Catherine:
As a former pinochle player (thousands of hands), I suggest you learn
three handed cutthroat pinochle. It is a bid and play game somewhat
like bridge....played with a deck that has 48 cards 8 of each aces,
tens, kings, queens, jacks, and nines...with all other cards
discarded. It can be made from two decks of regular cards. You can
also play two handed double deck pinochle...Although it is a bit
strange to learn (the 10 is higher than the king, queen, jack and
nine), the bidding is fun and challenging, the play is interesting
(you learn to recall the number of cards of each suit which have been
played), and the psychology of "getting" the person who leads presents
a interesting sociology. The game goes rather quickly.
There are a lot of local rules but here is the way I play. The deck
is dealt in threes to each of the three players with the final three
cards put into the kitty. The players evaluate their hands according
to a value system. four aces are worth 10 points, four kings 8
points, four queens 6 points, four jacks 4 points, a pinochle (queen
of spades and jack of diamonds) is worth 4 points, a marriage of a
king and queen of the same suit is worth 2 points (if you decide on a
particular suit to be trump, the marriage in that suit is worth 4
points), the nine of the trump suit is worth 1 point, and a rope
(A,10,K,Q,J in the trump suit) is worth 15 points. You can find these
meld valuation rules (we eliminate one zero in the evaluation and
bidding to make it a bit simpler) at:
http://www.pagat.com/marriage/pin3.html#meld
After the deal, the first player to the dealer's left opens the
bidding or passes. The value of taking the bid is that you get the
kitty cards, get to control trump, and play first. We play a gentle
game opening the bidding at 15 but most people require a 25 opening
bid. When the bidding is closed, (by two players passing on a round of
bidding), the bid amount is written down, the person who takes the bid
now picks up the kitty and reevaluates their hand as to what they can
meld (reveal) for opening points and to declare trump. This player
also then buries three cards back to the kitty...when then forms the
first three cards of their tricks. Since the only point cares after
the meld are the A,10,K, many players bury three point cards if they
can or try to short themselves in a suit so they can trump. After the
bidder establishes their meld, the other two players also get to meld
by exposing their meld points.
The bidder leads. The other players MUST follow suit and MUST play a
higher value card than the one lead if they can. If they are void in
the suit played they MUST trump. If they do not have a higher value
card, they can slough off a lower value card in the same suit. If they
trump, and the next player is also void in the suit, they must trump
with a higher card if they have it. Be careful not to renege which is
not following suit, not playing a higher card if you have one, or not
trumping if you are void in the suit and have a trump card.
The high card or high trump on a play of the three cards, takes the
trick. At the end of play, the points in your tricks are added up.
The bidder makes his bid if the combination of the points in his
tricks and the meld add up to a higher number than the bid. An extra
point is awarded to the player who takes the last trick. The players
other than the winning bidder, count their meld and their trick points
as well if they took at least one point in a trick during the play.
If the bidder goes set, does not make her/his bid, the bid amount is
deducted from his/her score. You can decide on the winning amount
ahead of time. We play to 150 points.
It sounds complicated...and is a bit....but it is played on so many
levels that it is a great social game. The general rules which differ
from the way I play a bit are also posted on the website shown above.
There are also rules for single deck two handed pinochle:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/2767/twohand.html
and two handed double deck four player partnership pinochle:
http://www.pagat.com/marriage/pindd.html#players
I have developed a simple score sheet for cutthroat which records the
person who deals the hand, the trump suit, the winning bid, and the
final scores for each player. I'm sure you will make one easily if
you try to play.
I hope this doesn't add confusion to your question and clear answer
about canasta. Thank you for asking GA about your card game desires.
seedy |
