Pinochle

Card value from low to high: 9 J Q K 10 A. Any Trump beats all non-Trump. The deck has two of each card value and suit (e.g. there are two A♦).

1) Bid. Pass once bidding opens at 25, and left of dealer is under the gun -- takes the bid for 25 if all pass. Winner names trump suit. Bids are nearly always successful at 30, sometimes at 40, and rarely 50 or above. If you are missing one card for a Trump run, or are holding 3 or more aces, you should not pass before 35. Bid Winners can easily outscore opponents 3:1 and often over 5:1.

2) Winner’s partner passes 4 cards.

        a) Trump except for 9’s

        b) Outside aces

        c) Pinochle halves if trump is ♠ Spades or ♦ Diamonds

        d) Trump 9 or outside 10 if passed both aces.

3) Winner passes back 4 cards. Void outside suits. Keep aces and 10’s under 2 aces.

4) Meld points. Each card may be used once in each group below.

Name

Cards

Points

Double Points

Run Trump

J Q K 10 A

15

150

9 Trump

9

1

2

Marriage Trump

Q K

4

8

Marriage Not Trump

Q K

2

4

Name

Cards

Points

Double Points

Jacks Around

J♣ J♥ J♠ J♦

4

40

Queens Around

Q♣ Q♥ Q♠ Q♦

6

60

Kings Around

K♣ K♥ K♠ K♦

8

80

Aces Around

A♣ A♥ A♠ A♦

10

100

Name

Cards

Points

Double Points

Pinochle

J♦ Q♠

4

30

5) Play. Bid Winner leads first, then each trick’s winner leads next trick. One partner gathers all the team’s tricks. Order is 9 J Q K 10 A. Bid Winner usually leads Trump as long as winning is guaranteed, and another player has a Trump card, then outside aces, then a queen.

        a) If you have a card in the suit led, you must play it. Also, if you can play a new high card while playing this card, you must.

        b) If you have no card in the suit led, and you have Trump, you must play a Trump. Also, if you can play a new high card while playing this Trump card, you must.

        c) Play any card. You will not win.

6) Count Play Points. Each team counts A 10 K which each count for 1. The last trick is 1 bonus point, for a total of 25.

        a) Bid Winning team:

i) If the Meld Points + Play Points is the Bid value or more, the team scores Meld Points + Play Points.

ii) If the Meld Points + Play Points is less than the Bid value, the team scores no points, but instead loses the Bid points.

b) Opposite team:

        i) If the team took at least one trick, the team scores Meld Points + Play Points.

        ii) If the team did not take any tricks, they score 0 points -- they do not score their Meld Points.