Alternatively, if the first three pass, the fourth player may choose a Ramsch (as opposed to a Stock in which players ante an stake to the next round and the cards are thrown in). Usually Ramsch is played if all four players 'pass' instead of declaring a game, because they think they have poor hands.
Ramsch is not part of the official rules of Schafkopf and, as a result, there are variations. The aim in Ramsch, unlike normal contracts, is not to score the most card points ( Augen), but to achieve a low score, because the player who scores the most points at the end of the hand has lost. The term Ramsch in German means something like 'low-quality rejects', 'cheap products', 'mass-produced goods', 'worthless junk' or simply 'rubbish'. It should not be confused with the games of the Rams family – Ramsen and Ramscheln – that also go by the name Ramsch. However, thanks to its interesting mode of play it has since developed into an independent game in its own right which is only loosely based on Skat or Schafkopf. Ramsch, formerly also called Mike in East Germany, is a card game based on the contract of the same name in the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf. For the Austrian and Bavarian game also known as Ramsch, see Ramsen (card game).
