The game is mentioned as early as 1800 byJohann Friedrich Schütze asNeegenkaart andFett un Mager in hisHolstein dictionary, where it is described as a favourite game of Holstein farmers and townsfolk. Players were dealt 9 cards each and there was a trump suit.[a] The first, "higher paid"tricks were the "fat ones" and the last tricks, paid at half the value, were the "lean ones."[1][b]
^Presumably played by four players with a (then) standard 36-card,French-suited pack, typical of the region.
^If stakes were anted by all players each time, there were probably three fat tricks and six lean ones. Players anted 3 stakes each, making 12 in total. The first three tricks paid 2 each and the last six tricks 1 stake each, thus emptying the pot. If only the dealer anted, the stake had to be quite large e.g. with 13 stakes, the first four tricks would be worth 2 each and the last five 1 each.
_. (1865). "Weihnachten in Schleswig-Holstein" inDie Grenzboten, Vol. 4; Vol. 24, pp. 974–986.
_. (1892).Zeitschrift für deutsche Kulturgeschichte, Volume 3, Bauer & Raspe.
Berghaus, Dr. Heinrich Karl Wilhelm (1883).Der Sprachschatz der Sassen: ein Wörterbuch der Plattdeütschen Sprache. Vol. 2 (J–R). Berlin W.: R. Eisenschmidt.
Feilberg, Henning Frederik (1864).Fra Heden Hadersley.
