| Grasobern | |
| Subtitle: | "A game with a rather leisurely character" |
| Image Caption: | The Grasober |
| Alt Names: | Grasoberln, Graseberla, Grünobern |
| Type: | Trick-avoidance, Plain-trick |
| Players: | 4 |
| Num Cards: | 32 |
| Deck: | German |
| Play: | Clockwise |
| Card Rank: | A K O U 10 9 8 7 |
| Origin: | Germany |
| Related: | EichelobernSchinderhansenSlobberhannes |
| Playing Time: | 5 min/hand; 20 min/round |
| Footnotes: | Aim: avoid winning 1st and last tricks or capturing the O |
Grasobern, Grasoberl, Grasoberln, Graseberla, Grünobern, Lauboberl[1] or Laubobern is a card game that was once commonly played in Old Bavaria, especially in the old counties of Bad Aibling and Rosenheim, and is still popular in eastern Bavaria, especially in Upper Palatinate. The game has relatively simple rules and thus a rather relaxing and leisurely character without the mental demands of Schafkopf or psychological stress of Watten, two other traditional Bavarian card games. The name is taken from the game's penalty card, the Ober of Leaves. The suit of Leaves is known in German variously as Laub ("leaves, foliage"), Gras ("grass") or Grün ("green").
Grasobern originated in "Old Bavaria" – Altbayern[2] - and is recorded in the Bavarian Courier as early as 1826 (as Grünober) being played at home around the table by the "master craftsmen, journeymen and apprentices", along with Solo, Schafkopf, Kreuzmariage, Matzlfangen and others.[3] However, as Lauboberspiel ("the game of Laubober") it was already popular by around 1800 as a form of evening relaxation during long winter evenings in rural communities where it was known as "the brothers' game" due to the low stakes it was played for.[4] As Laubobern, Grasobern or Grasoberln, the game features in 19th century poetry and literature as a social game.[5] [6] Meyer (1852) includes it among the drinking games together with Cerevis, Schlauch and Quodlibet.[7]
Competitions known as Grasober-Rennen (lit. "Grasober Races") were held as early as the mid-19th century in Lower Bavaria, for example, in Landshut or Munich.[8] [9] Sometimes these were held alongside other tournaments for games such as Schlauch,[10] Tarok[11] Wallachen and even Quadrille.[12] These competitions occurred regularly until preparations for the First World War began, but restarted in the late 1920s and 1930s (alongside Tarock) in Upper Bavaria.[13] [14] Today competitions are still played, for example, in Bromberg, Windach, Reutberg, Bad Aibling and Augsburg, but are sometimes called Preisgrasobern ("Prize Grasobern") or Grasober-Turniere ("Grasober tournaments").
No early rules are known, but it is likely that it began as a relatively simple game, played like its American cousin, Slobberhannes, to which the various Bettel and Mord contracts were added later. This had happened by 1890 at the latest for we read that, in a competition in Griesbach, prizes were awarded not just for the winners, but for the player who had paid the most penalties for the Grasober and for those who had won or lost the most Mord and Bettel games.[15]
Together with Schafkopf, Watten, and Wallachen, Bohemian Watten and Grasobern were once among the most popular card games in Old Bavaria and therefore an integral part of Bavarian pub culture. Although great fun, these two games are hardly played today and are thus threatened with extinction.[16] As a result, both cultural and traditional costume (Trachten) societies are striving to keep the game alive by holding tournaments.[17] [18] [19] Even municipalities, such as the market town of Bruckmühl, or smaller local associations, for example the volunteer fire-brigade in the market town of Metten, routinely hold tournaments for Grasobern, Schafkopf and other card games.[20] Some societies are also teaching children how to play the game.[21]
The game is named after the Ober of Leaves or 'Grass Ober', known in German as the Gras-Ober or Grasober.[22]
In Austria, it is usually known as Grünobern, but also goes under the names of Bauernsuchen, Grasobern, Grasoberln, Grasoberspiel, Grünbubenspiel, Grüneln, Grünoberfangen and Grünoberjagen. Players of the game are known as Grasoberer and competitions as Grasoberrennen ("Grasober Races") or Grasober-Turniere ("Grasober Tournaments").[23] [24]
Grasobern is usually played with four players and a traditional pack of 32 Bavarian-pattern playing cards,[22] although it can theoretically be played with as few as three or as many as eight players.[2] In the trade, card packs are usually marketed under the name Tarock/Schafkopf, from which the Sixes are removed in order to play Grasobern.[22] Each player is dealt the same number (e. g. 40) of counters or coins (Spielmünzen or Blöcke) of the same value (e. g. 5 euro cents); at the end the difference is balanced out by 'buying' (Zukaufen i.e. losses) or 'selling' (Verkaufen i.e. winnings).
If three play, the Sixes and Sevens and Eights are removed and each player receives 8 cards.
In Austria, William Tell packs are always used and the game may be played with 32 or 36 cards.
| - align="center" | Suits of German playing cards | - align="center" | Bells (Schellen) | Hearts (Herz) | Leaves/Grass (Gras) | Acorns (Eichel) | - align="center" | ||||||||
There are no trumps in Grasobern. The ranking of card values follows the hierarchy of plain-trick games, such as Watten, i. e. the Ten ranks between the Unter and the Nine. The ranking of cards in each suit is as follows (highest to lowest): Sow (Sau), also called the Ace (Ass) albeit in reality a Deuce (Daus)[25] > King > Ober > Unter > Ten > Nine > Eight > Seven.[22] [26]
| - align="center" | Hierarchy of the cards within the four suits | - align="center" | Acorns | Leaves/Grass | Hearts | Bells | - align="center" | A K O U 10 9 8 7 | A K O U 10 9 8 7 | A K O U 10 9 8 7 | A K O U 10 9 8 7 | - align="center" | ||||
Grasobern is a pure plain-trick game. In the 'normal game' the aim is to avoid taking the first trick, the last trick and the trick containing the Grasober, the Ober of Leaves. Taking these tricks results in a penalty (Miese), which means that the player who wins them has to pay an agreed fee in coins or counters, such as a Fünferl (five cents) or Zehnerl (10 cents), into the pot or has points deducted.[22]
There are also higher contracts than the normal game.. In Mord ("murder") and Schleichmord ("sneaky murder"), the aim is to win all the tricks. In Bettel, the goal is to lose all the tricks. In these three contracts, the Grasober is not relevant for scoring purposes.[26]
Dealing proceeds clockwise and each player receives eight cards in two packets of four; thus all cards are dealt and there is no talon as, for example, in Bavarian Tarock.