Pinochle

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Bidding
5. Trump and passing cards
6. Melds
7. Playing the tricks
8. Scoring a hand
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Pinochle is a trick-taking game for four players in two fixed partnerships: partners sit opposite each other. In every hand the players bid for the right to choose trump. The winning team then scores points in two ways: for melds – card combinations you show on the table, such as a King and Queen of the same suit – and for the valuable cards (Aces, 10s and Kings) it wins in tricks. The first team to reach 1500 points wins.

• Players: exactly 4, two against two.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks (same size, ideally the same back) and paper and pen for scoring.

The cards

From each deck, take out everything from 2 to 8 and the jokers. Shuffle the rest together: 48 cards, with A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in every suit – every card exists twice.

In every suit the cards rank from high to low:

A – 10 – K – Q – J – 9

Note the 10: it ranks below the Ace but above the King.

Aces, 10s and Kings are called counters: each one won in a trick is worth 10 points. Queens, Jacks and 9s are worth nothing in tricks.

Setup

1. Seats: partners sit opposite each other.
2. Dealer: cut for the first dealer (or decide at random); after each hand the deal passes to the left.
3. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals all cards, three at a time, clockwise starting on the left: 12 cards each. These are your hand – keep them hidden, even from your partner.

Bidding

A bid is a promise: "our team will score at least this many points this hand" – meld plus points from tricks.

• The player left of the dealer speaks first, then in turn clockwise.
• The lowest bid is 250. Every bid must be higher than the last one, in steps of 10 (260, 270 …). Bidding 20 or more above the last bid (a jump bid) is allowed and tells your partner you have a strong hand.
• Instead of bidding you may pass. Once you have passed, you are out of the bidding for this hand.
• Bidding goes round until three players have passed. The last bidder becomes the declarer; the bid is the team's target.
• If the first three players all pass, the dealer must take the bid at 250.

Trump and passing cards

1. The declarer names a trump suit. Trump is the strongest suit: any trump beats any card of another suit.
2. The declarer's partner now passes exactly 4 cards face down to the declarer – usually trumps and Aces.
3. The declarer picks them up and passes 4 cards back to the partner (any cards, including ones just received). Both again hold 12 cards.

Melds

Now all four players lay their melds face up on the table and announce their value. Partners add their meld together.

Doubles: if one player holds a meld twice, it scores much more: double run 1500, double pinochle (both Q♠ and both J♦) 300, double Aces around (all eight Aces) 1000, Kings 800, Queens 600, Jacks 400. Two marriages in the same suit simply score twice.

Using a card twice: melds come in three groups – (1) runs, marriages and dix, (2) pinochles, (3) "arounds". A card may count in melds of different groups but not twice in the same group. So K♠ can be in Kings around and in a spade marriage, and Q♠ can be in a pinochle and a marriage. The K and Q inside a run don't count again as a royal marriage. The one exception is listed as a meld of its own: a run with an extra trump King or Queen (A 10 K K Q J or A 10 K Q Q J) scores 190.

Example: Hearts are trump. Anna melds A♥ 10♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥ (run, 150), K♣ Q♣ (marriage, 20) and Q♠ J♦ (pinochle, 40): 210. Her partner Carla melds A♠ A♥ A♦ A♣ (Aces around, 100) and 9♥ (dix, 10): 110. Their team has 320 in meld.

Write down each team's meld, then everyone takes their cards back into their hand.

Playing the tricks

A trick is one round in which each player plays one card face up, clockwise. The highest card wins all four cards.

1. The declarer leads (plays the first card) to the first trick. Afterwards, the winner of each trick leads to the next.
2. The rules are strict: - You must follow suit: play a card of the suit that was led if you can. - You must beat the card that is currently winning the trick if you can. - If you have no card of the led suit, you must play a trump (and beat any trump already in the trick, if you can). - Only if you can do none of this may you play any card.
3. Who wins: the highest trump wins; if there is no trump, the highest card of the suit that was led wins. If two identical cards tie, the one played first wins.
4. Keep the tricks your team wins in one pile.

All 12 tricks are played. The team that wins the last trick scores 10 points extra.

Scoring a hand

Each team counts its counters (A, 10, K) in its tricks: 10 points each. With the last trick there are 250 points from tricks in every hand.

• Declarer's team: if meld plus trick points is at least the bid, the team scores both in full. If not, the team is set: it scores nothing and the bid is subtracted from its total (scores can go below zero).
• Other team: scores its meld plus its trick points – but its meld only counts if it wins at least one counter or the last trick in the play.
• Throwing in: if the declarer sees after the meld that the bid cannot be made, the team may give up without playing. It loses the bid, and the other team scores its meld.

Example: Anna bid 350; her team has 320 meld. In play they win 15 counters and the last trick: 160. 320 + 160 = 480 ≥ 350, so they score 480. The other team had 60 meld and won 9 counters (90): they score 150. Had Anna's team taken only 20 points in tricks (340 < 350), it would have lost 350.

Winning the game

The first team to reach 1500 points wins. If both teams pass 1500 in the same hand, the declarer's team wins.

Tips for beginners

• Bid with your partner in mind. Your partner will pass you 4 good cards, so a hand with a long trump suit and a marriage is often worth bidding on.
• Pass trumps and Aces to the declarer. As declarer, pass back cards of suits you are short in.
• Count trumps. There are 12 of each suit; know how many are still out.
• Feed counters to your partner: when your partner is sure to win a trick, play your A, 10 or K on it.
• Don't throw away counters on tricks the other team is winning.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Two or three cards passed instead of four.
• Minimum bid of 100 or another agreed amount instead of 250.
• Other counting: A 11, 10 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2, 9 0 – or A and 10 = 10, K and Q = 5. Either way, with the last trick there are 250 points in play.
• Pass with help: some tables allow a "help" pass to show your partner a strong hand.
• Game to 1000 for a shorter game.