Pinochle rules

Quick start

1. Four players form two teams, with partners sitting across. Use the 48-card pinochle deck, where the 10 ranks between the ace and the king. Deal 12 cards each.
2. Bid from the dealer’s left, starting at 250 and going up by 10s. A bid is the points your team will make. If the other three pass, the dealer takes it at 250.
3. The high bidder names trump. Their partner passes them 4 cards, and the bidder passes 4 back.
4. Everyone lays down their meld: the sets of cards that score on the meld chart. Each team writes down its meld total. Then pick the cards back up.
5. The bidder leads. Follow suit and beat the winning card if you can. If you cannot follow suit, you must trump. Aces, 10s and kings won are worth 10 each.
6. Bidders whose meld plus counters reach the bid score both, or else lose the bid. The other team scores counters, and its meld if it took a counter or the last trick. First to 1,500 wins.

Rule sheet and score sheet

Print the whole game on one page, and a score sheet made for Pinochle. Both are free PDFs for Letter paper.

Download the rule sheet

PDF, 1 page. The whole game on one page.

Download the score sheet

PDF, 1 page, landscape. Laid out for Pinochle.

Setup

4 players in 2 teams of 2. Versions for 2 and 3 players, and double-deck pinochle for 4, are further down.

You need: A pinochle deck: 2 of each ace, 10, king, queen, jack and 9 in all four suits.

• Each suit has 12 cards. In every suit the order from high to low is ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9.
• You can make a pinochle deck from two standard decks. Keep the 9s through aces of both and set the 2s through 8s aside.
• Double-deck pinochle uses 80 cards: two pinochle decks with all the 9s taken out.

1. Use a 48-card pinochle deck. It has two each of the ace, 10, king, queen, jack and 9 in every suit. In each suit the order from high to low is ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9.
2. Four players form two teams. Partners sit across from each other. Choose the first dealer any way. Dealing, bidding and play go to the left, and so does the deal after each hand.
3. The player on the dealer’s right cuts. Starting on the dealer’s left, deal all 48 cards, 3 at a time, so each player has 12.

Each player’s hand

12 cards. Your partner sits across from you.

• Any batch size works for the deal, as long as everyone ends up with 12 cards. The dealer gets the last cards.
• With 2 or 3 players, and in double-deck pinochle, the deal is different. See the versions further down.

How to play

A hand has four parts: bidding, passing cards, showing meld and playing 12 tricks. Meld is a set of cards that scores just for being in your hand, such as the king and queen of one suit. Counters are the aces, 10s and kings, which score when you win them in tricks.

1. Bid

   Starting on the dealer’s left, each player bids or passes. A bid is the points your team promises to make from meld and counters together. The first bid is at least 250, and each bid must top the last one by 10 or more. Once you pass, you are out. The last player bidding wins.

   • If the other three players all pass, the dealer is stuck with the bid at 250. The hand is played.
   • Every bid is a multiple of 10. You may jump by 20 or more.
   • The player who wins the bidding is the bidder, also called the declarer. That player’s partnership is the bidding team.

2. Name trump and pass cards

   The bidder names any suit as trump. The bidder’s partner then chooses exactly 4 cards and passes them face down across the table. The bidder adds them to their hand and passes 4 cards back.

   • The other team does not pass cards.

3. Show your meld

   All four players lay their meld face up. The meld chart lists every set and its points. Each team adds up its meld and writes the total down. Then everyone picks their cards back up for play.

   • One card can count in two melds of different kinds. Runs, marriages and the 9 of trump are one kind. Pinochles are a second kind, and arounds a third. So the queen of spades can be in a pinochle and in a marriage in spades at the same time.
   • Within one kind, use the combined values in the meld chart, such as 190 for a run with an extra king of trump.
   • A run counts only in the trump suit. In any other suit its king and queen count only as a marriage, worth 20.
   • If the bidding team sees it cannot make its bid, the bidder may throw in the hand before play. The bidding team loses the amount of its bid, the other team scores its meld, and no tricks are played.

4. Play 12 tricks

   The bidder leads any card. Going left, each player plays one card. The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins. If two identical cards tie, the one played first wins. The winner leads next.

   Hearts

   

   The 10 ranks between the ace and the king

5. Follow the playing rules

   Follow suit if you can, and beat the card that is winning the trick if you can, even your partner’s. With none of the suit led, you must play a trump, higher than any trump already played if possible. With neither, play any card.

   • Once someone has trumped a trick, a player who still has the suit led may play any card of that suit. None of them can win it.
   • If you have none of the suit led and cannot beat a trump already played, you still have to play a trump.
   • These are the strict older rules, which many groups still play. Many others play looser rules, where you have to beat only a trump lead. See the variants.

6. Count the counters

   After the last trick, each team counts the aces, 10s and kings in the tricks it won. These counters are worth 10 points each. The team that won the last trick adds 10 more. The two teams’ trick points always add up to 250.

   • Queens, jacks and 9s won in tricks are worth nothing.

7. Score the hand

   If the bidding team’s meld plus counters reach its bid, it scores both. If not, it is set: it scores nothing and loses its bid. The other team scores its counters. It keeps its meld only if it won a counter or the last trick, or its meld is just the 9 of trump.

   • Winning the last trick saves the other team’s meld even with no counters in it. Any other trick with no aces, 10s or kings does not.
   • So if the other team’s only meld is the 9 of trump, or both 9s, it keeps those points even without winning a counter.
   • The bidding team has no such rule. Its meld counts whenever its meld and counters together reach the bid.
   • Scores can go below zero.

Example: counting the meld in one hand

Hearts are trump. This hand holds the ace, 10, queen and jack of hearts and both kings of hearts. That is a run with an extra king, worth 190. The 9 of hearts is the 9 of trump, worth 10. The queen of spades and jack of diamonds make a pinochle, worth 40. The same queen of spades also goes with the king of spades for a marriage, worth 20, because a pinochle and a marriage are different kinds of meld. The ace of clubs and 10 of diamonds score nothing as meld. The hand’s meld is 260.

Run with an extra king

190

9 of trump

10

Pinochle

40

Marriage in spades

20. The same queen of spades counts again

No meld

Total meld: 260

Scoring

Points come from two places: meld shown before play and counters won in tricks. The bidding team must reach its bid with the two together, or it loses the amount it bid.

• Tens around score nothing.
• The other team keeps its meld only if it wins at least one counter or the last trick. If its only meld is the 9 of trump, it keeps that anyway.
• The double-deck meld chart is for the double-deck version further down. Its numbers are smaller, and there each counter is worth 1 point.

The first team to reach 1,500 points wins. If both teams pass 1,500 in the same hand, the bidding team wins.

One player keeps score with a column for each team. Before play, write the bid, which team took it and each team’s meld. After play, write each team’s counters and its score for the hand, then the running total. For a team that was set, write minus its bid.

Scorekeeper

Two teams playing to 1,500. Each hand, tap the team that took the bid and enter the bid, each team’s meld and the bidding team’s counters. It fills in the other team’s counters, checks whether the bid was made, applies the rule for saving meld and keeps the totals. It can also keep score for double-deck pinochle, to 500. It works in this browser, keeps the game if the page reloads, and needs no account.

Other ways to play

House rules and other versions

Looser playing rules

Most card books since 1945 give looser rules. When trump is led, you must still play a higher trump if you can. When another suit is led, follow suit if you can and trump if you cannot, but you never have to beat the cards already played.

Older card values

Some groups count cards won in tricks as ace 11, 10 10, king 4, queen 3 and jack 2, with 9s worth nothing. Others count aces and 10s at 10 and kings and queens at 5. The last trick still adds 10, and the total is still 250.

Dropping the zeros

Some groups divide every value by 10. A counter is then worth 1 point, the last trick 1, a pinochle 4 and a run 15.

No bonus for an extra king or queen

Some groups give nothing extra for a single king or queen of trump added to a run. A run with an extra king and queen then scores 190, as a run plus a royal marriage.

Lower opening bid

Some groups open the bidding at 150, or at another amount agreed before the game, in place of 250.

Passing fewer cards

Depending on the group, partners pass 2, 3 or 4 cards each way after trump is named.

Game to 1,000

Many groups play to 1,000 points in place of 1,500.

Two-handed: game to 1,200

Another common target for two players is 1,200 points. Some play to 1,500.

Two-handed: always try to win

In the last 12 tricks of the two-handed game, some players must win every trick they can, not only when trump is led.

Two-handed: meld after drawing

Some players draw from the stock first and then meld. Some also allow more than one meld after a trick.

Three-handed: other opening bids

Some groups playing with 3 open the bidding at 100, 200 or 300 in place of 250.

Double deck: passing cards

A common double-deck rule has the bidder and partner each pass 3 cards face down. Some groups pass anything from 1 to 4.

Double deck: 20 to score

Meld counts only if it is worth at least 20, and a team must win 20 points in tricks to score anything for the hand. A bidding team with under 20 in meld loses its bid without play, and the other team scores its meld if worth 20 or more. A bidding team that wins under 20 in tricks fails its bid.

Double deck with bigger numbers

Some groups play double deck with the larger single-deck numbers, and the lowest bid is then 500.

Rule questions

Words used in Pinochle

Meld

A set of cards that scores points just for being in your hand, such as a marriage or aces around. Meld is shown face up before the tricks are played.

Counters

The aces, 10s and kings. Each one won in a trick is worth 10 points.

Trick

One round in which each player plays one card. A hand has 12 tricks in the 4-player game.

Trump

The suit the bidder names. Any trump beats any card of another suit.

Bid

The fewest points a team promises to make from meld and counters together.

Bidder

The player who wins the bidding. The bidder names trump and leads the first trick. Also called the declarer.

Run

The ace, 10, king, queen and jack of trump, worth 150. Also called a flush, a sequence or a rope.

Marriage

The king and queen of one suit, worth 20. In trump it is a royal marriage, worth 40.

Pinochle

The queen of spades with the jack of diamonds, worth 40. Both pairs together are a double pinochle, worth 300.

Dix

The 9 of trump, worth 10 as meld. Said and sometimes spelled deece.

Around

One card of the same rank in each suit, such as an ace of every suit. All 8 of a rank is a double around.

Set

What happens to a bidding team that falls short of its bid. It loses the amount it bid.

Saving your meld

In the 4-player game, winning a counter or the last trick, which the other team must do to keep its meld. A meld of only the 9 of trump is kept anyway. Other versions have their own rule.

Throw in

To give up a hand before play when the bid cannot be made. The bidding team loses its bid.

Roundhouse

A king and queen of every suit, worth 240 in all.

Stock

In two-handed pinochle, the face-down pile players draw from after each trick.

Widow

In three-handed pinochle, the 3 cards dealt face down for the high bidder. Also called the kitty or cat.

What you need

• A pinochle deck48 cards: two of each card from 9 to ace in every suit.Find it on Amazon (A pinochle deck, opens in a new tab)
• A second pinochle deckOnly for double-deck pinochle, which uses two decks with the 9s taken out.Find it on Amazon (A second pinochle deck, opens in a new tab)
• A pinochle score padOptional. Plain paper works, and so does the free printable score sheet.Find it on Amazon (A pinochle score pad, opens in a new tab)

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