Game: Pinochle

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ZackStack — 2008-11-11T16:16:30+00:00

Four generations playing pinochle (card passing partners...). Well, technically the baby isn't playing...

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ZackStack — 2008-10-13T01:38:48+00:00

My wife and her sister count their meld in a two player game.

Thread: Re: Three player pinochle.

RaDiKal — 2008-08-21T00:58:14+00:00

Hmmm, I play a slight but significant variation on the rules you have. Specifically, the minimum bid is 300, not 150 nor 160. The person to the left of dealer is stuck with it for 300 if the others pass. Only the player winning (or stuck with) the bid scores and only to satisfy making their bid. So the goal of the other two players is simply to set the high bidder.

Scoring is designed for money play. If the bid is taken at 300 to 330, the successful bidder who makes their hand gets 5 (cents or dollars depending on the stakes) from the other two. If they fail to make their bid, they pay 5 to each of the other players. This increases to 10 for bids of 350 to 380 and 20 for 400 to 430. Note that bids are in steps of 10 and the 40 and 90 spots are skipped by convention (might as well go for double the money for 10 points more). Lastly, if trump is spades, the payout is doubled. Obviously, if you intended to use spades but see a poor hand after winning the bidding, you don't pay double - that is you don't pay double unless you play out the hand.

Thread: Re: Three player pinochle.

ayrabella — 2008-08-19T00:08:52+00:00

The only 3-player pinochle I've ever known is with a double deck, and there are no 9s, only A, 10, K, Q and J. The only people I know who even play pinochle at all are my family. I've never met anyone who even knew what it is! So depressing, because it's my favorit card game. We always start our bidding with the person on the dealer's left, and the bid usually starts at 25, or sometimes 30, or sometimes 100, but has to be at least 25 and you have to have a marriage or you can't bid. All cards are dealt out in 5s, with 5 in the middle for bidding.

I learned this game when I was 7 years old; you can imagine what I looked like with all those cards in my hand, trying to learn as I went!

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

pesto126 — 2008-07-19T20:36:43+00:00

Hey Zack.. yes - you are correct and I do see what you mean now. There are really only 4 cards unknown on the table after you reveal the 4. I find that the trick part of things really just depend on your strength of hand anyway.. lots of Ace's to play first, followed by either trump (if you have all high or lots of them) or your weakest suit to get rid of your own cards to draw out your opponents highest suit and allow you to use trump to win them.

Taking the bid is the big key to this game.. but you can win by having blocks... I'm always looking for 2 player versions so this thread is great!

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

ZackStack — 2008-07-14T04:25:59+00:00

Good points George. When you play, does the player that wins the bid reveal the kitty as they add it to their hand? That is the way my wife's family plays and the way I was taught. It leads to this situation in the 20 card 2 player:

I always know the 20 cards in my hand and the 4 cards chosen in the kitty. Therefore I can make a very educated guess about the 20 cards in my opponent's hand, though the 4 unknowns do trip one up from time to time. I find it useful when I have the bid to assume my opponent holds the highest available trump out of my hand until proven otherwise. In this version that is usually a pretty safe bet.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

pesto126 — 2008-07-13T19:37:05+00:00

Hey Zack.. glad you gave it a try! I'm a bit confused by one thing you said though.. you mentioned that you felt that you knew too many of the cards.. but really, you only know your own 20 cards since you can't see the other person's cards and there are then another 8 cards (2 piles of 4) that you also cannot see. So, while there is a huge amount of luck involved, the need to determine (guess) the other players hand based only on your 20 cards is where the skill comes in. If you don't have enough to win the bet, then do you take a chance and try to buy the cards you need from the 4 on the table? Or do you give it away to your opponent perhaps even knowing that he/she can make the bid?

As I play the game more and more, I find the 2 player variants are based more on luck than anything else.. although my Dad pretty much seems to always find a way to beat me - I think I've only won once or twice in all the years we've played. But, as I get older, I find that there is a big benefit to taking the bid - that's where you can make an extra 150 - 300 pts per game over just taking the safe road.

Anyway.. please let me know if what I mentioned above makes sense and perhaps makes it more fun to play? Thx!

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

ZackStack — 2008-07-12T16:26:55+00:00

Thanks for posting another variant George!

My wife and I gave your rules a try. While it was fun to have so many cards available for meld but it was quite a handful at 20 cards. Perhaps in our game luck was too lopsided, but I won the bid three times in a row and went out at 152 points... mostly we found knowing where so much of the deck was (all but 4 cards) made winning tricks too predictable and easy. So I would agree with Matthew's assement above that "the key with pinochle is that there is some mystery as to the other player's hand". Perhaps if the blind kitty was increased to 8 or 12 cards (or 3-4 piles of 4 if you like picking your kitty) it would increase the uncertainty of tricking... perhaps Gwen and I will give it a try and let you know how it goes with a tweak.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

pesto126 — 2008-07-10T14:59:08+00:00

Very interesting.. my Dad and I have been playing a different variant for almost 15 years now. Not sure how widespread this version is... but I've not come across it before.

20 cards dealt to each player with 4 cards dealt between 2 piles.

Bidding ensues: dealer must bid beginning at 300 pts.. back and forth min by 10 pts skip 40 and 90.

Winning bidder chooses a pile of 4 cards and melds their hand as normal.. person also melds their hand.

Person who won the bid must bury 4 cards that were not used in the meld - if they choose to bury trumph they must declare.

Then, you do the normal trick playing until all the cards are gone. Person who gets last trick gets 10 extra points.

You then count the points between the 2 parts to make sure the bidder made his/her bid.

It's a good fast game that can lead to much back and forth in the scoring... same strategy as other variants... how many cards do you have to block.. does it seem like you can pick up points from the cards.. etc.

The nice thing is with 4 extra cards to choose from, your hand can go from bust to brilliant very quickly... or the other way around!

Anyway... thought I'd share.. any thoughts on this?

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ZackStack — 2008-07-06T17:32:26+00:00

My wife and our "good luck charm" get ready to take the next trick

Thread: Two handed with 6 cards - Great for Beginners!

ZackStack — 2008-06-27T03:34:01+00:00

I will leave out the core rules as they should be printed with your deck, though if you need them, don't hesitate to ask:

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Deal 6 cards to each player

Bidding starts at 5 with the non-dealer or if they don't even feel up to that they can "dump" the bid on the dealer for 4. Otherwise bid up as normal.

Winner of the bid calls trump. Then both players discard any number of cards and draw back up to 6.

Meld is counted as normal and tricks are taken as normal. Play to 50 (or 500 if you x10)
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Note: I had a heck of a time learning pinochle as my wife started me out with 4 player with teams (but no table talk... just a crib sheet) and then standard 3 player with some help, but there was too much going on for my beleagured brain... so this is the varient that finally worked! Once I caught on to the basics I was able to work my way up to adequate play at the other levels.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

ZackStack — 2008-06-27T03:22:59+00:00

Matthew, thanks for the 2 player varient with the four card deal. Its my wife's new favorite way to play (short of pairs with card passing) and she's been playing since she could count cards.

Thread: Re: Four-player, single-deck pinochle

Punainen Nörtti — 2008-01-08T12:17:15+00:00

I suppose the original scoring scheme is as follows: Ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2. If this scheme is used, then the ending zero is not redundant in the score for melds.

I have never understood why single-deck pinochle is played with a double deck and double deck pinochle with a quadruple deck. Maybe they are giving the names without an added "0" in the binary number system:-)

Thread: Re: Four-player, single-deck pinochle

LibertyToad — 2007-05-18T01:42:21+00:00

My parents taught us a great single deck variation for four players. Each person is dealt 7 cards. You then bid off of your 7 cards. After bidding ends and trump is chosen, each player may discard up from 0 to 5 cards and draw to replace them until they are again holding 7 cards. From there the game continues normally, except that game ends after 8 hands are played. (You can also play this way with 6 people, deal hands of 5 and allow discards and refills of up to 3 cards.)

We find the game not nearly as boring as double-deck Pinochle and if offers more of a chance to gamble a bit on your hand. Also, the game plays faster and is a lot more fun.

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moxtaveto — 2007-05-14T19:34:08+00:00

American Gaigel & Pinochle deck with German Württemberg pattern - Aces & back side americanized

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moxtaveto — 2007-05-14T19:32:06+00:00

back of American Gaigel (and Pinochle) deck from 1881

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moxtaveto — 2007-05-14T19:31:04+00:00

American 2x24 card deck with German suits for Gaigel (and Pinochle) - printed 1881

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CinMel — 2007-05-14T03:35:03+00:00

1990 Bicycle two decks box back

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CinMel — 2007-05-14T03:34:07+00:00

1990 Bicycle two decks box front

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moxtaveto — 2007-05-11T16:24:46+00:00

Austrian Binokel by Piatnik (with German Württemberg pattern)

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moxtaveto — 2007-05-11T16:23:45+00:00

German Binokel by Nürnberger with typical Württemberg pattern

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

Ironmaus — 2007-03-24T19:19:48+00:00

I tried your three-hand two player variant and found it to be too imbalanced. If you look at a full hand and then discard it in favor of the third hand, you know way too much about how the game will play out. The only way you could even this would be to turn up the unused hand for both to see but, again, I think you know way too much about the play then.

I've found the key with pinochle is that there is some mystery as to the other player's hand. This is why you end up guessing how strong your hand will be for play. Will the other player have three trump or four? How many aces have they got? All that mystery goes away in your version.

As to the standard pinochle you reviewed, I agree that version takes too long to build a hand. Two times through the deck? Don't bother. Also, you have that notion that, if you passed on something the first time through you'll have a chance at getting it the second time. No wonder there's no excitement during hand building! And, similar to the version above, you now get to know more of the cards than you should; you know the distribution of 50% of the deck and have a good guess at a portion of your opponent's hand because you've seen some of the cards he's picking up during the three-card phase.

My father taught me the two handed pinochle he learned in the Navy in '70s. His goes like this:

Deal four cards to each player and four in the kitty. Place the remainder of the deck between the two players. If someone has three nines and no ace, shuffle and deal again. Then, starting with the person opposite the dealer, the players alternate as you described deciding whether they want the first card they draw or the second, not-yet-seen card. You'll both end up with a thirteen card hand.

The dealer begins bidding for the kitty (as the opponent is "under" for 15; 150 if you keep x10 score). The winner of the bid turns over the four kitty cards, moves them to his hand, and then places four cards down in his capture pile.

You meld as normal and play as normal with this one caveat: if a player takes all the tricks, they score the full 25 (250 for x10) for play and the other player scores a 0 and has their meld stricken. I know that the player who did not take a trick has a capture pile and that may contain counters but it's unfair to reward a perfect play in other versions of pinochle and take it away in two-handed because of a pre-stocked capture pile.

Thread: Re: Four-player, single-deck pinochle

okiedokie — 2006-01-18T18:44:50+00:00

I recently learned the passing variant (I call it "Cheatin' Idaho Pinochle") and I find that the game actually goes quicker. You are more likely to shoot the moon and the melds end up being worth a lot more as well.

Strategy is the same, but I've been stuck in games where my team has NEVER called trump because we weren't brave enough to believe our partner could fill in our meld. In passing, the game goes to the gutsy.

Thread: 2 player pinochle with kitty and dead hand

gamezendo.com — 2006-01-03T00:51:59+00:00

Since my wife was gone, and my father really wanted to play some pinochle, we played his preferred 2 player version. We normally play 3-handed with each player receiving 15 cards while a three card kitty is dealt, going to the winning bidder (who discards three non-meld cards before starting play).

For two-player, we play exactly the same way, except the third hand is simply dead. no one sees its cards, and play proceeds as it would in a normal 3 player game. Opening bid is 15.

I got no cards in the first game, as I never put in a bid, and was st both times I dealt (as I got stuck with the bid). My father won 108 - 12 (ouch).

The second game, my father had a 40 point first hand, but I came back gradually to close to within 91 to 79, and then got a decent meld hand on the final hand (4 queens and a couple marriages). I also had 3 possibilities for a run! (lacking one card in each of 3 suits). I outbid my dad (got the bid at 25) and proceeded to catch a run in the kitty. Game over; I'd evened the score for the night at 1 game apiece.

This 2 player version is recommended only for the pinochle-holic (e.g. my dad) when there are only 2 people around.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

Koldfoot — 2005-10-04T07:32:12+00:00

Spades? Did I say spades?

I was rushed. Tichu was the game that came to mind. Don't know if it is a good analogy, but I am familiar with the rules to Tichu, even though I have never played.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

Koldfoot — 2005-10-04T06:05:50+00:00

Like I said, I just skimmed this particular variation minutes before writing my own review.

I'd never heard of it before. Doesn't sound much like pinochle, sounds more like a spades variation played with a pinochle deck.

Looks interesting, though.

Thread: Re: Two player pinochle

seandavidross — 2005-10-03T22:51:14+00:00

Players then proceed to the trick taking portion of the game. The winner of each trick gets to draw the top card from the deck.

Sorry, but that part probably needs to be clarified:

There are two trick taking phases. In the first phase you are not required to follow suit or trump. At the end of each trick, the winner may play and immediately score any melds from their hand. The winner then takes the top card from the stock and then the loser takes the next card. Play continues in this way until the stock has been exhausted. Note: the melded cards are still part of the player's hand and, as such, they may be played to subsequent tricks.

After the stock is gone, both players pick up any melds they have, and the second trick taking phase begins. In this phase there is no melding and you must follow suit or else play trump, if possible.

Thread: Two player pinochle

Koldfoot — 2005-10-01T04:39:55+00:00

I have been playing pinochle for decades. I have run across many different variations on the game. As I was preparing to write the review to two player pinochle I scanned the link on two player pinochle that is posted in the "Links" section of the pinochle page on BGG.

I am familiar with two distinct methods to play 2-player pinochle, I had never heard of the variation posted there. Basically, each player is dealt 12 cards, then the top card from the remainder of the deck is revealed. The revealed card is trump for that hand. Players then proceed to the trick taking portion of the game. The winner of each trick gets to draw the top card from the deck.

Interesting. I will have to try it sometime. It looks good.

Here are the outlines of two very different methods to play the game.

These reviews are intended for players who have a grasp of pinochle already. If you don't, consult one of my other reviews for a list of melds, bidding rules and trick taking rules. None of those rules change for either of these versions of the game.

My favorite version

A friend and I thought that we had invented a new way of playing when we created these rules back in my Army days when I was stationed in San Francisco. I wouldn't even mention this variation here, except for the fact that I have encountered 3 other families separated by many thousands of miles that play by very similar rules. One family was an Army family I met in Germany while I was stationed in Frankfurt. I met another guy in a bar in Buffalo who played by these rules. The other guy who played by these same rules was a college student in Montana. This variation is so simple and "common sense-ical" that it must have been adapted by various players across the country.

Everyone I have introduced this version to has preferred it to standard 2 handed pinochle which is described below.

Simply deal out 3 hands of 15 cards as you would in 3-player pinochle, with 3 cards dealt to the kitty as in 3-player pinochle. After examining his cards the dealer has the option of discarding his hand and playing the third hand instead. If he passes on that opportunity, the second player has the option of discarding his hand and taking the third hand.

Bidding progresses as in 3-player pinochle. The high bidder receives the 3 cards in the kitty. Players meld, then proceed to the trick taking phase which is exactly the same as in other versions of the game.

Because of point cards contained in the unused hand, there will be a variable number of points available in the trick taking phase.

Although there can be an advantage to taking the 3rd hand of cards, the advantage is alternated between players. I doubt many players can memorize the entire hand of cards that they discarded. The trick is to remember which aces were in the hand you discarded, and which suits were doubled (had both cards of the same type, so that other players can't score a run in that suit).

Play to 100 or 1000 if you count points in multiples of ten.

Standard two player pinochle
Or so I thought until I read the link on main pinochle page.

The deck is shuffled and placed between the two players.

One player draws the top card, and decides if he wants to keep it. If he keeps it, he draws a second card, looks at the second card and discards it face down on a discard pile. If the player looks at the first card and decides he doesn't want to keep it, he discards it face down on the discard pile and draws and keeps the second card.

The second player does the same thing.

Players alternate drawing and discarding until the deck has been exhausted once. At this point each player should have 12 cards in their hand. The discard pile is then shuffled and players again go through it drawing cards.

The second time through the deck players choose 3 cards each turn. A player looks at the first card, if he keeps it he looks at and discards the next two cards. If he does not want the first card he discards it face down and picks up the second card. If he wants the second card he keeps it and picks up the third card, looks at it, and discards it. If he doesn't want either of the first two cards, he must keep the third card.

Each player should have 16 cards when the pile is exhausted for the second time.

Players then bid, meld and play as in regular pinochle. Again, because of the unused cards, there will be less than 24 ace, tens and kings available in the trick taking phase. The number of points available in the trick taking phase will vary.

This method just seems to take too long to acquire your hand of cards, and acquiring cards is just not exciting, as far as I am concerned. I would just as soon deal and play, however many people play by these rules.

Thread: Three player pinochle.

Koldfoot — 2005-09-30T09:25:49+00:00

Pinochle is a trick taking game most commonly played with "double deck" rules. There are many variations of the game played in various locations in the United States.

One of the most common variations is double deck pinochle. I have never encountered a double deck version of three-player pinochle. Many, many pinochle players are only familiar with double deck pinochle, so I felt inclined to make that disclaimer. As far as I know, three-player pinochle is only played with a single deck.

In different regions of the country pinochle is scored in two different ways. The main way is to express scores as single digits, the other way is to add a "0" to the score to express it in multiples of ten. For example, depending upon the region of the country you live, a bid of 20 and a bid of 200 are the same bid. Likewise, an ace in every suit is scored as either 10 or 100. To avoid mistakes I will refer to scores as multiples of 10, as it is the system I most use.

Review

A pinochle deck consists of regular playing cards, but only the 9-Ace. All cards are doubled in the deck for a total of 48 cards. The rank of the cards is slightly adjusted, tens rank just below an ace and just above a king.

Players are dealt 15 cards each in 3 handed pinochle. The remaining 3 cards are placed face down in the "kitty", and will be claimed by the player to bid the highest. Cards are traditionally dealt in groups of three, that is the dealer deals three cards to one player before continuing to the next player.

The game is played to a set score, usually 1000 points (or 100 depending on the scoring system you use).

There are three phases to a hand of pinochle. The first is the bidding phase. Players examine their hand and bid. The first bid must be no less than 160. Again, depending on your region of the country either the dealer or the player to the dealer's left is "in". That means if no one else bids, he automatically bids 150 and must score that many points or else lose that many points.

Players may not re-enter the bidding after passing. Players can bid any amount they choose above the current high bid. The last player to bid, after the other two have passed gets to name the trump suit for that hand. He also gets the 3 cards in the "kitty".

Depending on your region of the country the three cards in the "kitty" are either revealed for all players to see, or the bidder picks them up secretly. I usually play with the kitty being revealed for all players to see, before the high bidder places the cards in his hand.

The player who bid the highest must score equal to or more than the bid amount or he loses points equal to the bid.

The second phase of 3-player pinochle is the meld phase. All players may meld cards in their hand for points, even the players who didn't bid the highest.

Melds are as follows:

A, 10, K, Q, J in the trump suit is a "run" - 150 points (Note: no 9 is needed, if the player has the 9 an extra 10 points are scored for each 9 of trump he melds.)

K, Q or a "marriage" in the trump suit is 40 points.
K, Q, in any other suit is 20 points.

A 9 of trump may be melded by anyone for 10 points.

An Ace in every suit 100 points

A King in every suit 80 points

A Queen in every suit 60 points

A Jack in every suit is 40 points

Note: no points are awarded for 9s and 10s in every suit.

A jack of diamonds and a queen of spades is referred to as a "pinochle" and scores 40 points.

Both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades is a "double pinochle" and scores 300 points.

All 8 aces scores 1000 points

All 8 kings scores 800 points

All 8 queens scores 600 points

All 8 jacks scores 400 points

All the cards in the trump suit is called a "double run" and is worth 1500 points. Note: 9s are not needed to score a "double run".

Cards can be used in more than one meld. For example, an Ace may be part of a run and a part of 100 aces. A jack of diamonds may be part of a pinochle and as part of a run in diamonds.

After melding, the player who won the bid must secretly discard 3 cards to bring his hand down to 15 cards (remember, he picked up 3 cards from the kitty). He gets to score any point cards (ace, 10 or king) at the end of the trick-taking phase that he may discard.

The winner of the bid may not discard any card he used as part of a meld. If after melding the player has fewer than 3 cards left in his hand, he must pick up cards from his meld to discard and not score those meld points.

After melding players return their cards to their hand. The winning bidder plays the first card in the trick-taking phase. Players must follow suit, if they cannot they must trump if they have any trump in their hand. Players must also beat the highest card played if they can. For example, if the king of diamonds is lead, the player to the left must play either the ace or the 10 of diamonds if he has it. If he doesn’t he can play any other diamond. If he has no diamonds he must play a card of his choice in the trump suit if he has any trump. Subsequent players must first play diamonds, if they have none they must play trump. They must play trump even if they can’t beat the highest trump card currently in play.

In the case of to cards of the same suit and value being played, the first played wins the trick. For example if both ace of spades are played on the same trick, the first ace played would beat the second.

At the end of the trick-taking phase, when all players are out of cards, points are scored. Every player examines the cards he won in the trick-taking phase, he scores ten points for every ace, 10 and king he won. Additionally, the player who took the last trick scores 10 points, whether or not there was any point cards in the last trick.

With the extra point there are 250 points to be scored in the trick-taking phase. Twenty-four point cards and the bonus for the last trick.

If a player took no tricks he loses his meld points. The trick does not have to include a point card for the player to retain his meld points. The three cards discarded by the high bidder do not count as a trick.

If the winning bidder has as many or more combined points in the meld phase and the trick taking phase, he scores all the points he earned. If he failed to meet his bid scores no points for this entire hand and loses points equal to his bid.

Deal passes to the left.

Cut-throat rules. Each player gets one chance to bid. Either the dealer or the player to the dealer’s left (depending on your part of the country) automatically bids 150, and has the last chance to bid or pass. High bidder after one round of bidding wins the bid.

Thread: Four-player, single-deck pinochle

Koldfoot — 2005-09-29T13:17:41+00:00

I grew up playing pinochle. My parents would play pinochle until the early morning hours with other couples. Family get-togethers always involved many hours of pinochle playing. Over the years I have played many different forms of pinochle, 3 handed, 3 handed cut-throat, double deck with 4 and 6 players, partnership single deck with passing of cards, partnership without passing cards, and two variations of two player pinochle.

The most common variation of pinochle is double deck. If you play on line, you are probably playing double deck pinochle. Double deck pinochle bores me to tears. I have refused to play double deck for nearly the last two decades. There are just too many cards, and strategy, while present, is much less than single deck pinochle. In a typical double deck there are 80 cards, although some people retain the 9s and have 96 card decks. In a 4 player game each player typically has 20 cards, and there are 4 of every card (4 ten of spades, 4 ace of diamonds, 4 king of hearts, etc) in the deck. Phenomenally high melds occur routinely. Phenomenally high melds make the game too dependent on luck and less on skill. Double deck is commonly played with 6 players, which, because players are on 2 different teams and there are so many cards, the luck factor is increased.

From region to region scores are expressed in 2 different ways. The most common way to express a score is as a number, such as 28 or 54. The other way is to add a "0" to the end of the number, essentially keeping scores in multiples of 10. (Double deck pinochle is nearly always scored without the added "0" because scores are so high anyway). To clarify, a typical "run" is scored as either 15 or 150 and a game is played to either 150 or 1500 depending on the part of the country you are from. A "hundred aces" (an ace in every suit) may be scored as 10 or 100 depending on the region you are from.

I usually play with multiples of 10. I will refer to scores as multiples of 10 so I don't make any mistakes. Ie a hundred aces is 100 points, not 10. 80 kings is 80 points, not 8.

As indicated in the title, I will review the form of the game that I am most familiar with, that is single deck pinochle. I may write a review on the 3-player, single-deck version in the near future as well as two player pinochle.
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Review starts here.

Pinochle is a trick taking game played with a non-standard deck of cards.

A typical pinochle deck comprises 48 cards. There are two cards of every type from 9 through the Ace (2 nine of clubs, 2 jack or hearts, and 2 kings of diamonds, etc.) The rank of the cards is also different than usual. While a 9 is the lowest card in a suit, and the Ace the highest card in the suit, 10s are out of order. Tens are ranked above the king and below the Ace.

There are 3 phases to a standard hand of pinochle. Bidding, meld, and trick taking.

First is the bidding phase. Players evaluate their hand and decide the value. Bidding typically starts at 160 (or 16 in some circles). If no one bids, either the dealer or the person to the left of the dealer (again, depends on which part of the country you are from) gets the bid for 150 whether they desire it or not.

The value of being the highest bidder, is that you get to name the trump suit for that hand. If you don't meet your bid, you lose the number of points that you bid. If you go over your bid you retain any points over and above the bid you may have earned.

Once you pass you may not re-enter the bidding.

Once there is only one bidder left he gets to name the trump suit, and all players meld any points they may have in their hand.

Meld is as follows:

A "run" in the trump suit is worth 150 points. A run is A, 10, K, Q, J. Note, no 9 is needed for a basic run. If the player has the 9 he scores an additional 10 points.

A marriage (K, Q) in the trump suit is 40 points.

A marriage in any other suit is 20 points.

A 9 of trump is always worth 10 points, and can be melded by anyone.

An Ace in every suit is 100 points.

A king in every suit is 80 points.

A queen in every suit is 60 points.

A jack in every suit is 40 points.

All 8 Aces are worth 1000 points.

All 8 kings are worth 800 points.

All 8 queens are worth 600 points.

All 8 jacks are worth 400 points.

A double run is 1500 points.

Nines and tens in every suit have no value.

A jack of diamonds and a queen of spades is a "pinochle" and is 40 points.

A double jack of diamonds and a double queen of spades is a "double pinochle" and is worth 300 points.

Cards can count in more than one meld. For example, one jack of diamonds (or the queen of spades) can be utilized in a run, a pinochle, and with 40 jacks at the same time. A single Ace can be part of a run and 100 Aces.

After meld is calculated, players return their cards to their hand and the trick taking part of the game occurs.

The person who bid the highest plays the first card. Players must follow suit if they can. If they can't they must play a trump. Furthermore, a player must beat the high card played if he can, unless the current high card is a trump card, in which case the player must first follow suit lead if he can.

After all cards are played players count how many Ace, tens and kings they took in the trick taking phase. Each Ace, ten and king is worth 10 points. Since there are only 24 Ace, tens and kings in a pinochle deck, an extra point is awarded to the team that took the last trick, for an even 250 points in the trick taking phase.

That score is added to the meld of each team. If the bidding team's score is higher than the bid, they score the points. If they didn't score enough points they lose the amount bid. A team must take one trick in the trick taking phase or they lose their entire meld. That one trick does not need to contain an Ace, ten or king, they just need to take one trick.

Shoot the Moon.

If, after winning the bid and naming trump, the high bidder thinks his team can take every trick (not just every Ace, ten and king, but every single card played) he can "shoot the moon".

Shooting the Moon scoring varies from region to region of the country.

If he succeeds in taking every trick and called "shoot the moon" his team either (depending on your location) instantly wins the game, scores 1000 points or scores 1500 points. I grew up playing 1000 points, I prefer to play with that value, because it is easier to succeed in shooting the moon than it may sound.

The team that declared they were shooting the moon does not get to meld any points. The other team may still meld, but may choose not to, hoping to not give away their hand.

Passing cards

Some regions of the country allow the team who made the winning bid to exchange cards. This is done as follows. After naming the trump suit, the winning bidder's partner passes his partner 4 cards he think might most benefit his partner. The bidder, after looking at the 4 cards, chooses 4 cards from his own hand to pass back to his partner.

Players must always pass 4 cards. No more, no less.

That is the version of the game I grew up with. I have also played with no passing of cards. I prefer to pass cards, although I won't quibble with those who think it ruins the game. I find the bidding to be much more tense with passing cards. I don't think that any less skill is required to play the game, but others do.

Thread: Player aid has an error.

rri1 — 2005-05-10T17:40:02+00:00

The player aid has an error: Four Aces (one in each suit) should be worth 100 pts., not 10.