This page has been put together from various sources, including information collected by John Hay, and contributions from Toby Thomas and Jim Davis.
Players and Cards
There are four players; partners sit across from each other.
There are four players; partners sit across from each other. The deck consists of 80 cards, containing A 10 K Q J in each of the four suits, and with four identical copies of each card. Noun a popular card game played by two, three, or four persons, with a 48-card deck. A meld of the queen of spades and the jack of diamonds in this game. Play Pinochle now, alone or with friends. Be part of a world wide community!
The classic combination of bidding, melding, and trick-taking!
The deck consists of 80 cards, containing A 10 K Q J in each of the four suits, and with four identical copies of each card. This deck can be formed by mixing together two normal Pinochle decks, having thrown out the nines, or from four regular 52 card decks from which you throw out all the numerals 2 to 9.
Idea of the Game
After the deal there is an auction in which players bid the number of points their team will try to win. Whoever bids highest has the privilege of choosing trumps and leading to the first trick. The object of the high bidder's team is to win at least as many points as the amount they bid. Points can be scored in two ways:
- by declaring and showing (melding) combinations of cards held in a players hand;
- by winning aces, tens and kings in tricks
The game is won by the first partnership to achieve a score of 500 or more. If both sides reach 500 on the same hand, the bidding side wins.
Deal
Deal and play are clockwise. All the cards are dealt to the players, so that everyone has 20. Dealing practice varies; common methods are 4 cards at a time, 5 cards at a time, or 2 cards to each player, and the remainder 3 at a time.
Rank and Value of Cards
In each suit the cards rank, from highest to lowest, Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack. At the end of the play, each side counts the points they have taken in tricks. Each Ace, Ten and King is worth one point, and the team who win the last trick get an extra 2 points. Hence there are a total of 50 points available for tricks.
Meld
Points can be scored for certain combinations of cards in hand of one player. These combinations are called meld; they are displayed to the other players before the start of the trick play. Any meld can be single (just one of each card), double (two identical copies of each card), triple (three of each card) or quadruple (all four of each card).
There are three types of meld. Any particular card can only belong to one meld of each type. The point scores for meld are given in the following table:
Type | Combination | Single | Double | Triple | Quadruple |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type I Runs and Marriages | Run - Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack of trumps | 15 | 150 | 225 | 300 |
Royal Marriage - King and Queen of trumps | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | |
Marriage - Kings and Queen of the same suit, not trumps | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | |
Note: A run in a suit other than trumps is not worth anything more than the marriage score for the king and queen. | |||||
Type II - Pinochles | Pinochle - Jack of diamonds & Queen of spades | 4 | 30 | 60 | 90 |
Type III Arounds | Aces around - An Ace in each suit | 10 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
Kings around - A King in each suit | 8 | 80 | 120 | 160 | |
Queens around - A Queen in each suit | 6 | 60 | 90 | 120 | |
Jacks around - A Jack in each suit | 4 | 40 | 60 | 80 | |
Note: A set of tens is not worth anything in meld. |
Pinochle Tournament Bracket
Example: with hearts as trump, the following hand:
A 10 K K K Q Q Jscores 87 for meld: a run (15), a royal marriage (4), a double marriage in spades (4), a pinochle (4) and double queens around (60). There is only one royal marriage as one king and one queen of hearts are already used for the run, and the remaining queen can only marry one of the remaining kings. Notice, however, that one of the queens of spades is simultaneously used in the spade marriage, the pinochle and the around - this is allowed because these melds are all of different types.
Q Q J
Q Q
A K K Q Q J J
The Bidding
Pinochle Scoring
The person to the left of the dealer bids first. The opening bid must be at least 50, but may be higher. You may bid by ones until you reach 60; bids above 60 must be multiples of 5 (65, 70, 75 etc.). Turn to bid proceeds clockwise. Each bid must be higher than the previous one, but a player who does not wish to bid can pass. If the first three players all pass, the dealer is forced to bid 50. Once you pass you cannot re-enter the bidding on a later turn. The bidding continues for as many rounds as necessary until three players have passed. Whoever wins the bid (bids highest) has the right to call trump and lead.
Calling Trump and Melding
The bidder now chooses the trump suit and announces what it is. It must be a suit in which the bidder holds at least a marriage. If the bidder does not have a marriage, the hand is not played; in this case the bidding side automatically lose the amount of their bid and neither side counts anything for meld.
Once trump is called all of the players lay their meld face up on the table. A combination must be entirely within one player's hand to count. Note also that you can count the same card in melds of different types (for example a queen of spades could be part of a marriage, a pinochle and a set of queens), but not in more than one meld of the same type (so a king and two queens does not count as two marriages). Partners add together the scores for their meld and this is written down on the score sheet.
The Play
The person who won the bid begins the play by leading to the first trick, and the others play in turn, clockwise. A trick consists of one card from each player and if it contains no trumps it is won by the highest card played of the suit led. If any trumps are played to the trick, then the highest trump wins, irrespective of any other cards in the trick. If there are two or more identical cards in a trick, the first of these cards which was played beats the others. The winner of a trick leads to the next.
When leading to a trick any card may be played. Each subsequent players must follow suit if they can and must crawl (this means that each player must play a card which is higher in rank than the winning card that has been played to the trick so far). A player who cannot crawl (i.e. does not have a high enough card of the suit led to beat the highest so far played to the trick) must follow suit in any case, with a card that will not win the trick.
Any player who does not have any cards of the suit that was led must trump. If someone has already trumped then later players who can follow suit may play any card of the suit led (no card of the led suit can beat a trump). If a trick has been trumped, subsequent players who do not have the led suit either must crawl in trump, that is beat the highest trump so far played. A player who cannot follow suit and cannot beat the highest trump so far played must still play a trump, even though this trump will not be high enough to win the trick.
A player who has no card of the suit led and no trumps may play any card.
Scoring
When all the cards have been played, each team counts the points in the tricks they have won. If the bidding side took in meld and tricks at least as many points as they bid, then both teams add the points they made to their cumulative score.
If the bidding partnership does not 'make' the bid (i.e. their meld and trick points do not equal or surpass their bid), they have been 'set'. In this case they score nothing for their meld and tricks, and instead the amount of their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners get to keep their meld and trick points.
If the bidding partners know that they cannot make the bid before play begins, they may call trump and throw in their hand. In this case they score nothing for their meld and their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners add their meld points to their score. This allows the bidding partners to avoid losing the trick points to their opponents.
Bidding Systems
It is sensible to use the bids to convey information about what melds are held. In variations with card passing, bids can also be used to indicate what cards you would like your partner to pass. Details of bidding systems vary greatly, and there is no standard that I know of, so the systems below should be taken only as examples. If anyone would like to let me know about their preferred bidding systems, or systems that they regard as standard in some way, I would be happy to add them to this page.
The systems that are possible or sensible are clearly affected by the version of the rules that is in operation. For example some groups do not require the bids to be in multiples of 5 above 60. Some allow extra information to be given with the bid, not just a number. Some play with with exchanging of cards between partners (see below).
A common system, at least for bids up to 60, is to use skip bids to indicate meld and encourage your partner to make trumps. An opening bid of 50 shows a desire to make trumps. Opening 51 indicates that some aces are held in other suits. Opening 52 or more shows meld: 10 points for each point over 50 - so 52 shows 20 meld, 53 shows 30 meld, etc. Subsequent bidders can show meld by the number of points they skip. Bidding just 1 more than the previous bidder indicates that you want to make trump. Increasing the bid by 2 or more shows 10 meld for each point of increase. So if a player opens 52 (indicating 20 meld), the next player might bid 55 - 3 more than 52 showing 30 meld - and so on.
Here is another system, contributed by Jim Davis. This is for use in a game where any number from 50 up can be bid, and in which four cards are passed:
50 | .. | Opening Bid |
51 | .. | Not yet ready to 'Pass' |
52 | .. | I have some meld |
53 | .. | I have several parts of Pinochle (J's or Q's) |
55 | .. | I need Jacks of all suits |
54, 64, 74, etc. | .. | I need a Jack |
56, 66, 76, etc. | .. | I need a Queen |
58, 68, 78, etc. | .. | I need a King |
59, 69, 79, etc. | .. | I need a Ten |
60, 70, 80, etc. | .. | I need an Ace |
Jump ahead to 66 | .. | I need Queens of all suits |
Jump ahead to 80 or 88 | .. | I need Kings of all suits |
Jump ahead to 100 | .. | I need Aces of all suits |
During the bidding process jump ahead to the next appropriate number that will give your partner a necessary clue as to what to pass if you were to win the bid. Notice that you have to be careful about the possible confusion between (say) 80 asking for an ace and 80 asking for all kings. If the bidding is in the low 70's and you want to ask for all kings, you should jump to 88 to make this clear. In this case 80, being the next available bid ending in '0', would be a request for an ace.
Variations
Double Deck Pinochle has apparently been played since the 1940's. Many different versions have developed, and there is no universally accepted standard. Here are some fairly widespread variations.
Variations in Bidding Procedure
Some players allow any number to be bid from 50 up. Some play that bids above 100 must be in multiples of 10.
Some play that the bidding goes around once only - each player has just one chance to speak. Some play that it goes around twice only (but if you pass the first time you cannot bid the second time).
Some players allow extra information to be given during the bidding - not just the numbers. This normally takes the form of information about meld held. It is generally agreed that it is illegal to direct attention to any particular suit.
Exchanging Cards and Choosing Trumps
A common variation allows cards to be exchanged between the partners on the bidding side. This usually happens immediately after the dealer has chosen trumps. It has the general effect of leading to higher melds and therefore higher bidding.The high bidder and partner must simultaneously pass three cards to each other face down across the table. They are not allowed to look at the cards passed to them before they have chosen and placed on the table the cards they are going to pass.
The rule requiring the bidder to have at least a marriage in the trump suit is not always followed. Some do not require a trump marriage at all. Some play that it is sufficient for the bidder to have a marriage after the exchange of cards.
Some play that other numbers of cards are passed - the number ranging from one to four depending on the variation. Coin master free link today.
Some play that the bidder's partner passes cards first. The bidder looks at these and then passes back an equal number of cards (possibly including some of the cards just received).
Some play that the exchange of cards occurs before the trump suit is announced. In that case the bidder may be allowed to suggest a suit in which she would like to receive cards (possibly different from the eventual trump suit).
Variations in scoring
- The cards are not played and the opponents score nothing.
- The cards are not played and the opponents score their meld (if it is at least 20).
- The cards are not played and the opponents score 25 for cards, plus their meld (if at least 20).
- The cards are not played and the opponents score 50 for cards, plus their meld (if at least 20).
- If trumps have been made, the cards are played and the opponents score as usual according to the tricks they win.
Variation contributed by Toby Thomas
Toby Thomas writes: 'My father-in-law, Clare Masek is 81 (Oct 96) and has played pinochle for over 70 years. It seems that he lives for pinochle and as of late we have been playing his brand of double partnership pinochle.'
The differences from the versions described above are as follows:
Combination | Single | Double | Triple | Quadruple |
---|---|---|---|---|
Type I - runs and marriages | ||||
Run in trumps | 15 | 150 | 500 | --- |
Royal Marriage | 4 | 30 | 60 | 240 |
Ordinary Marriage | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
Type II - pinochles | ||||
Pinochle | 4 | 30 | 90 | 360 |
Type III - arounds | ||||
Aces around | 10 | 100 | 500 | --- |
Kings around | 8 | 80 | 400 | --- |
Queens around | 6 | 60 | 300 | --- |
Jacks around | 4 | 40 | 200 | --- |
- A-10-K-K-Q-Q-J is worth 45 points (15 + 30)
- A-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J is worth 75 points (15 + 60)
- A-A-10-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J-J is worth 210 points (150 + 60)
Other Double Deck Pinochle Web Sites
John Hay's Double Pinochle page contains rules and variations, and provided a lot of the source information for this page.
The Power Pinochle site has some useful resources for learning the game and a forum where bidding and playing strategy are discussed.
Here is an archive copy of Brad Wilson's former Double Pinochle page.
Pinochle rules from an archive copy of Chris Chapman's site.
Double Deck Pinochle Software and On Line Games
Free Canasis.com is an online pinochle site that offers the most variations of pinochle including both single deck and double deck styles, many of the variations described above, and the ability to customize rules. With a pleasing wooden theme and many other features, it is recommended you give Canasis a try.
The collection HOYLE Card Games for Windows or Mac OS X includes a Double Deck Pinochle program, along with many other popular card games.
The following sites offer on-line double deck Pinochle games:
- Mystic Island organises tournaments, including duplicate tournaments, leagues and ladders.
- PlayOK Online Games (formerly known as Kurnik)
- Marya's World of Card Games
WWW pages for other types of Pinochle
There are separate pages on this site for:
Pinochle Rules
Pinochle is a trick-taking and melding game popular in the United States. The game is derived from a variation of Bezaique and was brought to America by German immigrants. The name 'Pinochle' is a misspelling of the french word 'binochle' which means 'eyeglasses' or 'Two-eyes', referring to the meld 'Pinochle' which consists of a queen and a jack. Allegedly this refers to the fact that the game was originally played with a deck of cards where the queen of spades and jack of diamonds were depicted in profile, together showing two eyes. There are multiple variations of Pinochle in existence, each with differing rules and traditions, but the one on this site is a single-deck four handed partnership Pinochle. Pinochle is played with 4 players and a deck of 48 cards. The cards have two copies of each card rank and suit of ace (high), tens, king, queen, jack, and nines (low). note that unlike standard card games in Pinochle the tens are a high card, and will outrank the kings, queens, and jacks in trick taking. A single round in Pinochle consists of 6 phases.
- Dealing
- Bidding
- Exchanging
- Melding
- Trick-taking
- Scoring
Dealing
Pinochle is played in partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other at the table. The first dealer is chosen at random, but then dealership passes clockwise around the table. At the start of each round every player is dealt 12 cards. The player to the left of the dealer has first bid (see below).
Bidding
Once every player has been dealt 12 cards the auction begins. Here players bid the minimum number of points they believe their team can get during that round. The minimum bid is 250 points, and starts with the player to the left of the dealer. A player can either bid 10 or 20 points over the current bid, or pass. Once a player either passses or raises the bid the player on his left bids. A player that has passed on a bid is skipped and the player on his left bids instead. The last player not to pass wins the bid with the amount he last bid. If all players pass without bidding then the dealer makes the default bid of 250 points, and automatically wins the contract.
The winner of the bid has now won the right to:
- Declare the trump of the round
- Exchange 4 cards with his partner
- Lead the first trick
Winning the auction
The player who won the auction must declare the trump for that round.
Next, the partner of the winning player must select and pass over exactly 4 cards from his hand to the winning player. The winner must then pass 4 cards back to his partner. There is no restriction on which cards are passed, but partners cannot communicate or consult with each other when selecting cards to pass. Passing cards is not optional, and each player must pass 4 cards. Free spins casinos. However the winning player can give back the cards his partner passed to him if he so chooses. The team that lost the auction cannot exchange any cards that round.
Melding
All players will form melds from their hand for points. There are three classes of melds. A single card can be part of multiple melds in different classes, but can only be a member of a single meld in a given class. For example a queen of hearts can be a member of a 'Hearts marriage' (Class 1 meld), and a member of 'Queens around' (Class 3 meld), but cannot also be a member of 'Run' (Class 1 meld) since it already appears in the hearts marriage. The points for the melds presented are tallied up and added to the score of that team for the round. The game will automatically form the highest scoring combination of melds from your hand and present those.
Valid Melds
The following are valid melds in Pinochle, and their respective point values:
Class 1 melds:- Run: Ten to Ace, all 5 cards in the current trump suit (H11 H12 H13 H10 H14). Worth 150 points.
- Run + King: A run with an extra king in the trump suit. (H11 H12 H13 H13 H10 H14). Worth 190 points.
- Run + Queen: A run with an extra queen in the trump suit. (H11 H12 H12 H13 H10 H14). Worth 190 points.
- Run + Marriage: A run with an extra royal marriage. (H11 H12 H12 H13 H13 H10 H14). Worth 230 points.
- Double run: Two runs in the trump suit. (H11 H11 H12 H12 H13 H13 H10 H10 H14 H14). Worth 1500 points.
- Dix: The nine of a trump. (H9). Worth 10 points.
- Royal marriage: King and queen of the trump suit. (H12 H13). Worth 40 points.
- Common marriage (or [suit] marriage): King and queen out of trump. (S12 S13). Worth 20 points.
- Pinochle: Jack of diamonds and queen of spades. (D11 S12). Worth 40 points.
- Double pinochle: Both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades. (D11 D11 S12 S12). Worth 300 points.
- Aces around: One ace of each suit. (H14 S14 D14 C14). Worth 100 points.
- Aces abound: All 8 aces. (H14 H14 S14 S14 D14 D14 C14 C14). Worth 1000 points.
- Kings around: One king of each suit. (H13 S13 D13 C13). Worth 80 points.
- Kings abound: All 8 kings. (H13 H13 S13 S13 D13 D13 C13 C13). Worth 800 points.
- Queens around: One queen of each suit. (H12 S12 D12 C12). Worth 60 points.
- Queens abound: All 8 queens. (H12 H12 S12 S12 D12 D12 C12 C12). Worth 600 points.
- Jacks around: One jack of each suit. (H11 S11 D11 C11). Worth 40 points.
- Jacks abound: All 8 jacks. (H11 H11 S11 S11 D11 D11 C11 C11). Worth 400 points.
Trick taking
Once melding concludes trick taking starts. The player who won the auction leads the first trick, and then the winner of each trick leads the next one. The player leading the trick can play any card they wish, but other players must follow the restrictions below:
- You must play a card in the same suit as the lead card.
- If you cannot play a card in suit, you must play a trump.
- If you can neither follow suit or play a trump then you can play any card you wish
- You must take the trick if doing so does not violate the above rules.
The round ends when all 12 tricks have been taken.
Scoring
At the end of the round the players tally up their scores. Every ten (10), king, and ace collected as part of tricks is worth 10 points, as well as the last trick of the round. Thus a team can get a maximum of 250 points in the trick taking phase by getting all 8 tens, all 8 kings, all 8 aces, and the last trick of the round.
If a team is unable to get any points during the trick taking phase then they get no points that round, regardless of how many points they earned during melding. If the non bidding team gets at least 10 points (any ten, ace, king, or the last trick) during trick taking then their meld points and trick points are addded to their total score from previous rounds.
Pinochle Classic
If the bidding team earns enough points from their melds and trick taking to match or exceed their bid then all their points are added to the total score. If they fail to meet their bid then they have 'gone set' and earn no points that round. In addition their bid is subtracted from their total score.
Voluntarily going set
If, after melding, the bidding team's bid is more than 250 points higher than their combined score they have gone set. The player who won the bid can at this moment throw in the hand. Doing this will cause them to go set, have their bid subtracted from their total score, the opposing team gets their melds added to their score, and the next round begins. The bidding team however can also choose to play the hand in the hopes of getting all 250 points avalible and causing their opponents to get 0 points for the round, somewhat lessening the damage. Teams can not throw in the hand under other conditions, if their bid is 250 points higher than their score or less they must play the hand.
Example:Bill won the bid at 330 points. After melding it is revealed that you and Bill only managed to get a combined 60 points. Since you can only get 250 points from the trick taking phase your team can never meet the 330 point bid, falling just short at 310 even if you get all the tricks. Bill decides that you cannot get all possible 250 points and throws in the hand. Your team loses 330 points and Mike and Lisa get whatever their melds are worth added to their total. The next round then begins. If Bill had so preferred he could have led the first trick and the round would have continued as normal.
Winning the game
The game is won when either team has a total score of 1500 or greater at the end of a round. If both teams cross the finish line in the same round then the team who currently holds the bid wins regardless of the actual point values.
Example 1: You and Bill end the round with 1500 points, while Mike and Lisa only have 1200 points. You and Bill win the game.
Example 2: You and Bill end the round with 1700 points, while Mike and Lisa have 1600 points. Mike is the bidding player this round. Mike and Lisa Spins coin master free spins. thus win the game.