Pinochle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pinochle (card game) | |
|---|---|
 The jack of diamonds and the queen of spades are the "pinochle" meld of Pinochle. |
|
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Players | 4 in partnerships or 3 individually, variants exist for 2-6 or 8 players |
| Age range | 13 and up |
| Deck | 48 (double 24 card deck) or 80 (quadruple 20 card deck) |
| Cards | Anglo-American |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) |
A 10 K Q J 9 |
| Related games | Sixty-six, Bezique, Marjapussi, Skat |
| Playing time | 1 to 5 hours |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skills required | Strategy Social skills Teamwork |
Pinochle (sometimes Pinocle or Penuchle), is a trick-taking game typically for two or four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game Bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks.
A Pinochle deck consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits. Aces are always considered high. Pinochle follows the standard card ordering with the exception of the 10 being second highest. The complete ordering from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.
Variants of Pinochle can be played with three, five, six, eight or more players. These larger variations can combine two Pinochle decks called a "double deck".
In some areas of the United States, such as Oklahoma and Texas, thumb wrestling is often referred to as "pinochle". The two games, however, are not related.
[edit] History
Pinochle derives from the game Bezique, which is virtually identical to the original two-handed version of Pinochle that is still played by some. "Bezique" as pronounced by the French sounded similar to "besicles," or "spectacles."[citation needed] The French word "Binocle" also meant "eyeglasses".[citation needed] The word is also possibly derived from the French word, "binage", for the combination of cards called "binocle".[1] This latter pronunciation of the game would be adopted by German speakers. German immigrants brought the game to America, where it was later mispronounced and misspelled "Pinochle."[2]
Auction Pinochle for three players is a variation derived from combining Bezique and the German game Skat. Some mistakenly claim Pinochle derives from Whist. Games like Contract bridge, Hearts, and Spades derive from Whist, but the only thing Whist shares with Pinochle is the bidding concept, which Pinochle actually borrowed from Skat.[citation needed]
During World War I, the city of Syracuse, New York outlawed the playing of Pinochle in a fit of anti-German sentiment.[3] Pinochle was the favorite card game of American Jews and Irish immigrants, while Skat was the preferred game of a majority of German immigrants. After the late 1990s, New England has remained the only American region to support broad pinochle tournaments, in part because of Taylor Stearns, a Rhode Island resident who won the U.S. Pinochle Association National Tournament six times in a row between 1999-2004.[4]
[edit] Dealing
The game is played with one Pinochle deck of 48 cards; one player is the dealer.
In Pinochle, after the shuffle, the dealer distributes the cards. All the cards are dealt in partnership Pinochle. In other variations a widow' (or called the "kitty", "talon", or "stock") of cards remain. Traditionally, this is done clockwise, three cards at a time, starting with the player to the left and ending with the dealer. The deal rotates clockwise, so the dealer's left-hand opponent will deal next.
Some house rules allow a player with a hand of 6 nines or 5 nines and no meld to throw it in, making the deal null and void and demanding a redeal.[citation needed] The player with this poor hand must declare this instead of bidding during an auction. Sometimes there is a limit of three deals for this reason, requiring the third deal to be played.
[edit] The auction
In auction Pinochle, players bid for the points they predict their hand could earn. The highest bidder earns the right to declare the trump suit. One of the players, usually the player to the left of the dealer, or the dealer themself, is obligated to open with a first bid. The minimum opening bid is usually an agreed upon value between players like 100[5] or 250.[2] When a player has the turn to bid, the player may do either of the following:
- make a new bid, or
- pass.
Each bid must be greater than the previous one, and be a multiple of 10. When a player passes, they can no longer bid. The auction ends when subsequent players in rotation have passed after the last bid. The last bid becomes the contract. The player that made this final bid will then declare trump in the suit that is desired. In most versions of Pinochle, trump cannot be declared in any suit not containing a marriage meld.[citation needed]
In order to win the hand, the combined total of melding and trick points must be equal to or greater than the winning bid. Thus bidding involves anticipating the points that will be accumulated from melds and from the points acumulated from winning tricks. If the combined score is lower than the bid, then the bidding team or player has been set. This means that the total bid amount is subtracted from the total game score, often accompanied by losing the points scored in meld for that hand as well. This can result in a negative score.[5]
[edit] Passing cards
After the bid has been taken and trump declared in a partnership game, the bid winning team exchanges cards. It is typically four cards, but some people allow only three. The partner of the bid winner passes first. The objective of the partner is either to add to the total points in meld or to pass trick winning cards. After receiving the cards, the bid winner examines what will create the strongest hand and then discards 4 to their partner. A variation is for the bid winner and partner to exchange the designated number of cards simultaneously.
[edit] Melding
Melding consists of displaying specific combinations of cards to all players. Typically this is done by placing the combination of cards face up on the playing surface until all players have had the opportunity to examine them. All players meld after the bid winner shows meld first. The types of melds include arounds, marriages, flushes and pinochles.
The rank melds containing four of the same face cards -- ace, king, queen or jack -- must include one card from each of the different suits . They are scored as follows:
- "100 Aces" or "Aces around" - 4 aces of different suits - 100 points
- "80 Kings" or "Kings around" - 4 kings of different suits - 80 points
- "60 Queens" or "Queens around" - 4 queens of different suits - 60 points
- "40 Jacks" or "Jacks around" - 4 jacks of different suits - 40 points
A player holding all eight aces, kings, queens or jacks is called a double around. This hand is worth 10 times the value of a single around. For instance, a kings double around is worth 800 points.
The marriages, flush and dix are the suit melds.
- "Trump Marriage" - king and queen of trump suit - 40 points
- "Marriage" - king and queen of a suit other than trump - 20 points
- "Flush", "Family", "Rope" or "Run" - A 10 K Q J of trump suit - 150 points. Similar to what is done with Aces, Kings Around, etc. A double run, or two runs in trump in the same hand, is worth 1500 points.
- "Dix" - nine of trump - 10 points
A marriage in each suit is worth 240 total points. As a shortcut, this is called a "roundtable", "marriages around", "Round House", or a "Round Robin". This is nothing more than the sum of the marriages, plus kings around and queens around.
The pinochle is the unique combination that shares the name of the game.
- "Pinochle" - jack of diamonds and queen of spades - 40 points.
- "Double pinochle" - both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades - 300 points.
Each card may be used in at most one meld of each type. Thus, a queen card can be used in one marriage with one king, regardless if the player has more than one king. However, a queen can be used to score a marriage and a pinochle if the player also has the jack.
After the melds are displayed, the points are counted and the teams total their individual meld scores to form a team score.
In some version of this game, additional melds are permitted.
- Three "legs" of pinochle -- both jacks of diamonds and a queen of spades or a jack of diamonds and both queens of spades -- is worth 150.
- An extra king or queen in a run is worth half a trump marriage, 20 points. In other versions, it is worth a full marriage, 40 points. Some variants allow both the king and queen to each count as a marriage in this fashion, others do not.
[edit] Playing tricks
As with other trick-taking games, the winner of each trick leads to the next. The high bidder makes the first lead, which must be a trump. Each player must follow suit if possible. Otherwise, each player must trump if possible. When trump is led or played, you must beat the previous card played. So, if the trump king is led, you must play the ten or ace if you are next to play. If you have neither of these cards, you may play any trump you wish, and if out of trump you may play any card you wish. Further, when a previous player has ruffed (played a trump because it was not possible to follow suit) and you also must ruff, you must overruff if possible. When duplicate cards result in a tie, the card played first wins the trick.
[edit] Scoring tricks
Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand. There are several ways to count up the points for play, but they always add up to 250 points. The last trick is always worth 10 points. The classic counting systom of Pinochle is where aces are worth 11, tens are worth 10, kings are worth 4, queens are worth 3, jacks are worth 2, and nines are worth zero. This method takes longer to count the score at the end of each hand. A simpler method is to count aces and tens for 10 points, kings and queens for 5 points, and jacks and nines are worth zero. An even simpler method that avoids any strategy in trick-taking has aces, tens, and kings worth 10, and everything else zero. These simpler counting methods are useful in double-deck games where 96 cards are used, but is adopted just as often for two player games with the standard deck size.
Since all points are multiples of ten in the last scoring method, scoring is often generalized by dropping the redundant zero in the units place. Aces, tens, and kings won in tricks are worth one point. Thus these are known as "counters", while queens and jacks, having no point value, are sometimes referred to as "garbage". The meld scoring can also avoid the zero in the tenth place. Melds like 100 aces are worth 10. The terms "100 aces", "80 kings" and so on are still used, even though the point values are one-tenth. This regime is popularly known, including by the Grange card parties in Upstate New York, where Pinochle and also Euchre are popular.
[edit] Original two-handed Pinochle
Two-handed Pinochle is the original Pinochle game, while partnership, auction, and all other variants are derivatives from it. It is the game most similar to the original Bezique game, from whence Pinochle derived. The only significant difference in its rules from Bezique is the scoring.
In variations of two-handed play, no cards are initially dealt, a distinction from all other variations. Instead, the entire deck is placed face-down on the playing surface between the two players to form the widow. One player begins the hand-building process by drawing the top card of the widow. The player can either keep that card for her or his hand or reject the card. If the player chooses to hold the initial card, the player then draws a second card from the widow, then places it face-down, without looking at it, creating a discard pile. If the player rejects the first card, the card becomes the first card in the discard pile. The second card drawn from the widow must be kept, regardless of whether she or he preferred the first card. Players alternate turns in this hand-building process until all cards are chosen.
The original version of Pinochle involve a partial deal of twelve cards to both players in sets of four, leaving a widow of 24 cards. A player can score one meld after each trick won of the first 12 tricks. Melded cards can even be used to win tricks. After each trick, players draw one card from the widow into their hand starting with the trick winning player. For the last 12 tricks, melds are taken into each player's hand and melds are no longer announced by the player who announces the trick. The traditional trick-taking rules apply only for the last 12 tricks.
With bidding, the player winning the bid declares trump, then lays all meld face-up on the table. The other player shows her or his melds as well. Meld points are tallied, and players return meld cards to their hands. Some varieties accept a "Round house", kings and queens of each suit, and earn a bonus 10 points awarding a total of 250 points.
Trick-taking commences and continues until all held cards have been played. One variation has no "leading" requirement for the bid winner or subsequent trick winner to lead a specific card, however the rules of "following" are still observed.
When adding counters, cards from each player's discard pile are included in totals for a total of 240 counters per round, plus one counter for winning the final trick. One variation to make it more difficult for the bid-winning player, the discard pile created by drawing cards is used by the non-bidding player to score towards tricks.
[edit] Three-handed Pinochle
Each player plays for themself. The dealer deals 15 cards to each player and three cards to the widow--a separate pile in the middle.
All players review their cards and silently count meld, determining their bids. The player to the dealer's left initiates the bidding process. If the player has a meld, he or she is required to open the bidding; otherwise, they may pass or bid. If he or she passes, the obligation to bid passes to the next player, if meld is held. Once a player passes, he or she is out of the auction.
Bidding begins at 300, or 250 for an easier game, and increases in multiples of 10. (In a low point version, similar to the one above where the zero is dropped from the point count, bidding starts at 15.) The highest bidder wins the auction and turns up the three-card widow for all to see. (In the low point version, the cards are placed in the bid winner's hand. The bid winner then declares trump, lays down meld and discards three non-point cards. The kitty and subsequent discards are not shown to other players.) The widow cards are added to their hand and must now discard any three of the 18 cards in their hand and set the discarded cards aside. The winning bidder now names the trump suit and lays any meld face-up on the table to be counted. The other two players also lay meld face-up for count. After the appropriate points have been tallied for all three players, meld is returned to each respective player's hand, and the round is played. During the round, a player must take at least one trick to "save one's meld", even if the trick contains no points; otherwise, no meld points will be counted for that player during that round.
After all tricks are taken, counters are tallied for each player. The three discards by the highest bidder count toward their counter score for the hand, so there is always a total of 250 points for the trick score among the three players. If the highest bidder fails to make their contract by adding meld points and trick points from the play, then their score is negative the amount of the bid for that hand.
- After viewing the widow, the highest bidder may concede the hand and take a negative score for the amount of his bid; however, they still must name trumps and the other two players score their meld. Conceding the hand does save the trick points opponents would score playing their hands, although opponents will not have an opportunity to lose their meld by failing to take a trick.
- A player may not attempt to play the hand for more than 250 points. For example, if the bid is 350 and a player has only 80 points in meld, that player is forced to concede. If a player is about to win, it may have been worthwhile to play the hand and try to deny that player a trick. Remember, the decision to concede a hand must be made before seeing the opponents' meld.
- A player forced to take the bid for 300 points may choose to concede without viewing the widow. His score is lowered by 300 points, and the opponents score nothing for the hand. This strategy is useful when another player is close to winning.
- The widow can often salvage a hopeless hand, so it pays to look when nobody is close to winning.
The game is won when one player reaches 1000 points. It is possible for two or all three players to go over 1000 on the same hand. There are 3 methods of resolving ties:
- "Highest Score": If there's a tie, play another hand. This is the least desirable method.
- "Overtime": The game is extended and is now a contest to 1250 points. If two players exceed 1250 points on the same hand, the contest lengthens to 1500 points. This rule holds regardless of score fluctuations (players "going minus" - failing to reach their bid amounts - and falling below 1000 points.
- "Bid and Out": If two players exceed 1000 points on the same hand, then the high bidder for that round automatically is declared the winner. If two non-bidders exceed 1000 points on the same hand (extremely rare), then Method #1 or Method #2 would apply. The advantage of this method is that it very interesting when two or all three players are close to 1000 points.
[edit] Four-handed Pinochle
Four-handed Pinochle, or partnership Pinochle is played with two teams consisting of two players each. Partners are seated opposite from each other. Each player is dealt 12 cards. The opening bid is typically 150, but can be a higher agreed on value. All four players may bid. Both the bidder and his partner have their score count towards making the contract. High bidder names trump. There typically is no kitty. With a kitty, the four cards are distributed, one to each player, by the bid winner. Each hand must meld separately: If your partner has a spade marriage, you may not put down the diamond jack for a pinochle; you must also have a spade queen. As in the three-handed version, the first player is forced to bid when holding meld. Play is to 1000.
Optional rules for partnership Pinochle include forcing the dealer to bid 190, or some other agreed amount, if the first 3 players pass initially because they have no meld. In another variation, the winning partnership must, before melding, exchange 3 cards from each of their hands. This version is usually played to 1500. A player may announce they will "Shoot the Moon", declaring to all the other players that they are going to attempt to capture all the tricks in the current hand. If so, they earn 1,000 points and win the game. If they do not, they subtract 1,000 points from their score. This must be declared just before the tricks are going to be played out. Some versions give the game to a team which successfully 'shoots the moon', others automatically give 250 points for this no matter what the bid was.
[edit] Five-handed and larger Pinochle
Games with five hands or more typically modify partnership Pinochle in a variety of ways. With an odd number of players, the bidder asks for a desired card to be lead and played by the player who will be their partner for that hand. Everyone else plays against the team. In larger groups, one or more players can sit out each hand allowing the remaining players to follow the appropriate rules for the respective number of players.
[edit] Check Pinochle
This is a gambling variant of three-hand. It is the same as to 1000, except that you keep track of "checks". If you are playing $1 stakes, each check you gain means that the other 2 players owe you a dollar. The following events cause a gain/loss of checks.
- Flush or run +1 check
- Aces +1 check
- Roundtable +2 checks (marriage in each suit)
- Note that checks for meld can be earned either by the bidder or non-bidder. Checks are kept even if you do not make your bid or "throw it in".
- Looking at the "talon" and losing the hand (either by conceding or playing) -1 check
- Playing the hand and losing -1 additional check (optional)
- Not looking at the talon and conceding 300 points. - no gain or loss of checks (happens when forced to bid)
- Double marriage (2 marriages in same suit) +1 check (optional)
- Double pinochle +1 check (optional)
- Double Aces, Double Kings, Double Queens, or Double Jacks +2 checks (optional)
- Winning the game +5 checks or +10 checks
- 7 nines +5 or +10 checks (optional) (do not need to win the bid to get credit)
[edit] Double-deck Pinochle
Double-Deck Pinochle is played with 2 Pinochle decks, minus the nines. This makes for an 80 card deck.
Play is similar to regular Pinochle, except 20 cards are delt to each person and minimum bid is increased to 500 points. In some variations, bids are made in increments of 10 or more points until 600 is reached, then by 50 points. This version often features "meld bidding", legal signals to all at the table of meld strength. A bid of "510" after an opening bid of "500" by the first bidder signals "aces around" (but only in this specific bid sequence), a bid raise of 20 or more signals the amount of meld in a hand with every ten points of meld equalling the ten points of meld (but not necessarily strength of trick-taking or possible trump), and a passing bid of "by me" signals ten points held. Communicating with other expressions to indicate suits, runs, or other information for possibly influencing trick-taking strategy between partners is called "talking across the table" and is forbidden.
[edit] Racehorse Pinochle
Note that this use of the term "racehorse" is inconsistent with the commonly understood meaning of the term when applied to Pinochle. As aptly summarized by Dave LeVasseur: "Racehorse means that, after the winning bidder has named trump, that player's partner passes cards across the table"[6]
Played much as the same as "double deck" but to 6 hands, the point values are inflated.
Two teams are formed, 20 cards are then delt to each player and 4 cards are dealt to the blind. Bidding commences with the person immediately to the left of the dealer automatically bidding 500. The winner of the bid includes the blind into his hand, calls trump and melds.
| Around (1 of each suit) | Twice Around | 4 of a kind | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aces | 100 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Kings | 80 | 800 | 800 |
| Queens | 60 | 600 | 600 |
| 10's or 9's | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note: All Runs, Double, Triple, and Quadruple, Marriages must be in Trump.
| Not Trump | Trump | Double | Triple | Quadruple | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marriage | 20 | 40 | 300 | 900 | the game |
| Pinochle | 40 | - | 300 | 900 | the game |
| Run | - | 150 | 300 | 900 | the game |
The game continues with the standard rules of play. When the play is over each team adds up their points in the count with kings, 10s, and aces worth ten points, while queens and jacks are worth zero. If a team count plus meld does not equal their bid, they "go set". By going set the amount of the bid is subtracted from the teams score and their count is discarded. The other team retains both their meld and their count provided they took at least 10 points in the count.
[edit] Double-deck Pinochle for eight players
Two full decks are dealt between eight players, forming four teams. Team members are spaced so that they are not able to see any other hands. The game is usually played to a score of 5,000 or higher. Other than this, the four player rules apply, and any variations may also be used. There is an increased possibility that when one team declares trump another team may have an equal number of trump also, which may lead to an interesting game. An optional scoring rule rewards 1,000 points for a quadruple pinochle--four jacks of diamonds and four queens of spades in a meld.
[edit] References
- ^ Deborah Doyle (edited). Hoyle's Official Rules of Card Games. Redwood: Dingley. 2000. Page 420.
- ^ a b John Scarne. Scarne on Cards. Signet: New York. 1965. Pages 310-311.
- ^ Rensselaer County Historical Society. Online Exhibitions: "Grüß Gott" in Rensselaer County: The Twentieth Century. 17 October, 2002. Downloaded 12 February, 2007.[1]
- ^ Mark Leyner. Pinochle. The New Yorker. 10 June, 2002. Downloaded 12 February, 2007.[2]
- ^ a b Joli Kansil. Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games. 90th Edition. Cincinnati: US Playing Card Company. 2004. Page 208.
- ^ http://davelevasseur.com/pinochle.htm
[edit] External links
- National Pinochle Association Web site
- Partnership Pinochle - From Pagat.com.
- Pinochle Rules - A variation of Pinochle with a section on "infrequently" asked questions.
- Two Player Pinochle in 25 Steps
