How to Play Pinochle With Rules and Scoring Tips

Pinochle looks impossible the first time someone explains it: a strange 48 card deck, a bidding round, a meld round, and then tricks on top of all that. Most people give up before the first hand. The good news is that learning how to play pinochle is mostly about doing three simple things in order, and after two or three hands the pieces click.

This guide covers the most common version, four player partnership pinochle with a single 48 card deck, along with the scoring and a few tips that help new players stop throwing points away.

The deck and the setup

A pinochle deck has 48 cards: two copies each of the 9, Jack, Queen, King, 10 and Ace in all four suits. You can buy one for a few dollars, or build one from two standard decks by pulling out everything from 2 through 8.

The rank order is the first thing that trips people up. From highest to lowest within a suit:

1. Ace
2. 10
3. King
4. Queen
5. Jack
6. 9

Yes, the 10 beats the King. Partners sit across from each other, and the dealer gives each player 12 cards, usually three or four at a time. Deal passes to the left after each hand.

How to play pinochle in three phases

Every hand runs through the same three phases: bidding, meld, and trick play. Points from meld and points from tricks add together at the end of the hand.

Phase one, bidding

Starting to the dealer's left, each player either bids or passes. The opening bid is usually 20 in the scoring system used here, and each new bid must be at least 1 higher. Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for that hand. Bidding ends when three players have passed. The high bidder names the trump suit and commits their team to scoring at least the bid amount.

Many groups add a pass round: the bidder's partner passes 3 cards to the bidder, and the bidder passes 3 back. It helps the bidder build meld in trump. Agree on this before the first deal.

Phase two, meld

Each player lays out any scoring combinations from their hand face up so everyone can see, then picks the cards back up. Partners add their meld together. The main melds and their values:

A card can count in two melds of different types. The King of hearts can be part of kings around and a marriage at the same time. It cannot count twice in the same type of meld.

Phase three, trick play

The bidder leads the first trick. Players must follow these rules, in this order:

• Follow the suit that was led if you can.
• If you can follow, you must play a card that wins the trick if you have one. This is called heading the trick.
• If you cannot follow suit, you must play trump if you have it.
• Only if you have neither the led suit nor trump can you throw any card.

The highest trump wins, or the highest card of the led suit if no trump was played. When two identical cards are played, the one played first wins. The winner of each trick leads the next.

Scoring a hand

In this common modern count, Aces, 10s and Kings are counters, worth 1 point each. Queens, Jacks and 9s are worth nothing in tricks. The team that takes the last trick gets 1 extra point. That makes 25 points available in trick play each hand.

A team must take at least one trick to keep its meld. Then:

• If the bidding team's meld plus counters reaches the bid, they score the whole total.
• If they fall short, they lose the amount of the bid from their score. This is called going set.
• The other team scores its meld plus counters as long as it took at least one trick.

First team to 150 points wins. If both pass 150 in the same hand, the bidding team wins.

Don't overvalue your meld when you bid

New players often hear "bid your meld plus what you hope your partner has." It sounds sensible and it gets people set constantly. The problem is that meld you see is solid, but trick points depend on control of the trump suit. A hand with 14 meld and only two trump cards will often lose the trick battle badly.

A better rule of thumb for beginners: count your meld, then add about 1 point for each trump card past the fourth, and 1 for each Ace you hold outside trump. Only stretch past that if your partner bid earlier, which signals they have meld to give. It is less exciting, but in my games it cut the number of sets in half within an evening.

Strategy tips for new players

• Lead your Aces early. An Ace in a side suit is safest before anyone runs out of that suit and can trump it.
• Feed points to your partner. When your partner is clearly winning a trick, throw a 10 or King onto it. Those are counters you would otherwise risk losing.
• Count trump. There are 12 trump cards in the deck. Track how many have fallen so you know when it is safe to lead a side suit.
• Save a winner for the last trick. That 1 point decides a surprising number of close hands.

If you are teaching a group that has never played a trick taking game, start with a few hands of something simpler first. Our guides on how to play euchre and how to play spades both build the habits pinochle depends on, and our piece on teaching card games to someone who hates rules helps with the explanation itself.

Frequently asked questions

How many cards are in a pinochle deck?

A standard pinochle deck has 48 cards: two each of 9, Jack, Queen, King, 10 and Ace in four suits. Some double deck variants use 80 cards with no 9s. For a first game, the 48 card deck is easier.

Can you play pinochle with 3 people?

Yes. Three player pinochle deals 15 cards each with a 3 card kitty that goes to the high bidder. Everyone plays for themselves, so there are no partners. It is a good way to learn before playing in teams.

What is the hardest part of learning pinochle?

For most people it is the card rank, with the 10 above the King, and the rule that you must win a trick when you can. Write the rank order on a scrap of paper for the first few hands. After about 20 minutes it becomes automatic.