Pinochle

Pinochle is a card game played with a 48-card pack consisting of two copies each of cards of the ranks 9, jack, queen, king, 10, and ace in the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs) found in the more widely used 52-card bridge or poker pack. The ordering of the ranks also differs slightly, with the 10 ranking above the face cards. Aces are always considered high. This makes the complete ordering of ranks, from highest to lowest, A 10 K Q J 9.

Variants of pinochle can be played by two, three, four, five or six players. In general, dealing and play proceed from right to left. Hands are played until a player or team reaches 1000 points. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks.

What is being bid on is the right to name a suit "trump", or higher ranking than all other suits in the taking of tricks. Bidding starts at a defined minimum level (150 for four handed pinochle). A player who has not yet "passed" has the option of exceeding the current highest bid, or "passing". Bidding starts to the dealer's left. If all players other than the dealer pass, the dealer names trump at a "price" usually one less than the minimum bid.

Meld consists of displaying specific combinations of cards. Possession of these combinations adds points to one's score, and also confers partial information about one's hand to one's teammate and opponents. A player may choose to not meld a combination, giving up points while denying others the information. Values of melds are as follows:

Class I (rank melds)

"100 Aces" or "Aces around" - 4 aces of different suits (A♦ A♠ A♥ A♣) - 100 points

"80 Kings" or "Kings around" - 4 kings of different suits (K♦ K♠ K♥ K♣) - 80 points

"60 Queens" or "Queens around" - 4 queens of different suits (Q♦ Q♠ Q♥ Q♣) - 60 points

"40 Jacks" or "Jack around" - 4 jacks of different suits (J♦ J♠ J♥ J♣) - 40 points

It is important that they are different suits. For example, A♠ A♥ A♥ A♣ does not qualify for "Aces around" because you are missing A♦. Also, there is no "Nines around" or "Tens around".

In addition, all eight Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks is called a double round worth 10 times the value of a single around, for instance, Kings double around is worth 800 points.

Class II (suit melds)

"Trump Marriage" - King and Queen of trump suit - 40 points

"Marriage" - King and Queen of nontrump suit - 20 points

"Flush", "Family" or "Run" - A 10 K Q J of trump suit - 150 points

"Dix" - Nine of trump - 10 points

Class III (pinochle)

"Pinochle" - Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades (J♦ Q♠) - 40 points.

"Double Pinochle" - both Jacks of Diamonds and both Queens of Spades (J♦ Q♠ J♦ Q♠) - 300 points.

Each card may be used in at most one meld of each class. Thus, K♥ K♥ Q♥ only counts as one marriage, while K♠ Q♠ J♦ counts as both a marriage and a pinochle. As a shorthand, some people divide all scores by 10 points.

Also note that a marriage in each suit is worth 240 total points. As a shortcut, this is called a "roundtable" or "the Round House".

Play of the hand

As normal with trick-taking games, the winner of each trick leads to the next. The high bidder makes the first lead, which must be a trump. Each player must follow suit if possible. Otherwise, each player must trump if possible. This rule is unique to pinochle. When trump is led or played, you must beat the previous card played. So, if the trump king is led, you must play the ten or ace if you are next to play. If you have neither of these cards, you may play any trump you wish, and if out of trump you may play any card you wish. Further, when a previous player has ruffed (played a trump because it was not possible to follow suit) and you also must ruff, you must overruff if possible. So, if player A leads clubs, and player B and C have no clubs, both player B and C must ruff, and player C must overruff player B if possible.

Points are scored based on the play of the hand. There are several ways to count up the points for play, but they add up to 250 points under all methods. The last trick is worth 10 points under all methods.

Method #1 - simplified

Aces and Tens are worth 10 points, kings and queens are worth 5 points, jacks and nines are worth zero.

Method #2 - classical

Aces are worth 11, tens are worth 10, kings are worth 4, queens are worth 3, jacks are worth 2, and nines are worth zero. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes much longer to count the score at the end of each hand. The strategy is not much different from method #1

Method #3 - streamlined

Aces, tens, and kings are worth 10, queens, jacks, and nines are worth 0. This method eliminates much of the strategy of method #1. It is useful in double-deck games where 2×48 = 96 cards are used.

Note that in each method, there are 60 points in each suit, plus 10 points for last, for a total of 4×60+10 = 250 points.

Variations Based on Number of Players

Although the concept of combining meld and trick scoring is consistent in all versions of Pinochle, the game's set-up and play varies dramatically depending on the number of players involved.

Two-handed - to 1000 points

Two-handed pinochle is unique among the game's various versions for its method of amassing a hand. In this version, no cards are initially dealt; instead, the deck is placed face-down on the playing surface between the two players to form the stock. One player begins the hand-building process by drawing the top card of the stock. The player now has two choices: 1) either keep that card to build his hand, or 2) reject that card. If the player chooses to hold the initial card, the player then draws a second card from the stock, then places it face-down (without looking at it), creating his discard pile. If the player rejects the first card, he creates his discard pile with the first card. He then must keep the second card he draws from the stock, regardless of whether he liked the first card better.

Players alternate turns in this hand-building process until all cards are chosen. At that time, each player will hold 12 cards in hand, and have 12 cards in discard.

Bidding commences. The player winning the bid calls trumps, then lays all meld face-up on the table. The other player shows his meld as well. Meld points are tallied, and players return meld cards to their hands.

Trick-taking commences and continues until all held cards have been played. When adding counters, cards from each player's discard pile are included in totals for a total of 24 counters per round, plus one counter for winning the final trick.

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Three-handed - to 1000 points

Each player plays for himself. The dealer delivers 15 cards to each player and three (3) cards to a separate pile in the middle (called the "talon" or "widow").

All players review their cards and silently count meld, determining their bids. The player to the dealer's left initiates the bidding process. If the player has meld (other than 9s), he is required to open the bidding; otherwise, he may pass or bid. If he passes, the obligation to bid passes to the next player, if meld is held. Once a player passes, he is out of the auction.

Bidding begins at 300, or 250 for an easier game, and increases in multiples of 10. The high bidder wins the auction. He turns up the three-card widow for all to see, and then adds the widow cards to his hand. He must now discard any three of the 18 cards in his hand and set them aside. The winning bidder now names the trump suit and lays his meld face-up on the table to be counted. The other two players also lay meld face-up for count. After the appropriate points have been tallied for all three players, meld is returned to each respective player's hand, and the round is played. During the round, a player must take at least one trick to "save his meld", even if the trick contains no points; otherwise, no meld points will be counted for that player during that round.

After all tricks are taken, counters are tallied for each player. The three discards by the high bidder count toward his counter score for the hand, so there is always a total of 250 points for the trick score among the three players. If the high bidder fails to make his contract (meld points + trick points from the play), then his score for that hand is negative the amount of his bid.

Playing Notes

• After viewing the widow, the high bidder may concede the hand and take a negative score for the amount of his bid; however, he still must name trumps and the other two players score their meld. Conceding the hand does save the trick points opponents would score playing their hands, although opponents will not have an opportunity to lose their meld by failing to take a trick. * A player may not attempt to play the hand for more than 250 points. For example, if the bid is 350 and a player has only 80 points in meld, that player is forced to concede. (If a player is about to win, it may have been worthwhile to play the hand and try to deny that player a trick. Remember, the decision to concede a hand must be made before seeing the opponents' meld.)
• A player forced to take the bid for 300 points may choose to concede without viewing the widow. His score is lowered by 300 points, and the opponents score nothing for the hand. This strategy is useful when another player is close to winning.
• The widow can often salvage a hopeless hand, so it pays to look when nobody is close to winning.

Winning the Game and Resolving Ties

The game is won when one player reaches 1000 points. It is possible for two or all three players to go over 1000 on the same hand. There are 3 methods of resolving ties:

• Method #1 - Highest Score: If there's a tie, play another hand. This is the least desirable method.
• Method #2 - Overtime: The game is extended and is now a contest to 1250 points. If two players exceed 1250 points on the same hand, the contest lengthens to 1500 points. This rule holds regardless of score fluctuations (players "going minus" - failing to reach their bid amounts - and falling below 1000 points.
• Method #3 - Bid and Out: If two players exceed 1000 points on the same hand, then the high bidder for that round automatically is declared the winner. If two non-bidders exceed 1000 points on the same hand (extremely rare), then Method #1 or Method #2 would apply. The advantage of this method is that it very interesting when two or all three players are close to 1000 points.

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Four-handed - to 1000

Two teams consisting of two players each are formed, with partners seated opposite. Play is to 1000. The opening bid is 150. Each player is dealt 12 cards. There is no talon or widow. All four players may bid. Both the bidder and his partner have their score count towards making the contract. High bidder names trump. Each hand must meld separately. In other words, if your partner has a spade marriage, you may not put down the diamond jack for a pinochle; you must also have a spade queen. As in the three-handed version, the first player is forced to bid when holding meld.

Optional rules

• When there are 3 initial passes (i.e., the first 3 players have no meld), the dealer is forced to bid 190 if he has meld.
• In another variation, the winning partnership must, before melding, exchange 3 cards from each of their hands. This version is usually played to 1500.

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Three-player Check Pinochle This is a gambling variant. It is the same as to 1000, except that you keep track of "checks". If you are playing $1 stakes, each check you gain means that the other 2 players owe you a dollar. The following events cause a gain/loss of checks.

Flush +1 check

Aces +1 check

Roundtable +2 checks (marriage in each suit)

Note that checks for meld can be earned either by the bidder or non-bidder. Checks are kept even if you do not make your bid or "throw it in".

Looking at the "talon" and losing the hand (either by conceding or playing) -1 check

Playing the hand and losing -1 additional check (optional)

Not looking at the talon and conceding 300 points. - no gain or loss of checks (happens when forced to bid)

Double marriage (2 marriages in same suit) +1 check (optional)

Double pinochle +1 check (optional)

Double Aces, Double Kings, Double Queens, or Double Jacks +2 checks (optional)

Winning the game +5 checks or +10 checks

7 nines +5 or +10 checks (optional) (do not need to win the bid to get credit)

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Double-Deck Pinochle

Double-Deck Pinochle is played with 2 pinochle decks, minus the nines. This makes for a 80 card deck.

Play is simmilar to regular Pinochle, except 20 cards are delt to each person and minimum bid is increased to 500 points.de:Binokel