Pinochle

Meld marriages and runs, then win the counters. 4 players, in partnerships.

Also known as Pinocle and Binocle.

Who To Play With

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How to play Pinochle

  1. 1Partners sit opposite. The deck is two copies of 9, J, Q, K, 10 and A in each suit (48 cards); everyone gets twelve. Cards rank A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.
  2. 2Bidding starts left of the dealer at 250 and goes up by 10s until three players have passed; once you pass you are out. If everyone passes, the dealer must bid 250.
  3. 3The high bidder names trump. Their partner then passes them 4 cards, and the bidder passes 4 back.
  4. 4Everyone lays down their melds: run in trump (A-10-K-Q-J) 150, royal marriage (K-Q of trump) 40, marriage (K-Q of another suit) 20, pinochle (J♦ + Q♠) 40, dix (9 of trump) 10 each, aces around 100, kings around 80, queens around 60, jacks around 40. Doubles are worth far more: double run 1500, double pinochle 300, and ten times the value for double arounds.
  5. 5A card can count in melds of different kinds (a queen of spades in both a pinochle and queens around), but not twice in the same kind, and a run's king and queen don't also count as a royal marriage. A team only keeps its meld if it wins at least one trick.
  6. 6The bidder leads. You must follow suit and beat the winning card if you can. If you can't follow, you must trump (beating any trump already played) if you can. Of two identical cards, the first played wins.
  7. 7Aces, 10s and kings are counters worth 10 each, and the last trick is worth 10 (250 in all).
  8. 8If the bidding team's meld plus counters reach the bid they score it all; otherwise they lose the bid. The other team scores its meld and counters. First team to 1500 wins; the bidding team goes out first.

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