Skat (card game) each, then deal the "Skat", then four cards each, then three cards again (“three–"Skat"–four–three”). In four-player rounds, the dealer does not receive any cards and skips actual play of the round. He or she may peek into the hand of one other player (if allowed to do so) but never into the "Skat". Dealing rotates clockwise around the table, so that the player sitting to the left of the dealer will be dealer for the next round. After the cards have been dealt, and before the deal is played out, a bidding or auction () is held to decide: The
History of Skat Altenburg suit bidding ("Altenburger Farbenreizen") and the point bidding system used today was that the suit bidding offered only the basic values of the games. Except in special cases, a player could not be overbid by an unfavourable Unter/Jack in the Skat, since the position of the Unters was not taken into account when bidding. "Matadors" ("Spitzen") were not taken into account until after the game. In addition, the game types differed from today's: Little is known about the early history and origins of point bidding. The first Skat Congress failed in its attempt to found an all-German Skat Association