How to play Double Deck Pinochle: card game rules & interactive tutorial
Double Deck Pinochle is a 4-player card game. There are two teams of two players, with partners sitting across from each other. If you want the single-deck version, try Pinochle. Points are scored in two ways, through "melding" and "trick-taking".
After cards are dealt, players combine their cards into particular patterns called "meld" to earn points. All players display their meld and points are recorded.
Next, each person plays a card into a "trick". The highest-ranking card wins the trick for the person who played it.
Learn the game's complete rules by reading them below or through our interactive tutorial above. Whichever way you choose, you'll be well prepared for your first game.
Once you've caught up with the rules, you can play Double Deck Pinochle online on World of Card Games. You can practice against bots or sit down at a table with other players and your friends.
Once you feel more comfortable with the game, take a look at our Double Deck Pinochle strategy and tips.
Let the melding and trick-taking begin!
Double Deck Pinochle at a glance
A partnership game of bidding, melding, and trick-taking with an 80-card deck.
- Players: 4, in two teams of 2
- Deck: 80 cards, four each of the A, 10, K, Q and J in every suit
- Type: trick-taking with bidding and melds
- Objective: score points from melds and tricks, and make your bid when your team wins it
- Winning: first team to 500 points
- Average game: 42 minutes
- Strategy guides: Double Deck Pinochle strategy
Rank of cards
The Ace card has the highest rank, meaning it is the most powerful card. The next highest is the 10, followed by King, Queen, and Jack (lowest). Cards in the "trump" suit outrank all other cards.
The only cards in a trick that score points are the Ace, 10, and King. Each is worth 1 point.
Objective
The objective is to be the first team to reach 500 points.
Deal
A random player is chosen to be the dealer.
Each player is dealt a hand of 20 cards from a deck of cards containing four A, 10, K, Q, J cards of each suit (a total of 80 cards).
Bid
Starting with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player places a bid. The player who wins the bid gets to choose the trump suit, which can help to win their team meld points and trick points. This makes choosing trump valuable!
However, there are costs to winning the bid. First, you can only choose a trump suit if you have a "marriage" (King and Queen) in that suit. So make sure that you have a marriage when deciding what to bid. Second, in placing a bid, you assert that your team will win at least the number of points bid. For example, if you bid 65, then you pledge that your team will win 65 points. If your team fails to do this, then you lose the number of points bid!
Players may choose to pass instead of bidding. If not passing, they must bid at least 50. Bids go up by 1 from 50 to 60, then by 5 up to 250.
Each player must bid higher than the previous bid made or pass. Each player may bid more than once as long as they continue to bid higher than the previous bid. A pass is final, though. A player who passes is out of the bidding for the rest of the hand.
Bidding continues until 3 players have passed. If no one has placed a bid, the dealer is forced to bid 50. Otherwise, the last player left, who holds the highest bid, wins the bidding war. A bid of 250 ends the bidding at once, since no one can top it.
Note that if the dealer is forced to bid 50, but has no marriages at all, then their team will lose 50 points automatically.
Choosing trump
The player who bid highest now chooses the "trump suit." Cards with the trump suit outrank cards of all other suits.
Choices for trump suit are restricted to suits in which you have a "marriage". If you are choosing trump, but have no marriages at all, your team forfeits and your bid is subtracted from your score! The hand ends there. The other team scores nothing for it.
Showing meld
After the trump suit is chosen, players show any "meld" in their hands. A "meld" is a group of cards in a specific pattern. For example, the Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades form a "pinochle" meld, which is worth 4 points. Two pinochle melds in your hand are worth 30 points.
During the meld phase, the total meld points for each team are computed. If a team does not have at least 20 meld points, they will not earn any meld points at all! Also, if the bidding team does not have 20 meld, they forfeit the hand and their bid is subtracted from their score! Regardless, their opponents will earn their meld, provided it is worth at least 20 points.
Meld patterns are given in the following table.
| Type | Meld | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type I runs and marriages | Run A, 10, K, Q, J of trumps | 15 | 150 | 225 | 300 |
| Royal marriage K, Q of trumps | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | |
| Marriage K, Q not trumps | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | |
| Type II pinochles | Pinochle J Diamond ♦ & Q Spade ♠ | 4 | 30 | 60 | 90 |
| Type III arounds | Aces around A in each suit | 10 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| Kings around K in each suit | 8 | 80 | 120 | 160 | |
| Queens around Q in each suit | 6 | 60 | 90 | 120 | |
| Jacks around J in each suit | 4 | 40 | 60 | 80 |
A specific card in your hand may belong to more than one meld of different meld types, but it cannot belong to more than one meld within a meld type. For example, if you have Kings around (K♦, K♠, K♥, K♣) and also a Q♣ card, the K♣ in your Kings around meld will be paired with the Q♣ in a marriage meld. However, if you have a run in clubs (A♣, 10♣, K♣, Q♣, J♣), the King and Queen in that meld cannot count towards a royal marriage. You must have an extra King and Queen of that suit to make up a royal marriage meld.
Do not be too concerned about computing melds. Use the "Show meld" button to show all melds in your hand that do not require a trump suit. The only melds that you will need to find on your own are runs and royal marriages.
Play
The player who won the bid starts the trick by playing any card, the lead card, from their hand. Play continues in clockwise order.
When following with a card, you must play a card that outranks the highest-ranking card in the trick. This is called "crawling".
For example, if the trick started with a King of Diamonds and you have an A♦, 10♦, and Q♦, then you cannot play the Queen. You must play either the Ace or the 10.
If you do not have any diamonds, but do have a card in the trump suit, you must play a trump card. If there are any trump cards in the trick already, you must play a trump card that outranks that card, if possible. Otherwise, you must play some other trump card.
If you have cards in the led suit but none that can beat the trick, you must still follow suit with any card of that suit. Only when you have neither the led suit nor a trump may you play any card in your hand.
After all 4 players have played a card, the trick is taken by whoever played the highest-ranking card. Remember that trump cards outrank all other suits. If two identical cards are the highest, the one played first wins.
The trick-taker is awarded 1 point for each Ace, 10, or King in the trick. Other cards are not counted. For example, if there is 1 Jack in the pile, 2 Aces, and a Queen, then the trick-taker is awarded 2 points.
The trick winner starts the next trick.
The team which takes the last trick gets 2 bonus points, so the total of both teams' trick points always sums to 50.
Score
After each hand, scores are calculated for each team by adding up the teammates' meld points and trick-taking points.
Rule of 20
A team with less than 20 meld does not score any meld points.
If the bid winners' team does not have at least 20 meld points, their bid is subtracted from their score! In this case, their opponent will score meld points, but only if they have 20 meld points or more.
A team that does not take at least 20 points during the trick-taking portion of the game cannot take any points at all. Even their meld points are not counted.
If the bid winners' team does not take at least 20 points during the trick-taking portion of the game, their bid is subtracted from their score!
If the bid-winner's opponents did not have 20 meld points, they might still score points during the trick-taking part of the game. They are only awarded trick points if they score 20 or more points from their tricks.
Bid out of reach
If the bid winners' meld plus all 50 trick points cannot reach their bid, the hand is not played. It ends right after the melds are shown. The bid is subtracted from the bid winners' score. Their opponents score their meld points, but only if they have 20 meld points or more.
Game end
The first team to reach 500 points wins!
If both teams reach 500 points on the same hand, then the bidding team wins, even if their score is lower than their opponents'. For example, if the bidding team has 510 points and the other team has 540, then the bidding team still wins. This is the "Bidder out" option. It's on unless the table's host turns it off.
Without the "Bidder out" option, the high-scoring team wins when both teams reach 500 on the same hand. If they are tied, the winner is the bidding team.
A team that falls to -1000 points loses the game right away.
The rules in practice
Crawling is the rule that surprises new players most. Following suit isn't enough. You must beat the highest card in the trick whenever you can. Say a 10 of Hearts is led and you hold the Ace and King of Hearts. The King doesn't beat a 10 in this game, so you must play the Ace. If you have no hearts at all, you must play a trump card, beating any trump already in the trick if you're able. Only when you hold neither the led suit nor a trump may you throw whatever you like.
Counting trick points is simple once you know what counts. Only Aces, 10s and Kings score, 1 point each. If a trick holds two Aces, a Queen and a Jack, the winner gets 2 points. The team that takes the last trick gets a 2-point bonus, so the two teams' trick points always add up to 50 in every hand.
Melds overlap in a specific way. A card can serve in two melds of different types, but never in two melds of the same type. The Queen of Spades can count in a pinochle (a Type II meld) and in a spades marriage (a Type I meld) at the same time. But if your King and Queen of trumps are part of a run, that same pair can't also score as a royal marriage. You'd need an extra King and Queen of trumps for that.
Strategy basics
A few habits will lift your game quickly. When you want more, our guides on strategy for beginners, meld bids, the ace-on-ace leadback and the jack leadback go much deeper, with screenshots from real hands.
- Never bid without a marriage. Winning the bid with no marriage forfeits the hand and costs your team the bid.
- Use your bid to talk to your partner. A raise of 1 says you want to pick trump. A raise of 2 or more signals your meld in tens.
- Only signal meld that doesn't depend on trump. Leave runs and royal marriages out of your meld bids.
- Lead your Aces while they're sure winners. Feed low point cards to tricks your partner is winning.
- Watch for leadbacks. An Ace or a Jack your partner throws on your lead is often a request to exit in that suit so they can take over the lead.
- Keep a rough count of Aces. Once a suit's Aces are all gone, your 10s in that suit become winners.
History
Double Deck Pinochle is derived from Pinochle, which comes from a 19th-century French card game called Bezique.
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the first trick in Double Deck Pinochle?
The player who won the bid. After they name the trump suit and all melds are shown, they lead any card to the first trick. Each trick's winner leads the next one.
What happens if nobody bids?
The dealer is forced to bid 50. If the dealer has no marriage at all, they can't name a trump suit and their team automatically loses 50 points.
What happens when two identical cards land on the same trick?
The deck holds four copies of every card, so this comes up a lot. The copy that was played first beats the one played later.
Do I have to beat the highest card in the trick?
Yes, when you can. You must follow the led suit with a card that beats the highest card in the trick if possible and otherwise with any card of that suit. If you can't follow suit, you must play a trump, beating any trump already played when possible. Only with neither the led suit nor a trump in hand may you play any card.
What is the Rule of 20?
A team with fewer than 20 meld points scores no meld. A team that takes fewer than 20 trick points scores nothing at all that hand. The bidding team is hit harder. If they miss either minimum, their bid is subtracted from their score.
Why did the hand end right after the melds were shown?
If the bidding team's meld is under 20, or so low that even all 50 trick points wouldn't reach the bid, there's no point playing on. The hand ends and the bidding team loses the bid amount. The defenders score their meld if it's worth 20 or more.
Can a team lose by going too far below zero?
Yes. A team that falls to -1000 points loses the game right away. Only the bidding team can lose points, so it takes several missed bids to get there.
What does the TRAM button mean?
"The rest are mine." It appears when you lead a trick and every card you hold is a sure winner, for example the highest trumps that are left. It isn't offered on the first or the last trick. Clicking it ends the hand right away by giving those tricks to you.