Pinochle

Players and equipment

Four players in two partnerships. Other versions exist — two-handed and three-handed auction pinochle are games in their own right, with their own rules — but the partnership game is the one meant here. The deck is 48 cards: two each of A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in every suit. Within a suit the ranking is ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine — the ten sits above the king, which catches everybody out at first.

The deal

Twelve cards each, dealt in threes or fours. The deal passes to the left after every hand.

Play

Starting to the dealer's left, players bid for the right to name trumps, each bid higher than the last, until three players have passed. A bid is the number of points your side promises to make between its melds and its tricks. At most tables the bidding opens at 250 and rises by ten at a time, and if the first three players pass the dealer must take the bid at the minimum. The high bidder names the trump suit; their partner then passes four cards across, choosing them freely and without any discussion, and the bidder passes four back.

Melds — the scoring groups listed under Scoring — are then laid face up and counted, and picked back up. Twelve tricks are played, the bidder leading to the first: follow suit if you can, and you must head the trick if you can, which means playing a higher card than any yet on it. If you cannot follow suit you must trump, if you have a trump. A trump beats any plain card, and between two identical cards the first one played wins. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

Scoring

Melds, in the common partnership values:

Run

150

A-10-K-Q-J of trumps

Four aces

100

One of each suit

Four kings

80

One of each suit

Four queens

60

One of each suit

Four jacks

40

One of each suit

Royal marriage

40

King and queen of trumps

Marriage

20

King and queen of any other suit

Pinochle

40

Jack of diamonds with queen of spades

Double pinochle

300

Both jacks of diamonds with both queens of spades

Dix

10 each

Nine of trumps

The king and queen inside a run are part of the 150 and are not scored again as a royal marriage. A card may sit in more than one meld as long as they are of different kinds — the king of trumps in the run and in four kings, the queen of spades in a pinochle and in four queens — but never in two of the same kind. The two partners' melds are added together for the side.

In the play:

Each ace, ten and king taken

10

The counters

Last trick

10

The twelfth

That puts 250 points in the tricks. The bidding side adds its melds to what it takes in tricks. If that total does not reach the bid, the whole bid is subtracted from its score instead, and its melds count for nothing that hand. The other side scores its melds and its counters as they stand; at most tables a side that takes no trick at all loses its meld.

A worked hand

Alice and Cara are partners against Ben and Dev. Alice wins the bidding at 320 and names spades. Cara passes her four cards across and Alice passes four back, then both sides show their melds.

Alice

150 + 40 + 20 + 10 = 220

A run in spades, a pinochle, a marriage in clubs and one dix

Cara

40

Four jacks

Alice and Cara

260

The side's melds

Ben and Dev

80

Four queens and a marriage in hearts

Alice and Cara

160

Fifteen counters and the last trick

Ben and Dev

90

Nine counters

Alice's side needs 320. Its melds are 260, so it has to find 60 in the tricks, and it takes 160: 260 and 160 is 420, the bid is made, and 420 goes on its score. Ben and Dev enter their 80 in melds and 90 in counters, 170. The two sides' trick points, 160 and 90, come to 250, which is a useful check every hand.

Had Alice's side taken only five counters, its total would have been 260 and 50, which is 310 — ten short of 320. The side is set: it loses 320, and its 260 in melds is thrown away with it. Ben and Dev would have had nineteen counters and the last trick for 200, plus their 80 in melds, 280.

Ending

First side to an agreed total — commonly 1,500 — wins. If both cross on the same deal, the bidding side is counted first. Some tables play to 1,000. Keeping score on SquareScores, the host sets the target when launching the game and the app closes the match at the line.

Bidding on meld and tricks

Count the meld you can see in your own hand and add the tricks you expect, at a rough 10 for every ace and a little more for a long trump suit. Your partner's four cards may improve both, but bid on what is in front of you and treat the pass as a bonus. Remember that a set costs the whole bid and your melds with it: a side at 310 with a bid of 320 is worse off than a side that never bid at all. When the other side holds the bid, keep bidding only while you believe you can make it yourself — bidding them up is a fine way to be set.

Passing cards

The partner of the bidder passes what the bidder needs: trumps first, then aces, then any card that finishes a meld the bidder is likely to hold — a queen of spades or a jack of diamonds if you have a spare, a king or queen of trumps for the run. Never pass a card that breaks a meld of your own worth more than the help it gives. The bidder passes back low cards in plain suits, keeping every counter and every trump, so that the partner is left with cards that can be thrown away safely under the bidder's winning tricks.

Playing the tricks

The bidder usually leads trumps to pull the other side's out while the aces in the plain suits are still safe. When your partner is winning a trick, put a counter on it — a ten or a king that would otherwise fall to the other side later — and when the other side is winning it, throw the nine or the jack. Count the trumps as they go: there are twelve, and once they are out your remaining aces are certain tricks.

Setting the bid

Defending, the arithmetic is public: you can see the bid and the melds, so you know how many counters the bidding side needs. Work out how many you must hold them to and play for exactly that, saving your aces to take the tricks that carry counters and letting empty tricks go. The last trick is 10 on its own and often carries a counter or two, so keep one trump back for it when you can: at a table where every point has been counted, it is the trick that decides make or set.

Two-hand Pinochle

The original game and Bezique's closest cousin. Twelve cards each, the rest a stock with the trump turned beneath it, and no bidding: while the stock lasts you play any card to any trick, the winner melds one group and draws first, and when the stock runs out the last twelve tricks are played strictly. The same meld table applies, and a dix may be exchanged for the turned-up trump.

Three-hand auction

Three players, each for themselves, with fifteen cards each and three dealt face down as a widow. The bidding is as in the partnership game; the high bidder takes the widow, names trumps, melds and then buries three cards face down, which count as a trick already won. The bidder plays alone against the other two, who pool their tricks to set the bid.

Double-deck Pinochle

Eighty cards — four of each ace, ten, king, queen and jack, no nines — and twenty cards each. The melds drop their final zero: a run is 15, four aces 10, four kings 8, four queens 6, four jacks 4, a pinochle 4 and a royal marriage 4, and a double run or double set scores far more. Counters are one point each and the last trick two, so 50 points are in the play, the bidding opens at 50, and game is 500.

Cutthroat

Three or four players with no partners, each bidding and scoring alone. The bidder plays against everybody else, and everybody else plays only to set the bid.

Is the ten higher than the king in Pinochle?

Yes. Within a suit the order is ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, so a ten beats a king, a queen and a jack. It matters twice, because the ten is also a counter worth 10 when taken in a trick.

What is a pinochle?

The jack of diamonds and the queen of spades together, which meld for 40. Both jacks of diamonds with both queens of spades are a double pinochle for 300. The game is named after the meld.

What does it mean to be set in Pinochle?

The bidding side is set when its melds and its trick points together fall short of its bid. The whole bid is then subtracted from its score and its melds count for nothing that hand, while the other side scores everything it made.

How many points are there in the tricks?

Two hundred and fifty: eight aces, eight tens and eight kings at 10 each make 240, and the last trick is 10 more. Add both sides' trick points at the end of every hand and they should come to 250; if they do not, somebody has miscounted.

What is a dix?

The nine of trumps, said like the French word for ten. Each one melds for 10, and as there are two nines in every suit a side can hold both. In the two-hand game a dix may also be exchanged for the turned-up trump card.

Can two people play Pinochle?

Yes, and two-hand Pinochle is the original form: twelve cards each, a stock to draw from after every trick, one meld at a time as in Bezique, and no bidding.

What happens if everybody passes?

At most tables the dealer cannot pass out the hand: if the other three pass, the dealer must take the bid at the minimum and name trumps. Some tables instead throw the hand in and deal again.