Binokel
- Introduction
- Players, Cards and Objective
- Deal
- Bidding
- Card Exchange and Declarations
- Play
- Scoring
- Special Contract: Durch
- Variations
- Sources of Information
Introduction
Binokel is considered, alongside Gaigel, to be the ‘national game’ Swabia in Southwest Germany. On this page the three-player 40-card game, which seems to be the principal version, is described first. Then in the variations section we describe the four-player partnership game, and several variants.
In the 19th centrury, emigrants brought the game from Germany to America, and it is the direct ancestor of the popular American card game Pinochle.
Players, Cards and Objective
In Swabia, a Binokel/Gaigel deck is used. This is a German suited double deck of the Württemberg pattern, with suits of hearts (Herz 
), spades/leaves (Schippe/Grün 
), acorns (Eichel 
) and bells (Schellen 
) and the cards within each suit are Ace, 10, King, Ober (over-jack), Unter (under-jack) and 7. There are two copies of each card, so that the full deck has 48 cards. Nowadays the game is most often played without the 7's so that 40 cards are used for the game. In addition to the cards, a pen and paper are needed for scoring.
If Württemberg cards are not available it is possible to play with any 48-card double deck - for example a Doppelkopf or Pinochle pack - by removing the 9's (or using the 9's in place of 7's if playing the variant with 7's).
There are three active players. If there are four at the table, the dealer sits out. The direction of play is counter-clockwise. The player to dealer's right is forehand, the next player in order is middlehand and the third player (the dealer at a table of three players) is rearhand.
The aim is to be the first player to reach an agreed target score over a series of deals, by declaring card combinations and winning tricks containing valuable cards.
In each dealer there is a solo player, determined by the bidding, who chooses the trump suit and can improve their hand using the undealt 'Tapp' cards. The solo player's opponents also score points for their own tricks and declarations, but will normally find it advantageous to work together against the winner of the bidding.
The ranking of the cards in each suit and their point values are as follows:
A (11 points) > 10 (10 points) > K (4 points) > O (3 points) > U (2 points) [ > 7 (0 points) if used]
Since there are two of each card, the total in the deck is 240 points, and 10 extra card points are awarded to the player who wins the last trick for a total of 250 points.
Scoring Combinations
In addition to points for cards won in tricks and for the last trick, players can score by declaring combinations of cards that they hold in their hand. There are three types of combination: sequences, fours of a kind and 'binokels'. In each case it is possible to have a 'single' combination (one of each card) or a 'double' combination (two identical copies of each card). The combinations and their point values are:
| 1. Sequence (a set of consecutive cards in one suit): | single | double | |
| Trump family | A-10-K-O-U | 150 | 1500 |
| Family in a non-trump suit | A-10-K-O-U | 100 | 1000 |
| Trump pair | K-O | 40 | 80 |
| Pair in a non-trump suit | K-O | 20 | 40 |
| 2. Four of a kind (equal cards, one of each suit) | |||
| Four Aces | A-A-A-A |
100 | 1000 |
| Four Kings | K-K-K-K |
80 | 1000 |
| Four Obers | O-O-O-O |
60 | 1000 |
| Four Unters | U-U-U-U |
40 | 1000 |
| 3. Binokel (consisting of two specific cards) | |||
| Ober of Leaves and Unter of Bells | O-U |
40 | 300 |
A card can be used in more than one combination provided that the combinations are of different types (1, 2 and 3). A card cannot be used in more than one combinations of the same type - for example K-K-O of a suit is just one pair, and a player holding A-10-K-O-U scores just for the family, not for the pair within it. To score 120 (in a non-trump suit, or 190 in trumps) for a family plus a pair the player would need to hold a separate K and O for the pair, i.e. A-10-K-K-O-O-U in that suit. It is however possible to use a single card in three separate combinations of different types, for example K-O-O-O-O-U scores 120 points for a leaf pair, four overs and a binokel (or 140 if leaves are trumps).
A 'roundhouse' (Rundgang) consisting of one king of each suit plus one over of each suit scores 240, that is 80 for the Kings, 60 for the Obers plus 100 for the four pairs. Notice however that if the player also has the Ace, 10 and Unter of one of the suits, making a family, the total score for this is only 320 if it is a non-trump family or 350 if it is a trump family, because the pair that is part of the family cannot also be counted separately.
Note also that there is no score for a set of four 10's (and no score for a set of four 7's if 7's are included in the game).
Deal
The first dealer is chosen by lot. After each hand, the turn to deal passes to the right: the previous forehand is the next dealer.
The dealer shuffles and offers the deck to the player to the left to cut. In the 3-player 40-card game the dealer deals 12 cards to each player and four cards, known as the Tapp, face down in the centre of the table. The cards are dealt to the players in packets of 3 at a time starting with forehand and continuing anticlockwise, with two cards placed in the Tapp after the first and second rounds of the deal.
Bidding
The players bid to become the solo player. Each bid is a number, indicating the minimum number of points the bidder promises to win in if allowed to use the Tapp and choose the trump suit. Forehand bids first and must begin by bidding 150. Middlehand can either pass or bid 160, in which case forehand can pass or bid 170.
Forehand and middlehand continue to bid alternately, raising the bid by 10 each time until one of them chooses to pass. At that point it is rearhand's turn either to pass or to bid 10 points more than the highest bid so far. If rearhand bids, the two players who have not yet passed continue to bid alternately, raising by 10 points each time, until one of them passes. at that point the final and highest bidder becomes the solo player.
Note that the bids are always raised in increments of 10. Jump bids are not allowed, and since the solo player scores all the points that they win provided that this is not less than their bid, it is never a disadvantage for the soloist to win the bidding as cheaply as possible.
Card Exchange and Declarations
The solo player takes the Tapp, turns the four cards face up for all to see, then adds the cards to their hand and discards any 4 of their 16 cards face down in front of them without showing them to the opponents. The point values of the discarded cards count for the solo player, but these discarded cards cannot be used in declarations. Then the solo player announces the trump suit.
In order to get a positive score for the hand, the solo player must achieve at least the number of points bid. The penalty for failure is to lose twice the amount of the bid. If the contract seems impossible, the solo player can surrender immediately after naming the trump suit. In this case the declarer loses only the amount of the bid, while the opponents each score 50 points plus the value of any combinations they can declare. The cards are thrown in and the turn to deal passes to the right.
If the solo player does not surrender, each player in turn, starting with the solo player, lays face up on the table any scoring combinations they wish to declare and claims credit for them. After the round of declarations all players pick up the cards they have shown and return them to their hands.
Play
Forehand leads to the first trick by placing one of their cards face up on the table. The other players take turns to add a card face up. The following rules apply.
- Any card can be led.
- Players must follow suit, playing a card of the suit that was led if they can.
- Anyone who cannot follow suit must play a trump card.
- Subject to the above rules, players must beat all cards already played to the trick if possible.
- A player who has no card of the suit that was led and no trumps can play any card.
The trick is won by the highest trump card or, if no trump card was played, by the highest card of the suit led. If the best cards are identical in suit and rank, the first played of these cards wins the trick.
The winner of each trick collects the cards and stores them face down in front of themselves. Each player has a separate trick pile - the solo player's opponents do not combine the cards they have won into a single pile. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick.
Scoring
When all the tricks have been played, each player separately counts the total value of the cards in the tricks they have won. The solo player also adds the value of the 4 cards they discarded. Any player who declared combinations before the start of play adds the value of those combinations to their total provided that they themselves won at least one trick. A player who has not taken any tricks cannot count any points for declarations.
If the solo player has won at least one trick, and if their total points from the 4 cards they discarded plus tricks won plus declarations are greater than or equal to their final bid, they add their total points to their cumulative score on the score sheet. If their point total is less than their bid, then instead of adding points they must subtract twice the amount of their bid from their cumulative score. A player's score can thus become negative.
If an opponent of the solo player has won at least one trick themselves, they score the total value of the points in their own tricks plus the value of their declarations if any. An opponent of the solo player who wins no tricks scores no points - this player's declarations (if any) are cancelled.
The game is usually played to an agreed target score, typically 1500 points. The first player to reach this score wins. If several players reach or exceed the target score at the same time, the solo player wins. If the two opponents reach the target but not the solo player, the player with the higher score wins. If there is a tie, a deciding game must be played (which may then be won by the third player).
Special contract: Durch
Durch ('through' - short for Durchmarsch: 'march through') is a contract by the solo player to win all the tricks. In this case there are no trumps, and it is the solo player, not forehand, who leads to the first trick.
After picking up the Tapp and discarding the solo player announces Durch and leads to the first trick. There is no possibility to declare or score for combinations. All that matters is whether the solo player wins every trick. In case of success the solo player scores 1000 points. If either of the opponents win a trick the play ends immediately and the solo player loses 1000 points.
Variations
There are many local variants and house rules. Here is a selection of common variants.
Game Format
The target to win the game varies, for example it may be set at 1000 or 2000. Sometimes, especially in tournaments, instead of playing to a target score a fixed number of deals is played.
Durch
Instead of awarding a points score, some play that a successful Durch wins one whole extra game, and the scores in the game currently in progress are unaffected. Conversely the player of an unsuccessful Durch would lose one whole game.
Some players who score points for Durch also recognise open Durch contracts in which the solo player lays out their cards face up on the table before leading to the first trick, and plays the hand with exposed cards. There can be two forms of open Durch.
- Open Durch announced after picking up the Tapp and discarding. This scores 1500 if successful and loses 1500 if it fails.
- Open Durch from the hand, in which the Tapp is not used and the solo player contracts to win all the tricks using the cards they were originally dealt. This scores 2000 points if successful and loses 2000 if it fails.
Some players also award 300 or 400 points to each opponent of the solo player when a Durch fails.
Credit when the solo player surrenders
Instead of 50 points each, the amount that the solo player's opponents score for a surrender in addition to the value of their declarations is sometimes set at half the bid value, sometimes at 30 or 40 points each, and sometimes nothing at all.
Four active players - one against three
Again, in each deal there is a solo player, but now playing against three opponents. Each player receives 9 cards, dealt in 3 rounds of batches of 3, with 2 cards to the Tapp between each round of dealing. Otherwise, the rules are the same as for the three-player game.
Partnership four-player game: Kreuzbinokel
In this game the players sitting opposite each other are permanent partners. Partners add their points together at the end of the play, but must keep their tricks separately because each individual player can only score for their declarations if they have themselves won at least one trick. The bidding is the same as above, and a bid is successful if the total number of points scored by the bidder's team is at least as much as the bid.
Binokel with 48 cards (including 7's)
In the 3-player game each player receives 15 cards, dealt 5 in 5 rounds of batches of 3, with 3 cards placed in the Tapp after the first round of the deal. If there are 4 players each receives 11 cards and there are 4 cards in the Tapp.
When 7's are used there is an additional declaration called Dissle which is simply a trump 7. One trump 7 scores 10 points for the holder; two trump 7s score 20.
Minimum bid
Some play with a minimum bid of 200 or 250 instead of 150.
Declarations
A few players recognise an additonal declaration of eight 10s for 1000 points, but there is still no score for declaring four tens. According to Grupp's book (see sources), when playing with 7's, eight 7s can be declared for 1000 points.
Some versions do not include a special scores for double combinations other than double Binokel, which is always worth 300. Other double combinations (8 of a kind or a double pair or double family) are just worth twice the value of the corresponding single combination, for example 160 for 8 kings..
Sources
- BINOKEL-PALAST, Learn to play Binokel. Online portal for playing on the internet.
- D’BENOGGLER from Tübingen, as of approx. 2007.
- FC ENGSTINGEN, Rules for club Binokel.
- Binokelsportfreunde FLACHT.
- Fussball-Club GROSSELFINGEN, Rules of a prize tournament, approx. 2015.
- Claus D. GRUPP, Schafkopf, Doppelkopf, Falken Verlag, Niedernhausen (Taunus) 1976.
- Naturfreunde METZINGEN, Rules for the Binokel Tournament 2025.
- Sabine and Frank SCHMIDT.
- SPIELREGEL24.DE.
Header image from Spielregel24.de.