Rules and Scores

Pinochle Rules

A four-player partnership auction game: bid, meld, win tricks and play to 150.

  • 4 players in two partnerships
  • About 1 hour for a game
  • First team to 150 wins

What you need

  • A 48-card Pinochle deck: the A, 10, K, Q, J and 9 of each suit, two of each card
  • Pen and paper, or the free score keeper

Players and time

4 players in two partnerships. About 1 hour for a game.

The goal

Be the first partnership to reach the target score, 150 points in this version, at the end of a hand. Each hand has an auction. The team that wins the bid names the trump suit, and promises to score at least its bid from meld (card combinations shown before play) plus the point cards it wins in tricks.

This page uses the one-point scale, where a bare run is 15 and a counter card is 1 point. Many printed rules multiply every value by ten (a run is 150 and the target is 1,500). The two scales are the same game.

Setup

  1. Four players sit in two partnerships, with partners across from each other. Deal 12 cards to each player.
  2. Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left and goes clockwise. The lowest opening bid is 25 and bids go up in steps of 1. A player who passes cannot bid again. If everyone else passes, the dealer must take the bid at 25. Some groups use a lower minimum, such as 15 or 20.
  3. The high bidder names the trump suit. Their partner then passes four cards, face down, across the table to the bidder, and the bidder passes four cards back.
  4. Then every player lays out their meld face up, and the team totals are added together (see Meld).

A turn

  1. The bidder leads the first trick. After that, the winner of each trick leads the next. Play goes clockwise.
  2. You must follow suit if you can. You must also play a higher card than the highest one so far in the trick, if you can.
  3. If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one, and a higher trump than any already in the trick if you can. If you have no cards of the suit and no trump, you may play any card.
  4. 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 one played first wins. The order of cards in each suit is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.
  5. When all 12 tricks have been played, each team counts the counters it won (see Scoring). The team that wins the last trick gets 1 extra point.
  6. Add each team's meld and counters. The bidding team needs to reach its bid. Then enter the hand in the score keeper.

Special cards and combinations

Meld
Meld is a set of cards held by one player, shown after the passing. Each player shows only the cards needed to prove the meld. Both partners' meld is added together. Meld is counted for the team when the hand is scored, not when it is shown. The table below gives the values.
Runs and marriages
A run is the A, 10, K, Q and J of the trump suit. A marriage is the K and Q of the same suit, and a royal marriage is a marriage in the trump suit. A trump run with an extra king or an extra queen scores more than a bare run, and so does a run with an extra king and queen.
Pinochle
A pinochle is the jack of diamonds and the queen of spades together. Both cards of each, so two jacks of diamonds and two queens of spades, make a double pinochle.
Arounds
Aces around is one ace of each suit, kings around is one king of each suit, queens around and jacks around work the same way. Having both cards of every suit (eight cards) is worth ten times as much. Tens around are worth nothing.
The nine of trump (dix)
Each nine of the trump suit is worth 1 point as meld. It is the one piece of meld a team keeps even if it takes no counters.
Sharing cards between melds
A card can be part of more than one meld if the melds are of different types: marriages and runs, pinochles, and arounds. For example, a queen of spades can be in a marriage and in a pinochle and in queens around, but it cannot be in two different marriages.
Going set
If the bidding team's meld plus counters comes to less than its bid, it goes set. It scores no meld or counters, and the amount of the bid is taken off its score. Its score can go below zero. The other team still scores its meld and counters.
Not on the board (throwing in)
The tricks hold only 25 points. If the bid is more than 25 above the bidding team's meld, the team cannot make it. Pagat calls this not being "on the board". The team may throw in the hand: it loses the amount of its bid, and the other team scores its meld only.
A team that takes no points loses its meld
If a team wins no counters and not the last trick, it does not score its meld for the hand. The only exception is the nine of trump. The score keeper does this for you: when a team's counters are 0, it leaves out that team's meld. It does not handle the nine-of-trump exception, so in that rare case turn off "A team that scores no counters scores no meld" in the settings for that hand.

Scoring

A team's score for a hand is its meld plus its counters. Counters are the aces, tens and kings it wins in tricks, 1 point each, plus 1 point for the last trick. There are 24 counter cards and so 25 points in total.

The bidding team scores its meld plus counters if that total at least equals its bid. Otherwise it loses its bid. The other team scores its meld plus counters, unless it took no point cards at all, in which case it scores no meld.

The values below are on the one-point scale. To score with the ten-times scale used in many rulebooks, multiply them all by ten. The score keeper adds the numbers you type in, so enter each team's total meld and its counters.

Meld or cardPoints
Run (A, 10, K, Q, J of trump)15
Run with an extra king or an extra queen19
Run with an extra king and queen (an extra marriage)23
Double run (two complete runs in trump)150
Royal marriage (K and Q of trump)4
Marriage (K and Q of any other suit)2
Nine of trump (each)1
Pinochle (jack of diamonds and queen of spades)4
Double pinochle (two of each)30
Aces around / double aces around10 / 100
Kings around / double kings around8 / 80
Queens around / double queens around6 / 60
Jacks around / double jacks around4 / 40
Tens around0
Counter cards won in tricks: ace, ten, king1 each
Winning the last trick1
Queens, jacks and nines won in tricks0

Worked example

Team A wins the bid at 30. Its partners show a royal marriage (4) and aces around (10), so its meld is 14. It needs 16 more points from tricks. Team A wins 17 counters, including the last trick. 14 + 17 = 31, which is at least 30, so it makes the bid and scores 31. Team B shows queens around (6) and wins the other 8 counters: 6 + 8 = 14.

If Team A had won only 12 counters, it would have 14 + 12 = 26, which is less than 30. It goes set and scores -30. Team B would have 25 - 12 = 13 counters, and with its meld of 6 it would score 6 + 13 = 19.

Keep score with the Pinochle score keeper

How to win

The first partnership to reach 150 points at the end of a hand wins. If both teams reach 150 in the same hand, the bidding team wins, whatever the totals.

Pagat says that four-player games are generally played to 1,500 on the ten-times scale, which is 150 here. Other sources use 1,000 or 1,500 on that scale, so you can change the target in the settings.

Common house rules

These are house rules. They are not part of the official rules, so agree on them before you start.

The ten-times scale House rule
Many rule sheets multiply everything by ten: a run is 150, a marriage 20, a counter card 10, the minimum bid 250 and the target 1,500. It is the same game. In the score keeper, change the target to match and enter your numbers on that scale.
Other minimum bids House rule
Some groups open at 15 or 20 (150 or 200 on the ten-times scale) instead of 25. Stonebridge pinochle uses 19.
No passing between partners (cutthroat) House rule
Some groups skip the pass of four cards between the bidder and the partner. That makes bids lower and set hands more common.
No extra points for a single extra king or queen in a run House rule
Some groups score a bare run at 15 and count nothing extra for one extra king or queen. In that case a run with an extra king or queen is 15, and the extra marriage is counted separately.
Older and newer play rules House rule
The rules above require each player to beat the highest card played so far when they can. Some rule books written since 1945 only require you to follow a trump lead with a trump, and do not make you beat the highest card. Agree on one before you start.
Double pinochle scoring as two singles House rule
In some versions, such as Stonebridge, a double pinochle or double meld scores as two single melds. Use the table above unless your group says otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

What score do you play to in Pinochle?

In four-player partnership Pinochle with the one-point scale, the target is usually 150 points, which is 1,500 on the ten-times scale. Some groups use 100 or 120 (1,000 or 1,200). The score keeper default is 150, and you can change it.

What is the lowest bid?

A bid of 25 on the one-point scale (250 on the ten-times scale) is the usual opening bid. The dealer must take the bid at 25 if everyone else passes. Some groups open at 15 or 20.

What happens if the bidding team does not make its bid?

It goes set. It scores no meld and no counters, and its score drops by the amount it bid. The other team scores its meld and counters as normal.

Does a team keep its meld if it takes no tricks?

Not if it wins no counters and not the last trick. A team that takes no point cards at all scores none of its meld, except for the nine of trump, which keeps its 1 point. The score keeper leaves out the meld of a team whose counters are 0, but it does not handle the nine-of-trump exception.

How many points are in the tricks?

There are 25 points: 24 for the aces, tens and kings (1 each) and 1 for the last trick. The queens, jacks and nines are worth nothing. Since only 25 points are available, a team whose meld is more than 25 short of its bid cannot make it.

What if both teams reach 150 in the same hand?

The bidding team in that hand wins, regardless of the actual totals. That is the rule in Pagat's partnership game. The score keeper follows the same rule: if both teams reach the target in one hand, the team that bid wins.

Do you have to pass cards to your partner?

In the main version, yes: the bidder's partner passes four cards to the bidder, who passes four back. Some groups play without the pass, which is called cutthroat.

What is a pinochle?

It is the jack of diamonds with the queen of spades. One pinochle is worth 4 points as meld, and a double pinochle (both of each card) is worth 30. The game is named after it.

Sources