eldest hand, also called the forehand in Skat and other games of German origin. The eldest hand leads to the first trick, i.e. places the first card of the trick face up in the middle of all players. The other players each follow with a single card, in the direction of play. When every player has played a card to the trick, the trick is evaluated to determine the winner, who takes the cards, places them face down on a pile, and leads to the next trick. The winner or taker of a trick is usually the player who played the highest-value card of the suit that was led, unless the game uses one or more trump cards (see below). The player who leads to a trick is usually allowed to play an arbitrary card from their hand. Some games have restrictions on the first card played in the hand, or may disallow leading a card of a particular suit until that suit has been played "off-suit" in a prior trick (called "breaking" the suit, usually seen in cases of a trump or penalty suit). Other games have special restrictions on the card that must be led to the first trick; usually this is a specific card (e.g., 2) and the holder of that card is the eldest hand instead of the person one seat after the dealer. In many games, the following players must follow suit if they can, i.e., they must play a card of the same suit if possible. A player who cannot follow suit may sluff a card, i.e., play a card of a different suit. A trick is won by the player who has played the highest-ranked card of the suit led, i.e., of the suit of the first card in the trick (unless the game uses a trump suit). It can be an advantage to lead to a trick, because the player who leads controls the suit that is led and which others must follow; the leading player playing a suit of which he has many, decreases the chance that anyone else would be able to follow suit; while conversely playing a suit of which he has few, allows him to rid his hand of that suit (known as voiding the suit), freeing him from the restriction to follow suit when that suit is led by another player. On the other hand, it can