How to play pinochle

The rules of partnership pinochle step by step, then what changes for double deck, three players and two. House-rule differences are marked.

The deck and the order of the cards

A pinochle deck has 48 cards: ace, ten, king, queen, jack and nine in each suit, and every card twice. No jokers, nothing below the nine. No pinochle deck? Take two ordinary decks with the same back and keep the 9s through aces.

In every suit the order from the top is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. The ten ranks above the king, which trips up new players. When two identical cards fall on the same trick, the one played first wins.

Double-deck pinochle uses 80 cards: four of each A, 10, K, Q and J per suit, and no nines.

Counters: the points in the tricks

Aces, tens and kings won in tricks are counters, worth 10 each. Queens, jacks and nines are worth nothing. Winning the last trick adds 10. That is 24 counters × 10 + 10 = 250 points in every hand, so the two sides' counts always add to 250.

Older books count aces 11, tens 10, kings 4, queens 3 and jacks 2 (still 250). Many tables divide every score by ten. Double deck counts 1 per counter and 2 for the last trick: 50 in all.

Meld

Meld is the score for groups of cards in your hand. After trumps are named, everyone lays their meld face up, says what it is worth, and picks it up again before the play. Meld counts only for the hand in which it is shown.

Single-deck values with counters worth 10. A double meld uses both copies of every card in it.

See every value on the printable meld chart, or let the meld calculator count a hand for you.

4-handed partnership pinochle

The game most American families mean by "pinochle": four players, partners sitting opposite, one 48-card deck, game to 1,500. Deal, bidding and play all go clockwise.

1. Deal all 48 cards, three or four at a time, starting on the dealer's left: 12 each. The deal passes to the left after each hand.
2. Bid for the right to name trumps.
3. The winner names trumps, and partners pass four cards each way.
4. Everyone shows and scores meld.
5. Play twelve tricks; the bidder leads first.
6. Count counters and score: did the bidders make it?

Bidding

A bid promises that your side will score at least that many points this hand, meld and counters together. The player on the dealer's left starts. The lowest bid is 250, and bids go up in tens (jumps are allowed). At your turn you bid higher or pass; once you pass, you are out for the hand. Bidding goes round until three players have passed. If the first three all pass, the dealer is stuck with 250.

Naming trumps and passing

The bidder names any suit as trumps. The bidder's partner then passes exactly four cards face down to the bidder, who adds them to the hand and passes four back (they may include cards just received). The defenders pass nothing. Then everyone shows meld.

Not on the board. If the bidders' meld is more than 250 short of the bid, they can't make it, so the hand isn't played: they lose the bid and the defenders score their meld only. The bidder may also throw in the hand after the meld, before the first lead, with the same result.

The play: follow, head, trump

The bidder leads to the first trick; any card may be led. The highest trump wins a trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins; between identical cards, the first played wins. The winner leads next.

1. Follow suit if you can.
2. Head the trick. Whatever you play, beat the card that is currently winning if you can, even if it is your partner's. If the trick has already been trumped and you are following suit, any card of that suit will do.
3. Must trump. With no card of the suit led, you must play a trump if you have one, and overtrump a trump already on the trick if you can.
4. With no card of the suit led and no trumps, play anything.

Failing to follow, head or trump when you should is a renege. A common penalty: a bidder's renege sets the bidding side; a defender's renege counts the bid as made. Agree it in advance.

Scoring

The first side to 1,500 wins. If both sides pass 1,500 on the same hand, the bidders win. The scorekeeper applies all of this for you.

Double-deck pinochle rules

Two pinochle decks shuffled together with the nines taken out: 80 cards, partners, and the same play as above. The differences:

Double deck has no single standard: passing and some meld values vary from club to club (see the house values on the meld chart). Some tables multiply every score by ten.

3-handed pinochle rules

Three-handed auction pinochle (often called cutthroat): one 48-card deck, every player for themselves, and the bidder plays alone against the other two.

1. Deal 15 cards each, usually three at a time, and 3 face down to the kitty (widow). The last card of the deck may not go to the kitty.
2. Bid from 250 in tens, starting left of the dealer, until two players have passed. If nobody bids at all, the hand is thrown in and the deal moves on.
3. The bidder turns up the kitty for all to see, takes it, then buries any three cards face down. Counters in the buried cards count for the bidder; a buried card can't be melded.
4. The bidder names trumps and shows meld; then the opponents show theirs. The bidder may now concede: lose the bid, and the opponents score their meld.
5. The bidder leads and 15 tricks are played under the same rules: follow, head (here called "killing" the trick), trump when void.

First to 1,500 wins. If two or more pass 1,500 on the same hand and one is the bidder, the bidder wins ("the bidder goes out"); otherwise the higher score wins.

2-handed pinochle rules

For two players with one 48-card deck. No bidding: both players meld and take tricks, and the first to 1,000 wins.

1. Deal 12 each. Turn the next card face up: its suit is trumps. The rest of the deck, the stock, goes face down across it.
2. First half (while there is a stock). Non-dealer leads. You need not follow suit or trump. The winner of each trick may lay down one meld and score it, then draws from the stock; the loser draws next. Melded cards stay face up but can still be played.
3. The dix. The first 9 of trumps melded is swapped for the face-up trump card (that is the turn's meld). Each dix scores 10.
4. Building on melds. A card on the table may join a new meld of a different type. A royal marriage on the table becomes a run by adding A, 10, J of trumps (+110); a pinochle becomes a double pinochle by adding the second Q♠ and J♦ (+260). Each new meld needs at least one card from your hand.
5. Second half (stock gone). Pick up your melded cards. Now the strict rules apply: follow suit, trump if you can't, and win the trick if you can.
6. Score meld as it is shown, and counters (A, 10, K = 10, last trick 10) at the end.

Variations: some draw before melding, allow several melds per trick, or play to 1,200 or 1,500. If both pass 1,000 on the same hand, we suggest the higher score wins; agree it before you start.

House rules that vary

Almost every pinochle rule is played differently somewhere. None of these is wrong; what matters is that the whole table plays the same one.

• Heading the trick: always (older rule, above) or only when trumps are led (newer rule).
• Lowest bid: 250 here; some partnership tables start lower (one published version uses 190), and three-handed tables use 100, 200 or 300.
• Passing: four cards here; others pass three, pass before trumps are named, or don't pass at all.
• Going set: lose the bid here; some lose double, others give the failed bid to the opponents.
• Saving meld: some tables let the defenders keep their meld even without taking a trick.
• Meld values: some families add 40 for an extra K or Q of trumps with a run; other house values are listed on the meld chart.
• Game: 1,500 here; 1,000 or 2,500 elsewhere, or a fixed number of hands. Some divide every score by ten (game to 150).

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