Pinochle FAQ

Pinochle is a classic trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships, played with a 48-card deck — two copies of 9 through Ace in each suit. Players bid for the right to name trump, score meld (card combinations) for their hand, then play 12 tricks. The bidding team must reach their bid in combined meld and trick points or they are set.

Yes. playpinochle.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, and there are no interruptive video ads, premium tiers, or paywalls.

No. The game is the website — a 100% browser-based build with no app store download and no sign-up. Your stats are saved locally in your browser, so there is no login to manage.

Pinochle descends from the European trick-taking game Bezique and took its modern form and name among German-American communities in the United States in the second half of the 19th century. It became one of the most widely played partnership card games in North America through the 20th century.

Each of four players is dealt 12 cards. Starting left of the dealer, players bid or pass in turn, each bid raising the last by at least 10 from a 50-point opening; the last bidder standing names trump. Meld is then revealed automatically for every hand. The bid winner leads the first trick; players must follow suit, and must trump if void of the suit led. Highest trump wins a trick, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played. Add meld and trick points per team — the bidding team scores their total if it meets their bid, or loses the bid amount if it does not.

A single-deck pinochle pack has 48 cards — two copies each of the 9, Jack, Queen, King, 10, and Ace in every suit. There are no 2s through 8s. Each of the four players receives 12 cards.

Meld is scored from your 12-card hand once trump is named: a run of A-10-K-Q-J in trump is 15, a marriage (King-Queen of one suit) is 4 in trump or 2 elsewhere, pinochle (Queen of spades with Jack of diamonds) is 4, and "around" melds — one of a rank in every suit — score 10 for aces, 8 for kings, 6 for queens, and 4 for jacks. Holding both copies of a combination scores far more, up to 1500 for a double run.

If the bidding team’s meld plus trick points for the hand do not reach the amount they bid, they are "set": they score nothing for the hand and instead lose points equal to their bid. The other team still banks their own meld and trick points as normal.

Yes. You must play a card of the suit led if you hold one. If you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump card if you have any. Only when you can do neither may you discard any card freely.

You play South with a computer partner at North, against computer opponents at West and East — the same seating used by every hand. Your partner’s meld and trick points combine with yours for team scoring.

The first partnership to reach 500 combined points, tallied hand by hand, wins the match. A hand that pushes the bidding team over 500 only counts if they actually made their bid — a set hand never wins the match even if the raw total would have crossed the line.

Add your hand’s likely meld to a realistic estimate of the trick points you and your partner can take with that trump suit — aces, tens, and trump length all count. Bid to that number, not higher, since falling short costs you the full bid.

Pick the suit where your hand’s meld and length are both strongest, not just the suit with your biggest single combination. A long trump suit lets you control later tricks even after your best meld cards are gone.

As the trump-naming player, a common opening is a side-suit ace to bank points while it is still live, or a trump lead if you hold enough length to draw out the opponents’ trump before they can use it defensively.

Meld only counts toward your bid if your team also takes enough trick points to close the gap. A hand heavy in meld but short on aces, tens, or trump length can still fall short in play — bid with both halves of the hand in mind.

Games played and won, your best single-hand meld, your best winning match score, and your win streak are saved locally in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. A match in progress is not saved if you close the tab.

Yes. The table is built for touch: tap the bid controls, tap a suit to name trump, and tap a card to play it. The whole table fits on one portrait screen, and a new match starts instantly with no page reload.

The three computer seats bid based on their hand’s realistic meld and trick strength, choose trump to maximize their own hand, and play tricks by trying to win cheaply when needed and conserving strength when their partner already holds the trick.

Open Stats from the game menu and use Reset progress, then confirm with the second tap. That clears games played, games won, best meld, best match score, and streaks on this browser. It cannot be undone.

Any current browser with JavaScript: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari on desktop, plus their mobile versions. If the table does not respond, update the browser, allow scripts for this site, and reload.