The play is in tricks and consists of two stages: in the first stage the players compete to win good cards from the stock to add to their hand in the second stage, when the stock is empty, the object is to win the majority of the tricks. The suit of this face-up card determines the trump suit for the hand. The stock of undealt cards is placed on the table, face-down except for the top card which is turned face-up and placed on top of the stock. The deal is 13 cards each, dealt one at a time. The players agree who should deal first, and the turn to deal alternates after each hand. This is a game for two players only, using a standard pack of 52 cards ranked A(high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low) in each suit. There is nothing German about it - as far as I know it is of British origin. German Whist is an adaptation of classic Whist for two players. This page is partly based on a contribution from Alan Holdsworth.