I was recently invited to Bill K's bi-weekly
Pinocle group, after he discovered our mutual interest in cards. It's been a privilege to attend twice now, and has been quite entertaining.
I am more comfortable with bridge, spades, hearts and their ilk in the trick-taking family. My pioneer partner and I played pinocle back in 1991 for a short while, after I discovered the game in a book by
John Scarne. (
Scarne invented a few games too, and was very famous back in the 40's and 50's for his card tricks and being an expert in how to detect a card cheat).
I came in 4th of 7 the first time I played, and was "set" twice. Last night I was only set once after I made a mistake in under-bidding a double-run (A-10-K-Q-J twice), but improved my defensive play, and managed to bid and make a 215 point contract with 55 of 144 pointers (minimum being 37, the highest taken last night being about 65).
Next time I play, I will certainly not get set back, or misdeal (which I also did both nights), which should allow me to compete for a win.
Here's how they play:
For every player over 2 they add an extra deck, and remove the 9's. This means 6 decks in a seven player game, A-10-K-Q-J. So there are 12 of each card in each suit, 240 cards in a deck. 33 cards are dealt to each player, and 9 are dealt to the middle as a "kitty".
Bidding starts at 50, increments of 1 till 100, then by 5. Players must bid or pass for the right to chose a trump suit, and also exchange 9 cards in their hand for 9 cards in the kitty which is turned face up, then exchanged face down. If aces are buried they must be called out (this has not happened yet).
Meld is worth the following:
A's = 10, double 100, triple 300
K's = 8, double 80, triple 240
Q's = 6, double 60, triple 180
J's = 4, doubled 40, triple 120
Runs (A,10,K,Q,J of trump) are worth 16 single, 32 double. Double runs are worth 150 IF AT LEAST 150 IS BID BY THE THIRD BID. If a player melds a double run but does not bid 150+ by the third bid, the double run counts only as 32. Note: This is a very important rule, and probably the only "gut-check" made during the bidding process, unless a player is taking a wild chance due to the scoring situation).
Pincole (Q spades, Jack diamonds) 4, double 40, triple 120
Marriages, 2 non trump, 4 trump
Must have at least a marriage in trump to take the bid.
Must have at least 20 meld to lay meld, and must take at least one trick for meld to count.
A hand dealt with a player having no aces is handled as a mis-deal. Dealer loses 50 on a misdeal and deal is passed.
Game is made @ 250 times the number of players minus one, so 1500 for a 7-player game.
Bidder lays first card, and must take 37 pointers out of 160. To this they add their melded points, and if this exceeds their bid they score their total points. Non-bidders play against the bidder, and it's a team effort to try to take him down.
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