$#!% I Say

There are several forms of the game Pinochle—points and the types and number of cards vary. Here I will teach you how to play the most common form.

This form of Pinochle is played with only the cards 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. There are 4 of each card in each suit in the deck for a total of 90 cards. There have to be 4 players as well with partners being spaced out from each other, partners usually sit directly across from each other.

Prior to beginning the card play between the players, the cards are dealt and the points are “melded” (or calculated). Calculations are very specific and are taken into account on whether the hand can even be played. What begins is the bidding. Each player calculates what cards they have, what those cards are worth, and whether they can meld enough points to play the hand that they bid for. Bidding begins with the first person being forced to make an “open” bid which is 50 or anything higher if they wish. Bidding increments can be as low as by 1 up to 60 when they go to increments of 5 (see strategy for more on bidding). The person winning the bid is passed any 4 cards from their partner and then passes any other 4 cards back to their partner

First off, the person who wins the bid must call what the trump suit is (or the “royal” suit). That is—the suit which is stronger than the other suits and can win hands. The strength of the card goes by the following order from weakest to strongest: Jack, Queen, King, 10, then Ace. A royal card beats any non-royal card and the royal cards beat each other in the same order as just described.

The suit called as trump must have what is termed a “marriage”—a King and Queen of that suit. If there is no marriage, the hand cannot be played and the winning bidder loses points equal to the bid placed.

If there is a marriage then the points are tabulated:

Marriage in a money suit:

4

A “run” in the royal suit (meaning all cards from 10 to Ace):

20

A double run in a royal suit:

150

A marriage in a non-royal suit:

2

A Jack in every suit:

4

Double Jacks in every suit:

40

A Queen in every suit:

6

Double Queens in every suit:

60

A King in every suit:

8

Double Kings in every suit:

80

An Ace in every suit:

10

Double Ace in every suit:

100

A Pinochle (a Jack of Diamonds and a Queen of spades):

15

Double Pinochle:

30

Triple pinochle:

60

Marriage in every suit:

24

King, Queen and Jack in every suit:

28

Play is run clock-wise and the person who is due to play the next card has to play a card which beats the other card (if they have it). If they do not have a card to beat the strongest card on board then they have to throw out a card of the same suit. If they do not have a card of the same suit, they must either throw out a royal card or, if lacking a royal card, any card of any suit. If the first card is a regular non-royal card and the next card to beat it is a royal card the next player must play the suit first played, or in the absence of a card in that suit must play a royal card if they possess one. If they cannot beat the royal card and do not have the original suit they must still play a royal card if in their possession, or if not then can throw out any card.

Each 10, King and Ace is worth 1 point and the last play is worth an extra 2 points.

The player who won the bid must bring back the difference in points between the bid and the actual meld, but never less than 20 points. The non-winning bid team must bring back at least 20 points to have the meld they put down after bidding to count.

Strategy

When bidding begins the first person to bid “passes” his partner his meld. Say if I am holding a hand that only gives 14 points I will pass 10 points by bidding 51. If I have Aces (an Ace in each suit) along with that, I will bid 20 points as 52. If I have 57 points in my hand, I will pass 56 as my bid. Bidding can also be used to block communication out from the other players. If I am bidding, I will bid 59 off-the-bat simply to block my opponent’s ability to pass meld. Also, you want to be a team player so even though you may have a great hand with almost a double run in trump or a lot of points, your partner may have a better hand than you so you should not bid against your partner, you only drive up the bidding and thus the amount of points needed.

Passing cards is a vital means of getting more points. So if I have all the cards for a double run in trump except for one card, I will gamble by bidding high in the hopes of getting that one card from my partner.

Watch the meld of the opposing team as well as your partner, it is telling as far as who has which cards.

HAVE FUN PLAYING!!!! And if you want to learn more and get involved in the game go to http://npapinochle.org/.