Pinochle
Goal
Score points from melds and trick-taking; first partnership to target wins.
Key Terms
- Meld: Scoring combinations revealed from your hand.
- Marriage: King and Queen of the same suit.
- Pinochle: Jack of diamonds + Queen of spades.
Setup
- Use a 48-card deck (two each of A, 10, K, Q, J, 9).
- Deal 12 cards each; remaining cards form the stock or kitty (by variant).
Bidding & Trump
- Players bid to choose trump; winning bidder declares trump.
- The winning bidder (or their partner, by variant) leads the first trick.
Melds
- Score for runs, marriages (K+Q), pinochle (J♦+Q♠), and arounds.
Trick Play
- Must follow suit if possible; trump wins if played.
Example Trick
Spades are trump. A trump 9 can win over any non‑trump lead if no higher trump is played.
End
- Add meld points and trick points to score.