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Card games in Poland

This page is part of the National and Regional Card Games Index of the Card Games Web Site.

French suited cards (hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades) are prevalent over most of the country, and are available as 52, 36(?check), 32 and 24 card packs.

The German suited 32 card pack is used to some extent in the formerly German southern province of Silesia, where Skat is still played.

In the part of Silesia that belonged to Austria before 1918, around Czechowice, Taroki, which is fairly similar to Czech Taroky, is played with 54-card Tarok packs imported from the Czech Republic.

Popular games with the French suited pack include:

• Tysiąc (1000), which is similar to the Russian game Tysiacha. It is a three-player marriage game with bidding, played with 24 cards. The trump suit is determined by a player who has the king and queen of that suit declaring it while leading one of those cards to a trick.
• The same 24-card pack is used to play Zechcyk - the Polish version of 66.
• 3-5-8, a three-player plain-trick game with the full 52 card pack.
• Mizerka, another three-player plain-trick game, in which each player has to undertake a series of contracts.
• Ogorek (cucumber), which is similar (but not identical) to the Danish game Agurk.
• Kierki, a compendium game for four players.
• Planowanie (planning) is the Polish equivalent of Oh Hell!
• Dureń Piątkowy - a beating game related to Russian Durak.
• Szpaczki - a fishing game, in which number cards are captured by adding up to 11.
• Pan is the polite name for a beating game of the round game type, played with the 24-card pack, in which the aim is to get rid of your cards. The common name of this game is Chuj, a highly obscene word for penis, which should be avoided in polite company.
• The name Dupa Biskupa is apparently used for several different card games: a trick-taking game in which the aim is to avoid winning the Q; a quartet game in which the aim is to collect suits; and as another alternative name for Pan.
• Makao - the Polish version of Crazy Eights.
• Derda - a game of the Jass family similar to the French game Belote is played with a 32 card pack (sevens low).
• The 32-card pack, from ace down to 7, is also used to play a local version of Poker.
• In Cashubia (an area to the west of Gdansk) and in parts of Wielkopolska ("Great Poland"), Baśka ("little Barbara") is played a deck of just 16 cards: A-Q-J-10 of each suit. There are four players and the holders of the Q and Q are partners (a player holding both black queens can call a jack to get a partner). It is also possible to bid to play alone or to win all the tricks.

The Doktorek web site, which offers rules of Polish and other card games in Polish, was formerly available at www.googie.pl. Here is an archive copy.

Several Polish games can be played on line at Game Desire and at PlayOK Online Games (formerly known as Kurnik)

The World Casino Directory includes a listing of Casinos in Poland.