Pinochle facts for kids
The jack of diamonds and the queen of spades are the "pinochle" meld of pinochle.
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| Type | Trick-taking |
|---|---|
| Players | 4 in partnerships or 3 individually, variants exist for 2-6 or 8 players |
| Skills required | Strategy Social skills Teamwork Card counting |
| Cards | 48 (double 24 card deck) or 80 (quadruple 20 card deck) |
| Deck | French |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A 10 K Q J 9 |
| Playing time | 1 to 5 hours |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Related games | |
| Bezique, Marjolet, Binokel | |
Pinochle, also known as pinocle or penuchle, is a fun card game played with a special deck of 48 cards. It's a "trick-taking" game, which means players try to win rounds by playing the highest cards. It's also a "meld" game, where you score points by putting together special groups of cards.
Pinochle is similar to another old card game called Bezique. Most often, four players play in teams. The game has three main parts: bidding, melding, and trick-taking. The most common way to play today is called "partnership auction pinochle."
Contents
What is Pinochle?
Pinochle is a popular card game that combines strategy and teamwork. It's played with a unique deck of cards. Players aim to score points in two main ways. First, they win "tricks" by playing the highest cards in a round. Second, they form special combinations of cards called "melds."
The Pinochle Deck
A standard Pinochle deck has 48 cards. It's made by taking two regular decks and removing all cards lower than a 9. So, it has two of each card from 9 to Ace. The cards used are Ace (A), Ten (10), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), and Nine (9). In Pinochle, the Ace is the highest card, followed by the 10, then King, Queen, Jack, and finally the 9.
How Points are Scored
You score points in Pinochle in two main ways:
- Melding: This is when you show special combinations of cards from your hand. For example, four Aces of different suits is a meld.
- Trick-taking: After melding, players play cards to win "tricks." A trick is a round where each player plays one card. The player with the highest card in the "trump" suit or the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick. Winning tricks often gives you points for certain cards you collect.
How to Play Pinochle
A game of Pinochle usually involves four players working in two teams. The game is played in several rounds, and each round has three main parts.
The Bidding Phase
The game starts with players bidding. Bidding is like an auction. Players guess how many points their team can score in the round. The team that bids the highest gets to choose the "trump" suit. The trump suit is very important because cards of this suit are stronger than cards of any other suit.
The Melding Phase
After bidding, players look at their cards and form "melds." A meld is a specific group of cards that gives you points. You lay these melds down on the table for everyone to see. There are different types of melds, like:
- Runs: A-10-K-Q-J of the trump suit.
- Marriages: A King and Queen of the same suit.
- Dixes: The 9 of the trump suit.
- Arounds: Four Aces, four Kings, four Queens, or four Jacks.
Each meld has a specific point value. You add up the points from all your melds.
The Trick-Taking Phase
Once all melds are shown and points are counted, the "trick-taking" part begins. Players take turns playing one card. The first player plays any card, and other players must try to play a card of the same suit. If they don't have that suit, they can play a trump card or any other card.
The player who plays the highest card in the trump suit, or the highest card of the suit that was led, wins the trick. The team that wins the trick collects all the cards played in that trick. Certain cards won in tricks, like Aces and Tens, also give you points at the end of the round.
Winning the Game
After all the tricks are played, teams count the points from the cards they won in tricks. These points are added to the points they got from melding. If the team that won the bid reaches their bid amount, they score their points. If they don't reach their bid, they "go set," and lose points instead. The game continues for several rounds until one team reaches a set score, often 1,000 or 1,500 points.
