Bidding (cards) Bidding (cards) Bidding is the process in many card games, such as Skat, Pinochle, Binokel, Bridge, Solo Whist, Préférence, L’Hombre, Bauernschnapsen and most types of Tarock, whereby players vie to be able to specify the type of contract, the trump cards and/or to be able to pick up a set of face-down cards known variously, for example, as the talon, skat, dabb. Players may raise the bid (by bidding a higher contract or point value) until the highest bidder is determined when the others all say "pass". Bidding may be done in successive pairs as in Skat (in the sequence:
Pinochle team or player has been "set". This means that the total bid amount is subtracted from the total game score, often accompanied by losing the points scored in meld for that hand as well. This can result in a negative score. A related though different style of bidding is for the players to bid individually, and partners' bids are then summed. The winning bid only decides trump; both (or all) teams' bids become their contract, meaning any team can score or be set. This creates a more balanced game. In some versions of pinochle, after the bid has been taken