Officers' Skat choose trumps once both players have four cards, face up, before them. If both players pass, the game is played as "Ramsch", i.e. the is to get the lowest score. The feature of Harlequin Skat is the fact that a player only sees half his own cards, but also half of his opponent's. His opponent cannot see any of those cards, but can see all the others. The advantages of harlequin skat are that you need less space to play it, and a greater tactical depth because you know your opponent's cards before they are seen. The same rules apply
International Skat Players Association International Skat Players Association The International Skat Players Association (ISPA) is the worldwide umbrella organisation for all competition Skat players. The ISPA was founded in 1976 by Peter Brand and Martha Prickartz in Aachen, Germany. It initially crossed swords with the world's largest national Skat association, the German Skat Association ("Deutscher Skatverband", DSkV), and promulgated different rules for the game. Towards the end of the 1990s, talks between the top officials of each organisation led to rapprochement and agreement between the two large associations. The ban on double membership was lifted and a uniform International Skat Order ("Internationale Skatordnung ",