Games and lengthy posts

Game Time!

 

After countless hours of watching Poirot and similar shows, it may be time to have a quick lesson on two of the classic card games at parties: Bridge, and Pinochle.  Oddly enough, these games are very rarely played at the same time. Pinochle players tend to stick with Pinochle, and Bridge players stick with Bridge. Below, we will run through the basic rules of each game, that way no matter which party you attend, you will feel right at home. :D

Enjoy!

Pinochle:

Let’s start with this fun little game. The basic rules are simple enough, but learning the skill and expected play styles may take a little longer. The first thing you need to know about pinochle, is that it is played with a special deck of cards. A pinochle deck has only 48 cards, and contains cards 9-Ace in each suit (doubled, there are duplicates of every card). The dealer shuffles the cards, and deals out 12 to each player. A typical game is played either 4 rounds, or until one team gets a total of 150 points.

Pinochle is broken into 3 stages: the bidding stage, the melding stage, and the playing stage.

Bidding Stage:

If you have ever played hearts, spades, or rook, the bidding stage is similar. You bid on how many points you and your partner can make by the end of the round. The highest bidding team win the bid, and must make at least that many points by the end of the round, or they “go set” that is, gain no points for the round, and go negative the number of points they bid. The bid starts at 25 points.

Melding Stage:

Once players are finished bidding, the team with the winning bid calls trump (I will get to this in a minute) and is allowed to pass exactly 4 cards facedown from one player to the other. The player collects these cards, and selects 4 to send back. The player who won the bid is allowed to announce which suit is trump. His partner will then try to pass him trump cards, aces, and other helpful cards. Then the player will build his hand, and pass back whatever he doesn’t need to his teammate. Then, each player at the table lays down any sets of cards in their hand which will gain their team points. I have attached a list of available sets below:

 

Card Combination	Description	Single	Double
A,K,Q,J,10 in trump	Run	15	150
K,Q in trump	Marriage	4	8
K,Q in suit	Marriage	2	4
9 in trump	9	1	2
A,A,A,A (One Ace in every suit)	Aces Around	10	100
K,K,K,K	Kings Around	8	80
Q,Q,Q,Q	Queens Around	6	60
J,J,J,J	Jacks Around	4	40
Q of spades and J of diamonds	Pinochle	4	30

 

As you can see, if you are able to collect a double, that is, 2 of any card combination, this significantly increases your points.

Playing Stage:

Once all players have recorded their points so far, the players all pick up their hands and play out the cards. Whichever team won the bid is allowed to pick the trump suit for the round. They usually pick the suit they are dealt strongest in. A trump card will always beat a non-trump card in play. When playing cards, players must abide by the following rules:

A player must follow the suit led unless he or she cannot.

When a player cannot follow suit, they must play a trump card unless they are out of trump (when a player is out of trump, and the led suit, they may play whatever card they want).

When following suit, a player must play a higher card if they can.

Highest card in suit takes the trick (unless trump was played, in which case highest trump on the table takes the trick).

When the play is over, each team counts their point cards, and adds this to their meld points. Points for cards are as follows:

Ace: 1 point

King: 1 point

10: 1 point

Every other card: 0 points

Last trick is worth 1 point

The total points is what the team made for the round.*

*If a team melded points, and then took no tricks during the round, they lose their melded points.

Tips for playing:

Once you learn the game, you may notice little nuances in the game that you are expected to know. Sort of like going to a poker game, and then forgetting to put up the blind. Here is a quick list of expectations for a game of pinochle:

When bidding, if you are dealt no cards in a suit (or just the 9 in suit) let your partner know by giving him or her a jump bid. For example, if you opened the bidding, start at 26. This lets your partner know you may not have the cards they need.

When passing cards, if your partner took the bid, pass him trump first, then aces, then 9 in trump if you have it. Remember, your goal is to help him make his run.

Pinochle: a double pinochle is worth 30 points, and very valuable. If your partner calls either diamonds or spades as his trump suit, pass him any J of diamonds or Q of spades you have.

Counting cards is okay in this game. It is expected you are calculating where cards are likely to be. Counting cards can be tricky at first. There are 2 of every card in the deck. Start with your hand. What do you have? What do you need for a run? Is your partner likely to have what you need? Then look around the table as players meld their cards. Does another player have a lot of aces on the table? Remember that and use it to draw out his or her aces early in the game to take control of the end game.

I think that’s about it for pinochle. This turned out to be along post, so I will post Bridge separately.