How to Play Pinochle For those of you who do not know, Pinochle is a trick taking game that involves melding cards. The game is somewhat similar to the games like Spades and Hearts.
The game was originally derived from the French game – Bezique and was later known as Binocle. With time, its pronunciation was changed to Pinochle.
If you are interested in Trick taking games, then Pinochle is one of the best options you have got. Keep reading further to know more about the game.
- Pinochle game aim – Win tricks and collect the most points.
- Number of Players – 2-4 Players (4 players play with partners)
- Number of Cards – 48 card deck
- Rank of Cards – A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9
- Game Type – Trick-Taking
- Game Audience – Adult
Contents
Pinochle Deck
The Pinochle deck includes 48 cards. There are 4 suits that further comprise 2 of – Aces, Kings, Queens, Jokers, 10s and 9s. The ranking of the cards is in the order – Ace is highest then 10 and then K.
They are known as counters in the game and always offer points to the players.
Just like most of the other games, this one too has different methods for scoring. In some methods, the cards – Q, J, and 9 are worth points where as in the others they are not.
When these cards are not worth any points, they are called as Non counters.
The scoring methods are agreed by the players before the deal and the game begins.
How to Deal
The players randomly choose a dealer among them. The chosen dealer then shuffles the cards and distributes 12 cards to each player.
The dealer can distribute either 3 or 4 cards at a time. The deal begins from the left of the dealer and then proceeds clockwise.
When the players have their hand, they see their cards and then prepare for the auction/ bidding stage of the game.
Note – If the Pinochle game is being played without bidding, then after the deal, the dealer flips over the top card of deck and puts it faced up on the table. The suit of this card is the trump suit.
All the cards of that suit then beat cards of all other suits. So basically, the trump cards of high ranking beat the rest of the trump cards. The rest of the deck is placed faced down on the table and this forms the stockpile.
Bid/Auction
An Auction or a bid is the prediction of the number of points a player’s hand may earn. The player bidding the highest bid or the winner of the bid gets the below advantages –
- Lead the first trick
- Declare trump suit
- Receive cards from their partner
There is a minimum limit of the bid which is at least 250 points. The players are required to bid this or above this point. The bids are increased by factors of 10.
The bid is made until each player passes and a winner comes out. Below are the options the players get while bidding –
- Bid normally (Bidding 10 points higher than the earlier bid)
- Give a jump bid (bidding 20 points higher than the previous bid)
- Pass and leave the bidding
- Pass with help (player passes but are giving additional information to their partner.)
Once the winner is declared, the trump suit is announced. The bid winner and their partner can exchange cards. The partner of the bid winner can choose 4 cards to pass to their partner.
The winner of the bid adds the 4 cards and checks them. Then the bid winner gives back 4 cards to their partner. These may be the cards the partner sent them just before.
Melding
Once the cards are exchanged between the winner of the bid and their partner, the 4 players can put their melds on the table.
Melds are certain card combinations all of which have their own point value. Below are the different types of melds and their points.
Arounds
- Aces around (100 Aces) – four Aces, different suits – 10 or 100 points
- Kings around (80 Kings) – four Kings, different suits – 8 or 80 points
- Queens around (60 Queens) – four Queens, different suits – 6 or 60 points
- Jacks around (40 Jacks) – four Jacks, different suits – 4 or 40 points
- Aces abound (1000 Aces) – eight Aces – 100 or 1000 points
- Kings abound (800 Kings) – eight Kings – 80 or 800 points
- Queens abound (600 Queens) – eight Queens – 60 or 600 points
- Jacks abound (400 Jacks) – eight Jacks – 40 or 400 points
Marriages & Flushes
Marriages and Flushes are the sequence combinations.
- Trump Marriage – K and Q of Trump suit – 4 or 40 points, 8 or 80 points if double
- Marriage – K and Q of any suit – 2 or 20 points, 4 or 40 points if double
- Marriages around – K and Q in each suit – 24 or 240 points
- Flush (run) – A, 10, K, Q in trump suit – 15 or 150 points, 150 or 1500 if double
Pinochle
- Pinochle – J of diamonds and Q of spades – 4 or 40 points
- Double Pinochle – both J of diamonds and Q of spades – 30 or 300 points
- Dix – 9 in trump suit – 1 or 10 points
When all the players set their melds on the table, the scores are counted and noted on the scoring pad.
The maximum number of points available in the trick taking phase is 250. So if the declarer is 250+ points below their bid even after melding the cards, then they can throw in their cards and not take part in the trick-taking.
However, if their bid is within 250 points then they can play their hand in trick taking after melding cards.
Trick Taking
After melding the cards and scoring the points of all players, the players then pick up their cards and get ready for the trick taking phase of the game. The declarer starts the first trick by playing any card they want to.
A trick can be won by –
1. If there are trump cards – Playing highest ranking trump card
2. If there are no trump cards – playing highest ranking card following the suit.
In the trick taking, all players have to play 1 card each. The process continues until 12 tricks have been played. After the first trick, every trick is led by the winner of the earlier trick.
Here are some of the Pinochle rules for trick taking –
- Players must follow a suit when they can.
- If no suit can be followed, then play a card from the trump suit, if available in hand. This move is known as trumping the trick.
- If you cannot follow a suit as well as cannot play a trump, then you can slough, which means playing any card at all.
Scoring
At the end of 12 tricks, the scores of the players are calculated.
- Ace, 10s, Kings = 10 Points.
- Winning final trick = 10 Points
In case the declarer matches the auction/bid or exceeds it, their total score is added to the running total. However, if they are not successful in matching in the bid, the bid amount is subtracted from their running total.
If The declarer throws in, then their opponents score the melds. Since no tricks are played, tricks are not scored. The amount bid is lost by the declarer.
The game is played until a team wins 1500+ points. In case of a tie and if both the teams score 1500 at the same round, then the team of the declarer wins the game.
That was it all about Pinochle game. I hope you all have found the article of use and could easily understand how to play pinochle.
In case you have any questions to ask about the game, feel free to comment down below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
