Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (61 page)

SCORING
The goal is to score 62 points. In each hand a total of 14 possible points are awarded to the team who captures:

The opponents of the bidding team add any points won to their score. The bidding team does the same if their bid is achieved; otherwise, the bid amount is deducted from their score. It is called
bidder goes out
when both
teams each have 55 or more points. On the next hand, the bidding team wins if they achieve their bid. Otherwise, the hand is scored as normal.

HOW TO PLAY
Each player has one opportunity to bid or pass, starting from the left of the dealer. Bids are from 7 to 14 points, and the highest bid between partners wins out. The dealer is forced to play a bid of 7 if all other players pass.

The bid winner names a trump suit (she may not consult her partner). Once trump is settled, all players discard all
non-trump
cards from their hands. Each player states how many cards he needs to create a six-card hand (players holding six or more trumps keep them all), and receives the appropriate number of replacements from the deck. The dealer always goes last and is allowed to “rob” the deck—to look at the deck and take all remaining trump (in some cases, the dealer may end up with more than six cards in his hand). If the deck is short of trump, the dealer may take any other cards as replacements.

The bid winner leads the first trick. Players must follow suit (if possible) or play trump. If you can do neither, only then it is OK to play cards from another suit. Tricks are won by the highest trump or, if none, by the highest card in the leading suit. The trick winner leads the next trick.

If any player starts the round holding more than six cards, she dumps all excess cards on the first trick. This way, at the start of the second trick, all players are holding five cards. When dumping excess cards, it’s customary to place them in a stack with the card on top played face up to the trick, and the excess cards hidden from view. You are not allowed to dump any point-earning trumps as excess.

Remember that low pedro counts as a trump when leading tricks. So, when hearts are trump, a player leading 5 of diamonds (low pedro) is leading a heart, and hearts must follow. Scores are tallied once all cards have been played. Deal rotates to the left.

VARIATION 1: KING PEDRO

This could easily be called “Pedro Gone Wild.” The main difference between the games is points, which are bigger and badder in King Pedro. The king of trump is worth 30 points, which increases the possible points per round from 14 to 44. The 2 of trump is won by the team that plays it, whereas the other trumps are won as usual by the team capturing them in tricks.

Deal twelve cards to each player, and deal four cards face down to the kitty. The highest bidder names trump and takes the kitty. All players reduce their hands to six cards and dump any excess trump in the first trick-taking round. When trumps are led, players must follow suit. When non-trumps are led, players may play any card (including trump). When a player has no more trumps left, he must declare “I’m up!” and throw down his hand. He’s out of the game until the next hand is dealt.

The object is to score 200 points, and to do this on a bid you’ve just won. You cannot win the game unless your team is the bid winner, even if your score is above 200 points.

VARIATION 2: CINCH

Cinch retains many of Pedro’s basic features, and varies mainly in the method of scoring. Follow the standard Pedro rules, with the following exceptions. The 5 of trump is called
right pedro
; the 5 of the suit of matching color is the
left pedro.

The goal is to score 51 total points. A team that achieves its bid scores the bid amount minus the opposing team’s score. For example, a bid of 8 scores 2 points (8 − 6 = 2), a bid of 10 scores 6 points (10 − 4 = 6). It’s possible for a successful bid to result in points for the opposing team. For example, a bid of 6 scores 2 points for the opposing team (6 − 8 = − 2 points, scored as +2 to the opposing team). If a team fails to make their bid, the opposing team scores the points they won plus the amount of the bid.

In Cinch, bids are from 1 to 14 points, and the bid is won when three players in a row pass. If all players have passed, the dealer names a trump suit but is not required to play for a specific bid target.

Once trump is settled, all players discard non-trump cards as usual. In the rare case when a player is initially dealt more than seven trumps, he must dump trump in order to create a six-card hand. If the deck has more trump than the dealer can use to make a six-card hand, the dealer leaves the unused trump on the table, face up, for all players to see.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   high
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Pinochle is a family of games, much like Solitaire and Canasta. The most popular form of the game—and the one described first below—is Four-Hand Pinochle (Single Deck), which uses a single deck of Pinochle cards. The game is sometimes called Partnership Auction Pinochle, because it is played by two teams competing head to head.

Pinochle is an American invention. It evolved on the East Coast in the 1850s and ‘60s from the French game Bezique and the German game Skat. Pinochle remains extremely popular, both in its four-player and three-player incarnations.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a forty-eight-card Pinochle deck. Note that Pinochle decks are not the same as standard fifty-two-card decks. You can buy a Pinochle deck, or create your own as follows: take two fifty-two-card decks with the same design backings, remove all 2s through 8s, and shuffle the cards together. This results in a forty-eight-card deck with duplicates of every card. In Pinochle, cards rank (high to low) A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.

The dealer gives each player twelve cards, face down. The dealer may choose to deal cards one at a time or in batches of two or three, as long as the deal is consistent throughout the game.

SCORING
Teams score 1 point for every “counter” (every ace, 10, or king) won in hand play; there are 24 total counter points. Whichever team wins the last trick earns 1 bonus point.

To calculate each team’s total score, follow this formula: melding points + counter points = total score. For the bid winners, if their total score is greater or equal to their bid, the total is officially added to their game score. If their total score is less than their bid, they are
set
and the bid value is subtracted from their game score (meld and counter points are simply discarded). For the opponents, their total score is added to their game score as long as they earn at least one counter point. Otherwise, their meld points are discarded.

Games of Pinochle are typically played to 250 points. If both teams score 250 points in the same hand, the highest overall score wins.

HOW TO PLAY
Start with a round of bidding (or auction) with the player to the left of the dealer. The minimum bid is 15 points and must be raised by one or more points by subsequent players. A bid winner emerges after three players in a row pass. The bid winner then nominates a trump suit for the round.

The bid itself is an estimate of how many points you may possibly meld, plus the number of “counters” (aces, 10s, and kings) you may win during the hand play. If all players pass, the dealer is forced to bid the minimum 15 points.

Next, the partner of the bid winner selects four cards from her hand and passes them to the bid winner, face down. The bid winner reviews the passed cards and then reciprocates by passing back four (inevitably mediocre) cards to his partner. The non-bidding team does not pass cards.

MELDING
The next step is scoring melds. Each player lays his melds directly in front of him on the table. Partners add their resulting scores together, and all melds are picked up and returned to their original hands. Valid Pinochle melds are: