Pinochle rules: meld scorer, counter and score keeper

How to play partnership auction pinochle

This is the four-player game Wikipedia calls the standard form today, following Pagat's single-deck page (David Dailey's family rules) unless we say otherwise.

The deck and the deal

A pinochle deck has 48 cards: two each of A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in all four suits. Two Euchre decks shuffled together make one. Partners sit across the table. The dealer deals all 48 cards, three or four at a time, so everyone has 12. The deal passes to the left.

Bidding

Starting left of the dealer, each player bids a number or passes. A bid is the total of meld and trick points your side expects to make. On Pagat's page the lowest bid is 250, bids go up by 10, and once you pass you are out of the auction. If the other three pass, the dealer is stuck with the bid at 250. The winner (the declarer) names trump.

Passing cards

In Pagat's version the declarer's partner then passes four cards face down across the table. The declarer adds them to their hand and passes four back, which may include cards just received. Wikipedia notes that some groups pass two or three cards, swap at the same time, or skip passing.

Meld

Everyone lays out their meld face up. Only one player's own cards count toward each meld, and partners add their totals together. When everyone has seen it, the cards go back into the hands.

Playing the tricks

1. The declarer leads any card to the first trick. Play goes left.
2. Follow suit if you can. Under the older rules on Pagat's page, you must also beat the card that is winning the trick if you can, even your partner's card.
3. With none of the suit led, you must play a trump, and beat the highest trump already played if you can.
4. With no card of the suit led and no trump, play anything.
5. The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led. When two identical cards tie, the one played first wins.

Most books printed since 1945 only make you beat the trick when trump is led. Pagat and Wikipedia both say many players still use the older rule, so agree on one before you start.

Pinochle meld chart

Melds fall into three types. A card may count in melds of different types, but only once in each type. The single values below are the same on Pagat's main page, Wikipedia and Bicycle. The double column follows Pagat's main page and Wikipedia; only Wikipedia gives the double marriages, and Bicycle lists no doubles except the double pinochle.

Tens around score nothing. A run in a suit that is not trump counts only as a marriage. Many players drop the last zero from every number, so a run is 15 and a pinochle 4; the meld scorer's "Ones" setting does that.

Worked example. Hearts trump, the hand A♥ 10♥ K♥ K♥ Q♥ Q♥ J♥ 9♥ Q♠ J♦ K♦ K♣ scores 240: run in trumps 150, royal marriage 40, nine of trumps 10, pinochle 40. The spare K♥ and Q♥ make the royal marriage because the run already used one of each.

Double-deck meld (Pagat)

The 80-card game has no nines and scores in ones. Bigger copies of a meld get their own value instead of adding up.

Pagat's own example, hearts trump: A♥ 10♥ K♥ K♥ K♥ Q♥ Q♥ J♥ Q♦ Q♦ J♦ Q♣ Q♣ A♠ K♠ K♠ Q♠ Q♠ J♠ J♠ scores 87. That is a run, one royal marriage, a double marriage in spades, a pinochle and double queens around. One Q♠ is in the marriage, the pinochle and the queens around at once, which is allowed because those are three different types.

Counting tricks and scoring a hand

After the last trick each side counts the cards it won. There are several ways to count, and in the single-deck game they all add up to the same total, so pick whichever your table finds easiest.

Making the bid or going set

Add the bidding side's meld and trick points. If that reaches the bid, both sides score everything they made. Say side A bid 300 with 190 meld and took 150 in tricks: side A scores 340 and side B, with 60 meld and the other 100 in tricks, scores 160. If side A had bid 350 instead, it would be set: -350 for side A, and side B still scores 160.

• Not on the board. If the bid is more than 250 above the bidders' meld, they cannot make it even with every trick. Pagat says they go set without playing and the other side scores its meld only. The keeper spots this for you.
• Throwing in. A declarer who sees no hope may concede before play. The result is the same, and it stops the other side from scoring trick points.
• Saving meld. On Pagat's single-deck page, the non-bidding side must take at least one counter or the last trick to keep its meld. Meld made only of nines of trump counts anyway.
• Game. Pagat plays to 1,500. If both sides pass it on the same hand, the bidding side wins. Wikipedia says four-handed games often go to 1,000.

Where the sources differ

• Extra king or queen with a run. Dailey's table on Pagat scores a run with one extra king or queen as 190, and with both as 230. Pagat adds that giving nothing for a single extra card is "probably more usual", and Wikipedia's once-per-type rule agrees. The meld scorer uses the usual rule, with a switch for Dailey's.
• Doubled melds. Pagat's main page and Wikipedia score a double run 1,500 and both of each suit around at ten times the single value. Bicycle's two-hand page lists only single arounds. Pagat also describes a version with no special doubles at all.
• Minimum bid. Pagat's single-deck page opens at 250. Wikipedia gives 100 or 250 as agreed openings and says four-handed play typically opens at 150. Pagat's double-deck game opens at 50. The keeper does not enforce a minimum.
• Game target. 1,500 on Pagat's single-deck page, often 1,000 on Wikipedia, and 500 for Pagat's double-deck game. The keeper offers each one.
• Going set. Pagat and Wikipedia take the bid off the bidders' score. Pagat also describes a chip-scoring version where the other side scores the bid instead; it is a keeper setting.
• Saving meld. Pagat's single-deck page requires the non-bidders to take trick points to keep their meld. Its double-deck page has no such rule in the main game, so the keeper lets you switch it off.
• Double-deck melds. Pagat notes that many books give a triple pinochle 45 and a quadruple 300, and some score a double run as two runs. We use the main table on Pagat's page.

Our reading: for the double deck "tens" setting we multiply Pagat's game of 500 by ten, to 5,000; Pagat gives the multiply-by-ten scoring but not a target for it.

Tips for better pinochle

1. Count your meld before you bid. Your meld plus a fair share of the trick points is what your hand is worth. Tap it into the meld scorer the first few times.
2. Pass what helps the bidder. When your partner wins the bid, trumps can fill out a run or a marriage, and aces win tricks. Those are usually worth more to the bidder than to you.
3. Remember there are two of everything. Your ace is only safe once the other ace of that suit has been played or is in your partner's hand.
4. Feed counters to your partner. When your partner is sure to win a trick, play a king or ten on it rather than a nine or jack.

Pinochle questions

How do you score pinochle?

Each side adds two things: its meld (the combinations it shows before play) and the counters it takes in tricks, plus a bonus for the last trick. The side that won the bid must reach its bid with meld plus tricks, or it loses the bid instead.

What is a pinochle in the card game?

The queen of spades with the jack of diamonds. It is worth 40 in the single-deck game. Both queens of spades with both jacks of diamonds make a double pinochle, worth 300 in the tables on Pagat, Bicycle and Wikipedia.

Can one card count in two melds?

Yes, if the melds are of different types. The queen of spades can be in a marriage, a pinochle and queens around all at once. It cannot count twice in the same type, so one queen and two kings make only one marriage.

How many points are there in a hand of pinochle?

In the single-deck game, 250 points in tricks under every common counting method, or 25 when you drop the trailing zero. In Pagat's double-deck game there are 50: one for each ace, ten and king, and 2 for the last trick.

What does it mean to go set in pinochle?

The bidding side failed to make its bid with meld plus trick points. Under Pagat's rules it scores nothing for that hand and the bid is taken off its score, which can leave it below zero.

What is the difference between single-deck and double-deck pinochle?

Single deck uses 48 cards with nines, 12 per player. Double deck uses 80 cards without nines, 20 per player. Pagat's double-deck game scores meld and tricks in ones (a run is 15) and plays to 500.