How to Play Pinochle: Rules for Beginners

The pinochle deck and card ranking

• A 48-card pinochle deck. It has two each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace in every suit. You cannot make one from a single regular deck.
• Four players in two teams. Partners sit across from each other. (Two players can play too: see 2-handed pinochle.)
• Paper and pencil for the score. The numbers get big, so a running total helps.

In every suit the cards rank, high to low: ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine. When two identical cards fall in the same trick, the one played first wins. More on the pinochle deck, and how to make one from two regular decks.

The goal of the game

You score points in two ways:

1. Meld: special card combinations in your hand, shown on the table before play. For example, a king and queen of the same suit (a marriage).
2. Counters: the aces, tens and kings you win in tricks.

A trick is one round where each player plays one card. Each hand, one team wins the bid and promises to score at least that many points. The first team to 1500 points wins the game.

The deal

1. Pick a first dealer any way you like. After each hand the deal moves one seat to the left.
2. The dealer shuffles and deals all 48 cards, three at a time, starting on their left.
3. Everyone gets 12 cards. There is no stock and no turned-up card in the four-player game.

Bidding

The bid is a promise: “My team will score at least this many points this hand, with meld and counters together.”

1. The player to the dealer's left speaks first. Going left, each player either bids or passes.
2. The lowest bid is 250. Each new bid must be higher, in steps of 10. You may jump, for example from 260 to 300.
3. Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for this hand.
4. Bidding ends when three players have passed. The last bidder is the declarer.
5. If the first three players all pass, the dealer is stuck: the dealer takes the bid at 250.

How much should you bid? Add up your meld, then guess what your partner will add, often about 20 to 40. Counters bring in roughly 100 to 150 more for a good hand. Bid only what your team can reach together.

Naming trump and passing cards

1. The declarer names the trump suit. A trump beats any card of another suit.
2. The declarer's partner passes 4 cards face down to the declarer. Good passes are trumps and aces.
3. The declarer then passes 4 cards back. These may include cards just received.

Meld: showing scoring cards

After passing, everyone lays their meld face up on the table. Each team adds up its meld and writes it down. Then everyone picks their cards up again for the play. Our online game finds your best meld for you.

Doubles score far more: a double run is 1500, and all eight aces are 1000. A run with an extra king or queen of trump is 190; with both, 230. See every value with card pictures on our printable pinochle meld chart.

One card, two melds: the class rule. Melds come in three classes: A (runs, marriages, dix), B (arounds) and C (pinochle). A card may count in two melds only if they are of different classes. The K♠ can be in a spade marriage and in kings around. It cannot be in two marriages.

Playing the tricks

1. The declarer leads the first trick with any card.
2. Going left, each player plays one card. You must follow suit if you can.
3. If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one.
4. You must always beat the winning card if you can. If a trump is already winning and you can follow suit, any card of the suit led is fine.
5. The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. If two identical cards tie, the first one played wins.
6. The winner takes the cards and leads the next trick. Play all 12 tricks.

Counters and the last trick

After the play, each team counts the cards it won. Only three ranks count:

• Every ace, ten and king = 10 points. These are called counters.
• Queens, jacks and nines count nothing.
• Winning the last trick adds 10 more.

There are 24 counters in the deck, so each hand has 250 points to win in tricks.

Scoring a hand

• Saving the meld: the defending team keeps its meld only if it wins at least one counter (or the last trick) during the play. Nines of trump “save themselves”: they count even if the team wins nothing.
• Throwing in: if the declarer sees the bid cannot be made, they may concede before play. Their team loses the bid, and the other team scores only its meld.
• A team's score can go below zero.

Example. You bid 300. Your team melds 180 and wins 140 in counters: 320. You made it, so you score 320. With only 110 in counters you would have 290, and you would lose 300 instead.

Add up any hand with our pinochle score calculator.

Winning the game

Deal again, with the deal moving left, until a team reaches 1500 points. If both teams pass 1500 in the same hand, the team that won the bid wins the game.

2-handed pinochle

Two players use the same deck, ranking and meld values. There is no bidding, and the game has two halves.

1. Deal: 12 cards each, three at a time. Turn the next card face up: its suit is trump. Put the rest face down across it as the stock. If the turned card is a nine, the dealer scores 10 at once.
2. First half, while the stock lasts: the non-dealer leads. You may play any card; you do not have to follow suit. A trick goes to the higher trump, or the higher card of the suit led.
3. Meld after you win a trick: the winner may lay down one meld face up and score it. Then the winner draws the top card of the stock, and the loser draws the next. Melded cards stay on the table, but you may still play them to tricks.
4. The dix swap: the first player to meld the nine of trump (the dix) swaps it for the turned-up trump card, and scores 10.
5. Second half, the last 12 tricks: when the stock is gone, pick up your melded cards. No more meld. Now the strict rules apply: follow suit, else trump, and beat the card led if you can. The last trick scores 10.
6. Counting: classic rules count A 11, 10 = 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2. Many people use the simpler count of 10 for every ace, ten and king. Either way there are 250 points per hand.
7. Game: usually 1000 or 1200 points.

Our online game offers both the four-player partnership game and 2-handed pinochle against the computer. A full walk-through: 2 player pinochle rules.

Double deck pinochle

Double deck pinochle is a popular version for four players in two teams. It uses an 80-card deck: the A, 10, K, Q and J of each suit, four copies of each, and no nines. Each player gets 20 cards. With so many copies, much bigger melds are possible, such as two or three pinochles, or a double run. The bidding and play are much like the single-deck game, but the numbers and the meld table are different.

Our free game and the rules on this page use the classic single 48-card deck. For full double deck rules, see our double deck pinochle rules, or Double Deck Pinochle on pagat.com.

House rules and variations

Pinochle families love their own rules. Agree on these before you start:

• Minimum bid: 250 is common, but some tables open at 150, 200 or 300.
• Passing: some groups pass 3 cards instead of 4, or don't pass at all.
• Game length: 1000 for a quick game, 2500 for a long evening.
• Pass with help: at some tables a player may “pass” in a way that tells their partner they hold good meld. Our game does not use this.
• Counting: older rules count A 11, 10 = 10, K 4, Q 3, J 2. Most four-player games today count 10 for each ace, ten and king.
• 2-handed melding: some players draw from the stock first and meld after. We follow the more common order: meld, then draw.
• Three-handed pinochle: each player plays alone, and the bid winner takes a small widow of extra cards.

Our online game follows the rules on this page: minimum bid 250, dealer stuck, pass 4 cards, game to 1500.

Strategy tips for beginners

• Count your meld before you bid. Meld is the safe part of your score. Counters depend on the play.
• Pass your partner trumps and aces. If you are the declarer's partner, those cards help most.
• Lead aces early. An ace can only lose to a trump, so cash it before the other side runs out of that suit.
• Feed counters to your partner. When your partner is sure to win the trick, play a ten or king on it.
• Remember there are two of every card. Your ten is not safe until both aces of that suit have been played.
• Don't forget the last trick. It is worth 10 points and can decide a close bid.

Bidding with numbers, and more plays: pinochle strategy.