3 e g 25 for Frog 50 for Simple Solo and 75 for Heart Solo 4 Coeur d Alene Name of contract Exchange with scat Suits Payment nbsp Frog Yes only 25 Simple Solo No or 50 Heart Solo No only 75 Footnotes edit See for example Parlett 2008 and Beattie 2018 Usually called the declarer or soloist but here bidder is used consistently A score of 60 is in effect a tie and no payments are made For example Culbertson 1957 Goren s Hoyle 1961 Pennycook 1982 and Parlett 2008 References edit a b Dummett 1980 p 570 Hoyle s Games 1907 pp 241 242 a b Foster 1909 pp 441 442 a b c Official Rules 1922 pp 213 216Literature edit 1907 Hoyle s Games NY McClure 1922 Official Rules of Card Games Cincinnati USPC 1924 Hoyle s Standard Games Cincinnati USPC Beattie Rob 2009 The Art of Playing Cards NY Quarto ISBN 9780785836698 Culbertson Ely 1957 Phillips Hubert ed Culbertson s Card Games Complete Watford Argo Dummett Michael 1980 The Game of Tarot London Duckworth ISBN 0715610147 Foster R F 1909 Foster s Complete Hoyle NY F A Stokes Southern Goren Charles 1961 Goren s Hoyle Encyclopedia of Games NY Chancellor Hall Ltd Parlett David 2008 The Penguin Book of Card Games London Penguin ISBN 978 0 141 03787 5 Pennycook Andrew 1982 The Book of Card Games London NY Grenada ISBN 0246117567 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frog American card game amp oldid 1222580806 Coeur d Alene Solo, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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