- Players
- 4 in two teams
- Time
- 45–60 min
- You need
- 48-card pinochle deck
- To win
- First team to 1,000 or 1,500
Playing online here
You sit across from your computer partner, with a computer opponent on each side. Bidding starts at 200 and goes up in tens. Win the bid and you choose trump (the buttons show what your meld would be in each suit); then every player's meld is laid out and added up for you, and the tricks begin. Cards you aren't allowed to play are dimmed. Play to 500, 1,000 or 1,500. Make a private room to play with friends: empty seats can be filled by the computer.
Pinochle rules
Pinochle is a trick-taking game with a 48-card deck, best known in its four-handed partnership form. Partners sit across from each other. Each hand has three stages: an auction for the right to name trump, the meld (showing scoring combinations in your hand) and the play of twelve tricks. Teams add up meld and trick points, and the first team to the target score wins.
The deck
- Two copies each of the ace, 10, king, queen, jack and 9 in all four suits: 48 cards.
- Card order, high to low: ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9. The 10 outranks the king.
- Deal all the cards out, 12 to each player. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand.
Bidding
- Starting with the player on the dealer's left, each player either bids or passes. The first bid is at least the minimum (200 here), and every later bid must be higher, in steps of 10.
- Once you pass, you're out of the auction for that hand.
- Bidding ends when three players have passed. The last bidder wins the contract. If all four pass, the dealer must take it at the minimum.
- The winning bidder names the trump suit.
A bid is a promise that your team will make at least that many points this hand from meld and tricks combined.
Meld
After trump is named, every player lays their scoring combinations face up for everyone to see, then picks the cards back up for the play. A card can count in more than one meld only if the melds are of different kinds (the three groups in the table below); it can't be used twice in the same group.
The play
- The winner of the bid leads the first trick. Each trick's winner leads the next.
- You must follow the suit led, and you must play a card that beats the winning card if you can.
- With no card of the suit led, you must play a trump (beating any trump already played if you can).
- With neither, play anything.
- The highest trump wins the trick; with no trump, the highest card of the suit led. If two identical cards tie, the first one played wins.
Scoring a hand
- Counters: every ace, 10 and king taken in tricks is worth 10. The last trick is worth an extra 10. That's 250 in every hand.
- A team keeps its meld only if it wins at least one trick.
- If the bidding team's meld plus trick points reach the bid, it scores all of them. If not, it is set: it scores nothing for the hand and loses the amount of the bid.
- The other team always scores its meld (if it took a trick) and its counters.
Winning
The first team to reach the target (1,000 or 1,500 are common) wins. If both teams pass it in the same hand, the bidding team wins if it made its bid.
Pinochle meld scoring
| Meld | Cards | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1: sequences and marriages | ||
| Run (family) | A, 10, K, Q, J of trump | 150 |
| Double run | Two runs in trump | 1,500 |
| Royal marriage | K and Q of trump | 40 |
| Marriage | K and Q of another suit | 20 |
| Dix | 9 of trump (each) | 10 |
| Group 2: arounds | ||
| Aces around | One ace of each suit | 100 (double: 1,000) |
| Kings around | One king of each suit | 80 (double: 800) |
| Queens around | One queen of each suit | 60 (double: 600) |
| Jacks around | One jack of each suit | 40 (double: 400) |
| Group 3: pinochle | ||
| Pinochle | Q of spades and J of diamonds | 40 |
| Double pinochle | Both queens of spades and both jacks of diamonds | 300 |
The king and queen inside a run don't also count as a royal marriage (you'd need a second king and queen of trump for that). But the queen of spades in a pinochle can also be part of queens around and a spade marriage, because those are different groups.
Pinochle strategy tips
Tips for bidding and play
- Count your meld for your best suit, then add what your trumps and aces should take. Your partner will usually bring some meld and counters too, but not a fortune.
- Lead your off-suit aces early, before the other side runs out of the suit and can trump them.
- When your partner is sure to win a trick, throw on your counters (aces, tens, kings). When the other team is winning, play your lowest non-counter.
- With a long trump suit, pull trumps early so the defenders can't use theirs to cut your aces.
Like partnership games? Try Hand and Foot. For two players, play Cribbage online against the computer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play pinochle online for free?
Yes. The game at the top of this page is free with no sign-up. You play four-handed partnership pinochle with a computer partner against two computer opponents, or make a private room so friends can take the seats from their own phones.
How many cards are in a pinochle deck?
48: two each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace in all four suits. You can make one from two ordinary decks by taking out everything from 2 to 8.
What is a pinochle in the card game?
The queen of spades together with the jack of diamonds. It scores 40 as meld; two of each (a double pinochle) score 300.
What beats what in pinochle?
In each suit the order is ace (highest), 10, king, queen, jack, 9. Any trump beats any card of another suit. When two identical cards land on the same trick, the one played first wins.
How many points are in a hand of pinochle?
In the counting used here, aces, tens and kings are 10 points each and the last trick is worth 10, so the tricks hold 250 points in every hand. Meld comes on top of that.
What happens if you don't make your bid in pinochle?
The bidding team is set: its meld and tricks score nothing for that hand and the bid is subtracted from its total, which can go below zero. The other team scores as usual.
Do you have to take a trick to keep your meld?
Yes, in most games. A team that doesn't win at least one trick during the hand loses the meld it showed.