Thank you so much!!

Tomas is looking into this.

Just as a matter of interest I checked stats on the International Skat Server and in a sample of over 2 million games I found about 2% are passed out without a bid. Pas grande chose. 1 out of 50 hands.

GT please fix and play by the real international rules!

All true. I wasn't clear with my reply. the reason this silly change is in the GT rules was the fear that everyone passes and the hand is not played. Which of course, happens every now and then in real play, but not really that often. usually one of the others has something in his hand and would play, if there wasn't that forced false declaration.

To spell it out a little further ...

1. Mittelhand can be stuck with an unplayable hand and made to lose a minimum of 36 point for no reason than being denied the ability to pass.
2. Hinterhand and Vorhand can bid more conservatively and take less risk, thinking to just let Mittelhand play and lose on the forced bid. This can greatly change the character of the game.
3. A passed-out hand (eingepasst) is not a draw per se, it's just one hand out of the game that doesn't get played. Of course the scoring system is more like Bierlachs than tournament Skat but that's a different matter and can be argued either way.

Entirely agree. GT has a severe draw-phobia, as manifest in many games and tournaments. But draws are a part of gaming, so please, get used to them!

In this particular case, Skat is an old and respected game, there is absolutely no need to re-invent non-existing rules.

Am I correct in saying that Skat as implemented here still automatically bids 18 for the first to bid (Mittlehand)?

If so I again suggest that be changed to allow Mittelhand to pass. A forced bid drastically changes the character of the game from how it is played elsewhere.

This means some hands will be "eingepasst" --- no one bids --- but that is a recognized part of the game.