Pinochle

Pinochle scores you twice: once for combinations you can show from your hand (melds), and again for the valuable cards you capture in tricks. It uses a doubled-up short deck, so you will often hold two identical cards. A game to 1500 takes about an hour.

What You Need

• Players: Exactly 4, in two partnerships sitting across from each other.
• Deck: 48 cards - two copies each of A, 10, K, Q, J, and 9 in every suit. Pinochle decks are sold ready-made, or combine two standard decks stripped down to those ranks.
• Extras: Pen and paper for scoring.

Key Terms

• Trick: One round where every player plays a single card. The best card wins all four.
• Trump: The suit that beats all other suits, named by whoever wins the bidding.
• Meld: A scoring combination you lay face up before trick play begins.
• Marriage: The king and queen of the same suit. In trump it is a "royal marriage".
• Pinochle: The J♦ with the Q♠ - the combination the game is named after.
• Around: One card of the same rank in each of the four suits, such as aces around.
• Counters: The cards worth trick points: aces, 10s, and kings.

Setup

1. Sit so partners are opposite each other.
2. Deal all 48 cards clockwise in packets of 3 or 4, giving every player 12 cards. Nothing is left over - there is no kitty.
3. Note the unusual rank order within a suit: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. The 10 sits between the ace and the king.

How to Play

Bidding

1. Starting to the dealer's left, each player bids a number of points or passes. Once you pass you cannot re-enter.
2. The minimum opening bid is 250, and raises go up in tens. A bid is a number only - you do not name a suit while bidding.
3. The last player still bidding wins and names the trump suit.

Melding

1. Everyone lays their scoring combinations face up on the table.
2. Both partners' melds are added together for the team.
3. Cards are then taken back into hand before trick play begins.

Because the deck is doubled, you may hold two copies of a meld. Some doubles are worth far more than twice the single value:

Trick play

1. The winning bidder leads the first trick.
2. Pinochle's obligations are stricter than most trick-taking games. You must follow suit, and you must beat the highest card played so far if you can. If you are void in the led suit you must trump, and if a trump has already been played you must beat it if you can.
3. When two identical cards tie for the win, the one played first takes the trick.
4. The trick winner leads next.

Scoring & Winning

• Counters taken in tricks: each ace, 10, and king is worth 10 points. The last trick is worth an extra 10. That is 250 points available every hand.
• A team's hand score is their meld total plus their trick points.
• The bidding team must reach their bid across meld and tricks combined. If they fall short they lose the full amount of the bid instead.
• If the bidding team takes no tricks at all, their melds score nothing.
• First team to 1500 points wins. If both cross the line, the bidding team is checked first.

Example

Spades are trump. Your team melds a royal marriage (40) and a pinochle (40) for 80, then needs 170 more in trick points to make a bid of 250.

Variations

• Double-deck Pinochle: 80 cards, four players, no 9s. Very popular in North America; the target is usually 500.
• Two-handed Pinochle: deal 12 each and draw from a stock after every trick.
• Auction Pinochle: the three-player version, with a widow of cards for the bid winner.
• Meld values and the target score vary widely between groups. Agree on them before you start.

Tips for New Players

• Add your meld first, then estimate trick points. Bidding 250 with 80 in meld means committing to about 170 of the 250 trick points on the table.
• Aces are the safest source of trick points because they cannot be beaten except by trump.
• The rule that you must beat the highest card played means trick play is far more forced than in Hearts or Spades. Think about what you will be compelled to play later.