The first bid of the Auction phase must be a minimum of 20 points and each subsequent bid must be higher.Once a player passes, they are no longer able to bid. The player left of the dealer has the opportunity to start the bidding or they may pass.As with other trick-taking games, any card of the current trump suit will always beat any cards in other suits (EXAMPLE: K of Hearts would normally beat a 9 of Spades, but because Spades is the current trump suit, the 9 of Spades is higher).Įach round of the game is divided into 3 distinct phases: Auction, Meld and Playing. If a player has five or more 9's in hand and no melds (explained below), the hand can be thrown back in with all other hands and cards re-dealt.Ĭards in Pinochle are ranked from high to low as follows: A > 10 > K > Q > J > 9.The deck is shuffled and each player is dealt 12 cards in sets of 3 cards at a time. Players divide themselves into two teams and sit so that they are opposite of their teammate (EXAMPLE: Team 1 - Player 1, Team 2 - Player 2, Team 1 - Player 3, Team 2 - Player 4).This means there are no 2-8 cards and that there are two copies of 9-A in the deck for each suit. Pinochle uses a unique 48 card deck that consists of 2 sets of 9, 10, J, Q, K, A in each suit.In Pinochle, the goal is to be the first team to score 150 points via the meld and playing phases of the game.The player who scores the most points wins. You can review the card values by clicking the "trump" suit symbol on the board. The last 12 tricks are played and the winner is declared. The last trick winner now leads, and the rules are as follows:Įach player must follow suit to the card led if possible, and must try to win when a trump is led (by playing a higher trump).Ī player who cannot follow suit must trump if they have a trump. The opponent automatically receives the trump card (or the dix, if the exchange has been made). Then they are dealt the last face-down card of the deck which is placed in their play area. The winner of the twelfth trick may meld if possible. Click the "dix" and then click the trump to get the trump in your hand. If you have a dix, you can exchange it, on winning a trick, for the trump card. You can get points for the dix and then can make another meld in the same turn. Thereafter, a player holding a dix may score it by melding it on winning a trick. Melding the dix (the 9 of trumps): If the dix (pronounced "deece") is the initial trump card, the dealer (game starter) scores 10 points immediately. Once a card has been melded, it may be played to a trick as though it were in the hand. If you can not or do not want to meld, click the "done" icon ✔ on the action bar. The player may put down QS and JD for 40 points and, after winning a later trick, they may reuse the QS, and add the KS and score for the marriage. A player may not put down KS, QS, JD and score both for the marriage and for the Pinochle only one meld may be made in any turn. You can also drag or "fling" the cards.Ģ) For each meld, at least one card must be taken from the hand.ģ) A card once melded may be melded again, only in a different class, or in a higher-scoring meld of the same class. Meld by touching cards and then touching the board. On winning a trick, a player may meld any one of the combinations that have value (you can see the valid combinations by clicking the face down deck on the board). It is not necessary to follow suit until the Playoff phase of the game. The leader may lead any card, and the opponent may play any card. When any other suit is led, the card led wins unless the opponent plays a higher card of the same suit or a trump.
When a trump is led, it wins the trick unless the opponent plays a higher trump. The non-dealer leads (the dealer is the player that started the game) thereafter the winner of each trick leads next. You can also drag the card to the board and release it or "fling" the cards to the board.Įach trick consists of a lead and a play. To begin your turn, touch a card of your choice from your hand on the bottom panel or a card already on the game board and then touch the the game board. Once a game begins, the YOUR TURN message will tell you when it is your turn to play. You can see the values for all the tricks and melds my clicking the face down deck on the game board. The goal is to win tricks, scoring the value of cards taken in on tricks, and to "meld" combinations of cards having values in points.Ī Pinochle deck consists of: A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9 (low) in each of the four suits, with two of each card. This is two-handed Pinochle, the original Pinochle game.