Mauscheln

Mauscheln, also called Maus or Vierblatt, is a card game played for stakes that belongs to the same family as Tippen and is common in Germany and in the lands of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Three to five players use a 32-card pack, usually German-suited, and a 52-card French pack can be used when more people join. The dealer puts a stake into the pot, two cards go to each player, one card is turned for trumps and two more are dealt. Players then decide whether to sneak, meaning to undertake to win at least two tricks, or to pass. Those who play may exchange cards with the talon and the sneaker leads the first trick. Tricks win a share of the pot and a player who fails to take enough pays a penalty into it. Local variants add knocking, quartets and permanent trumps. The game was already known in the early nineteenth century and was banned in the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a gambling game in 1832. Its name echoes an old German word for secretive talk or haggling.