Point-trick games

Ace-ten games are a subset of point-trick games which go back a long way and may have been invented along with Tarot cards and trumps. Apart from that, the earliest known record of a point-trick game dates to 1522 when Rümpffen was described alongside, flussen, scherlentzen, karnyffeln and Bockenmendeln.^[3] The game is also mentioned in 1539 in a Fastnacht play.^[4] Other early examples include Trappola, which we know from Girolamo Cardano was current in Venice in 1524,^[5] and Triumph, which is described in England in 1586.

Emergence of ace–ten games

Although the origin of ace–ten games is uncertain, scholars have proposed a number of theories. In 1980, Sir Michael Dummett argued that they were most likely to have been invented by users of French cards in the Netherlands area, a hypothesis supported by the Dutch origin of the Swiss national game of Jass.^[6] In 2000, John McLeod wrote that we can trace their development "from Brisque and Mariage in the 16th century along various paths to produce 66 and Tyziacha, Maria Ulti, Schafkopf, Doppelkopf and Skat, as well as the Jass games."^[7]

The earliest record of any ace–ten game, surprising, is for the old English game of losing lodam, which dates to at least 1591, is the earliest known game with an ace–ten scoring system.^[8] However, its scoring and ranking system (A 11, K3, Q 2, J 1, T 10, rest 0) are those of early Dutch Jass, with the exception of the promotion of the Jack and 9 in trumps; thus it may be of Dutch origin. Despite unfounded claims for the invention of 66 at Paderborn in 1652, it is not recorded until 1715^[9] although Kozietulski stated in 1888 that it had been popular in Poland for two centuries which dates its appearance there to the late 17th century and he doubts it is of Polish origin on account of its French name and the marriage feature which appears in old French games.^[10]

The earliest recorded rules for a game with a form of ace–ten scheme date to around 1672 when Willughby published the only known description of losing lodam, a negative game in which the aim was not to collect cards with penalty points. However, losing lodam is mentioned as early as 1586 and may be the same as the game of coquinbert qui gagne perd (..."he who wins loses") listed by Rabelais in 1534.^[11][12] Another early example is the French game of Brusquembille whose rules appeared in 1718.^[1]

Promotion of the ten

Probably around 1820, the Ten began to be promoted from its natural position between the Jack and the Nine to take its place between the Ace and King. In Wendish Schafkopf and Doppelkopf this change does not appear, however, until as late as 1899.^{[lower-alpha 2]} So in most ace–ten games nowadays the Tens are high. A few games retain the natural ranking in which Tens are low, an indication that they are older:

• German Schafkopf
• Mariage
• Reunion
• Hindersche and Viersche
• Loosing Loadum