Pinochle
(Two-Hand Pinochle)

 

◊ The values of the melds are:

Class A

To illustrate these rules: A player may not put down K, Q, J and score both for the marriage and for the pinochle; only one meld may be made in any turn. The player may put down Q and J for 40 points; and, after winning a subsequent trick, he may add the K and score for the marriage. A player may meld the trump K, Q for 40 points and later add A, J, 10 for 150, but may not first meld A, K, Q, J, 10 for 150 and later score for a royal marriage, even if he adds another K or Q. A player may not meld K, Q and then meld another marriage in diamonds by adding another K or another Q. He would need a different K, or Q.

Once a card has been melded and placed on the table, it may be played to a trick as though it were in the holder's hand; however, after it has been played, it may no longer be used to form a new meld.

Melding the dix. If the dealer turns a dix (pronounced "deece") as the trump card, he scores 10 points immediately. Thereafter, a player holding a dix may count it merely by showing it upon winning a trick. He may count the dix and make another meld in the same turn. The holder of the dix has the right to exchange it, upon winning a trick, for the trump card.

 

• The Playoff

The winner of the twelfth trick may meld if possible, and then must draw the last face-down card of the stock. He shows this card to his opponent, who draws the trump card (or the dix, if the exchange has been made). The winner of the preceding trick now leads, and the rules of the play are as follows: each player must follow suit to the card led if possible, and must try to win when a trump is led (by playing a higher trump). A player who cannot follow suit must trump if he has a trump. In this manner the last 12 tricks are played, after which the players count and score the points they have won in their tricks and melds.

 

• Scoring

The score may be kept with pencil and paper, or chips may be used. If chips are used, there may be a central pile from which each player draws enough chips to represent the number of points he scores. Alternatively, each player may be provided with chips representing 1000, from which the appropriate chips are removed as points are scored.

Melds are scored when they are made. Scores for cards taken in tricks are added after the play is complete and the cards are counted. In this count, 7 points or more count as 10. Example: 87 points count as 90. If one player scores 126 and the other 124, or if each scores 125, they count only 120 each; the other 10 points are lost.

 

•Game

Every deal may constitute a game. The player who scores the most points wins.

Alternatively, a match can be played to 1,000 points, playing a series of deals. When one player has scored 1,000 or more, and the other player less than 1,000, the former wins the game. If at the end of the play of any hand each player has 1,000 or more, play continues for a game of 1,250, even if one player has, for example, 1,130, while the other has only 1,000. If both players go over 1,250 at the end of the hand, the play continues for a 1,500-point game, and so on. However, this seldom happens because either player has the right, during the play, to "declare himself out."

 

• Declaring Out

At any time during the play, a player may "declare out." At that point, play stops and his tricks are counted. If, in fact, the player has 1000 points or more, he wins the game - even if the opponent has more. If the claimant has fewer than 1,000 points, he loses the game. If the game has been increased to 1,250 points, 1,500 points, or a higher score, a player may declare out at that figure.

◊ Variation 1. After declaring out, a player must win a trick before the cards are counted; and if, in the meantime, the opponent also declares out, the first player to win a trick is the one to have his cards counted and to win or lose the game, depending on his score.

◊ Variation 2. The same as variation 1, except that the claimant's cards are not counted until he wins a trick on a lead from his own hand.

 

Three-Hand Pinochle

A Pinochle game on the order of the two-hand game was once played by three players, usually with a 64-card pack. Each player received 12 cards in the deal and played in turn. Game was 1,000, as in the two-hand game. This version has been superseded by Auction Pinochle.

 

Partnership Pinochle

The basic game of Partnership Pinochle is described first. Several variations have grown in such popularity that they are also described below, including Partnership Auction Pinochle and Double-Pack Pinochle.

 

• Requirements

 

• Rank of Cards

A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9. If duplicate cards are played to the same trick, the one played first ranks higher.

 

• The Draw

The two players drawing the highest cards play as partners against the other two. If two players cut cards of identical rank, they draw again.

 

• The Shuffle and Cut

Any player may shuffle the cards, and the dealer shuffles last. The player to the dealer's right cuts.

 

• The Deal

The dealer distributes the entire deck, three cards at a time to each player in rotation, except that the last card is turned up to indicate the trump card. Every card of that suit is a trump for the current deal.

 

• The Trump Card

Each player in turn, beginning with the player on the dealer's left, has the right to exchange the dix (nine of trumps) for the trump card. The trump card, or the dix exchanged for it, then becomes part of the dealer's hand, so that each player has 12 cards. If the dealer turns a dix as the trump card, he scores 10 points for it; each original holder of a dix scores 10, whether or not it was exchanged.

 

• Melding

Following the exchange for the trump card, each player shows on the table any melding combinations he holds, and scores them in accordance with the tables and rules for basic Two-hand Pinochle. Instead of doubling the value of a single combination, the following scores are counted for double combinations:

Having shown and scored their melds, all players pick up their hands. No meld finally counts unless the side making it wins at least one trick. If either member of that partnership wins a trick, both members score their melds.

 

• The Play

The player on the dealer's left leads first and may lead any card. Each player in turn must follow suit if possible. Otherwise, he must play a trump. If a trump is led, each player must beat the highest card previously played. If a player is unable to play according to these requirements, he may play any card. The winner of each trick leads next. (Variation: In some games, each player in turn must try to win every trick, whether a trump trick or not, and must play a card higher than any previously played, even if the highest card so far was played by his partner.)

 

• Scoring

A single score is kept for each partnership. The partnership is credited with the points both partners score in melds (provided the side wins at least one trick), plus the value of cards they have taken in tricks. Cards may be counted as in Two-Hand Pinochle (Aces, 11 points; tens, 10; kings, 4; queens, 3, and jacks, 2). However, most players simplify the count by scoring 10 for each ace or ten taken in, and 5 points for each king or queen, with jacks and nines counting nothing. Other players simplify still further by counting 10 points each for ace, ten or king and nothing for any lower card. In any of these methods, the winner of the last trick always scores 10 points, and the total points by cards are 250.

 

• Game

The first side to score 1,000 points, in melds and cards, wins the game. Any player may claim the game ("declare out," as described for Two-Hand Pinochle) at any time he believes that his side has scored 1000 points or more. Play then stops, and the cards are counted to verify the claim. If the claimant's side has 1,000 points or more, it wins the game regardless of how many points the other side has. If the claimant's side has fewer than 1,000 points, it loses the game. The claimant's side may not count its melds in the current deal as part of its total unless it has won a trick after melding. If at the end of play in any deal, both sides have reached 1,000 or more, play continues to 1,250. If the same thing happens again, play continues to 1,500, and so on.

 

Partnership Auction Pinochle

Although other interesting variations follow this description, Partnership Auction Pinochle for 4 players is considered the classic form of the game.

 

• The Deal

Twelve cards are dealt to each player, but a trump card is not turned.

 

• The Play

Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer's left, may either bid or pass. The lowest bid is 100. When a player has passed, he may no longer bid; however, until then, he may bid each time it is his turn, provided the bid is higher than the last previous bid. Bids are made in multiples of 10 points.

The highest bidder names any suit as trump, and the players meld. Play then proceeds as in Partnership Pinochle, with the player on the dealer's left leading first, no matter who made the highest bid. A side that wins any trick may count the melds of both partners.

 

• Scoring

If the bidding side, in melds and cards, scores at least the amount of its bid, it scores all the points it has made. If it scores less than its bid, the amount of the bid is deducted from its score, even if it causes that side to have a net minus score. The non-bidding side always scores all the points it makes. The first side to reach 1,000 points wins the game. There is no declaring out, since the score of the bidding side is always counted first, and both sides cannot reach 1,000 on the same hand.

 

• The Widow

A variation is to deal only 11 cards to each player with a widow of four cards. The widow goes to the highest bidder, who looks at it, but does not show it. He then keeps one card and gives one card each, face down, to the other players.

 

Partnership Pinochle for Six or Eight

Six players form two partnerships of three each, sitting alternately. Eight players form two partnerships of four each, also sitting alternately. A double Pinochle pack (96 cards) is used, and the cards are dealt out four at a time, so that each player has 16 cards in the six-hand game and 12 cards in the 8-hand game.

The rules of Partnership Pinochle (with the last card turned as trump) or of Partnership Auction Pinochle (with players bidding for the trump) are followed.

 

• Scoring

Instead of the scores for certain standard melds, as shown in the rules for Two-Hand Pinochle, multiples of these melds are scored as follows:

 

Firehouse Pinochle

This is the game from which Check Pinochle was derived. It is a four-hand partnership game, with 12 cards dealt to each player and bidding for trump. The player on the dealer's left bids first, and each player has exactly one bid (or he may pass). The minimum bid is 200, and a player does not need any specific holding to bid. The high bidder names the trump and leads first. The game is won by the first side to reach 1,000 points, and the score of the bidding side is counted first.

 

Check Pinochle

This is a Partnership Auction Pinochle game in which special bonuses are paid in checks (chips) for unusual melds and for making or defeating the bid.

 

• The Play

Four people play, two against two, using a regular 48-card Pinochle pack. Each player is dealt 12 cards, and no trump card is turned. The bidding begins with the player to the dealer's left. The minimum bid is 200. None of the first three players may bid unless the player holds a marriage in his hand. If all the players pass, the dealer must bid 200, and may bid more if he holds a marriage. Until he has passed once, a player may continue to bid in turn so long as he bids higher than the previous bid.

The high bidder names the trump suit. Then all the players may meld, according to the Partnership Pinochle table listed earlier. The high bidder leads any card, and the play proceeds as in Partnership Pinochle.

 

• Scoring

The game is 1,000, and the score of the bidding side is counted first. Every hand is played out. A side cannot score its meld unless it has won a trick.

 

• Check Awards

Each player collects from one of his opponents:

 

• Irregularities

◊ Bidding without a marriage. The opponents, after consultation, may elect:

 

◊ Revoke. A revoke (failing to follow suit or trump when required and able to do so) becomes established when the offending side leads or plays to the next trick. All previous tricks stand, but all other cards go to the non-offending side.

 

Double-Pack Pinochle

The most popular form of Partnership Pinochle, Double-Pack Pinochle evolved during the 1940s and produced two innovations: a double pack, with no nines or lower cards, and bidding during which a player can tell his partner about the contents of his hand.

 

• Requirements

 

•The Draw

Each player draws a card from the pack. The players with two highest cards are partners against those with the two lowest, and the highest deals. There is no rank of suits, and if two or more players draw cards of the same rank, they draw again to determine the order among themselves only. High card deals.

Example: A draws an ace, B and C draw kings, D draws a jack. B and C draw again; the higher will be A's partner, the lower D's partner. Player A deals.

 

• The Deal

The dealer shuffles the pack and offers it to an opponent, who cuts it approximately in half. The entire pack is dealt, four or five cards at a time, giving each player 20 cards. The turn to deal passes to the left.

 

•The Bidding

Beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each player in turn may make a bid, announce a meld, or pass. Having once passed, a player may not bid again in that hand.

The minimum bid is 500. Bids are made in multiples of 10, and each bid must be higher than any previous bid. It is customary to drop the extra zero at the end of every score and bid.

Example: 50 instead of 500, 51 instead of 510, and so on.

Before any player has bid, each player in turn may announce the amount of his meld, without giving any other information as to the nature of his hand, such as by announcing 100, 400 (or 10, 40). The player may announce more or less than the actual amount.

In making a bid, a player may state that it is based on a flush or on a long suit, and may also announce a meld, as by bidding 500 and announcing a flush and 100 meld. The bidder may not name a particular suit, or say that he has two long suits, or give any information as to the playing strength of the hand. If a player announces a flush or long suit before any bid has been made, he is deemed to have bid 500. If a player announces a meld in points after a bid has been made, he is deemed to have topped the previous bid by 10 points for each 100 points, or fraction of 100 points, that he announces.

Example: The last bid was for 500; if the next player announces 100 meld, he has bid 510; if he announces 140 meld, the bid is 520. (In some games, only bids and passes are permitted, but not announcements.)

If all four players pass (or announce melds) but no one bids, the hands are thrown in and the next dealer deals.

 

• Melding

The high bidder names the trump suit. Each player then melds, scoring as follows:

 

• Sequences Points

(There is no extra score for a duplicated sequence. A double flush counts only 300.)

 

• Groups Points

 

• Pinochle

A card that is part of a meld under one heading may be counted as part of a meld under another heading, but not part of another meld under the same heading.

A side's melds do not count unless that side later wins a scoring trick. A worthless trick, such as four jacks, does not make the meld count.

 

• The Play

The high bidder leads and may lead any card. Each player in turn must follow suit, if possible. If a trump is led, the player must top it if he can. If the player cannot follow suit, he must trump, if possible. If duplicate cards are played to the same trick, the one played first ranks higher. The winner of each trick leads next.

 

• Scoring

Cards won in tricks may be scored in either of two ways, which should be agreed on before the game begins:

If the bidding side makes at least the amount of its bid in melds and cards, it scores all it makes. If it makes less than the bid, the whole amount is subtracted from its score. That side's opponents always
score whatever they made.

Game is 3,550, and the score of the bidding side is counted first.

(These rules are based on those prepared by Richard Setian of Philadelphia.)

 

Three-Hand Double-Pack Pinochle

There are two methods of dealing:

Game is 4,550. The minimum bid is 500, and if the first two players pass, the dealer must bid 500. There are no announcements of melds or suits in the bidding. Each player melds, but must win a scoring trick to make the meld count. The high bidder gets the widow and must discard an equal number of cards before picking up his meld. The discard counts, but he must still win a trick to score the meld. Any irregularity in discarding is a revoke.

The high bidder may concede defeat before leading, in which case each opponent scores his meld plus 100, while the bidder is set back the amount of his bid.

 

Six-Hand Triple-Pack Pinochle

Six people play in two partnerships of three each; each player has an opponent to his right and left. Three regular Pinochle packs, without the nines, are mixed together, making a pack of 120 cards. Each player is dealt 20 cards, and the rules of Double-Pack Pinochle apply, except that game is 4,550, the minimum bid is 750, and the last trick counts 30. Most of the extra melds made possible by the triple pack do not count extra; if a player should hold twenty aces, five of each suit, the value would be 2,500 (that is, 1,500 for triple aces plus 1,000 for double aces). However, a quintuple pinochle counts 4,000, and all six pinochles count 5,000 (which is more than enough for game, if the side is not 500 in the hole).

 

Auction Pinochle

This is the most popular form of Pinochle for three players and is played with the standard Pinochle pack.

 

• Number of Players

Three players receive cards in the deal; these are the active players. (Four or five people can also play. If there are four players, the dealer receives no cards; if five people play, the dealer and the player second from his left receive no cards. These are the inactive players, who participate in the settlement, but not in the bidding or play.)

 

• The Draw

The players draw to determine first deal and seats. The person drawing the lowest card deals first, the player with the next lowest sits on his left, and so on. There is no rank of suits, so players cutting equal cards cut again.

 

• The Deal

Three or four cards at a time are dealt to each active player in turn, beginning on the dealer's left; a widow of three cards is dealt after the first round of dealing. All cards are dealt as follows:

 

• Object of the Game

The bidder seeks to score at least as many points as bid by making melds, and taking counting cards in tricks. The two opponents combine against the bidder to prevent him from making the contract.

• The Bidding

Each active player in turn, beginning with the player on the dealer's left, bids or passes. Having once passed, a player may no longer bid. The player on the dealer's left must start by bidding at least 300. Each successive bid, in multiples of 10, must be higher than any preceding bid. When two players have passed, the auction is closed; the player who made the highest bid wins the contract; and the other two players become his opponents.

◊ Variation: In many games, the compulsory first bid by the player on the dealer's left is 250, not 300.

 

• The Widow

If the contract is for 300, the bidder may concede defeat without looking at the widow, in which case his loss is reduced (see Concessions below). If the bid is anything more than 300, or if the bidder of 300 does not wish to concede, he turns up the three cards of the widow so that all the players may see them and then adds them to his hand.

 

•Melding

The bidder names the trump suit and lays out his melds, which are scored in accordance with the following table:

Class A

• A, A, A, A (100 aces) -- 100
• K, K, K, K (80 kings) -- 80
• Q, Q, Q, Q (60 queens) -- 60
• J, J, J, J (40 jacks) -- 40

• Q, J (pinochle) -- 40

(No card may be used twice in melds of the same class, but the same card may be used in two or more melds of different classes.)

Cards count for the side winning them as follows: each ace, 11 points; each ten, 10; each king, 4; each queen, 3; each jack, 2; winning the last trick, 10. Some players simplify the count by scoring 10 points for aces and tens, 5 each for kings and queens, and zero for jacks or nines. Others simplify still further by scoring 10 points for aces, tens and kings and zero for other cards. Under any system, the total that can be scored is 250 points.

 

• Burying

Only the bidder may meld. Then the bidder buries (discards) three cards face down in front of him, which count as a trick. The bidder may not bury any card he has used in a meld. However, he may change the trump suit, the melds, and the cards buried as often as desired before leading to the first trick.

 

• The Play

Having melded and buried, the bidder restores the melds to his hand and leads first. He may lead any card. A trick consists of one card played by each player. The highest card of the suit led, or the highest trump if the trick contains any trump, wins the trick. When identical cards are played on the same trick, the card played first outranks the other. Each player must follow suit if possible; if a trump was led, he must try to win the trick if he can. If he cannot follow suit but has a trump, he must play a trump but need not try to win the trick if it has previously been trumped. The winner of each trick leads next.

 

• Settlement

In Auction Pinochle, every deal is a complete game, and the players settle in full before the next deal. Settlement may be made with chips, or a score may be kept with pencil and paper. The bidder collects if his melds plus the value of the cards he has taken equal or exceed the amount of the contract. The bidder can never win more than he bid. The bidder pays if the points he scores fall short of his bid.

In settlement, the bidder pays to or collects from every other player in the game, (including the inactive fourth and fifth players, if any) and pays the kitty if the bid was 350 or more (see below).

 

• The Kitty

A separate score is kept, and a separate pile of chips is maintained for an imaginary extra player called the kitty. The kitty collects only when a minimum bid of 300 is forfeited and pays or collects the same as an opponent does when the bid is 350 or more. Every player in the game owns an equal share of the kitty and must chip in to make up for any deficit when kitty cannot pay what it owes. Each player shares equally in any surplus remaining in the kitty when the game breaks up or when a player leaves the game.

 

• Values of Bids

Every contract has a value in units or chips. The customary schedule of values is as follows:

 Bid Basic Values Value if Spades Are Trump

Variation. Several other schedules of unit values are in common use. These are:

• Concessions

If all the players pass on the compulsory 300 bid, the bidder may forfeit without looking at the widow, in which case he pays the basic unit value (3 chips) to the kitty but nothing to the other players.

Having intentionally looked at any card in the widow, the bidder may concede defeat, in which case there is no play but the bidder pays the basic unit value of his bid to each opponent. This is called a "single bete."

The opponents, by agreement, may concede the bidder's contract without forcing him to play. In this event, the bidder collects the value of the bid from every other player.

Once the bidder leads to the first trick, the deal stands as though played out even if either side later concedes.

 

• Deals Played Out

If the bidder makes the contract, he collects from each opponent. If he fails to make the contract, he pays every other player twice what would have been collected if he had won. This is called a "double bete."

 

• Inactive Player

An inactive player should not look at the widow or at any active player's hand and may not give advice, or comment on any matter of judgment in bidding, play, or concession. He may, however, point out an irregularity such as a revoke or a play out of turn.