Pinochle Pinochle Pinochle () or binocle (sometimes pinocle, or penuchle) is a trick-taking, Ace-Ten card game typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which also includes the game belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle." Pinochle derives from the game bezique. Its name comes from the French word "binocle" meaning "eyeglasses".
Mariage (card game) Belote. Bezique and its variants, Binokel and Pinochle, are further examples of popular games in the King–Queen or marriage family. This card game should not be confused with Nepalese card game marriage. As "Mariagenspiel" (German for " game", using the original French word for marriage rather than the German word, "Heiraten"), the game was first described in a 1715 ladies' encyclopedia printed in Leipzig. The game's entry said that the game was popular among ladies, and the entry for "playing card" listed " first among nine card games played with the German pack. Despite the marriage theme, the Queen was