Deal & Tally
A partnership game for 4 players using a 48-card Pinochle deck: two copies each of 9, J, Q, K, 10 and A in every suit. Cards rank A, 10, K, Q, J, 9.
Setup
Partners sit across from each other. Deal 12 cards to each player.
Bidding
- Starting left of the dealer, each player bids the total points their team expects to score (meld plus counters), or passes. Bids usually start around 20.
- The highest bidder names trump.
Meld
After trump is named, every player shows their meld and each team adds it up. Common melds:
| Run in trump (A, 10, K, Q, J) | 15 |
| Marriage in trump (K, Q) | 4 |
| Other marriage | 2 |
| 9 of trump (dix) | 1 |
| Pinochle (Q♠, J♦) | 4 |
| Double pinochle | 30 |
| Aces around (one ace of each suit) | 10 |
| Kings around | 8 |
| Queens around | 6 |
| Jacks around | 4 |
Play
The bidder leads. You must follow suit and must try to win the trick if you can. If you can't follow suit, you must play trump if you have it.
Counters
Each ace, 10 and king taken in tricks is worth 1, and the last trick is worth 1 more, for 25 in all.
Scoring
- If the bidding team's meld plus counters reaches their bid, they score it all. If not, they're set and lose the amount bid.
- The other team scores their meld plus counters, but only if they took at least one trick. Without a trick, their meld doesn't count.
Winning
The first team to 150 wins.