Mau Mau

German cards are different. In seminars that I gave in the 70s and 80

I would often ask attendees  to describe a deck of cards. 

Naturally they would describe an American deck. 

Then I brought out the German deck. 

The object was not to take for granted things we are sure about.

When R and G walked into my and my husband's Stuttgart apartment when I was still a bride in the sixties, I thought R was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. She had white blond hair, blue eyes and a skin that I thought was forbidden to have pimples. She wore a suit of a green watch type plaid with a boiled wool green jacket that matched. We were about the same size, but there the resemblance ended.

Good thing I was secure in myself or I would have crawled under the table.

Anyone that beautiful should probably be a bitch, I thought, but R was a really sweet person who became a good friend. She introduced me to many things in Stuttgart including a tea room with four-fruit tarts and hot chocolate. The friendship continued throughout our lives with visits in D.C., Colorado, Florida and Boston. We've met up in Germany once in the 90s and France about four years ago.This was through losing tract and finding each other, the last time through Facebook.

When on leave from the Army band where my husband and G were both trumpet players, our couples went to Italy, renting the top floor of a hotel overlooking Lake Como. 

Days were filled with exploring. 

Nights were given to the German card game Mau Mau -- girls against guys playing as partners. We played with two decks adapting some rules to our own methods. The object was to get rid of all cards.

R and I noticed when we adding up the scores, the deck was much smaller than it should be. We body searched our individual husbands and the missing cards retrieved from pockets were added to the score.

The next day the boys went to the PX in Venice leaving R and I on our own.

We found a way to beat them so they would never know we cheated. As women we could be far more subtle. They might have said devious.

Since certain cards act as jokers, giving whoever played the next card had the right to call the next suit. It could be disastrous for their partner -- or great depending on the call. We worked out verbal signals.

When our partner had a chance to change the suit, the other signaled verbally by the first letter of the first word we said in a sentence. Example: If I wanted diamonds, I would say "Do be careful"or "Does anyone want something to drink?" "Hearts might lead to a "Heaven help me if you choose the wrong one."

Since we never said the same thing, they couldn't accuse us of signalling verbally. Little did they know.

We did very well.

If G you are reading this now, I wonder if R ever confessed.  R I still think we were clever. 

What fun those days were.

Rules from Wikipedia

The aim is to be first to get rid of all of one's cards. The players are each dealt a hand of cards (usually 5 or 6)  The rest are placed face down. At the beginning of the game the topmost card is revealed and placed face up on the table then the players take it in turns to play their cards.

A card can only be played if it corresponds to the suit or value of the face-up card. E.g. if it is the 10 of spades, only another spade or another 10 can be played (but see below for Jacks). If a player is not able to do this, they draw one card from the stack; If they can play this card, they may do so, otherwise they keep the drawn card and pass on their turn. When the drawing stack is empty, the playing stack (except for the topmost card) is shuffled and turned over to serve as new drawing stack.
The 7, 8, Jack and Ace of all suits are significant cards:

• If a 7 is played, the next player has to draw two cards but may play. (A variant of the game allows the player facing the 7 to play another 7, in which case the player to his left must take 4 cards from the pack, unless he too has a 7, then 6, then 8.)
• Any 8 forces the next player to miss his turn. (A variant of the game allows the player facing the 8 to play another 8, in which case the next player after them must play another 8 or miss a turn, etc.)
• A Jack of any suit is the equivalent of a Joker and can be played on any card. The player who plays it then chooses a card suit. The next player then plays as if the Jack was of the chosen suit.
• If an Ace is played, one other card must be played with it. If the player does not have another card, or cannot follow in suit or number, then the player must take a card from the pack. If your final card is an Ace, you cannot win on that turn.