Pinochle

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Pinochle

Pinochle (sometimes Pinocle or Penuchle), is a trick-taking game typically for two or four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game Bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks.

A Pinochle deck consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs).

Aces are always considered high. The complete ordering of rank from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.

Variants of pinochle can be played by two, three, four, five or six players. These variations can combine two Pinochle decks called "double deck".

History

The word Pinochle is derived from French Binocle and German Binokel.

The basic form of Pinochle retains from its predecessor games, all the way back to whist, with four players competing, two against two, until one team has scored 1000 or 1500 points.

Dealing

The game is played with one Pinochle deck of 48 cards; one player is the dealer.

In Pinochle, after the shuffle, the dealer hands out all the cards clockwise three at a time, starting with his left-hand opponent and ending with himself. The deal rotates clockwise, so the dealer's left-hand opponent will deal next.

The Auction

The dealer is obligated to open with a first bid of 150, and the bidding continues clockwise until three players in rotation have passed after any bid.

When a player has the turn to bid, he may do any one of the following:

Make a new bid
Pass

Each bid must supersede the last bid by naming a greater number of points in any denomination.

The auction ends when there have been three passes following a bid. The last bid becomes the contract. The player in the partnership that made this final bid will then declare trump in the suit that is desired. In most versions of pinochle trump cannot be declared in any suit not containing a marriage (see meld below).

In order to win the hand, the combined total of "melding" and "trick" points must be equal to or greater than the winning bid. Thus bidding involves anticipating the points that will be accumulated from "Melds" and from the points acumulated from winning tricks. If the bid is higher than this combined score the bidding team is "set", this means that the total bid amount is subtracted from the total game score.

Passing Cards

After the bid has been taken and trump declared, the bid winning team exchanges cards. It is typically four cards, but some people allow only three. The teammate of the bid winner passes first. The objective of the teammate is either to add to the total points in meld or to pass trick winning cards. After receiving the cards, the bid winner examines what will create the strongest hand and then discards 4 to the teammate.

Melding

Melding consists of displaying specific combinations of cards to all players. Typically this is done by placing the combination of cards face up on the playing surface until all players have had the opportunity to examine them. All players meld after the bid winner shows meld. The types of melds include arounds, marriages, flushes and pinochles.

The rank melds of four of the same cards must include one card from each of the different suits and are only of face cards -- ace, king, queen and jack. They are scored as follows:

"100 Aces" or "Aces around" - 4 aces of different suits - 100 points
"80 Kings" or "Kings around" - 4 kings of different suits - 80 points
"60 Queens" or "Queens around" - 4 queens of different suits - 60 points
"40 Jacks" or "Jacks around" - 4 jacks of different suits - 40 points

A player holding all eight aces, kings, queens or jacks is called a double around. This hand is worth 10 times the value of a single around, for instance, a kings double around is worth 800 points.

The marriages, flush and dix are the suit melds.

"Trump Marriage" - king and queen of trump suit - 40 points
"Marriage" - king and queen of a suit other than trump - 20 points
"Flush", "Family" or "Run" - A 10 K Q J of trump suit - 150 points
"Dix" - nine of trump - 10 points

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

The pinochle is the unique combination that shares the name of the game.

"Pinochle" - jack of diamonds and queen of spades - 40 points.
"Double Pinochle" - both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades - 300 points.

Each card may be used in at most one meld of each type. Thus, a queen card can be used in one marriage with one king, regardless if the player has more than one king. However, a queen can be used to score a marriage and a pinochle if the player also has the jack.

After the melds are displayed, the points are counted and the teams total their individual meld scores to form a team score.

Playing tricks

As with other 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. 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. When duplicate cards result in a tie, the card played first wins the trick.

Scoring tricks

Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand. There are several ways to count up the points for play, but they always add up to 250 points. The last trick is always worth 10 points. The classic counting is where 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. A simpler method is to count aces and tens for 10 points, kings and queens are worth 5 points, and jacks and nines are worth zero. A streamlined method that avoids any strategy in trick-taking has aces, tens, and kings worth 10, and everything else zero. This method is useful in double-deck games where 96 cards are used.

Since all scores are multiples of ten in this last method, it is often further simplified by dropping the redundant zero in the units place. Aces, tens, and kings won in tricks are worth one point (and thus are known as "counters", while queens and jacks, having no point value, are sometimes referred to as "garbage"), while melds like 100 aces is worth 10. Note the terms "100 aces", "80 kings" and so on are still used, even though the point values are one-tenth. This regime is popularly known, including by the Grange card parties in Upstate New York, where Pinochle and Euchre are also popular.

Two-handed Pinochle

Two-handed pinochle is unique among the game's various versions for its method of amassing a hand. In some versions, no cards are initially dealt. Instead, the entire 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 a 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.

With bidding, the player winning the bid calls trumps, then lays all meld face-up on the table. The other player shows their melds 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.

Two-hand without bidding

The other method has the dealer giving 12 cards to each player in sets of four, leaving a stock of 24 cards.

A player lays down and scores a meld after each trick won of the first 12 tricks. Melded cards can even be used to win tricks. For the last 12 tricks, melds are taken into each player's hand and melds are no longer announced by the player who announces the trick. The traditional trick-taking rules apply only for the last 12 tricks.

Three-handed Pinochle

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 "kitty", "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.

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.

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.

Four-handed Pinochle

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 kitty. 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.
Also a player may say that he is going to "Shoot the Moon." When he says this, he is declaring to all the other players that he is going to attempt to capture all the tricks in the current hand. If he and his team do, they gets 1,000 points and win the game. If they do not, they subtract 1,000 from their score. This must be declared just before the tricks are going to be played out.

Check Pinochle

This is a gambling variant of three-hand. 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)

Double-deck Pinochle

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

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

In some versions of double-deck pinochle, for simplicity and ease of play, point values are reduced by a factor of ten: i.e., melds of Runs are 15, Aces 10, Pinochle 4, Double Runs 150, Double Aces 100, Double Pinochle 40, etc. Minimum bid then becomes 50, as are trick-taking values, with a point per "counter" (A-10-K) and two for taking the last trick. Bids are made in increments of 1 or more points until 60 is reached, then by 5 points. This version often features "meld bidding", legal signals to all at the table of meld strength. A bid of "51" after an opening bid of "50" signals Aces Around (but only in this specific bid sequence), a bid raise of 2 or more signals the amount of meld in a hand by ten points of meld for every point bid (but not necessarily strength of trick-taking or possible trump), and a passing bid of "by me" signals ten points held. Other expressions indicating suits, runs, or other information communicating possible trick-taking strategy between partners is called "talking across the table" and is forbidden.

Racehorse Pinochle

Played much as the same as Double-Deck but to 6 hands, the point values are inflated.

Two teams are formed, 20 cards are then delt to each player and 4 cards are dealt to the blind. Bidding commences with the person immediately to the left of the dealer automatically bidding 500. The winner of the bid includes the blind into his hand, calls trump and melds.

	Around (1 of each suit)	Twice Around	4 of a kind
Aces	100	1000	1000
Kings	80	800	800
Queens	60	600	600
10's or 9's	0	0	0

Note: All Runs, Double, Triple, and Quadruple, Marriages must be in Trump.

	Not Trump	Trump	Double	Triple	Quadruple
Marriage	20	40	300	900	the game
Pinochle	40	-	300	900	the game
Run	-	150	300	900	the game

Standard rules of play follow. When the play is over each team adds up their points in the count Kings, 10's, and Aces are all worth ten points, Queens and Jacks are worth 0. If a teams count plus meld does not equal their bid, they go set. By going set the amount of the bid is subtracted from the teams score and their count is discarded. The other team retains both their meld and their count (provided they took at least 10 points in the count).

Double-deck Pinochle for eight players

In Double-Deck Eight Player Pinochle, two full decks are dealt between eight players, forming four teams. Team members are spaced so that they ae not able to see any other hands. The game is usually played to a score of 5,000 or higher. Other than this, the four player rules apply, and any variations may also be used. In Double-Deck Eight Player Pinochle, there is an increased possibility that when one team declares trump another team may have an equal number of trump also, which may lead to an interesting game. An additional rule may also be instituted that states if a player has a Quadruple Pinochle (four Jacks of Diamonds and four Queens of Spades) in a meld that team will earn 1,000 points for it.

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