Pinochle: Extending Custom Rules

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Dear friends of the Palace, and especially dear Pinochle Fans,

To meet the requirements of the American way of playing Pinochle more precisely, we have been refining the custom rule American in our game Pinochle. It will be adjusted shortly, and in the same vein, we will offer you further custom rules. Continue reading to get all the important information step by step!

The Custom Rule American Thus Far

If you have been playing with us for some time, you know that the custom rule American brings along multiple small adjustments:

You are automatically playing with a bigger deck, and in the American way of playing, Nines instead of Sevens are added. The game goes clockwise, and the declarer gets to lead the first trick. At a four-player table, you are further playing without the kitty.

On top, there are a few differences concerning melds: Eight of a kind have different scores: Aces 1,000, Kings 800, Queens or Obers 600, Jacks or Unters 400, and Tens and Nines 0 points. Runs and double runs only count in the trump suit here.

And finally: If you activate the custom rule American, the custom rules Durch, Untendurch, and Calling cannot be combined with it.

Extending the American Rules

Pinochle is widespread in the English-speaking US American area. Of course, the rules established there over time differ from the Württemberg Pinochle rules, or Binokel rules, which are the default in our game. Since the American modifications put an interesting spin on the game, we want to provide you with the American style of playing Pinochle even more true to the original soon.

Changes to the Rule American

The cornerstones of our custom rule American remain. But more effects will be added:

In the near future, activating the rule American will additionally change the cards’ score values.

• The three higher ranks – Aces, Tens, and Kings – will be worth 10 points each.
• The three lower ranks – Queens or Obers, Jacks or Unters, and Nines – will be worth 0 points each.

Besides, the active custom rule American will enable a few more melds. As mentioned earlier, runs and double runs only count in the trump suit. We will be adding extended runs:

• Run and King for 190 points
• Run and Queen or Ober für 190 points
• Run and Pair for 230 points

Of course, the extended runs will only count in the trump suit as well.

New Custom Rules

Swapping cards between the declarer and their partner before trick-taking is part of American Pinochle. Often, a lower penalty is given, too. With this in mind, we are now introducing two new custom rules that you will soon be able to select in Pinochle!

Trading

This rule will only be available in a game of four, so Cross Pinochle. When using Trading, the kitty will be omitted, and all cards will be dealt to the players instead.

Then, the following process applies: After the declarer announces trump, their partner chooses four cards to hand over to the declarer face-down. After picking them up, the declarer returns any four cards from their hand face-down as well. Only after that will the declarer decide whether they forfeit or play.

When activating the custom rule American at a three-player table in the future, the rule Trading will not be an option. After all, this is about swapping cards between partners, which are simply nonexistent in Pinochle with three players.

But at tables with four players and the custom rule American, Trading will be enabled automatically and cannot be disabled.

Aside from that, you will be able to play the custom rule Trading separately, which always includes a bigger deck and no kitty. The only custom rule that you cannot combine with Trading is the rule Calling.

Half Penalty

With this rule, the declarer now loses the number of points they bid instead of double the points when they do not make their bid.

When activating the custom rule American in the future, the rule Half Penalty will automatically switch on as well. But you will be able to switch it off in order to only play with all other rules that make up American Pinochle.

Moreover, you will be able to play the custom rule Half Penalty on its own or combined with other custom rules.

The Update

As you can see, the rule adjustments potentially affect the whole Pinochle game. For example, they will be noticeable in tournaments with American rules. Thus, the update must be carried out for all players to make sure all players get to play by the same rules under the same conditions and to ensure the game runs reliably.

In case you are playing Pinochle as a desktop app or mobile app, and you don’t have automatic updates enabled, you might soon get a notification informing you that you need to install an update for the Pinochle app in order to keep on playing.

If that happens, you know what is coming: The new American custom rules are here! At that point, best try them out directly.

Have fun and a good hand!

Your Palace Team