Note: It's important to understand that rules may change depending on who you are playing with as there are many variations to the game. Clarify all house rules before beginning.

Players

2

Deck

A 48 card Pinochle deck. A pinochle deck consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits, for 48 cards per deck. Aces are always considered high.

Card Rank

The complete ordering from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. If duplicates are played, the first card played ranks higher.

Object of the Game

The goal is to win tricks to score the value of counting cards taken on tricks, and to meld certain combinations of cards having point values. The first player to reach 1000 points after a series of hands, wins the game.

Deal

The dealer shuffles the deck and deals 12 cards to each player. The next card is turned face up and placed on the table; this is the trump card. The remainder of the cards form the stock and are placed facedown.

Play

Each trick consists of a lead and a play. The non-dealer leads the first trick; then the winner of each trick leads. When trump is led, it wins the trick (unless a higher trump is played). When another suit is led, the card led wins (unless a higher card of the same suit or a trump card is played). The leader may lead any card and the opponent may play any card. It is not necessary to follow suit. After each trick, each player draws a card from the top of the stock to restore their hands to 12 cards.

Melding

After winning a trick, but before drawing from the stock, a player may meld any combinations that have value. A player makes meld by placing cards face up on the table. You may only meld once per turn. At least one card must be taken from the player’s hand and placed on the table per meld. A card may be melded again, but in a different class or higher scoring meld of the same class.

Note: See the Meld section for the meld combinations.

Melding DIX

If the dealer turns a dix as trump, he scores 10 points. After that, a player holding a dix may count it by showing it upon winning a trick. The player may count the dix and make another meld in the same turn. The holder of the dix has the right to exchange it, upon winning a trick, for the trump card.

Scoring

Melds are scored when made. Scores for tricks are added after play is complete and cards have been counted.

Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand. Aces (A), Tens (10), and Kings (K) all count for 10 points each. The team that won the last trick gets an additional 10 points. There are 250 points total in a hand.

Each team goes through their trick pile at the end of the hand and counts how many points they earned. Those points are added to the value of the team’s meld for the accumulated score for the hand.

Game

Every deal constitutes a hand. The player with the most points wins. A game can be played to 1,000 points by playing a series of hands.

Note: It's important to understand that rules may change depending on who you are playing with as there are many variations to the game. Clarify all house rules before beginning.

Players

4 players with 2 teams of 2 partners. Partners sit across the table from each other in an alternating pattern.

Deck

A 48 card Pinochle deck. A pinochle deck consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits, for 48 cards per deck. Aces are always considered high.

Card Rank

The complete ordering from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. If duplicates are played, the first card played ranks higher.

Object of the Game

The goal is to win tricks to score the value of counting cards taken on tricks, and to meld certain combinations of cards having point values. The first team to reach 1,500 points after a series of hands, wins the game.

Deal

The dealer shuffles the deck and deals 12 cards to each player, starting with the player on their left.

Bidding

Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, may either bid or pass. A player may bid each time as long as the bid is higher than the previous bid. When a player passes, he or she may no longer bid. Bids are made in multiples of 10 points. The player who bids the highest wins the bid.

The winner of the bid names the suit of their choice as trump for the current hand.

Note: The person opening the bid may open at a higher value than 100. The opening bid is typically 250.

Passing Cards

After the trump suit has been declared, the bid winning (bidding) team exchanges 4 cards. The partner of the bid winner passes cards first. The objective of the pass is to add to the total points in meld or to pass trick-winning cards to assist the highest bidder. After the first pass, the bid winner picks up the cards and places them into his or her hand. The bid winner then passes an equal number of cards back to his or her partner.

Note: Some variations pass a different amount of cards, pass at the same time, or don’t pass cards at all.

Melding

All players now meld specific combinations of cards. The bid winner melds first followed by the rest of the players. A card that has been melded in a combination in one class can be melded again in a combination only for another class, but cannot be melded again in a combination of the same class. Partners meld separately, but their separate melds are added and recorded as a team. A team does not receive points for the melds until that team wins a trick.

Note: See the Meld section for the meld combinations.

Play

Play consists of 12 tricks. Each trick consists of each player playing a single card. The bid winner leads the first trick, which can be any card in that player’s hand. After that, the winner of the trick leads the next hand.

A trick is won by playing the highest ranked card in the trick. Cards in the trump suit are always ranked higher than any card in any other suit. For example, if ♦ is the trump suit, a 9♦ is ranked higher than the A♥ (or any other suit).

When a card is lead, all other players must play a higher ranking card of the same suit, if possible. If a player has cards of the same suit, but can’t beat the current high card, the player may play any card of the suit that was lead. If a player doesn’t have a card of the same suit, but does have a trump card, the player must play a trump card to win the trick; however, if another trump card has already been played and the current player can’t beat that trump card, then any other card may be played.

A general rule is that all players must always play to win the trick, regardless of any cards they think or know will be played in the future.

The team winning the trick collects the 4 cards into their pile. Play ends when all players are out of cards.

Note: Some variations play slightly different.

Scoring

Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand. Aces (A), Tens (10), and Kings (K) all count for 10 points each. The team that won the last trick gets an additional 10 points. There are 250 points total in a hand.

Each team goes through their trick pile at the end of the hand and counts how many points they earned. Those points are added to the value of the team’s meld for the accumulated score for the hand.

The bidding team must have an accumulated score equal to or greater than what they bid. If the bidding team made their bid, the accumulated score is added to their running score for the game. If the bidding team did not make their bid, the bid amount is subtracted from their running score for the game and no points are added.

The bidding team’s opponent adds their accumulated score to their running score for the game as long as the team took at least 1 trick.

The game ends when a team reaches 1,500 points total.

Note: Some variations score differently.

Shooting the Moon

The player who won the bid may announce that their team will “Shoot the Moon”, declaring to all the other players that their team is going to attempt to capture all the tricks. This must be declared after meld has been counted and before the tricks are going to be played out. If a team successfully shoots the moon, they earn 1,500 points and possibly win the game. If they fail, 1,500 points are subtracted from their score.

Note: Some variations do not allow shooting the moon or score it differently.

Note: It's important to understand that rules may change depending on who you're playing with as there are many variations to the game.

Players

5 players with changing partners.

Deck

Double deck without 9s: Two 48 card Pinochle decks with all of the 9 cards removed leaving a deck of 80 cards. A pinochle deck normally consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits, for 48 cards per deck. Aces are always considered high.

Card Rank

The complete ordering from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. If duplicates are played, the first card played ranks higher.

Object of the Game

The goal is to win tricks to score the value of counting cards taken on tricks, and to meld certain combinations of cards having point values. The first player to reach 1,500 points after a series of hands, wins the game.

Deal

The dealer shuffles the deck and deals 16 cards to each player, starting with the player on their left.

Bidding

Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, may either bid or pass. A player may bid each time as long as the bid is higher than the previous bid. When a player passes, he or she may no longer bid. Bids are made in multiples of 10 points. The player who bids the highest wins the bid.

The winner of the bid names the suit of their choice as trump for the current hand. The bidder then calls for a specific card. The first player, starting from the bidder’s left, who has the card becomes the bidder’s partner forming a team for the hand. The remaining 3 players likewise become a team in opposition to the bidding team.

Passing Cards

The bid winning (bidding) team exchanges 3 cards. The partner of the bid winner passes cards first. One of the cards must be the card that the bidder called for to get a partner. The objective of the pass is to add to the total points in meld or to pass trick-winning cards to assist the highest bidder. After the first pass, the bid winner picks up the cards and places them into his or her hand. The bid winner then passes an equal number of cards back to his or her partner.

Note: Some variations pass a different amount of cards, pass at the same time, or don’t pass cards at all.

Melding

All players now meld specific combinations of cards. The bid winner melds first followed by the rest of the players. A card that has been melded in a combination in one class can be melded again in a combination only for another class, but cannot be melded again in a combination of the same class. Partners meld separately, but their separate melds are added and recorded as a team. A team does not receive points for the melds until that team wins a trick.

Note: See the Meld section for the meld combinations.

Play

Play consists of 16 tricks. Each trick consists of each player playing a single card. The bid winner leads the first trick, which can be any card in that player’s hand. After that, the winner of the trick leads the next hand.

A trick is won by playing the highest ranked card in the trick. Cards in the trump suit are always ranked higher than any card in any other suit. For example, if ♦ is the trump suit, a J♦ is ranked higher than the A♥ (or any other suit).

When a card is lead, all other players must play a higher ranking card of the same suit, if possible. If a player has cards of the same suit, but can’t beat the current high card, the player may play any card of the suit that was lead. If a player doesn’t have a card of the same suit, but does have a trump card, the player must play a trump card to win the trick; however, if another trump card has already been played and the current player can’t beat that trump card, then any other card may be played.

A general rule is that all players must always play to win the trick, regardless of any cards they think or know will be played in the future.

The team winning the trick collects the 5 cards into their pile. Play ends when all players are out of cards.

Note: Some variations play slightly different.

Scoring

Points are scored based on the tricks won in the hand. Aces (A), Tens (10), and Kings (K) all count for 10 points each. The team that won the last trick gets an additional 20 points. There are 500 points total in a hand.

Each team goes through their trick pile at the end of the hand and counts how many points they earned. Those points are added to the value of the team’s meld for the accumulated score for the hand.

The bidding team must have an accumulated score equal to or greater than what they bid. If the bidding team made their bid, the accumulated score is added to each player’s individual running score for the game. If the bidding team did not make their bid, the bid amount is subtracted from each player’s individual running score for the game and no points are added.

The bidding team’s opponent adds their accumulated score to their individual running score for the game as long as the team took at least 1 trick.

The game ends when a team reaches 1,500 points total.

Note: Some variations score differently.

Shooting the Moon

The player who won the bid may announce that their team will “Shoot the Moon”, declaring to all the other players that their team is going to attempt to capture all the tricks. This must be declared after meld has been counted and before the tricks are going to be played out. If a team successfully shoots the moon, they earn 1,500 points and possibly win the game. If they fail, 1,500 points are subtracted from their score.

Note: Some variations do not allow shooting the moon or score it differently.