Ulti

National Hungary card game

Ulti, or Ultimó, is Hungary's national trick taking card game for three players. It is virtually unknown outside its home borders.

Its name derives from the winning of the last trick with the lowest trump, a feature derived from several games like Trappola and Tapp Tarock played in Central Europe and in the former Austro Hungarian empire, though the game as a whole is probably a further development of Mariaš, first mentioned in Hungary in 1787 and first described in 1883 as suggested by its alternative title Talonmariaš, described as "ultimáriás" by G. J. Potter in 1930. All games ultimately derive from the old French game of Mariage.

It is important to note that the rules of the game are not universal, and typically every group of players will have their own set of rules that they agree upon. When people play together for the first time, it often takes considerable amount of time until they can agree on a rule set that is played. Some rules can significantly alter the strategy (see references for a different set of rules from what is described below).

Three players use a 32 card pack, with cards normally ranking in descending order Ace X King Over Under IX VIII VII. The first dealer is chosen by any agreed means and thereafter the turn to deal and play passes to the right. The dealer deals a batch of five cards to each player, seven to the first player on their right, and then another batch of five cards to each of the players.

Each game starts with an auction. The highest bidder becomes the soloist and plays alone against the other two with an objective to fulfill whatever contract they bid for. In trump games, Aces and Tens captured in tricks worth 10 points each, and winning the last trick is worth a further 10, making a possible total of 90. In addition, declaring a marriage (King and Over of the same suit) scores 20, or 40 in trumps, bringing the maximum possible total to 190. Ties are not possible because of the extra 10 points for the last trick. In no trump contracts, card points and marriages do not count, and cards rank from top to bottom A K O U X IX VIII VII.

The auction is conducted in an unusual way which is virtually unique to Ulti. The player on the right of the dealer gets two extra cards. They are obliged to select two cards from their hand, place them face down on the table without showing them, and make a bid. The two facedown cards are called the talon. Thereafter, each player may pass or else pick up the talon and bid. Passing does not prevent the calling player from bidding again. The calling player may pick up the talon again if the other two players pass. A player who takes the talon must make a higher bid than the previous one, then lay any two cards face down on the table to re form the talon. This continues until all players pass (including the highest bidder) after which the calling player announces the trump unless the game is "plain" or "Hearts", and the other two players become the defending team. Card points in the talon count against the calling player whenever the simple game's score is involved. All doubling takes place after the end of bidding and before the end of the first trick. In a specific variation of the game, bidding takes place in two rounds. In the first round, each player gets five cards. The player on the right of the dealer bids first with all other players entitled to bid, counter clockwise. They should either pass or announce a higher bid, keeping in mind that the value of all bids (and doubles) are twice as high in the first round as normally. Whichever player wins the first round auction gets two extra cards from the dealer, then each player beginning from the player on the right of the dealer gets five more cards. The player who won the first round of the auction selects two cards and places them face down, confirming their first round bid or raising it, but with the same trump suit and the multiplier reduced to one. After this, bidding continues like in the normal game. It should be stressed that in this version the winning bid from the first round (including its value) remains valid in the second round, until someone else (or the caller themselves) announces a higher bid.

The calling player leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Suit must be followed, and if possible, the played card must be of higher value than what it is in the current trick. If following the suit is not possible, trump must be played. If neither playing the lead suit, nor playing trump is possible, any card may be played. The player who plays the highest card (any trump is higher than any card of any other suit) wins the trick and leads the next trick. In a trump game, any player having a marriage to declare must do so upon playing to the first trick, or the marriage cannot be claimed later. All marriages called by the defending team count towards their collective score. In a hundred game, the calling player may declare only the marriage whose value they stated when bidding. In an Ulti game, the calling player may not lead or play the trump Seven before the last trick, unless forced by the rules of play.

For winning, the calling player receives the stated amount from each opponent; for losing, they pay it to each opponent, therefore when the calling player wins, each member of the defending team loses one unit of points, totaling two units gained for the calling player; but when losing, the calling player loses two units of their points, one to each opponent. If written scores are kept, it is sufficient to add or subtract the value from the calling player's points alone but recommended to note all players' scores. In Hungary, the game is usually played with real bets, but because the smallest value coin in the country is 5 forints, the game is played with a unit of 10 forints per point. In this case, points are not kept on paper; instead, money is paid after each game.

Silent bidApplied in bids ofWinning conditionsLosing conditionsSingle valueSilent 100Simple, Ulti, Four AcesThe calling player ends the game with a score of at least 100. The defending team ends the game with a score of at least 100.2Silent Four AcesSimple, 40 100, Ulti, 20 100The calling player wins all tricks in which Aces are played. One player of the defending team wins all tricks in which Aces are played.2Silent UltiSimple, 40 100, Four Aces, 20 100The calling player wins the last trick with the Seven of trumps. The defending team wins the last trick where the calling player plays the Seven of trumps.2Silent DurchSimple, 40 100, Ulti, 20 100The calling player wins all tricks. One player of the defending team wins all tricks.3 (Simple 4)

When the winning conditions are fulfilled, the defending team loses the value of the silent bid, double if the trump is Hearts (per player). When the losing conditions are fulfilled, the calling player loses double the value of the silent bid, quadruple if the trump is Hearts. Silent bids are doubled along with their appropriate games that carry this bid.