Ok Pinochle

OBJECTIVE OF PINOCHLE: Win tricks and collect the most points.

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NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-4 Players (4 players play with partners)

Ok Pinochle Free Online

NUMBER OF CARDS: 48 card deck

RANK OF CARDS: A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9

Find over 11 Double Deck Partnership Pinochle groups with 757 members near you and meet people in your local community who share your interests. Pinochle is the name given to a family of card games. Pinochle is a trick-winning game that has many varieties. Here is a guide to basic scoring, which remains the same for Pinochle and its many variations.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking

AUDIENCE: Adult

INTRODUCTION TO PINOCHLE

Pinochle is a trick-taking and melding card game with components similar to Bridge, Euchre, Spades, and Hearts. Unexpectedly, it also has similarities to the popular kid's game War. The game's origin is from the French game Bezique. Non-French speakers adopted the name ‘Binocle' for the game, which means eyeglasses in French. German immigrants who adopted the game mispronounced it as 'pinochle' and brought that name with them to America where the game subsequently spread.

THE DECK

The Pinochle deck has 48 cards. In each of the four suits, the deck has two of each: A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9. These cards, however, do not follow the traditional ranking. Ace is high, followed by 10, and K, and are often referred to as counters. Meaning these cards are always worth points. There are several methods of scoring which will be outlined below in the scoring section, some of which include Q, J, 9 as both being worth points and as NOT being worth points. When these cards are valued at 0 points, they are referred to as noncounters. The mechanism of scoring must be mutually agreed upon before the deal and the play.

THE DEAL

A dealer may be chosen by whatever method players wish. They then will shuffle the cards thoroughly and distribute 12 cards to each player, 3 or 4 cards at a time. The deal starts to the left of the dealer and moves clockwise, ending with their own set of cards.

Once each player has their hand, they examine their cards and prepare for the auction or bidding phase.

*If playing without bidding, after the deal, the dealer flips over the top card of the deck and places it face-up on the table. The suit of this card is the trump suit and all cards of that suit beat cards of all other suits. High ranking trump cards beat other trump cards. The remainder of the deck is placed face-down on the table and is the stockpile.

THE AUCTION/THE BID

A bid is a prediction of the number of points your hand might earn. The player who bids the highest, or the winner of the bid, has the following perks:

• declare trump suit
• receive cards from their partner
• lead the first trick

The minimum bid players must make is 250 points. Bids increase by factors of 10 and consist only of a number. The bid goes around the table until each player passes and a winner is declared. Starting to the left of the dealer, and moving clockwise, player's have the following options during bidding:

• bidnormally, by bidding 10 points higher than the previous bid
• give a jump bid, and bid 20 points higher than the previous bid
• pass and leave the bidding
• OR pass with help, which means you pass but you are giving extra information to your partner.

After the winner emerges, they announce the trump suit.

Passing Cards

The winner of the bid and their partner have the right to exchange cards. The winner's partner selects exactly four cards to pass to their partner. The declarer (winner of the bid) adds those four cards to hand and examines them. After, they send back four cards to their partner, which can include sending back some cards they just received.

MELDING

After the passing of cards, all four players can place their melds on the table. Melds are made of particular card combinations, each combination having its own point value. There are various types of melds which players can create including arounds, flushes, marriages, and pinochle.

'Arounds'

Aces around (100 Aces) – four Aces, different suits – 10 or 100 points

Kings around (80 Kings) – four Kings, different suits – 8 or 80 points

Queens around (60 Queens) – four Queens, different suits – 6 or 60 points

Jacks around (40 Jacks) – four Jacks, different suits – 4 or 40 points

Aces abound (1000 Aces) – eight Aces – 100 or 1000 points

Kings abound (800 Kings) – eight Kings – 80 or 800 points

Queens abound (600 Queens) – eight Queens – 60 or 600 points

Jacks abound (400 Jacks) – eight Jacks – 40 or 400 points

'Marriages & Flushes'

Marriages and Flushes are the sequence combinations.

Trump Marriage – K and Q of Trump suit – 4 or 40 points, 8 or 80 points if double

Marriage – K and Q of any suit – 2 or 20 points, 4 or 40 points if double

Marriages around – K and Q in each suit – 24 or 240 points

Flush (run) – A, 10, K, Q in trump suit – 15 or 150 points, 150 or 1500 if double

'Pinochle'

Pinochle – J of diamonds and Q of spades – 4 or 40 points

Double Pinochle – both J of diamonds and Q of spades – 30 or 300 points

Dix – 9 in trump suit – 1 or 10 points

Once each player sets their melds out they are scored and recorded on the scoring pad.

Since there are a maximum of 250 points available in the trick-taking phase of the game, if the declarer is 250+ points under their bid after melding they may throw in their cards and not participate in the trick-taking whatsoever.

If their bid is within 250 points after melding they may play their hand in the trick-taking.

Trick-Taking

After the melds have been scored players pick up their hands and prepare for the trick-taking portion of the game. The declarer leads the initial trick by playing any card they wish. A trick is won by playing either the highest ranking trump card or, if there are no trumps, the highest ranking card that follows the suit led with. During a trick, each player plays exactly one card. This continues until all 12 tricks have been played. Each trick after the first trick is led by the winner of the previous trick. Trick-taking follows the rules below:

• When you can follow suit you must. If you have a card in hand the matches the suit lead with you must play it. Play a higher ranking card than the lead if possible.
• If you are unable to follow suit, but a have a card in hand from the trump suit, you must play that card. This is called trumping the trick. If the suit led with was a trump play a higher ranking trump card if possible.
• In the event you can neither follow suit or play a trump, you may slough. This means playing any card at all.

Each team should designate a puller. This player will collect the cards from tricks won in a face-down pile in front of them for scoring later in the game.

SCORING

After all twelve tricks are played players score the cards collected. Aces, 10s, and Kings are worth 10 points each. Winning the final trick is also worth 10 points. This gives a total of 250 points players can collect during trick taking.

If the declarer matches or exceeds their bid, their total score (melds + tricks) is added to their running total. If they are unable to match their bid, the amount of the bid is subtracted from their running total.

When declarers ‘throw in' their opponents score their melds. Tricks are not scored as no tricks are played. The declarer loses the amount they bid.

The game continues until a team scores 1500+ points. If both teams hit 1500 points in the same round the declarer's team automatically wins.

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezique

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochle

https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/rules4/Pinochle%20-%20rules.pdf

https://www.pagat.com/marriage/pinmain.html

This page has been put together from various sources, including information collected by John Hay, and contributions from Toby Thomas and Jim Davis.

Players and Cards

There are four players; partners sit across from each other.

The deck consists of 80 cards, containing A 10 K Q J in each of the four suits, and with four identical copies of each card. This deck can be formed by mixing together two normal Pinochle decks, having thrown out the nines, or from four regular 52 card decks from which you throw out all the numerals 2 to 9.

Idea of the Game

After the deal there is an auction in which players bid the number of points their team will try to win. Whoever bids highest has the privilege of choosing trumps and leading to the first trick. The object of the high bidder's team is to win at least as many points as the amount they bid. Points can be scored in two ways:

1. by declaring and showing (melding) combinations of cards held in a players hand;
2. by winning aces, tens and kings in tricks

Deal

Deal and play are clockwise. All the cards are dealt to the players, so that everyone has 20. Dealing practice varies; common methods are 4 cards at a time, 5 cards at a time, or 2 cards to each player, and the remainder 3 at a time.

Rank and Value of Cards

In each suit the cards rank, from highest to lowest, Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack. At the end of the play, each side counts the points they have taken in tricks. Each Ace, Ten and King is worth one point, and the team who win the last trick get an extra 2 points. Hence there are a total of 50 points available for tricks.

Meld

Points can be scored for certain combinations of cards in hand of one player. These combinations are called meld; they are displayed to the other players before the start of the trick play. Any meld can be single (just one of each card), double (two identical copies of each card), triple (three of each card) or quadruple (all four of each card).

There are three types of meld. Any particular card can only belong to one meld of each type. The point scores for meld are given in the following table:

Example: with hearts as trump, the following hand:

A 10 K K K Q Q J
Q Q J
Q Q
A K K Q Q J J

The Bidding

The person to the left of the dealer bids first. The opening bid must be at least 50, but may be higher. You may bid by ones until you reach 60; bids above 60 must be multiples of 5 (65, 70, 75 etc.). Turn to bid proceeds clockwise. Each bid must be higher than the previous one, but a player who does not wish to bid can pass. If the first three players all pass, the dealer is forced to bid 50. Once you pass you cannot re-enter the bidding on a later turn. The bidding continues for as many rounds as necessary until three players have passed. Whoever wins the bid (bids highest) has the right to call trump and lead.

Calling Trump and Melding

The bidder now chooses the trump suit and announces what it is. It must be a suit in which the bidder holds at least a marriage. If the bidder does not have a marriage, the hand is not played; in this case the bidding side automatically lose the amount of their bid and neither side counts anything for meld.

Once trump is called all of the players lay their meld face up on the table. A combination must be entirely within one player's hand to count. Note also that you can count the same card in melds of different types (for example a queen of spades could be part of a marriage, a pinochle and a set of queens), but not in more than one meld of the same type (so a king and two queens does not count as two marriages). Partners add together the scores for their meld and this is written down on the score sheet.

The Play

The person who won the bid begins the play by leading to the first trick, and the others play in turn, clockwise. A trick consists of one card from each player and if it contains no trumps it is won by the highest card played of the suit led. If any trumps are played to the trick, then the highest trump wins, irrespective of any other cards in the trick. If there are two or more identical cards in a trick, the first of these cards which was played beats the others. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

When leading to a trick any card may be played. Each subsequent players must follow suit if they can and must crawl (this means that each player must play a card which is higher in rank than the winning card that has been played to the trick so far). A player who cannot crawl (i.e. does not have a high enough card of the suit led to beat the highest so far played to the trick) must follow suit in any case, with a card that will not win the trick.

Any player who does not have any cards of the suit that was led must trump. If someone has already trumped then later players who can follow suit may play any card of the suit led (no card of the led suit can beat a trump). If a trick has been trumped, subsequent players who do not have the led suit either must crawl in trump, that is beat the highest trump so far played. A player who cannot follow suit and cannot beat the highest trump so far played must still play a trump, even though this trump will not be high enough to win the trick.

A player who has no card of the suit led and no trumps may play any card.

Scoring

When all the cards have been played, each team counts the points in the tricks they have won. If the bidding side took in meld and tricks at least as many points as they bid, then both teams add the points they made to their cumulative score.

If the bidding partnership does not 'make' the bid (i.e. their meld and trick points do not equal or surpass their bid), they have been 'set'. In this case they score nothing for their meld and tricks, and instead the amount of their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners get to keep their meld and trick points.

If the bidding partners know that they cannot make the bid before play begins, they may call trump and throw in their hand. In this case they score nothing for their meld and their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners add their meld points to their score. This allows the bidding partners to avoid losing the trick points to their opponents.

Bidding Systems

It is sensible to use the bids to convey information about what melds are held. In variations with card passing, bids can also be used to indicate what cards you would like your partner to pass. Details of bidding systems vary greatly, and there is no standard that I know of, so the systems below should be taken only as examples. If anyone would like to let me know about their preferred bidding systems, or systems that they regard as standard in some way, I would be happy to add them to this page.

The systems that are possible or sensible are clearly affected by the version of the rules that is in operation. For example some groups do not require the bids to be in multiples of 5 above 60. Some allow extra information to be given with the bid, not just a number. Some play with with exchanging of cards between partners (see below).

A common system, at least for bids up to 60, is to use skip bids to indicate meld and encourage your partner to make trumps. An opening bid of 50 shows a desire to make trumps. Opening 51 indicates that some aces are held in other suits. Opening 52 or more shows meld: 10 points for each point over 50 - so 52 shows 20 meld, 53 shows 30 meld, etc. Subsequent bidders can show meld by the number of points they skip. Bidding just 1 more than the previous bidder indicates that you want to make trump. Increasing the bid by 2 or more shows 10 meld for each point of increase. So if a player opens 52 (indicating 20 meld), the next player might bid 55 - 3 more than 52 showing 30 meld - and so on.

Here is another system, contributed by Jim Davis. This is for use in a game where any number from 50 up can be bid, and in which four cards are passed:

50	...	Opening Bid
51	...	Not yet ready to 'Pass'
52	...	I have some meld
53	...	I have several parts of Pinochle (J's or Q's)
55	...	I need Jacks of all suits
54, 64, 74, etc.	...	I need a Jack
56, 66, 76, etc.	...	I need a Queen
58, 68, 78, etc.	...	I need a King
59, 69, 79, etc.	...	I need a Ten
60, 70, 80, etc.	...	I need an Ace
Jump ahead to 66	...	I need Queens of all suits
Jump ahead to 80 or 88	...	I need Kings of all suits
Jump ahead to 100	...	I need Aces of all suits

During the bidding process jump ahead to the next appropriate number that will give your partner a necessary clue as to what to pass if you were to win the bid. Notice that you have to be careful about the possible confusion between (say) 80 asking for an ace and 80 asking for all kings. If the bidding is in the low 70's and you want to ask for all kings, you should jump to 88 to make this clear. In this case 80, being the next available bid ending in '0', would be a request for an ace.

Variations

Double Deck Pinochle has apparently been played since the 1940's. Many different versions have developed, and there is no universally accepted standard. Here are some fairly widespread variations.

Variations in Bidding Procedure

Some players allow any number to be bid from 50 up. Some play that bids above 100 must be in multiples of 10.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-4 Players (4 players play with partners)

Ok Pinochle Free Online

NUMBER OF CARDS: 48 card deck

RANK OF CARDS: A (high), 10, K, Q, J, 9

Find over 11 Double Deck Partnership Pinochle groups with 757 members near you and meet people in your local community who share your interests. Pinochle is the name given to a family of card games. Pinochle is a trick-winning game that has many varieties. Here is a guide to basic scoring, which remains the same for Pinochle and its many variations.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking

AUDIENCE: Adult

INTRODUCTION TO PINOCHLE

Pinochle is a trick-taking and melding card game with components similar to Bridge, Euchre, Spades, and Hearts. Unexpectedly, it also has similarities to the popular kid's game War. The game's origin is from the French game Bezique. Non-French speakers adopted the name ‘Binocle' for the game, which means eyeglasses in French. German immigrants who adopted the game mispronounced it as 'pinochle' and brought that name with them to America where the game subsequently spread.

THE DECK

The Pinochle deck has 48 cards. In each of the four suits, the deck has two of each: A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9. These cards, however, do not follow the traditional ranking. Ace is high, followed by 10, and K, and are often referred to as counters. Meaning these cards are always worth points. There are several methods of scoring which will be outlined below in the scoring section, some of which include Q, J, 9 as both being worth points and as NOT being worth points. When these cards are valued at 0 points, they are referred to as noncounters. The mechanism of scoring must be mutually agreed upon before the deal and the play.

THE DEAL

A dealer may be chosen by whatever method players wish. They then will shuffle the cards thoroughly and distribute 12 cards to each player, 3 or 4 cards at a time. The deal starts to the left of the dealer and moves clockwise, ending with their own set of cards.

Once each player has their hand, they examine their cards and prepare for the auction or bidding phase.

*If playing without bidding, after the deal, the dealer flips over the top card of the deck and places it face-up on the table. The suit of this card is the trump suit and all cards of that suit beat cards of all other suits. High ranking trump cards beat other trump cards. The remainder of the deck is placed face-down on the table and is the stockpile.

THE AUCTION/THE BID

A bid is a prediction of the number of points your hand might earn. The player who bids the highest, or the winner of the bid, has the following perks:

• declare trump suit
• receive cards from their partner
• lead the first trick

The minimum bid players must make is 250 points. Bids increase by factors of 10 and consist only of a number. The bid goes around the table until each player passes and a winner is declared. Starting to the left of the dealer, and moving clockwise, player's have the following options during bidding:

• bidnormally, by bidding 10 points higher than the previous bid
• give a jump bid, and bid 20 points higher than the previous bid
• pass and leave the bidding
• OR pass with help, which means you pass but you are giving extra information to your partner.

After the winner emerges, they announce the trump suit.

Passing Cards

The winner of the bid and their partner have the right to exchange cards. The winner's partner selects exactly four cards to pass to their partner. The declarer (winner of the bid) adds those four cards to hand and examines them. After, they send back four cards to their partner, which can include sending back some cards they just received.

MELDING

After the passing of cards, all four players can place their melds on the table. Melds are made of particular card combinations, each combination having its own point value. There are various types of melds which players can create including arounds, flushes, marriages, and pinochle.

'Arounds'

Aces around (100 Aces) – four Aces, different suits – 10 or 100 points

Kings around (80 Kings) – four Kings, different suits – 8 or 80 points

Queens around (60 Queens) – four Queens, different suits – 6 or 60 points

Jacks around (40 Jacks) – four Jacks, different suits – 4 or 40 points

Aces abound (1000 Aces) – eight Aces – 100 or 1000 points

Kings abound (800 Kings) – eight Kings – 80 or 800 points

Queens abound (600 Queens) – eight Queens – 60 or 600 points

Jacks abound (400 Jacks) – eight Jacks – 40 or 400 points

'Marriages & Flushes'

Marriages and Flushes are the sequence combinations.

Trump Marriage – K and Q of Trump suit – 4 or 40 points, 8 or 80 points if double

Marriage – K and Q of any suit – 2 or 20 points, 4 or 40 points if double

Marriages around – K and Q in each suit – 24 or 240 points

Flush (run) – A, 10, K, Q in trump suit – 15 or 150 points, 150 or 1500 if double

'Pinochle'

Pinochle – J of diamonds and Q of spades – 4 or 40 points

Double Pinochle – both J of diamonds and Q of spades – 30 or 300 points

Dix – 9 in trump suit – 1 or 10 points

Once each player sets their melds out they are scored and recorded on the scoring pad.

Since there are a maximum of 250 points available in the trick-taking phase of the game, if the declarer is 250+ points under their bid after melding they may throw in their cards and not participate in the trick-taking whatsoever.

If their bid is within 250 points after melding they may play their hand in the trick-taking.

Trick-Taking

After the melds have been scored players pick up their hands and prepare for the trick-taking portion of the game. The declarer leads the initial trick by playing any card they wish. A trick is won by playing either the highest ranking trump card or, if there are no trumps, the highest ranking card that follows the suit led with. During a trick, each player plays exactly one card. This continues until all 12 tricks have been played. Each trick after the first trick is led by the winner of the previous trick. Trick-taking follows the rules below:

• When you can follow suit you must. If you have a card in hand the matches the suit lead with you must play it. Play a higher ranking card than the lead if possible.
• If you are unable to follow suit, but a have a card in hand from the trump suit, you must play that card. This is called trumping the trick. If the suit led with was a trump play a higher ranking trump card if possible.
• In the event you can neither follow suit or play a trump, you may slough. This means playing any card at all.

Each team should designate a puller. This player will collect the cards from tricks won in a face-down pile in front of them for scoring later in the game.

SCORING

After all twelve tricks are played players score the cards collected. Aces, 10s, and Kings are worth 10 points each. Winning the final trick is also worth 10 points. This gives a total of 250 points players can collect during trick taking.

If the declarer matches or exceeds their bid, their total score (melds + tricks) is added to their running total. If they are unable to match their bid, the amount of the bid is subtracted from their running total.

When declarers ‘throw in' their opponents score their melds. Tricks are not scored as no tricks are played. The declarer loses the amount they bid.

The game continues until a team scores 1500+ points. If both teams hit 1500 points in the same round the declarer's team automatically wins.

REFERENCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezique

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochle

https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/rules4/Pinochle%20-%20rules.pdf

https://www.pagat.com/marriage/pinmain.html

This page has been put together from various sources, including information collected by John Hay, and contributions from Toby Thomas and Jim Davis.

Players and Cards

There are four players; partners sit across from each other.

The deck consists of 80 cards, containing A 10 K Q J in each of the four suits, and with four identical copies of each card. This deck can be formed by mixing together two normal Pinochle decks, having thrown out the nines, or from four regular 52 card decks from which you throw out all the numerals 2 to 9.

Idea of the Game

After the deal there is an auction in which players bid the number of points their team will try to win. Whoever bids highest has the privilege of choosing trumps and leading to the first trick. The object of the high bidder's team is to win at least as many points as the amount they bid. Points can be scored in two ways:

1. by declaring and showing (melding) combinations of cards held in a players hand;
2. by winning aces, tens and kings in tricks

Deal

Deal and play are clockwise. All the cards are dealt to the players, so that everyone has 20. Dealing practice varies; common methods are 4 cards at a time, 5 cards at a time, or 2 cards to each player, and the remainder 3 at a time.

Rank and Value of Cards

In each suit the cards rank, from highest to lowest, Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack. At the end of the play, each side counts the points they have taken in tricks. Each Ace, Ten and King is worth one point, and the team who win the last trick get an extra 2 points. Hence there are a total of 50 points available for tricks.

Meld

Points can be scored for certain combinations of cards in hand of one player. These combinations are called meld; they are displayed to the other players before the start of the trick play. Any meld can be single (just one of each card), double (two identical copies of each card), triple (three of each card) or quadruple (all four of each card).

There are three types of meld. Any particular card can only belong to one meld of each type. The point scores for meld are given in the following table:

Example: with hearts as trump, the following hand:

A 10 K K K Q Q J
Q Q J
Q Q
A K K Q Q J J

The Bidding

The person to the left of the dealer bids first. The opening bid must be at least 50, but may be higher. You may bid by ones until you reach 60; bids above 60 must be multiples of 5 (65, 70, 75 etc.). Turn to bid proceeds clockwise. Each bid must be higher than the previous one, but a player who does not wish to bid can pass. If the first three players all pass, the dealer is forced to bid 50. Once you pass you cannot re-enter the bidding on a later turn. The bidding continues for as many rounds as necessary until three players have passed. Whoever wins the bid (bids highest) has the right to call trump and lead.

Calling Trump and Melding

The bidder now chooses the trump suit and announces what it is. It must be a suit in which the bidder holds at least a marriage. If the bidder does not have a marriage, the hand is not played; in this case the bidding side automatically lose the amount of their bid and neither side counts anything for meld.

Once trump is called all of the players lay their meld face up on the table. A combination must be entirely within one player's hand to count. Note also that you can count the same card in melds of different types (for example a queen of spades could be part of a marriage, a pinochle and a set of queens), but not in more than one meld of the same type (so a king and two queens does not count as two marriages). Partners add together the scores for their meld and this is written down on the score sheet.

The Play

The person who won the bid begins the play by leading to the first trick, and the others play in turn, clockwise. A trick consists of one card from each player and if it contains no trumps it is won by the highest card played of the suit led. If any trumps are played to the trick, then the highest trump wins, irrespective of any other cards in the trick. If there are two or more identical cards in a trick, the first of these cards which was played beats the others. The winner of a trick leads to the next.

When leading to a trick any card may be played. Each subsequent players must follow suit if they can and must crawl (this means that each player must play a card which is higher in rank than the winning card that has been played to the trick so far). A player who cannot crawl (i.e. does not have a high enough card of the suit led to beat the highest so far played to the trick) must follow suit in any case, with a card that will not win the trick.

Any player who does not have any cards of the suit that was led must trump. If someone has already trumped then later players who can follow suit may play any card of the suit led (no card of the led suit can beat a trump). If a trick has been trumped, subsequent players who do not have the led suit either must crawl in trump, that is beat the highest trump so far played. A player who cannot follow suit and cannot beat the highest trump so far played must still play a trump, even though this trump will not be high enough to win the trick.

A player who has no card of the suit led and no trumps may play any card.

Scoring

When all the cards have been played, each team counts the points in the tricks they have won. If the bidding side took in meld and tricks at least as many points as they bid, then both teams add the points they made to their cumulative score.

If the bidding partnership does not 'make' the bid (i.e. their meld and trick points do not equal or surpass their bid), they have been 'set'. In this case they score nothing for their meld and tricks, and instead the amount of their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners get to keep their meld and trick points.

If the bidding partners know that they cannot make the bid before play begins, they may call trump and throw in their hand. In this case they score nothing for their meld and their bid is subtracted from their score. The non-bidding partners add their meld points to their score. This allows the bidding partners to avoid losing the trick points to their opponents.

Bidding Systems

It is sensible to use the bids to convey information about what melds are held. In variations with card passing, bids can also be used to indicate what cards you would like your partner to pass. Details of bidding systems vary greatly, and there is no standard that I know of, so the systems below should be taken only as examples. If anyone would like to let me know about their preferred bidding systems, or systems that they regard as standard in some way, I would be happy to add them to this page.

The systems that are possible or sensible are clearly affected by the version of the rules that is in operation. For example some groups do not require the bids to be in multiples of 5 above 60. Some allow extra information to be given with the bid, not just a number. Some play with with exchanging of cards between partners (see below).

A common system, at least for bids up to 60, is to use skip bids to indicate meld and encourage your partner to make trumps. An opening bid of 50 shows a desire to make trumps. Opening 51 indicates that some aces are held in other suits. Opening 52 or more shows meld: 10 points for each point over 50 - so 52 shows 20 meld, 53 shows 30 meld, etc. Subsequent bidders can show meld by the number of points they skip. Bidding just 1 more than the previous bidder indicates that you want to make trump. Increasing the bid by 2 or more shows 10 meld for each point of increase. So if a player opens 52 (indicating 20 meld), the next player might bid 55 - 3 more than 52 showing 30 meld - and so on.

Here is another system, contributed by Jim Davis. This is for use in a game where any number from 50 up can be bid, and in which four cards are passed:

50	...	Opening Bid
51	...	Not yet ready to 'Pass'
52	...	I have some meld
53	...	I have several parts of Pinochle (J's or Q's)
55	...	I need Jacks of all suits
54, 64, 74, etc.	...	I need a Jack
56, 66, 76, etc.	...	I need a Queen
58, 68, 78, etc.	...	I need a King
59, 69, 79, etc.	...	I need a Ten
60, 70, 80, etc.	...	I need an Ace
Jump ahead to 66	...	I need Queens of all suits
Jump ahead to 80 or 88	...	I need Kings of all suits
Jump ahead to 100	...	I need Aces of all suits

During the bidding process jump ahead to the next appropriate number that will give your partner a necessary clue as to what to pass if you were to win the bid. Notice that you have to be careful about the possible confusion between (say) 80 asking for an ace and 80 asking for all kings. If the bidding is in the low 70's and you want to ask for all kings, you should jump to 88 to make this clear. In this case 80, being the next available bid ending in '0', would be a request for an ace.

Variations

Double Deck Pinochle has apparently been played since the 1940's. Many different versions have developed, and there is no universally accepted standard. Here are some fairly widespread variations.

Variations in Bidding Procedure

Some players allow any number to be bid from 50 up. Some play that bids above 100 must be in multiples of 10.

Some play that the bidding goes around once only - each player has just one chance to speak. Some play that it goes around twice only (but if you pass the first time you cannot bid the second time).

Some players allow extra information to be given during the bidding - not just the numbers. This normally takes the form of information about meld held. It is generally agreed that it is illegal to direct attention to any particular suit.

Exchanging Cards and Choosing Trumps

A common variation allows cards to be exchanged between the partners on the bidding side. This usually happens immediately after the dealer has chosen trumps. It has the general effect of leading to higher melds and therefore higher bidding.The high bidder and partner must simultaneously pass three cards to each other face down across the table. They are not allowed to look at the cards passed to them before they have chosen and placed on the table the cards they are going to pass.

The rule requiring the bidder to have at least a marriage in the trump suit is not always followed. Some do not require a trump marriage at all. Some play that it is sufficient for the bidder to have a marriage after the exchange of cards.

Some play that other numbers of cards are passed - the number ranging from one to four depending on the variation.

Some play that the bidder's partner passes cards first. The bidder looks at these and then passes back an equal number of cards (possibly including some of the cards just received).

Some play that the exchange of cards occurs before the trump suit is announced. In that case the bidder may be allowed to suggest a suit in which she would like to receive cards (possibly different from the eventual trump suit).

Variations in scoring

• The cards are not played and the opponents score nothing.
• The cards are not played and the opponents score their meld (if it is at least 20).
• The cards are not played and the opponents score 25 for cards, plus their meld (if at least 20).
• The cards are not played and the opponents score 50 for cards, plus their meld (if at least 20).
• If trumps have been made, the cards are played and the opponents score as usual according to the tricks they win.

Variation contributed by Toby Thomas

Toby Thomas writes: 'My father-in-law, Clare Masek is 81 (Oct 96) and has played pinochle for over 70 years. It seems that he lives for pinochle and as of late we have been playing his brand of double partnership pinochle.'

The differences from the versions described above are as follows:

• A-10-K-K-Q-Q-J is worth 45 points (15 + 30)
• A-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J is worth 75 points (15 + 60)
• A-A-10-10-K-K-K-Q-Q-Q-J-J is worth 210 points (150 + 60)

Other Double Deck Pinochle Web Sites

John Hay's Double Pinochle page contains rules and variations, and provided a lot of the source information for this page.

The Power Pinochle site has some useful resources for learning the game and a forum where bidding and playing strategy are discussed.

Here is an archive copy of Brad Wilson's former Double Pinochle page.

Pinochle rules from an archive copy of Chris Chapman's site.

Double Deck Pinochle Software and On Line Games

Free Canasis.com is an online pinochle site that offers the most variations of pinochle including both single deck and double deck styles, many of the variations described above, and the ability to customize rules. With a pleasing wooden theme and many other features, it is recommended you give Canasis a try.

The collection HOYLE Card Games for Windows or Mac OS X includes a Double Deck Pinochle program, along with many other popular card games.

The following sites offer on-line double deck Pinochle games:

• Mystic Island organises tournaments, including duplicate tournaments, leagues and ladders.
• PlayOK Online Games (formerly known as Kurnik)
• Marya's World of Card Games

Ok Pinochle

WWW pages for other types of Pinochle

Ok Pinochle Rules For 4

There are separate pages on this site for: