Pinochle Game
Setup
See full list on bicyclecards.com. Pinochle, American card game typically played by three players acting alone (cutthroat) or four players in two partnerships. The game derives from a German variety of bezique called binokel (French binocle). A pinochle game typically consists of several rounds in order for a player or a team of players to earn enough points to win the game. Each round is divided into three distinct phases. The various actions performed during each phase depend on the version of pinochle being played, but the phases are universal. Oct 12, 2020 Pinochle is a card game designed to be played by two to four players. It involves exchanging and putting together different combinations of cards, or “melds,” in order to score points. Learning the basic rules of pinochle only takes a few minutes, but the fast-paced excitement of the game can provide countless hours of fun.
A standard pinochle deck consists of two Aces, Tens, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Nines in each suit for a total of 48 cards. Depending on the number of players and the variation of pinochle being played one, or two decks will be used. Typically when two decks are used the nines are discarded so the total number of cards is 80 instead of 96.
Flow of the Game
A pinochle game typically consists of several rounds in order for a player or a team of players to earn enough points to win the game. Each round is divided into three distinct phases. The various actions performed during each phase depend on the version of pinochle being played, but the phases are universal.
Start of the Round
If this is the first round of the game then one player is declared the dealer based on age, beauty, luck, skill, or any other method you want to employ. After the initial round the player to the left of the last dealer is the new dealer. The dealer shuffles the cards well and then offers the deck to the player to their right to cut the deck. After that player cuts the deck or declines, the dealer deals the cards out to the players. Depending on the variant being played there are restrictions on the number of cards that are dealt to each player at a time, the number of cards each player gets total, and what is done with any remaining cards. Once all the cards are dealt appropriately every player should count their cards. If they have an incorrect number of cards the hand is declared a misdeal, and the dealer must reperform their duties (shuffle, offer a cut, and redeal) until there are no mistakes. Once the deck is successfully dealt the bidding phase begins.
Bidding Phase
Once the cards are dealt the bidding phase begins. The bidding phase serves two primary functions. Firstly the final bid sets the minimum amount of points the bid winner, or their team, must earn during the round. If they don't reach this number then their score is reduced by the amount they bid, and none of the points they earned during the round count. If they match their bid, or exceed it then they get to keep all the points they earned. As you can see winning the bid carries risk. It is important to note that only the bid winner and/or their team are required to honor their bid. The second function of the bid is the bid winner declares the suit that will be trump for that round. The ability to declare trump has important consequences in the following phases.
The person to the left of the dealer starts the bidding. Depending on the rules being used they are required to make a minimum bid, or perform some other action. The standard options are to bid higher than the previous bid, or declare that they want to no longer participate in bidding by saying 'Pass'. This continues in a clockwise fashion until there is only one person left. That person is considered the bid winner with all the corrosponding rights and responsibilities. Some variants allow other actions to be performed but eventually all the other options boil down to bid higher or passing.
Meld Phase
In the bidding phase we bragged about the amount of points we think we can earn this round. The melding phase is our first opportunity to make good on that claim. Meld is essentially combinations of cards that we have in our individual hands that are worth points. Pinochle variations disagree about what each combination is worth, and some are more lax about what counts as a valid combination but the core meld combinations are universal. People group the meld combinations in various ways but the key differences are meld combinations that are only valid in trump and meld combinations that are valid regardless of trump. After all the meld combinations each person has are displayed face up on the table, and the points are counted, everyone picks up their melded cards and puts them back into their hand.
Trump based meld values
| Composition | Name | 2x | 3x | 4x |
| Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack | Run | Double Run | Triple Run | Quadruple Run |
| Nine | Dix | Double Dix | Triple Dix | Quadruple Dix |
| King, Queen | Royal Marriage | Double Royal Marriage | Triple Royal Marriage | Quadruple Royal Marriage |
Pinochle Game App
Set based meld values
| Composition | Name | 2x | 3x | 4x |
| Ace, Ace, Ace, Ace | Hundred Aces | Thousand Aces | Ten Thousand Aces | Hundred Thousand Aces |
| King, King, King, King | Eighty Kings | Eight Hundred Kings | Eight Thousand Kings | Eighty Thousand Kings |
| Queen, Queen, Queen, Queen | Sixty Queens | Six Hundred Queens | Six Thousand Queens | Sixty Thousand Queens |
| Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack | Forty Jacks | Four Hundred Queens | Four Thousand Queens | Fourty Thousand Queens |
| King, Queen in same suit (not trump) | (Common) Marriage | Double (Common) Marriage | Triple (Common) Marriage | Quadruple (Common) Marriage |
| Jack, Queen | Pinochle | Double Pinochle | Triple Pinochle | Quadruple Pinochle |
| Marriage in every suit | Round House | Double Round House | Triple Round House | N/A |
Of course some variations of pinochle disagree, but in general you can only count each card once for each combination. This means that you can count the K once for your eighty kings, and once for a marriage (K, Q), but you can't count the same K twice to get eight hundred kings. It is important to note that the royal marriage contained within the run isn't usually counted separately. Also many variations don't explicitly declare the point value of a round house or the round house is simply the sum of eighty kings, sixty queens, and a marriage in each suit. Finally combinations are typically restricted to each player's hand even if you are teamed up with someone.
Trick Phase
The trick phase is the second opportunity to earn points. The first trick is initiated by the bid winner when they lay a card face up on the table. Once the trick is initiated each person in turn (clockwise) must lay a card face up on the table. After everyone plays a card from their hand on the trick the player who wins the trick collects the trick and puts in their or their team's pile of tricks won. Then the trick winner initiates the next trick. This cycle continues until all the cards are played. Typically a point values is assigned to each rank. It is customary for the winner of the last trick to get bonus points.
The player that initates the trick can choose to play any card in their hand. All subsequent players must follow some rules:
Pinochle Game
- They must play a card in the same suit as the card that initiated the trick if possible
- They must try to win the trick (play over current highest card) if possible
- They must play trump if they don't have any cards in the same suit as the card that initiated the trick
- If the above rules result in a tie because the same card is played by multiple players the first player to play the card wins
- Trump always wins against non-trump
- The heirachy within the same suit is: Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack, Nine
- A card that isn't trump and isn't the same suit that initiated the trick can't win
End of the Round
After the trick phase is complete then each player/team adds up the points they earned during each phase. If the bid winner(s) didn't earn at least the amount of points they bid then none of the points they earned this round are valid, and the full amount they bid is subtracted from their overall point total. Depending on the variation being played each player and/or team must win (take) a certain number of tricks and/or earn a specified number of points for their meld to be added to their overall score. Once everyone figures out how many points should be added or subtracted to each player's/team's overall score the points are added or subtracted. If any player's/team's overall score is more than or equal to the number of points to win the game then this is the last round. If no one is eligible to win the game at the end of the round then a new round is started. If more than one player or team has enough points to win the game then a tie breaker will be used to decide which player or team wins. The tie breaking criteria vary based on the variant being played.