Pinochle The word is also possibly derived from the French word "binage" for the combination of cards called "binocle". This latter pronunciation of the game was adopted by German speakers. German immigrants brought the game to America, where it was later mispronounced and misspelled "pinochle." Auction pinochle for three players has some similarities with the German game skat, although the bidding is more similar to that of bid whist. During World War I, the city of Syracuse, New York outlawed the playing of pinochle in a fit of anti-German sentiment. Pinochle was the favorite card game of Ashkenazic American Jews and
Pinochle queens for five points, and jacks and nines are worth zero. An even simpler method has aces, tens, and kings worth 10 (and known as "counters"), and everything else zero ("garbage"). Since all points are multiples of ten in the third method, most players drop the redundant zero. Aces, tens, and kings won in tricks are worth one point. The meld scoring can also avoid the zero in the tenth place. Melds like 1,000 aces are thus worth 100. The terms "1,000 aces", "800 kings" and so on are often used, even though the point values are one-tenth. Two-handed pinochle