🎴 Pinochle
The classic two-handed duel, single deck. Show meld for points — runs, marriages, aces around, and the Queen of Spades with the Jack of Diamonds — then play off the hand trick by trick for counters. First to 1,000 takes the match.
Turn —
Score 0–0
Hand –
Meld 0–0
Stock –
Matches won 0
How to play — the exact rules at this table
- The table: two seats — you and Vera 🦜. The deal alternates between hands, and the player who did not deal leads the first trick. The match is a race to 1,000 points.
- The deck: 48 cards — two copies of every 9, Jack, Queen, King, 10 and Ace in each suit. Twelve cards are dealt to each player; the other 24 form the stock. For winning tricks the ranks run Ace high, then 10, King, Queen, Jack, 9 — the Ten outranks the King, as always in Pinochle.
- Trump: the bottom card of the stock is turned up before play; its suit is trump for the whole hand. It stays on the table as the last card of the stock and is drawn last. (Table simplification, stated plainly: there is no dix exchange and no bonus if the turned-up card is itself a 9 — a 9 of trump scores only when you declare it as meld, below.)
- Card points (counters): cards you capture in tricks score at the end of the hand: Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2, Nine 0. Winning the last trick of the hand scores 10 extra. Every hand holds exactly 250 counter points in total.
- Phase 1 — while the stock lasts (12 tricks): the leader plays any card; the follower may play any card at all — there is no duty to follow suit or to beat. The higher card of the suit led takes the trick, unless a trump is played, in which case the higher trump takes it. If both players play the identical card (the two copies), the first one played wins. The winner of the trick may then declare one meld (below); then the winner draws the top card of the stock, the loser draws the next, and the winner leads the next trick.
- Phase 2 — the play-off (the last 12 tricks): once the stock is gone there is no more drawing and no more leading out new meld turns except after tricks you win — the follower now plays under strict rules: you must follow suit if you can, and you must beat the led card if you can; if you cannot follow suit you must trump if you hold any trump. (Playing the identical twin of the led card does not beat it — the first copy wins.) Illegal cards are dimmed on your hand in this phase.
- Winning a trick: a trick is won by the higher card of the suit led, or by the higher trump if either card is a trump. The winner banks both cards' counters and leads the next trick, after the meld and draw steps.
- Meld — the scoring combinations: after winning a trick, before the draw, you may declare exactly one meld from the cards still in your hand. It is scored at once, and the cards are displayed on the felt — but they stay in your hand and can still be played to tricks. Once a card has been played to a trick it can never be melded. The combinations: Run — Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack of trump: 150. Marriage — King + Queen of trump: 40; of any other suit: 20. Aces around — one Ace of every suit: 100. Kings around: 80. Queens around: 60. Jacks around: 40. Pinochle — Queen of Spades + Jack of Diamonds: 40. Dix — a 9 of trump: 10, each copy scored separately.
- Doubles: if you hold both copies of a combination and declare them together before scoring any single of that kind, the double pays far more: double run 1,500 · double aces around 1,000 · double kings around 800 · double queens around 600 · double jacks around 400 · double pinochle 300 · double trump marriage 80 · double plain marriage 40. If a single was scored first, the second copy later scores only as another single.
- Meld discipline (the three classes): a single card can score once in each class: class one is runs, marriages and dix; class two is the arounds; class three is the pinochle. So the Queen of Spades can count in a marriage, in queens around, and in a pinochle — but never twice in the same class, and the King and Queen inside a scored run cannot be scored again as a marriage (the run's 150 already holds them). The game validates every declaration against your hand before it counts — tap 🎴 Meld after winning a trick and pick from the list it offers you.
- Scoring the hand: when all 24 tricks are played, each player adds their counters to the meld they scored. Win no trick in a hand and your meld is forfeited — it scores nothing. Points go onto the match score.
- The match: first to 1,000 at the end of a hand wins; if both cross 1,000 on the same hand, the higher score wins, and an exact tie plays another hand. 💡 Tap the hint button any time for a suggested play. Sound is off by default — tap 🔊 to enable.
STOCK · 0
TRUMP · –
Pick a table below to start.
YOU WON THE TRICK — DECLARE ONE MELD, OR PASS