How to Play Pinochle
How to Play Pinochle
Pinochle is a lively partnership card game that mixes careful bidding, clever card combinations, and trick-taking. This guide uses one common four-player, double-deck version; house rules can vary. You need a normal deck of cards, and you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore.
Quick facts
| Players | 4, in two partnerships |
|---|---|
| Deck | 80 cards: four copies of A, 10, K, Q, and J in each suit |
| Goal | Reach 500 points, or another agreed target |
| Deal | 20 cards to each player |
| Important words | A meld is a scored card combination; a trick is one card played by each player |
What you are trying to do
Your team tries to collect points in two ways. First, you announce valuable combinations in your hand. These combinations are called melds. Second, you win tricks containing aces, tens, and kings. Before the cards are played, everyone bids a number. The highest bidder chooses the trump suit, which is the suit that can beat cards from the other suits. The bidder's team must earn at least that many points from meld and tricks or it loses the bid amount.
A complete game is usually played over several deals. The first team to reach 500 points at the end of a deal wins. If your group prefers a shorter learning game, agree on 250 points before starting.
What you need
Use two Pinochle decks together, or make the cards yourself from four normal decks. The finished double deck has four copies of every ace, ten, king, queen, and jack in hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Remove every card from 2 through 9. You will have 80 cards. Keep paper and a pencil, or use a notes app, for the team scores.
Set it up
Choose a dealer. Partners sit opposite each other, so teammates face one another. Deal clockwise until every player has 20 cards. You may deal four or five cards at a time, as long as the cards are shared evenly. The player to the dealer's left begins the auction, which is the bidding part of the deal.
For quick reference, cards rank from high to low as ace, ten, king, queen, jack. In tricks, every ace, ten, and king is worth 1 point. Queens and jacks are worth 0 trick points, and the team that wins the last trick receives 2 extra points. That makes 50 points available from tricks in total.
How to play
- Bid for the contract. The opening bid is at least 50. Players take turns clockwise, raising the current bid or passing. Bids may increase by 1 through 60; above 60, use multiples of 5 such as 65, 70, and 75. Once you pass, you cannot bid again. When three players have passed, the highest bidder wins. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid 50.
- Choose trump. The winning bidder names one suit as trump and will lead the first trick. In this version, the bidder must hold a marriage in that suit: a king and queen of the same suit. If the bidder cannot show a marriage in the chosen trump suit, the hand is not played: subtract the bid from the bidding team's running score, and neither team scores any meld or trick points. A marriage is simply a matching-suit king and queen.
- Show meld. After trump is named, each player lays qualifying combinations face up. Score each player's meld, then combine the two partners' totals. A card may count in one meld of each category, but it cannot be reused in two melds of the same category. After scoring, everyone returns the cards to their hands.
- Know the main melds. A trump run, A-10-K-Q-J all in trump, is worth 15 points. A royal marriage, K-Q in trump, is worth 4 points, while a marriage in another suit is worth 2. A pinochle, the queen of spades with the jack of diamonds, is worth 4. Four aces, four kings, four queens, or four jacks, one in every suit, are worth 10, 8, 6, or 4 points. Doubles, triples, and quadruples of these combinations score higher, so check your group's score sheet if a hand contains duplicates. A run already includes its royal marriage, so do not count that marriage again.
- Lead and follow suit. The bidder leads the first trick. A trick has four cards, one from each player. The winner leads the next trick. When a player leads a suit, everyone who can follow that suit must do so. They must also play a higher card than the winning card so far whenever possible; this is called crawling or following upward.
- Use trump correctly. If you cannot follow the suit led, you must play a trump if you have one. If another player has already played trump, you must play a higher trump when possible. If you have neither the led suit nor a trump, play any card. A trick is won by the highest trump, or, if no trump appears, the highest card of the suit led. If identical cards tie, the one played first wins.
- Count the tricks. Keep won tricks in a team pile. At the end, count 1 point for every ace, ten, and king, then add 2 points for the last trick. Add those trick points to the partnership's meld points.
- Record the result. The bidding team checks whether its combined meld and trick points meet the bid. If it does, that team adds the points it earned. If it does not, it is “set”: subtract the bid from its running score and add nothing for its meld or tricks. The other team keeps the meld and trick points it earned.
How you win
After recording the deal, check whether either partnership has reached the agreed target, commonly 500 points. If only one team has reached it, that team wins. If both teams pass the target in the same deal, the team with the higher total wins. If neither has reached the target, pass the deal to the next dealer and play again.
Easy first-game tips
Do not bid only because your hand contains many high cards. Look for meld, especially a trump run or several marriages, and remember that your partner's hand will add to your team's total. Keep track of which suits your partner seems able to follow. A low card can be useful when you want to lose a trick, while an ace or ten is valuable when you can protect it. Save some trump for later, but do not be afraid to use a strong trump when it captures an important scoring card.
For your first deal, write the meld values on a small reference sheet and talk through the follow-suit rule before each trick. It is fine to pause and check whether a player had a higher card available. Once the rhythm becomes familiar, the auction and the hidden information make every deal feel like a puzzle your team solves together.
Quick questions
Can partners tell each other what cards they hold?
No. Partners may use legal bids and normal card play, but they should not give private hints or name specific cards.
What happens if I cannot follow suit?
Play a trump if you have one, and beat a trump already played whenever possible. If you have neither the led suit nor a trump, discard any card.