Pinochle

1 Overview

Pinochle is an American trick-taking card game played with a special double deck. The game combines melding (scoring combinations of cards in your hand) with trick-taking (winning tricks for additional points). It's most commonly played as a 4-player partnership game.

2 The Pinochle Deck

A Pinochle deck has 48 cards: two each of Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack, and 9 in all four suits. Cards rank: A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9 (low). Note that 10 ranks above King — this surprises many new players.

3 Deal & Bidding

In 4-player partnership Pinochle: deal 12 cards to each player (4 face-down to a kitty in some variants). Bidding proceeds clockwise — each player bids a number of points they believe their team can score, or passes. Minimum opening bid is typically 250. The highest bidder wins the auction and names trump.

4 Melding

After bidding, each player lays out their melds (scoring combinations) face-up. Common melds:

• Pinochle: Q♠ + J♦ = 40 pts. Double Pinochle = 300 pts.
• Aces Around: One Ace in each suit = 100 pts. Double Aces Around = 1000 pts.
• Kings Around: One King in each suit = 80 pts.
• Queens Around: One Queen in each suit = 60 pts.
• Jacks Around: One Jack in each suit = 40 pts.
• Royal Marriage: K + Q of trump suit = 40 pts.
• Common Marriage: K + Q of non-trump suit = 20 pts.
• Trump Run (Sequence): A-10-K-Q-J of trump = 150 pts.
• Nine of Trump (Dix): 10 pts.

Partners can combine their cards for "around" melds. Return melds to hand after scoring.

5 Playing Tricks

The winning bidder leads first. Players must follow suit if able. If you can't follow suit, you must play trump if able. Otherwise, play any card. The highest trump wins; if no trump, the highest card in the led suit wins. Equal cards: the first played wins.

In trick-taking, point cards are: Aces (11 pts each), Tens (10 pts each), Kings (4 pts each), Queens (3 pts each), Jacks (2 pts each). Nines have no trick-taking value. Last trick = 10 bonus points.

6 Scoring

The winning bidder's team scores their meld points + trick points only if the total meets or exceeds their bid. If not, they are "set" and lose the bid amount from their score. The opposing team always scores their meld + trick points regardless.

First team to 1,500 points (or agreed target) wins. If both teams reach the threshold in the same hand, the bidding team wins.

7 Tips

• Bid accurately — being set is costly. Count your guaranteed meld plus realistic trick-taking value.
• Lead your long trump suits to pull out opponent trump and set up your Aces.
• Aces are more valuable than you think — they guarantee trick points every time they're played.