Pinochle cards from each player's discard pile are included in totals for a total of 240 counters per round, plus one counter for winning the final trick. One variation to make it more difficult for the bid-winning player, the discard pile created by drawing cards is used by the non-bidding player to score towards tricks. In Three-handed pinochle each player plays for him or herself. The dealer deals 15 cards to each player and three cards to the kitty—a separate pile in the middle. All players review their cards and silently determine their bids. The player to the dealer's left initiates
International Skat Court Until 1978 the German Skat Court had a three-member panel; from 1978 to 1990 it had five members and from the Reunification of Germany in 1990, seven members. From 1963 to 1990, East Germany had the Altenburg Skat Court. Today the Internationale Skat Court has nine members of which seven are chosen from the German Skat Congress and two by ISPA. The president of the court from 2002 until 2014 was Peter Luczak. His successors is Hans Braun. In cases of dispute over the rules of Skat the participants may appeal to the Skat Court who, after hearing the case,