Long shot: Does anyone know how to play pinochle?

[Alicia64]

I have the best memory of playing pinochle when I was a teen. My mom would have two groups in to play and needed another player. I LOVED the card game.

But I have no memory of how to play. I only remember holding a lot of cards and winning with "tricks."

Do you know how to play? Can you suggest a way to learn?

TIA!!

W.

[Dynamite5]

Well, I'm not an expert and there are many, many variations to pinochle, so after you read my post, just Google some rules and see which ones most closely align with the way you learned, lol.

Remember that you have to start with an actual pinochle deck--9s through Aces. We play with 4 people (2 pairs of partners) and 2 decks of cards. For some reason, we do not play with the 9s. That's just how my dad learned and so it's the way he taught us. 

Once you've dealt out the whole deck to the 4 players, each player counts their meld. For us, that means:

Run (A, K, Q, J and 10 in same suit) is 15 points. 2 runs = 150

If you have Aces around it's 10 points, 2 aces around is 100. Kings around is 8, 2 kings around is 80. Queens around is 6, 2 queens around is 60. Jacks around is 4, 2 jacks around is 40. 10s around is nothing.

Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades is 4, two of them are 40.

Marriages (King and queen of same suit) is worth 2 meld points, unless it's in the trump suit, then it's worth 4 points.

 

Players add up their meld and then the player to the left of the dealer bids. Bidding starts at 50. If you have at least 10 meld but no marriage in a suit, then you can't win the bid (because the person who picks trump must have a run or a marriage in the trump suit). You can use "table talk" to give your partner information about your hand. In this particular case, we would say, "Buy me" to let our partner know we have at least 10 points but can't choose trump. To say Pass means you have less than 10 meld. There are many versions of this--you'll be best served by looking up rules that go with what you remember from when you played before.

After a player wins the bid, they must play trump card first (let me back up and say that you have to write down each team's meld points on your score sheet before the round begins.) After all cards have been played, only Aces, 10s and Kings are worth points. One point each, to be exact. Each team must count the cards they've won and the one points must add up to a minimum of 20. If they don't, that teams loses the amount of points they had in meld. If each team gets to 20, then they each add up their points plus their meld--and whichever team won the last hand gets two points--and you keep playing until one team gets to 500 points. 

Clear as mud?!? Pinochle is so much fun, but there are so many different ways to play--I hope I've not confused you!

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I would probably hunt out youtube videos.  I also have many fond memories of pinochle... we always played at family events, sometimes we'd have several tables going, depending on how many people were present.  It was a big deal as a kid to be old enough to play, as the rules are a bit tricky!

Basically, pinochle can be played with normal card decks that have been modified, but it's easier to play with pinochle decks, otherwise you need quite a few regular decks.  A pinochle deck has, in order of strength: A, 10, K, Q, J, and sometimes 9s, depending on how many players you are trying to squeeze into a game and so on.  

Player receive their cards, and are partnered with the person sitting across from them in a 4 player game.  In our family, cards could be dealt 2-3 at a time to speed up dealing.  Each player evaluates his hand and decides if he wants to bid, which is essentially a bet about how many points you expect to capture in any given hand.  I think only A, 10, K count for points, but I can't remember for sure.  

Once one player has out-bid the others, he declares a trump suit.  His partner then passes him 3 cards (I believe), and he passes back 3 cards.  

Now all player can lay out on the table cards for points- this is before the hand actually begins to be played.  Marriages (K+Q) and runs (A,10,K,Q,J) in trump are worth points, and things like double marriages and double runs are worth even more.  A pinochle is a Q of spades (?) and J of diamonds (?) and is also worth points regardless of trump suit.  Teams tally their points and record them.  These points count towards the bid of the bidding team, but they must take at least one trick in order to keep them.  

Now play begins.  Everyone picks up their cards, and I can't remember who starts, maybe the bidder.  Anyway, players lay down cards, and high card wins.  If a player is out of the suit being played, he must play trump suit unless he is also out of trump suit.  Trump beats other suits, and if multiple trump cards are played, highest takes the trick.  These piles just get swept up at they are won by the winning team.  When all cards are used up, players count the point in their piles.  

The bidding team can be "set" if they do not meet the bid they bet on.  In this case, they subtract the bid amount from their running total.  The game is usually played in several hands, working to 500 points or whatever.  

 

I can't remember the point values for anything!!!  This was a lot of fun to type out.  A lot of great memories.  

[BlsdMama]

My grandpa taught my girls! It is such a fond memory.  I think my Sarah was about nine when she learned!
 

Check You Tube!

 

 

[Tina]

2 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

I would probably hunt out youtube videos.  I also have many fond memories of pinochle... we always played at family events, sometimes we'd have several tables going, depending on how many people were present.  It was a big deal as a kid to be old enough to play, as the rules are a bit tricky!

Basically, pinochle can be played with normal card decks that have been modified, but it's easier to play with pinochle decks, otherwise you need quite a few regular decks.  A pinochle deck has, in order of strength: A, 10, K, Q, J, and sometimes 9s, depending on how many players you are trying to squeeze into a game and so on.  

Player receive their cards, and are partnered with the person sitting across from them in a 4 player game.  In our family, cards could be dealt 2-3 at a time to speed up dealing.  Each player evaluates his hand and decides if he wants to bid, which is essentially a bet about how many points you expect to capture in any given hand.  I think only A, 10, K count for points, but I can't remember for sure.  

Once one player has out-bid the others, he declares a trump suit.  His partner then passes him 3 cards (I believe), and he passes back 3 cards.  

Now all player can lay out on the table cards for points- this is before the hand actually begins to be played.  Marriages (K+Q) and runs (A,10,K,Q,J) in trump are worth points, and things like double marriages and double runs are worth even more.  A pinochle is a Q of spades (?) and J of diamonds (?) and is also worth points regardless of trump suit.  Teams tally their points and record them.  These points count towards the bid of the bidding team, but they must take at least one trick in order to keep them.  

Now play begins.  Everyone picks up their cards, and I can't remember who starts, maybe the bidder.  Anyway, players lay down cards, and high card wins.  If a player is out of the suit being played, he must play trump suit unless he is also out of trump suit.  Trump beats other suits, and if multiple trump cards are played, highest takes the trick.  These piles just get swept up at they are won by the winning team.  When all cards are used up, players count the point in their piles.  

The bidding team can be "set" if they do not meet the bid they bet on.  In this case, they subtract the bid amount from their running total.  The game is usually played in several hands, working to 500 points or whatever.  

 

I can't remember the point values for anything!!!  This was a lot of fun to type out.  A lot of great memories.  

My favorite game ever.  When I was a kid Dad told me to watch to learn.  All I learned was double king and queen of any suit was a a good thing. lol  (they are worth 30 points meld)  Played it recently with my folks (93 and 82 yrs young) and sister.  Dh never wanted to learn it, and I don't know anyone other than my family that plays.  😞 

We deal 4 cards at a time.  Then the bidding begins at 25 and goes to possibly 40- or more if you have a great hand before trading cards with your partner if you win the bid.  We also sometimes give a skip bid (bid an extra one) to let our partner know we have good cards either for them or to for us to make the 30 meld.  Then next time we pass on bidding if partner didn't drop out of bidding.

We pass 4 cards to our partner.  One of you needs all the trump cards and aces- and jack of diamonds if spades are trump.  The partner not in the lead will hopefully have sets of kings and queens to lay down.

 After playing out the tricks, A,10, K are each worth 1 point, plus last trick is one point.

[gstharr]

All I can remember from watching my folks play is that you  need a fold up vinyl table, with 4 matching fold up chairs, and some tall glasses of 7&7.

[Alicia64]

On 11/22/2020 at 11:31 AM, BaseballandHockey said:

 

 

6 hours ago, Dynamite5 said:

Well, I'm not an expert and there are many, many variations to pinochle, so after you read my post, just Google some rules and see which ones most closely align with the way you learned, lol.

Remember that you have to start with an actual pinochle deck--9s through Aces. We play with 4 people (2 pairs of partners) and 2 decks of cards. For some reason, we do not play with the 9s. That's just how my dad learned and so it's the way he taught us. 

Once you've dealt out the whole deck to the 4 players, each player counts their meld. For us, that means:

Run (A, K, Q, J and 10 in same suit) is 15 points. 2 runs = 150

If you have Aces around it's 10 points, 2 aces around is 100. Kings around is 8, 2 kings around is 80. Queens around is 6, 2 queens around is 60. Jacks around is 4, 2 jacks around is 40. 10s around is nothing.

Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades is 4, two of them are 40.

Marriages (King and queen of same suit) is worth 2 meld points, unless it's in the trump suit, then it's worth 4 points.

 

Players add up their meld and then the player to the left of the dealer bids. Bidding starts at 50. If you have at least 10 meld but no marriage in a suit, then you can't win the bid (because the person who picks trump must have a run or a marriage in the trump suit). You can use "table talk" to give your partner information about your hand. In this particular case, we would say, "Buy me" to let our partner know we have at least 10 points but can't choose trump. To say Pass means you have less than 10 meld. There are many versions of this--you'll be best served by looking up rules that go with what you remember from when you played before.

After a player wins the bid, they must play trump card first (let me back up and say that you have to write down each team's meld points on your score sheet before the round begins.) After all cards have been played, only Aces, 10s and Kings are worth points. One point each, to be exact. Each team must count the cards they've won and the one points must add up to a minimum of 20. If they don't, that teams loses the amount of points they had in meld. If each team gets to 20, then they each add up their points plus their meld--and whichever team won the last hand gets two points--and you keep playing until one team gets to 500 points. 

Clear as mud?!? Pinochle is so much fun, but there are so many different ways to play--I hope I've not confused you!

 

Yes! Perfectly clear as mud, but I'll figure this out -- thank you!!

6 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

I would probably hunt out youtube videos.  I also have many fond memories of pinochle... we always played at family events, sometimes we'd have several tables going, depending on how many people were present.  It was a big deal as a kid to be old enough to play, as the rules are a bit tricky!

Basically, pinochle can be played with normal card decks that have been modified, but it's easier to play with pinochle decks, otherwise you need quite a few regular decks.  A pinochle deck has, in order of strength: A, 10, K, Q, J, and sometimes 9s, depending on how many players you are trying to squeeze into a game and so on.  

Player receive their cards, and are partnered with the person sitting across from them in a 4 player game.  In our family, cards could be dealt 2-3 at a time to speed up dealing.  Each player evaluates his hand and decides if he wants to bid, which is essentially a bet about how many points you expect to capture in any given hand.  I think only A, 10, K count for points, but I can't remember for sure.  

Once one player has out-bid the others, he declares a trump suit.  His partner then passes him 3 cards (I believe), and he passes back 3 cards.  

Now all player can lay out on the table cards for points- this is before the hand actually begins to be played.  Marriages (K+Q) and runs (A,10,K,Q,J) in trump are worth points, and things like double marriages and double runs are worth even more.  A pinochle is a Q of spades (?) and J of diamonds (?) and is also worth points regardless of trump suit.  Teams tally their points and record them.  These points count towards the bid of the bidding team, but they must take at least one trick in order to keep them.  

Now play begins.  Everyone picks up their cards, and I can't remember who starts, maybe the bidder.  Anyway, players lay down cards, and high card wins.  If a player is out of the suit being played, he must play trump suit unless he is also out of trump suit.  Trump beats other suits, and if multiple trump cards are played, highest takes the trick.  These piles just get swept up at they are won by the winning team.  When all cards are used up, players count the point in their piles.  

The bidding team can be "set" if they do not meet the bid they bet on.  In this case, they subtract the bid amount from their running total.  The game is usually played in several hands, working to 500 points or whatever.  

 

I can't remember the point values for anything!!!  This was a lot of fun to type out.  A lot of great memories.  

You Tube videos -- great idea!

4 hours ago, BlsdMama said:

My grandpa taught my girls! It is such a fond memory.  I think my Sarah was about nine when she learned!
 

Check You Tube!

 

 

Awww, sweet grandpa!

3 hours ago, Tina said:

My favorite game ever.  When I was a kid Dad told me to watch to learn.  All I learned was double king and queen of any suit was a a good thing. lol  (they are worth 30 points meld)  Played it recently with my folks (93 and 82 yrs young) and sister.  Dh never wanted to learn it, and I don't know anyone other than my family that plays.  😞 

We deal 4 cards at a time.  Then the bidding begins at 25 and goes to possibly 40- or more if you have a great hand before trading cards with your partner if you win the bid.  We also sometimes give a skip bid (bid an extra one) to let our partner know we have good cards either for them or to for us to make the 30 meld.  Then next time we pass on bidding if partner didn't drop out of bidding.

We pass 4 cards to our partner.  One of you needs all the trump cards and aces- and jack of diamonds if spades are trump.  The partner not in the lead will hopefully have sets of kings and queens to lay down.

 After playing out the tricks, A,10, K are each worth 1 point, plus last trick is one point.

I know! My favorite game ever too! Thanks for this good info!

3 hours ago, gstharr said:

All I can remember from watching my folks play is that you  need a fold up vinyl table, with 4 matching fold up chairs, and some tall glasses of 7&7.

😅

[Junie]

3 hours ago, gstharr said:

All I can remember from watching my folks play is that you  need a fold up vinyl table, with 4 matching fold up chairs, and some tall glasses of 7&7.

My parents and grandparents played "500" often.  I would sit on my grandpa's lap and say things like "Grandpa!  Look at all your red cards!"  It started out innocently, but I continued even after I knew what I was doing. 😉

[SKL]

Yes, I loved it!  I should teach my girls!

I would suggest buying a pinochle deck.  It should have an instruction card, no?  (A Pinochle deck would have 2x the usual 9/10/J/Q/K/A cards, but none from 2-8.)

[Alicia64]

1 hour ago, SKL said:

Yes, I loved it!  I should teach my girls!

I would suggest buying a pinochle deck.  It should have an instruction card, no?  (A Pinochle deck would have 2x the usual 9/10/J/Q/K/A cards, but none from 2-8.)

Would you come to my house and teach me? You're not in Atlanta, are you? Just checking.

Thanks for the info!

[Tina]

Forgot to add!!   9 of trump counts for 1 meld point.