Pinochle Deck
Trickster Pinochle is an implementation of single-deck partnership auction pinochle (a game option offers single round bidding). It is a trick taking and melding game where players score points by capturing cards worth points (“counters”) and by forming combinations of cards into meld. The game has three phases: bidding, melding, and trick taking.
Trickster Pinochle offers two scoring styles we call “Classic” and “Modern.” In classic scoring, bids are multiples of 10 and meld such as Aces Around are worth 100 points (often called “100 Aces”). In modern scoring, bids increment by 1 and all the classic meld values are divided by 10. (More on meld values and card point values below.)
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The Deck
Double deck pinochle is played with 4 people, forming 2 teams of 2.
Pinochle is played with a 48-card deck consisting of 2 cards per rank of ranks 9 through Ace. The order of ranks from top to bottom are A, 10, K, Q, J, and 9. Note that the 10 is elevated to a position just below the Ace.
Double deck Pinochle uses an 80-card deck consisting of 4 cards per rank of rank 10 through Ace.
The Deal
When playing without a kitty, all 48 cards are dealt: 12 cards to each of 4 players (or 16 cards to each of 3 players in the 3-player game). In the 4-player double deck game, 20 cards are dealt to each player.
Trickster Pinochle offers an option to play with a kitty (single deck only). If playing with this option, 11 cards are dealt to each player and 4 cards are placed in the kitty (15 cards dealt and a 3-card kitty in the 3-player game). The kitty is added to the high bidder’s hand before he or she declares trump. The high bidder (“declarer”) must discard an equal number of cards before trick taking starts so all players have the same number.
Bidding
Following the deal, starting with the player left of the dealer, players bid to become the player who declares trump (the “declarer”). Player must bid higher than the previous bidder or Pass. Once a player has passed, he or she is out of the bidding. When all but one player has passed, the remaining high bidder becomes the declarer.
At this point, the declarer chooses the trump suit. If playing with a kitty, the kitty is revealed to all players and then added to the declarer’s hand prior to choosing trump.
As an aid to bidding, Trickster Pinochle displays a meld summary bar over the player’s hand. This bar shows meld points by suit. By clicking on a suit/number pair, we display the meld if that suit was trump.
Meld if diamonds were trump shown by clicking “110♦” in the meld summary bar.
Passing
Trickster Pinochle offers an option offers an option for the declaring team to pass cards. If playing with this option, following the choice of trump, the declarer’s partner passes 2, 3, or 4 cards to the declarer (the number of cards passed is a game option). The declarer then passes the same number of cards back to their partner.
The purpose the pass is to improve the declarer’s hand – either their meld or their trick-taking ability.
Passing is not available in the 3-player game.
Melding
After the bid is set and the declarers have passed (if enabled), players reveal their meld. Trickster Pinochle does this automatically starting with the declarer and going around the table clockwise.
Trump in Double Deck
In double deck, the suit chosen as trump must contain a marriage or better. If not, your team will automatically fail the bid at the first card play. Because of passing, you may choose a suit without a marriage or better but unless you end up with a marriage or better, you will fail the bid.
This rule can be turned off by setting “Marriage+ in trump” to “No” (see Pinochle House Rules Options, below).
Trick Taking
After meld are revealed, trick taking starts with the declarer. Play continues clockwise following the led suit, if possible, or playing another legal card if not. Play continues until all cards have been played.
Note that cards are not all the same point value. Some cards are “counters” and other are not. Depending on the game options, even counters may have different values. This can be important when sloughing cards on a trick being taken by your partner or the other team.
Pinochle has specific rules regarding when a player must “head” a trick, that is, when a player must play a card better than the others already in the trick. Trickster Pinochle offers two popular versions of this rule: “must head trick always” or “must head trick if trump led.” These options result in the following behavior:
Must Head Trick Always
This rule requires a player to always beat the winning card in the trick, if possible. If the winning card in the trick is non-trump and the player has higher cards of that suit, they must play a higher card. If they have no cards of the led suit but have trump, they must trump in. If a trump card is currently winning the suit, they must beat that card, if possible.
Must Head Trick If Trump Led
Pinochle Deck Target
This rule requires that you to beat the high trump card in the suit only if trump was led. You do not have to beat non-trump cards and you don’t have to beat trump cards played when the led suit was non-trump.
Scoring
Following trick play, the points of the teams’ meld and taken cards are added. If the declaring team’s points exceeded their bid and they captured at least one counter, they score all their meld and taken points. If they fail to make the bid or capture no counters, the value of their bid is subtracted from their game score.
The defending team is credited with all their meld and taken points regardless.
Trickster Pinochle does all this computation for you and displays the results in a summary on the scorecard. You can view each teams’ score details by clicking on the “Details” link next to their score summary.
An end-of-hand scorecard showing the score details of the declaring team.
Meld Values
The following table shows Trickster Pinochle’s meld and their point values in the two scoring styles.
Name | Cards | Classic | Modern |
Run | A,10,K,Q,J of trump | 150 | 15 |
Double Run | 2 runs | 1500 | 150 |
Royal Marriage | K,Q of trump | 40 | 4 |
Nine of Trump | 9 of trump | 10 | 1 |
Aces Around | 1 ace in each suit | 100 | 10 |
Double Aces Around | 2 aces in each suit | 1000 | 100 |
Kings Around | 1 king in each suit | 80 | 8 |
Double Kings Around | 2 kings in each suit | 800 | 80 |
Queens Around | 1 queen in each suit | 60 | 6 |
Double Queens Around | 2 queens in each suit | 600 | 60 |
Jacks Around | 1 jack in each suit | 40 | 4 |
Double Jacks Around | 2 jacks in each suit | 400 | 40 |
Common Marriage | K,Q of same non-trump suit | 20 | 2 |
Pinochle | J♦Q♠ | 40 | 4 |
Double Pinochle | J♦Q♠ J♦Q♠ | 300 | 30 |
Meld may share cards between them except for a Run or Double Run and a Royal Marriage.
Double deck play adds triple and quadruple runs, aces, kings, queens, jacks, and pinochle.
Optional Meld Values
Four additional meld types are available as options (see Pinochle House Rules Options, below):
Name | Cards | Classic | Modern |
Run with extra King | A,10,K,K,Q,J of trump | 190 | 19 |
Run with extra Queen | A,10,K,Q,Q,J of trump | 190 | 19 |
Run with extra Marriage | A,10,K,K,Q,Q,J of trump | 230 | 23 |
Double Royal Marriage | K,K,Q,Q of trump | 300 | 30 |
If both options “Double royal marriage” and “Run with extra K/Q/KQ” are enabled, Double Royal Marriage beats Run with extra Marriage because of its higher point value.
Card Values
Trickster Pinochle supports three ways of scoring counters in the Classic scoring style. We identify these by the cards which count. In the Modern scoring style, only A, 10, and K count and they count 1 point each. The following table shows the point values per card rank for each set of counters.
Rank | A 10 K | A 10 K Q | A 10 K Q J | Modern |
A | 10 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 1 |
K | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Q | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
J | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Regardless of which cards are counters, there are 30 points per rank. With 8 cards of each rank in the deck, that’s 240 points. An additional 10 points are credited for taking the last trick resulting in 250 capturable points per hand (25 for modern scoring).
Pinochle House Rules Options
When:
“Now” creates a new game that starts immediately. Other options schedule a game for a time in the next 24 hours. Compete and Join games only.
Winnings:
Three levels of winnings based on the buy-in level—30, 110, 275 or 550 Trickster Chips. Compete games only.
Variant:
“Single Deck” is played with a 48-card deck. “Double Deck” is played with an 80-card deck.
Scoring style:
“Classic” uses bids and point values which are multiples of 10. “Modern” uses 1-point increments.
Play to:
“1000”, “1200” or “1500” ends the game when a team reaches that number of points (“100”, “120” and “150” for Modern scoring). Single deck only; double deck is played to 5000.
Players:
“3” for a 3-player individual game or “4” for a 4-player partnership game. Single deck only; double deck is always 4 players in partnership.
Bidding
Minimum bid:
Sets the minimum opening bid to “150”, “200” or “250” (“15”, “20” or “25” for Modern scoring). Single deck only; double deck is always minimum bid 500.
Bid style:
“Auction” for multiple round bidding. Bidding continues until only one has not passed. “Single” offers only single round of bidding. Single deck only; double deck is always auction style bidding.
Declarers pass:
“2,”“3,” or “4” indicates that the declarer and his or her partner exchange that number of cards after trump is declared. “None” means there is no passing of cards. 4-player games only.
Kitty:
“Yes” places the number of cards equal to the number of players in a kitty which is added to the high bidder’s hand. “No” deals all 48 cards to the players. Single deck only.
Stick the dealer:
“Yes” means the dealer must bid if the other three players passed during the first round of bidding. “No” allows the dealer to pass; cards are redealt if all players pass during the first round of bidding.
Marriage+ in trump:
“Yes” means the declarer must have a marriage or better in trump or they automatically fold following melding. “No” removes this requirement. Double deck only.
Minimum 20/200 in meld:
“Yes” means the declaring team must have at least 20 points (200 in classic scoring) in meld or they automatically fold following melding. It also requires that the defenders have 200 in meld or their meld is not scored. “No” imposes no such restrictions. Double deck only.
Allow misdeal
“Yes” means a player with 5 or more 9s can call a misdeal as their first bid. Single deck only.
Meld Options
No double pinochle:
Two pinochles score 80 points (8 for modern scoring) instead of 300 (30 for modern) for a double pinochle. Single deck only.
Double royal marriage:
Adds a 300-point (30 for modern scoring) meld for having 2 kings and 2 queens of trump but not having a double run. In double deck, this also enables Triple Royal Marriage for 600/60 and Quadruple for 900/90.
Run with extra K/Q/KQ:
Add three more meld types: a 190-point “Run With Extra King,” a 190-point “Run With Extra Queen,” and a 230-point “Run With Extra Marriage.” If you have one of these, you do not get credit for a simple run. Also, if both this option and “Double Royal Marriage” is on, “Double Royal Marriage” beats “Run With Extra Marriage.”Single deck only.
Play
Must head trick:
Pinochle Deck Cards
“Always” means a player who can follow suit must play higher than the currently winning card (if possible) or trump in if they are out of the led suit but still have trump. “Trump Led” means a player must play higher trump (if possible) on a trick where trump was led. “Never” means heading the trick is not required.
Must trump if void:
“Yes” means that a player void in the led non-trump suit, must play trump if they have any. “No” means a player may slough even when holding trump. Applies to “Must head trick” options “Trump Led” and “Never.”
Counters:
“A 10 K” means that the Ace, 10, and King are each worth 10 points. “A 10 K Q” means the Ace and 10 are each worth 10 and the King and Queen are worth 5 each. “A 10 K Q J” means the Ace is worth 11, 10 worth 10, King worth 4, Queen worth 3, and Jack worth 2. In Modern scoring, only “A 10 K” is allowed and each is worth 1 point.
Minimum 20/200 in tricks:
“Yes” means a team must take at least 20 points (200 in classic scoring) during trick-taking or they score zero. “No” imposes no such requirement. Double deck only.
Must bid/set to win:
“Yes” requires the winner(s) to be either the bidder(s) who made their bid or the opponents who set the bidder(s). “No” means the player(s) with the highest score over the play to score wins.
Review last deal:
“Yes” displays the cards and bids of all players after each deal. All players must explicitly continue to the next deal. “No” means the game progresses to the next deal immediately. Join and Practice games only.
Limits
Must be invited:
“Yes” hides this game from other players until they’ve been explicitly invited using the “Invite Friends” form. “No” allows all friends of players in this game to see it. Join games only.
Allow suggestions:
“Yes” to allow players to see bid and card play suggestions, depending on their personal setting. “No” prevents all players from seeing suggestions. Always “Yes” in Play games; “No” in Compete games.
Allow watching:
“Yes” allows up to 10 additional players to watch the game. They do not see anyone’s cards. “No” prevents anyone from watching. Join games only.
Chat during game:
“None” disables all chat during the game. “Preset” allows only the built-in chat messages to be used. “Text” allows full chat. Full chat is also always available before and after games. Always “Preset” in Play games; “None” in Practice games.
Time to bid:
Specifies an optional time limit for a player to bid. “Off” means there are no time limits on bidding. “7s,”“15s,”, “30s” & “60s” sets a limit to bid of 7, 15, 30 or 60 seconds, respectively. Automatically set in Play games.
Time to play:
Specifies an optional time limit for a player to play a card. “Off” means there are no time limits on card play. “7s,”“15s,”, “30s” & “60s” sets a limit to play a card of 7, 15, 30 or 60 seconds, respectively. Automatically set in Play games.
THE DECK |
Pinochle
| 4 Aces (different suits) | 10 points |
| 4 Kings (different suits) | 8 points |
| 4 Queens (different suits) | 6 points |
| 4 Jacks (different suits) | 4 points |
| King & Queen (trump) | 4 points |
| King & Queen (same suit, not trump) | 2 points |
| A, 10, K, Q, J of trump ('a run') | 15 points |
| 9 of trump | 1 point |
| J Diamonds & Q Spades ('pinochle') | 4 points |
| Both J Diamonds & both Q Spades ('double pinochle') | 30 points |
The 15 point run of trump includes the marriage within the run. The same card can be counted more than once for different types of meld, but not for the same type. For example, a single Q of spades can be counted in both a pinochle with the J of diamonds, and again in a marriage with the K of spades, but the same single Q of spades cannot be counted twice in two marriages with 2 K's of spades, since marriages are of the same type of meld.
For a player to keep his meld, he must take at least 1 point during trick taking. The exception to this rule is the 9's of trump. A player does not lose any points gained in counting 9's in meld, even if he does not make his bid at the end of the hand. Thus 9's of trump should be marked down separately on the score sheet from the rest of the meld.
TAKING TRICKS OR PLAYING OUT THE HAND
The winner of the bid plays the first card. He can lead any card he likes except trump, unless trump is all he has in his hand. Trump must not be led until it is 'broken'. The next player to the left then plays 1 card. Then the next player to the left plays 1 card, and so on, until each player has played a card, and the 'round' is complete. Each player must follow the suit led, and must beat the card(s) that have been played previously in the round if possible. If he cannot follow suit, then he must play trump. At this point, trump is 'broken'. If he cannot follow suit nor play trump, then he can play any card he desires. He must always try and take the trick if possible. In other words, he must play a higher card in the suit that has been led and have been played, or if a player cannot follow suit, and trump has already been played, then he must try to beat the trump. However, a player must always play the suit that was led, if he has it, even if a previous player has played trump. The 'round' ends when each player has played 1 card. The 'trick' is taken by the player who first played the highest ranking card of the suit that has been led, or if trump has been played, the highest trump that was played first takes the trick. The player who takes the 'trick' then leads in the next 'round'.
To clarify the above paragraph here's an example. Let's say there are 4 players, and the winning bidder has declared diamonds as trump for this hand. Trump has not been broken yet, so player 1 who has the lead in this round plays a 10 of clubs. Going clockwise, it is player 2's turn. Player 2 has a Q and A of clubs. Player 2 has to play his A of clubs, since he must try and take the trick. Player 3 does not have clubs, so he has to play trump, if he has any. Player 3 plays a K of diamonds. It is now player 4's turn. If player 4 has clubs, he must follow the suit that was led and play clubs. He can play any club he wants at this point, since the trump played by player 3 will take the trick, therefore player 4 can't beat it. If player 4 has no clubs, then he must play trump. If he can beat player 3's K of diamonds, he must do so. If player 4 has neither clubs nor diamonds, he can play any card he wants. In this example, player 4 does not have clubs, and only has one trump, the other K of diamonds, so he has to play it. Since player 3 played the first K of diamonds, he wins the round and takes the trick. Player 3 then leads the next round. Player 3 can lead with trump if he desires, because trump has now been broken.
When the rounds end or all cards have been played out, then each player counts his points taken. Only A's, 10's, and K's count as 1 point each. Q's, J's, and 9's have no value when counting up the points from taking tricks. The player who takes the 'last trick' also receives 1 additional point. The game then continues with the dealing of the next new hand.
ENDING OF THE GAME
Pinochle Deck
The game ends when a player reaches 50 or more points at the end of a hand. If more than 1 player reaches 50 or more points, and 1 of those players was the winning bidder, then the game goes to the winning bidder of that hand, no matter if the other player's) have more points. This can make bidding quite aggressive near the end of the game. If none of the players with 50 or more points were the winning bidder, then the game goes to the player with the highest points. If there is a tie, then the game continues on only with the tying players until there is a winner.THE RENEGE
If a player reneges, by drawing a different amount of cards than he discarded, or by not following the rules for taking tricks, then he has reneged, and ruined the hand. For example, if a player does not beat a card that has been played in a round when he could have, or played trump when he didn't have to, etc, he has reneged. At this point the hand is over. The player who caused the renege loses all points for that hand, including all his meld (9's of trump too), and goes back whatever the bid was for that hand. All other players get to keep their meld, but not any points taken during the taking of tricks.
Rules of Bruce's 5 Card Pinochle and 7 Card Pinochle written by
Curtis Lee Hall.
This article is dedicated to the memory of
Bruce Alan Hall (1953 - 1989).
Bruce introduced the game of 5 Card Pinochle to our Hall family many years ago. I later introduced the 7 Card Pinochle variation. This increases the possibilities for scoring meld. Both games are a fast paced and exciting way of playing pinochle.