HAUS

The 52 Qard Game Series · Reserve bench

Pinochle

Melds first, then tricks. Queen of spades with Jack of diamonds is pinochle.

Home USASeats 4, in partnershipsFamily Point-trick tablesStatus Coming to the table
W.F.A. deck2 × 24cards in play
Coming to the tableThe rules are written and the seat is reserved. This table opens as the series grows.
Pinochle on the W.F.A. deck, on black velvet under a brass lamp
Pinochle · USA

How to deal

Partners sit across the table. Deal twelve scoring cards each from the double deck in bundles of three.

How to play

Each player bids for the right to name trump, bidding points they expect their side to make from melds and tricks. The declarer names trump and partners exchange four cards. Melds are then shown and scored: runs, marriages, pinochle (Queen of spades with Jack of diamonds) and sets of four. The declarer leads; follow suit and beat the trick if you can, otherwise trump.

How you win

Count the captured Aces, Tens and Kings at one point each, plus one for the last trick, and add the melds. A side that makes its bid scores everything; a side that falls short loses the bid. First partnership to fifteen hundred wins.

W.F.A. deck setup for Pinochle

Two W.F.A. decks without their 1s, each stripped 2 through 6 and with the 8s set aside: the 07 stays in as a dead low card worth nothing, which leaves the standard 48 scoring cards untouched.

Sixty seconds at the table

Pinochle on the W.F.A. deck, on black velvet under a brass lampVideo · coming with the tablePinochle

The 52 Qard Game Series

Sit down at this table

Pinochle is played in The Qard Game Room, free, on the W.F.A. deck.

Sit down at this tableAll 37 tables

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The Jack of trumps is worth twenty. Belote and rebelote, twenty more.

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Three players, two cards in the skat, one declarer against the rest.

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The two Queens of clubs decide who is on your side.

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Netherlands

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Choose the trump, score the roem, beat a hundred and sixty-two.

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The Puur and the Näll rule the trump suit. First to a thousand.

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China

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Singles, pairs and tractors. Eighty points lifts the attackers' rank.

Free play. No wagering. Traditional games belong to everyone; the table is ours.