PINOCLE

Pinocle is frequently spelt Pinochle, but the Oxford English Dictionary does not sanction the ‘h’. It was derived from the old French game of Bezique, and was popular in Europe as a two-handed game.

It has become extremely popular in the United States, where it is played by three or more players. The original form is described here and the version for more players is to be found in the later section of this book where card games for four are described.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

Pinocle is for two players.

CARDS

Pinocle is played with a pack of 48 cards, consisting of two Aces, 10s, Kings, Jacks, 9s ( in this order) from each of the four suits.

Twelve cards are dealt to each player, either three or four cards at a time, and the next card is turned face upwards to indicate the trump suit. The rest of the pack is placed face downwards on the table to half cover the exposed card.

THE PLAY

The object of the game is to win tricks that include those cards which carry a scoring value when won in a trick, and to meld certain combinations of cards that carry a scoring value.

When taken in a trick each Ace scores 11 points, each 10 scores ten points, each King four points, each Queen three points, and each Jack two points. The player who wins the last trick scores 10 points.

The values of the melds are:

The non-dealer leads to the first trick. thereafter the winner of a trick leads to the next. It is not necessary for a player to follow suit to a led card. The winner of a trick replenishes his hand by taking the top card of the stock; the loser of the trick takes the next.