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Pinochle Rules: How to Play Partnership Pinochle, Step by Step

Pinochle is a four-player partnership game played with a 48-card deck. Partners bid for the right to name trump, pass each other cards, score points for combinations called meld, then take tricks for more points. The first team to 1,500 wins. This page covers the whole game, with a printable meld chart and a hand scored from start to finish.

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Pinochle at a glance

• Players: four, in two teams of two. Partners sit across from each other.
• Cards: 48 (two of each A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 in every suit). 12 cards each.
• A hand: bid → name trump → pass 4 cards each way → show meld → play 12 tricks → score.
• Winning: the first team to 1,500 points at the end of a hand.

The deck and card order

A pinochle deck has only six ranks, and two copies of each card. In every suit the cards rank, from high to low:

A · 10 · K · Q · J · 9

The 10 ranks above the King; that surprises almost everyone the first time. When two identical cards are played to the same trick, the one played first wins.

Counters: the Aces, 10s and Kings are worth points when you win them in tricks (10 each). Queens, Jacks and 9s are worth nothing in tricks.

The deal

Deal all 48 cards, a few at a time, so that each player has 12. The deal moves one seat to the left (clockwise) after each hand, and the player to the dealer’s left bids first.

Bidding

• Each player in turn bids or passes. The opening bid is at least 250, and every bid must be higher than the last, in steps of 10.
• Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for that hand.
• The bid is a promise: your team will score at least that many points this hand, from meld and tricks together.
• If the first three players pass, the dealer must take the bid at 250 (the dealer is “stuck”).
• The last player left in the bidding wins it. That player is the bidder.

How much to bid? Add up the meld in your hand for the suit you’d choose as trump, add what you expect to take in tricks (often 100 to 150 for a team with long trump and some Aces), and allow something for the cards your partner will pass you. Bidding is also a conversation: when your partner bids, they are telling you they have meld.

Naming trump and passing cards

1. The bidder names the trump suit.
2. The bidder’s partner passes the bidder four cards, face down.
3. The bidder then passes four cards back. They can be any four, even cards just received.

The other team doesn’t pass. Good cards to pass to a bidder are trumps (especially ones that complete a run) and Aces. A bidder passes back cards that don’t fit their meld and won’t win tricks.

The meld chart

After passing, everyone lays down their meld, the combinations below, and each team adds up its total. A card can count in one meld of each kind (runs and marriages; pinochles; “arounds”), so the Queen of spades can be part of a pinochle and of queens around at the same time.

If the bidding team’s meld is so low that even every point in the tricks (250) couldn’t make the bid, the hand isn’t played: the bidding team loses the bid, and the other team scores its meld.

Playing the tricks

The bidder leads the first trick. Each player in turn, to the left, plays one card. Whoever wins a trick leads the next, until all 12 tricks are played.

1. Follow suit if you can.
2. If you can follow suit, you must play higher than the card currently winning the trick if you’re able, even if your partner is winning it.
3. If you can’t follow suit, you must play a trump, and a higher trump than any already played if you’re able.
4. Only if you have neither a card of the suit led nor a trump may you play any card.

The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. Of two identical cards, the first one played wins.

An example: hearts are trump. West leads the K♠. North has the A♠ and the 9♠: North must play the A♠, because it beats the King. East has no spades but has hearts: East must trump. South, with no spades, must play a heart higher than East’s if South has one.

Scoring a hand

• Trick points: 10 for each Ace, 10 and King you take, plus 10 for winning the last trick. That is 250 points in every hand.
• The bidding team adds its meld and its trick points. If the total reaches the bid, it scores all of it. If not, it is set: it scores nothing for the hand and the bid is subtracted from its score.
• The other team scores its meld and trick points, but its meld only counts if it takes at least one counter or the last trick. This is called saving your meld.
• Scores can go below zero. The first team to reach 1,500 at the end of a hand wins; if both reach it on the same hand, the bidding team wins.

A hand, scored from start to finish

1. North wins the bidding at 300 and names spades as trump.
2. South passes North four cards, including the A♠ and a 10♠; North passes four back.
3. Meld: North has a run in spades (150) and a pinochle (40) = 190. South has aces around (100). North and South: 290. East and West: West has queens around (60), East a marriage in clubs (20) = 80.
4. North and South need 300 − 290 = just 10 from the tricks.
5. They take 170 trick points; East and West take 80.
6. North and South score 290 + 170 = 460. East and West took counters, so they keep their meld: 80 + 80 = 160.

If North and South had taken only 0 trick points, they would have had 290, short of 300: set, and −300 on their score.

Tips for beginners

• Count your meld before you bid, and count it again for each possible trump suit.
• Long trump wins tricks. Five or more trumps and an Ace or two is a strong hand.
• As the bidder’s partner, pass trumps and Aces. As the bidder, keep your meld and pass back cards that do nothing.
• Lead your Aces early, before the other team runs out of that suit and trumps them.
• When your partner is sure to win a trick, throw on a 10 or King: that’s 10 more points for your team.
• Keep track of which Aces and 10s have been played; a card is safe to lead once both higher copies are gone.

Other ways to play

• Two-handed pinochle: each player gets 12 cards and the rest form a stock. You meld after winning a trick, then draw. Usually played to 1,000.
• Three-handed (auction) pinochle: each player plays alone, and the bidder takes a few extra cards (the widow) and plays against the other two.
• Double-deck pinochle: two pinochle decks without the 9s (80 cards), 20 cards each. It has more meld and higher bids; groups score it in different ways.
• House rules: some families don’t pass cards, open the bidding lower, play to 1,000, or drop the “must play higher” rule. Agree before you start.

Pinochle words

• Meld: scoring combinations you show before play.
• Run (family): A, 10, K, Q, J of trump.
• Marriage: a King and Queen of the same suit; a royal marriage is in trump.
• Pinochle: the Queen of spades with the Jack of diamonds.
• Around: one card of a rank in each suit, e.g. aces around.
• Dix: the 9 of trump.
• Counters: Aces, 10s and Kings, worth 10 in tricks.
• Set: failing to make your bid.
• Stuck: the dealer forced to take the bid when everyone else passes.

Common questions