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- Basic rules of how to play pinochle
- Essential strategies and techniques for playing pinochle
- Rules for the most common pinochle variation, two-person pinochle
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Pinochle Basics
Pinochle refers to a family of similar card games in which players compete to earn a preset number of points. Points can be awarded either for being dealt specific combinations of cards or for capturing certain cards during play. The rules for two of the most popular versions of pinochle, partnership auction pinochle and double-pack pinochle, are explained in detail in this guide. (For an additional form of pinochle, see Two-Person Pinochle.)
A Brief History of Pinochle
Pinochle was first developed in the United States in the mid-19th century. The game is derived from bezique, a 19th-century card game that originated in France. Bezique was wildly popular throughout Europe and was reputedly Winston Churchill’s favorite pastime.
Pinochle was originally devised as a two-player game virtually identical to bezique. But the game evolved and now exists in several varieties that have differing rules as well as differing numbers of players. For instance, both partnership auction pinochle and double-pack pinochle differ from bezique in that they include a bidding phase—an element that was taken from the card game bridge. Pinochle also borrows its card rankings from German card games.
Number of Players in Pinochle
Partnership auction pinochle and double-pack pinochle are both four-player games in which the players compete against each other in teams of two. Though the four-player versions of pinochle are the most popular, other forms of pinochle can accommodate other numbers of players. Of these, the most popular is two-player pinochle.
The Object of Pinochle
The object of pinochle is for your team to reach a certain number of points. The game ends at 1,000 points in partnership auction pinochle and at 3,550 points in double-pack pinochle. You can earn points in two ways:
- Melding: Before play begins, you meld your cards, revealing specific combinations of cards that you were dealt. These combinations are worth various point values (see ”Melding” in How to Play Pinochle).
- Trick-taking: During game play, cards are played in tricks in which each player offers up a single card and the player with the highest-value card takes all four cards. Points are awarded based on the values of the cards captured in each trick (see Scoring in Pinochle).
The Cards Used in Pinochle
The cards used in partnership auction pinochle and double-pack pinochle are slightly different.
Cards Used in Partnership Auction Pinochle
Partnership auction pinochle is played by combining two standard decks of playing cards and then removing all the cards valued 2–8. This yields a deck of 48 cards. The rank of the cards, from lowest to highest, is 9, J, Q, K, 10, A.
Cards Used in Double-Pack Pinochle
Double-pack pinochle is played by combining four standard decks of playing cards and removing the cards valued 2–9 (rather than two standard decks and removing cards valued 2–8). This yields a deck consisting of 80 cards. The rank of the cards, from lowest to highest, is J, Q, K, 10, A.
Trump Suits
Both card suit and card rank are important in pinochle. During the course of play, one suit will be established as the trump suit. Any card from the trump suit will defeat any card from any of the other nontrump suits. Within the trump suit, card value is determined by rank (as shown above)—
a higher trump card prevails over a lower trump card.
For example, if diamonds is the trump suit, then any diamond card will defeat any card of another suit, even if the value of the nontrump card is higher. For example, the 
would defeat the 
. However, the 
(or any diamond higher than J) would defeat the .
would defeat the . However, the (or any diamond higher than J) would defeat the .| Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
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