Pinochle is a trick taking and melding card game, most often played by four players in two partnerships with a special 48 card deck. Your side wins a bid, scores points for melds (card combinations you lay on the table) and for the counting cards you take in tricks, and the first partnership to reach 1,500 points wins.
Pinochle is an American favourite with deep family roots. Pagat.com's main page comes from a player who learned it before his sixth birthday, and he admits that nearly every rule is played differently by somebody, somewhere. These are the four handed partnership rules from that page, with notes where Bicycle's two player game or other tables differ.
The 48 card pinochle deck and its odd card order
| What you need | Four handed partnership pinochle |
|---|---|
| Players | 4, in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite |
| Deck | 48 cards: two each of A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in all four suits |
| Card ranking | A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9 (low) |
| Cards each | 12, so all 48 cards are dealt |
| Counters | Aces, tens and kings, worth points in tricks |
| Game | 1,500 points |
The ten ranks above the king. That trips up almost everyone the first time, and pagat.com suggests chanting ace, ten, king until it sticks. You can build a pinochle deck from two standard decks by keeping only the nines and up, or buy one ready made.
Bidding and naming trumps
- The player on the dealer's left bids first. The minimum opening bid is 250 points.
- Bids go up in steps of 10. You can raise by 10, jump bid by 20 or more, or pass. Once you pass, you're out of the auction for that hand.
- Unlike bridge, you only say a number, never a suit.
- When three players have passed, the last bidder becomes the declarer. If all three others pass, the dealer is stuck with the bid at 250.
- The declarer names trumps and will lead to the first trick.
Some tables allow a call of pass with help, a pass that tells your partner you've got something useful. Pagat.com warns that not everyone allows it, so ask before the first deal.
Passing four cards across the table
This is the step that makes partnership pinochle feel different. Once trumps are named, the declarer's partner picks exactly four cards and slides them face down across the table. The declarer adds them to their hand, then passes four cards back, which can include some of the ones just received. Pagat.com says this passing version is called racehorse pinochle. If you play cutthroat, nobody passes cards.
The pinochle melds table
Now all four players lay their melds face up. A card can count in more than one meld as long as the melds are of different types. These are the values pagat.com gives for the partnership game:
| Meld | Cards | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Run (trumps only) | A, 10, K, Q, J of trumps | 150 |
| Double run | Two of each of A, 10, K, Q, J of trumps | 1,500 |
| Royal marriage | K and Q of trumps | 40 |
| Common marriage | K and Q of any other suit | 20 |
| Dix (deece) | 9 of trumps | 10 |
| Pinochle | Q of spades and J of diamonds | 40 |
| Double pinochle | Both Q of spades and both J of diamonds | 300 |
| Aces around | One ace of each suit | 100 (1,000 for both of each) |
| Kings around | One king of each suit | 80 (800 for both) |
| Queens around | One queen of each suit | 60 (600 for both) |
| Jacks around | One jack of each suit | 40 (400 for both) |
A quirk worth knowing: tens around, a ten of every suit, scores nothing at all, even though tens are some of the most valuable cards in the trick play.
Playing the 12 tricks
- The declarer leads any card to the first trick.
- Going left, each player must follow suit if they can, and must beat the card that's winning the trick if they're able to, even if it's their partner's.
- If you can't follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one.
- Only if you can't follow suit and have no trumps can you throw any other card.
- The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led. If two identical cards tie, the first one played wins.
- The winner leads next until all 12 tricks are played.
Pagat.com points out that most card books published since 1945 drop the rule that you must beat the winning card when a plain suit is led. Plenty of families still play the older, stricter rule, so it's another one to agree before you start.
Counting points and going set
At the end, each counter you took, every ace, ten and king, is worth 10 points, and the last trick earns another 10. That's 250 points in the play: 240 for the 24 counters plus 10 for the last trick. If the declaring side's melds plus trick points reach the bid, they score everything. If not, they go set: they score nothing for the hand and lose the amount of the bid from their total.
Here's the scoring catch. The defending side only keeps its melds if it takes at least one counter or the last trick in the play. That's called saving your meld. And because only 250 points are available in tricks, a declarer whose melds are more than 250 short of the bid can't possibly make it and should throw the hand in.
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Two handed and other pinochle variations
- Two handed pinochle (Bicycle's version): 12 cards each, a trump card turned up, a stock to draw from, and one meld at a time after winning a trick. Aces score 11, tens 10, kings 4, queens 3 and jacks 2, and a match runs to 1,000.
- Stonebridge style: minimum bid 190, no passing cards, and kings and queens worth 5 each in tricks.
- Divide by 10: many players knock a zero off every score, so a pinochle is 4 and a run is 15.
- Double deck and three handed pinochle use bigger decks or no partners.
If you've only got two players tonight, Bicycle's version is lovely, and there are more ideas in my list of card games for two. For phone practice, see my roundup of free pinochle games.
My verdict on learning pinochle
Pinochle suits families who like a long, chatty game with a bit of bidding nerve. I'd teach it with the cards face up for one practice hand so everyone sees how melds and the pass work together. Use the divide by 10 scoring if adding up 190 plus 40 makes your table groan. The mistake to avoid is bidding on your melds alone. You still need counters in the play, and your partner's four cards are a hope, not a promise.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are in a pinochle deck?
A pinochle deck has 48 cards: two each of the ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine in all four suits.
Why does the ten beat the king in pinochle?
Pinochle uses its own ranking: ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine. The ten is second highest, and pagat.com suggests chanting ace, ten, king to remember it.
What is a pinochle in the card game?
A pinochle is the queen of spades with the jack of diamonds. It scores 40, and holding both pairs makes a double pinochle worth 300.
What's the minimum bid in pinochle?
In the partnership game on pagat.com the minimum bid is 250, rising in steps of 10. Some groups play a minimum of 190.
What does going set mean in pinochle?
If the declaring side fails to reach its bid, it scores nothing for that hand and the bid is taken off its total.
