The player at the left of the dealer cuts the deck. The dealer then deals out the entire deck, counter-clockwise, starting with the player on their right. Each player is dealt their cards in "packets" of three consecutive cards at a time (they will each receive 6 such packets for a total of 18 cards). In addition, a "" (lit. "dog", alt. "kitty", "talon" or "nest") of 6 cards is dealt one card at a time into the center of the table, while dealing to the other players. A card may be dealt to the dog at any time, but the dealer may not: