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Two-Person Pinochle
Of the many variations of pinochle (beyond partnership auction pinochle and double-pack pinochle), two-player pinochle is the most popular. The game is for two players and is virtually identical to bezique.
Cards Used in Two-Player Pinochle
Two-player pinochle is most often played with the same deck of 48 cards used in partnership auction pinochle, which includes all the cards from 9–A in two decks. As in partnership auction pinochle, the rank of the cards, from lowest to highest, is 9, J, Q, K, 10, A.
The Shuffle and Deal
To determine the dealer, each player draws a card from the deck. Whoever has the highest card deals first. The dealer then alternates between rounds. After a shuffle and a cut, the dealer gives 12 cards, three or four at a time, to each player. The rest of the deck is called the stock.
Determining Trump
The dealer turns up the top card of the stock and sets it faceup on the table. This is the trump card and determines the trump suit. The dealer then places the stock (facedown) crosswise above the trump card.
Play
There is no bidding in two-player pinochle. Instead, the game moves right into play. There are two phases of play, usually called early play and later play.
Early Play
Early play lasts as long as there are still cards in the stock. The nondealer leads to the first trick. After that, each trick in early play is led by the winner of the previous trick. As in other forms of pinochle, the goal is to win each trick either by playing a card of a higher rank in the led suit or by trumping. However, the second player to play a card in a trick does not have to follow suit or trump. In other words, the second player can play any card he wants to.
Also, once the trick has been played, the next trick does not begin immediately. Instead, there are two additional steps before the next trick begins:
- Taking cards from the stock: The winner of the trick takes the top card from the stock and puts it in her hand. Then the loser of the trick takes the new top card from the stock.
- Melding: The winner of the trick then gets the option to meld. Melding is the only way to get points in early play—there are no counters. When a player displays a meld, the points from that meld are immediately recorded on a score sheet. (For more details on the rules of melding, see below).
When there are just two cards left in the stock—the last facedown card and the faceup trump card—the two players play one last trick. The winner of the trick may take either the facedown or the faceup card, while the loser must take the other card. The winner of the trick can meld one last time, after which early play is over and later play begins.
Melding
Melding in two-person pinochle is similar to melding in other forms of pinochle, but there are a few key rule differences.
Meld Values
The meld values in two-person pinochle are the same as in partnership auction pinochle, with the exception that no extra points are awarded for double melds (double flush, double pinochle, and so on). If you have two flushes, for instance, you get points for each flush and nothing more.
Sequence Melds |
Points |
|
Flush (A-K-Q-J-10 of trump suit) |
150 |
|
Royal marriage (K-Q of trump suit) |
40 |
|
Simple marriage (K-Q of non-trump suit) |
20 |
Group Melds (Rank Melds) |
Points |
|
100 aces (  ) |
100 |
|
80 kings (  ) |
80 |
|
60 queens (  ) |
60 |
|
40 jacks (  ) |
40 |
Pinochle and Dix Melds |
Points |
|
Pinochle (  ) |
40 |
|
9 of trumps (dix) |
10 |
Displaying Melds
Only the trick winner may display melds. Moreover, the trick winner may display only one meld for each trick won. To display a meld, the trick winner places the meld faceup on the table and leaves it there for the duration of early play.
The one exception to this “one meld” rule is when melding the first dix. The first dix is played by exchanging it with the trump card—you place the dix faceup under the stock and bring the trump card into your hand. You can meld the dix and perform another meld within the same turn.
Cards in Multiple Melds
You can use a card that you’ve melded as a part of multiple melds as long as:
- New cards are added to the table: You can’t form new melds using only the cards that are already displayed on the table.
- The card is in melds of different groups: If you meld the 100 aces on one turn, you could use one of the aces played to form a flush on a subsequent turn. You could not, however, lay down another ace and use three of the aces already on the table to form a new 100 aces.
- Turning a royal marriage into a flush: You can use a royal marriage to fill out a flush if a player lays down the A, J, and 10 of trumps. This rule does not work in reverse, though. A flush placed on the table cannot be used later for a marriage.
Playing Melded Cards in Tricks
You can use cards that have been melded and play them in tricks. For instance, if you’ve melded a 100 aces, you can play one of those aces in a trick. But you can’t then reuse the “leftovers” of your melds to make the same class of meld. For example, suppose you have a 100 aces and you use the 
to win a trick. If you draw another from the stock, you cannot use it to claim another 100 aces.
to win a trick. If you draw another from the stock, you cannot use it to claim another 100 aces. If you play a card from a meld and lose the trick, you do not then lose the points from your previously formed meld or get to take the “leftover” melded cards off the table. Those leftover cards are kept on the table as if you did not lose the card played in the trick.
Later Play
In later play, there is no melding, and tricks are played with normal rules: the second player must follow suit if possible, must trump if possible, and must try to win the trick. The player who won the last trick of early play leads the first trick of later play.
Scoring in Later Play
Tricks won in later play count for points, using these values:
- 10 points for whomever wins the last trick of play
- 11 points for each captured ace
- 10 points for each captured 10
- 4 points for each captured king
- 3 points for each captured queen
- 2 points for each captured jack
After all the tricks have been taken, players tally up their scores from melds and tricks. Scores ending in 7, 8, or 9 are rounded up to the nearest 10, and scores ending in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 are rounded down to the nearest 10. For example, 117 rounds up to 120, and 42 rounds down to 40.
Play ends when one of the players reaches 1,000. If both players reach 1,000 in the same round, then a new winning sum is settled upon, such as 1,250 or 1,500.
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