Clabber is a four-player card game played in southwestern Indiana near Evansville. It is a member of the Jack-Nine family of point-trick card games that are popular in Europe and is similar to Klaberjass. The trump makers must score at least eighty-two points to keep from "going set", where they don't score any of their points. Additional points can also be scored for a combination of cards in a hand, which would assist in "making it", or, not going set.
The game is sometimes known as Klob, Clob, Clobber or Dad.
Definitions
Bell: A meld consisting of the king and queen of trumps. (In slang, sometimes called "Beller".) Dad: A meld consisting of three cards of the same suit and in sequence; worth twenty (20) points. The sequence is: 9,10,J,Q,K,A $40 Dollar Dad: A Dad that contains Bell, i.e., Q,K,A or J,Q,K of trump suit; worth forty (40) points. Fifty: A meld consisting of four cards of the same suit and in sequence; worth fifty (50) points. Hundred: A meld consisting of five, or six cards of the same suit and in sequence; worth one hundred (100) points. Also, 4 of a kind, i.e., four nines, aces, kings, queens. ""Note"" that having the sixth card offers no additional points over that of five cards. Meld: A sequence of cards (at least 3) that are of the same suit. Pass: After the deal, the act of declining the turned-up card as trumps. “Play It”: After the deal. the act of accepting the turned-up card as trumps. Renege: A violation of the rules of the game. Sequence: Used in connection with meld. The sequence follows the non-trump suits as follows: 9, 10, J, Q, K, A Set: Failure of the trump making team to score more points than that of the opponents. (If no meld is involved, the team declaring trumps must score at least 82 points to avoid “set”). "The Mules": See "Two Hundred" Two Hundred: A meld consisting of the four jacks. Also called “the mules” or "the four boys".
Objective
As each card has a point value, in each hand, to win tricks and score points (Trick-points) that outscore opponents. Meld is added to the trick points to win. The team scoring 500 points first wins the game. If both teams score 500, the team with the most points win. If there is a tie at/over 500, a new hand is played to determine winner.
History
The origin of the game, as played in Evansville, and surrounding areas, has not yet been established with any certainty. Some lend its beginnings with the European game Klaberjass, while others have said it was brought to the Evansville Ohio River banks by African-American steamboat workers.
Clabber, as played locally, dates back to at least 1896, when several articles were printed in the local newspaper referring to private games. One such article referred to it as "a negro card game". A newspaper article was later published in 1931 indicating the game being played by at least 1881, and possibly as early as 1871 on an Ohio River steamboat by Black workers in Evansville. The article mentions a game played by Black trustees at Evansville police headquarters in 1891.
In 1931 Walter Schlang was noted as serving as President of the Evansville Clabber Club
In 1935, Leo Bruttrum, Secretary of the Evansville Clabber Club, and his clubmates formed the first known written rules for the game. Prior to this time, the game was played by different rules depending on the venue. Mr. Buttrum wrote to the United States Playing Card Company only to be told that they had no information on such a game. However, the company suggested that Mr. Buttrum, and his club, draft some rules, and send them in to the company for publishing in the updated version of Hoyle, "Hoyle-Up-To-Date". The Evansville Clabber Club copyrighted the name of the game as "Evansville Clabber", and is listed as such in that edition of Hoyle.
During WWII, many of the manufacturing plants, such as Servel, Republic Aviation and others began challenging each other to games, and in 1944, the Evansville Clabber League was formed by Servel Inc., Bucyrus-Erie, the Order of Owls, Order of Eagles, Order of Moose, West Side Sportsmans Club, Germania Maennerchor and Knights of Columbus. One long time Clabber champion was Elbert D. Mackey. To this day, Ron and Carolyn Ruminer are known as the two best clabber players ever.