Pedro is one of the most popular trick taking card games where 4 players play the game. They have to play in partnerships of 2. The partners are to sit opposite to each other. In order to win the game, the players have to be the first team to reach 62 points.
So, if you are interested in knowing more about Pedro card game, then keep reading further.
· Pedro card game goal – The aim of Pedro is to be the first team to reach 62 points.
· Number of players – 4 Players
· Game Materials – A 52-card deck, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.
· Game Type – Trick-Taking Card Game
· Game Audience – 10+
How to Setup
The dealer is chosen randomly. The deal passes to the left. The dealer shuffles the deck of cards and deals all the players 9 cards in hand 3 at one time. Then begins the bidding round.
Card Values
There are 2 different card rankings in Pedro game. The one is for the trump suit and the other for the non-trump suits. In Pedro game, the trump suit can be changed in every round. This further changes the cards in rankings.
The 5 of a suit which is same in color as the trump suit is considered a trump card as well. Thus, if the diamonds are trumps then the 5 of heart is a trump as well.
The ranking of the trump suit is in the below order –
Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (the one of the suit), 5 (the one of other suit and of the same color), 4, 3, and 2 (lowest).
The ranking of the trump suit is in the below order –
King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (when applicable), 4, 3, and 2.
There are certain cards to which there are assigned valued of scoring. The cards that are worth the points are only from the trump suit. The Ace card of a trump suit is equal to 1 point. The jack of trump equals to 1 point.
The ten of trump suit equals to one point. The five of trump is equal to 5 points. The other 5 of trump also equals to 5 points. The 2 of trump is equal to 1 point. The players that win the cards in tricks earn Ace, jack, 10 and 5s. The players who were dealt the card at the beginning of the game score the two.
How to Bid
The player to the left of the dealer begins the bidding round. The players can either bid or pass. A player will have to bid higher than the previous bid. The bid is minimum of 7 tricks and maximum of 14 tricks. Players bid so as to call the trump suit.
In case all the 3 previous players pass, then the dealer has to bid at least a 7. The player who wins the bid will choose the trump suit. Then the players discard all their non-trump cards faced down. The dealer then deals the rest of the 3 players the cards to refill their hands to have a hand of 6 cards.
But if the players have 6 or more than 6 cards already in their hand then they are not given any cards. The dealer looks at the rest of the cards in the deck and then takes all the trumps in their hand from that deck.
In case all the trumps don’t get them to at least 6 cards, then the players will have to pull other non-trump cards so as to fill their hand to 6 cards.
How to Play
Both the teams try to win the tricks having the point cards. The bid winning team also has to win at least the number of bid tricks so as to score the point cards. The player winning the bidding round will begin the game and then the game will proceed in a clockwise manner.
The player can lead any card they want to. The other players are required to follow the suit if possible. In case they are unable to follow the suit, then they can play a trump card. Or if they don’t have a trump card, then they can also play any other card they want to.
The tricks are won using the highest trump. But if that is not applicable, then the highest ranked card of the led suit will help win the game. The winner of the previous trick will lead the next trick.
Especially for the first trick, the players that have more than 6 cards in the hand will have to discard cards in the first trick. Point value cards can’t be discarded and these cards are to be played under the card the player wants to play into the trick.
The cards have no effect on the trick. This will get all the players to have a same hand for the next trick.
Scoring
When all the tricks are played, the players calculate the score of their tricks. The players who failed to win the bid score any points that were acquired through cards irrespective of the fact that the other team has completed their bid.
In case the bidding team has completed their bid, they also score the points that are won in the tricks. However, if the players could not complete their bid, they lose the points equal to the points that were won in the tricks.
The End
When the teams keep the overall scores throughout many rounds and the team that first scores 62 points will win Pedro game.
In case both the teams get at least 55 points in the beginning of the round, it is known as ‘Bidder goes out’. This implies that in the next round, the bid winner will win the game provided that they complete their bid.
In case they fail to complete the bid, the scoring continues as usual but here, the opponent team will win Pedro card game.
In case both the teams score 62 points in a non-bidder goes out round, then the other bidder goes out round must be played in order to decide the winner of the game.
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