Binokel

Binokel is a card game for two to eight players that originated in Switzerland as Binocle and spread to the German state of Wurttemberg, where it is usually played with a Wurttemberg pattern pack and remains popular as a family game more than a pub game. It is usually played by three or four players. In three-hand games each player competes alone, while in four-hand Cross Binokel two teams form with partners sitting opposite one another. Binokel belongs to the family of melding and trick-taking games, and unlike many of them, special card combinations such as a family or four of a kind score extra points. After the deal there is an auction for the undealt stack, the dabb or tapp, and the winning bidder must score more in tricks and melds than was bid. German immigrants brought the game to America, where it developed into the similar game of pinochle.