History of Skat in accordance with the resolutions of the 28th Skat Congress. Between 1886 and 2006 there were 29 Skat Congresses. The German Skat Association was founded at the third Skat Congress. Important congresses are marked in bold: In the first game variants, the dealer always received the two surplus cards and became a soloist. The trumps comprised the Unters (Jacks) and the trump suit as in the modern Suit contract. However, the declarer was not free to choose trumps. The trump suit, as in Wendish Schafkopf and most contracts of modern Doppelkopf, was permanently Bells (Diamonds). The soloist's only privilege was
Pinochle allowing the remaining players to follow the appropriate rules for the respective number of players. Check pinochle is a gambling variant of three-hand. It is the same as to 1000, except that players keep track of "checks". If playing for $1 stakes, each check gained means that the other two players owe a dollar. The following events cause a gain or loss of checks. Today "double-deck" pinochle is a popular form of the game, exclusively played by the National Pinochle Association, the American Pinochle Association, the Cambridge Pinochle Association, and in the "World Series of Pinochle". Double-deck pinochle is played