Pinochle

Setup

A deck consisting of two of each card 9,10,J,Q,K,A, for 48 cards total (two euchre decks).

Players are partners with the person sitting across the table from them. The first dealer deals out all the cards -so that each player has a hand of twelve cards. If a player receives at least five 9s and no aces, they can call for a redeal before bidding begins.

Bidding

Once all players have received their hands, the auction begins with the player to the left of the dealer. Players agree to the minimum bid before the game -15 is good for beginners, 20 for intermediate players, and 25 for very experienced players. Once a player passes (chooses not to bid) they cannot reenter the auction. The player with the highest bid wins. That player, the declarer, then does these things in order:

1. Names the trump suit for the round
2. Receives four cards from their partner, of their partner's choice. The declarer adds these cards to their hand, then passes four cards back to their partner.

Melding

Players then go around the table, scoring each of the meld combinations present in their hand. A single card cannot be part of more than one meld of the same class (so a J of diamonds could be part of a run and a pinochle, but not part of a run and a double run). Write these points down for each partnership.

Class 1 Melds

Class 2 Melds

Class 3 Melds

Class 4 Melds

If, after melding, if the bidding team’s bid is more than 25 points higher than their meld points, that team can choose to throw in the round because it is impossible for them to make their bid (only 25 more points are available during the round). They “go set,” and subtract their bid from their total score. Their opponents add their meld points to their total score, and a new round begins.

Trick-Taking

When players are done melding, they pick their cards back up and begin taking tricks. The player who won the auction leads the first trick with any card they choose. Each trick consists of all players putting a card into the middle of the table in clockwise order. Each player must play a card in the leading suit if they are able, otherwise they can play a card of any suit. If you can, you must play a card that would win the trick, even if it means taking the trick from your partner. The winner of the trick is the highest-ranking trump card. If there are no trumps, then the winner of the trick is the highest-ranking card in the leading suit. If there is a tie, the player that played the winning card first takes the trick. The winner of the trick puts the cards in a pile next to them and leads the next trick. After all tricks have been taken, each team tallies up the score from each card in the tricks they have taken (see below), and the team that won the last trick gets a one point bonus.

Scoring

Add up each team’s meld score plus their trick score. If the non-bidding team collected at least 1 point while taking tricks, then they collect their meld and trick points. If the bidding team’s score is greater than or equal to their bid, then they collect their points. If the bidding team’s score is less than their bid, they have “gone set” - they receive no positive points for this round and their bid is subtracted from their score. If the bidding team took no tricks, then they also cannot receive any positive points (though it is extremely unlikely for the bidding team to make their bid without taking any tricks).

The winning team after five hands wins the game, typically games are played as a "best of three," so the first winners of two full games wins. A round robin of 3 games in which everyone has every possible partner and the number of individual wins are tallied could also be played.