How to play Pinochle

Pinochle is a classic American card game for four players in two partnerships. You sit across from your partner, Marge, and play against Cliff and Floyd. Each hand has three parts: the bidding, the meld, where cards that go together score right away, and twelve tricks, where aces, tens and kings are worth points. The first side to 1500 wins.

The deck and the deal

• The deck has 48 cards: two each of the nine, jack, queen, king, ten and ace in every suit.
• In every suit the cards rank A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. The ten is above the king.
• Everyone gets 12 cards. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand.

Bidding

• Starting left of the dealer, each player bids or passes. The lowest bid is 250, and every bid must be higher than the last, in steps of 10.
• Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for that hand. The last player left wins the bid and names trump.
• If the first three players all pass, the dealer must bid 250.
• A bid is a promise: your side will make at least that many points from meld and tricks together.

Meld

After trump is named, everyone shows their meld. A card may count in two melds of different kinds, but not twice in the same kind.

• With trump: a run (A, 10, K, Q, J of trump) 150, a royal marriage (K and Q of trump) 40, the dix (9 of trump) 10.
• Four of a kind, one in each suit: aces 100, kings 80, queens 60, jacks 40. All eight is ten times as much.
• Pinochle (queen of spades and jack of diamonds) 40, both pinochles 300. A marriage (K and Q of another suit) 20.

Playing the tricks

• The winner of the bid leads first. You must follow suit, and if you can beat the card that is winning, you must.
• With none of the suit that was led, you must play a trump, a higher one if you can. With no trump either, play any card.
• The highest trump wins; with no trump, the highest card of the suit led. When two equal cards fall, the first one wins.

Scoring

• Every ace, ten and king you take is worth 10, and the last trick is worth 10 more. There are 250 points in the tricks.
• A side keeps its meld only if it takes at least one trick.
• The bidding side adds meld and tricks. If that reaches the bid, it scores all of it. If not, it is set and loses the amount of the bid.
• The other side always scores its meld and the points it took.
• The first side to 1500 wins; if both pass it on the same hand, the side that won the bid wins. In Settings you can play to 1000 or 500.

Tips

1. Count before you bid. Add up your meld in your best suit, then about a hundred for the tricks, and your partner's help.
2. Pick the suit with length. Five or six trumps win tricks late in the hand, when the aces are gone.
3. Lead your aces early. An ace that waits too long can get trumped.
4. Feed your partner. When Marge is sure to win a trick, give her your tens and kings.
5. Starve the other side. When they are winning, play your nines, jacks and queens.

Today's deal

The Daily Deal is one hand with the same cards and the same computer players for everyone. Your score is how far your side finishes ahead of the other. Your first try of the day is the one that counts.

Questions

Can I undo a card? No. Like at a real table, a card on the table stays there. On a phone, the first tap lifts the card and the second tap plays it, so you can check before you commit.

Do we pass cards to our partner? Some tables pass a few cards between partners after the bidding. Here the hand you are dealt is the hand you play, the way the classic game goes.

How strong are the computer players? Easy bids loosely and plays like a beginner. Normal counts its meld and plays like a careful player. Sharp also imagines where the unseen cards could be before it bids or plays a card.

Can I play with my family? Playing with friends over a link, each on their own phone, is coming soon. For now Marge is a computer partner.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.