Pinochle▶Play

The deck has 48 cards: two copies each of 9, J, Q, K, 10 and A in spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. In every suit A beats 10, which beats K, Q, J and 9; when two identical cards meet, the one played first wins. Aces, tens and kings are worth 10 card points each and the rest nothing, so the deck holds 240 card points and the last trick adds 10 more.

Each player gets 12 cards and the next card is turned face up under the stock: its suit is trump for the whole deal and it is the last card anyone draws. If that card is a 9, the dealer scores 10 at once. The computer deals the first match, so you lead the first trick; after that the deal alternates. While the stock lasts you may play any card — you never have to follow suit. A trick goes to the highest trump, otherwise to the highest card of the suit led. The winner may lay down one meld, then draws the top card, the loser draws the next, and the winner leads. After the 12th trick the loser takes the face-up card.

Melds: run (A, 10, K, Q, J of trumps) 150; royal marriage (K and Q of trumps) 40; marriage (K and Q of another suit) 20; dix (9 of trumps) 10, and if the face-up card is still under the stock your 9 is swapped for it; pinochle (Q of spades and J of diamonds) 40; double pinochle (both of each) 300; aces around (an A of every suit) 100, kings around 80, queens around 60, jacks around 40. Melded cards stay in your hand, face up for the rival to see, and can still be played. A card can be used again only in a meld of a different group — sequence melds (run, marriages, dix), pinochles, or the four “around” melds — so a K and Q already melded as a royal marriage cannot later count in a run.

When the stock is gone the last 12 tricks are the playoff, with strict rules: follow the suit led and beat the trick if you can; with none of that suit you must trump; only with neither may you play anything. No more melds. Card points, melds and the 10 for the last trick are added up, and the higher total wins the match; equal totals are a draw.

Every match you win adds one to your streak and the rival climbs a level: level 1 plays at random, level 2 follows simple rules of thumb, level 3 counts every card, keeps its meld cards, waits for a run instead of cashing a royal marriage and searches the playoff trick by trick, and level 4, from your fourth match on, also plays out dozens of possible deals in its head before each card while the stock lasts. A loss or a draw ends the run, and so does pressing New. Your saved score is streak × 10,000 plus your margin: your total minus the rival's in each match you won, added up to at most 9,999.

Tips & strategy

Melds usually decide a two-handed deal more than tricks do. A run is 150 and a double pinochle 300, while all the card points together are 250 — so in the stock phase, winning a trick is worth far more when you are holding a meld than when you are not. With a marriage or aces around waiting in your hand, win cheap tricks: take a pointless lead with a low trump, then lay the meld down before you draw. With nothing to meld, let the rival win tricks that carry no aces, tens or kings.

Meld in the right order. You may lay down only one meld per trick won, so cash the biggest one first unless a bigger one is still growing: holding the A, 10 and J of trumps, do not spend your trump K and Q as a 40-point royal marriage — under these rules that pair can no longer count toward a 150-point run. Cards can be shared across groups, though: a Q of spades can be in a marriage, a pinochle and queens around, so meld those one after another on successive tricks.

Remember what the rival has shown. Melded cards stay face up in the rival's row until they are played, so you know exactly which trump K, which aces and which Q of spades it still holds. Count the trumps that have gone: there are 12 in the deck, and in the playoff the side with more trumps left usually collects the 10 for the last trick and most of the tens. Keep at least one high trump for the playoff rather than spending it on a 10-point trick early.

The last stock trick matters. Whoever loses the 12th trick takes the face-up trump card, so if it is an ace or ten of trumps, losing that trick on purpose with a worthless card can be the best play of the deal. In the playoff you must beat the trick whenever you can, so a rival who leads a low card of your strong suit forces your ace or ten onto it, and if you are void you must spend a trump. Holding the top cards of a suit, lead them yourself early in the playoff while the rival still has cards of that suit to follow with.