#TWO HAND PINOCHLE SERIES#

The next phase of the game is called the trick taking portion of the hand, and consists of the players playing cards to a series of tricks in order to win tricks. After this, the bidder then picks up all his melded cards from the table adding them back into his hand for the trick taking phase of the hand. The discard is mandatory and could potentially mean the bidder might have to break apart a meld. The bidder may not discard any card used in an active meld. These three cards are laid face down in front of the bidder as they will be totalled in for the bidder when determining the bidders trick point scoring at the end of the hand. If the bidder does not concede, after laying his melds down, he then declares the trump suit (which is usually self-evident from the melds laid to the table) he chooses for this hand and discards any three cards remaining in his hand while his melds are still displayed (this is called burying). These opponents each earn 'game points' as given in the 'Game Points' table below. If the bidder does concede, the hand immediately ends with the opponents declared the winners of the hand. However, the player, after determining his meld score and examining his hand may concede (give up) the hand (not believing they can earn enough additional points from winning tricks to make their bid). If the melding score is already enough to fulfill or surpass their bid, that player instantly wins the hand, scoring appropriately. This would gain the bidder a potential total of 210 points for his melds.Īfter laying the melds on the table, the total points are then notated and are used to help this player obtain their bid. Melding ExampleAs an example, with hearts as trump the bidders meld might consist of the following: For example, a player could not use the same king in both a flush and a royal marriage, but could use the king in both a flush and 80 kings. The following is a list of the possible melds the bidder can thus make and the score for that particular meld:Īs there are two identically ranked cards of each suit, the bidder may be able to create two of the same meld and score individually for both.Ī player may use the same card in melds from two different categories, but may not use the same card in two melds from the same category. The bidder is the only player who may thus meld. The high bidder now places his cards in various groups, face up in the center of the table as melds. After all have seen these cards the high bidder adds them to his hand and is then given the opportunity to meld. Once the 'bidder' is determined, this player immediately turns over the three card widow in the center of the table such that all players can see its contents. The two opponents attempt to prevent him from doing this, in a sense becoming temporary partners for the duration of the hand. Once a player becomes the high bidder, he will then attempt to score at least as many points in melds and trick points as he bid. If all three players pass before an opening bid is made this hand is not played and all the cards are shuffled together and the deck passes to the next player in turn to deal.

A player is basically bidding the total number of points (or higher) he believes he can score in melds and trick points in the play of the hand. Once there have been two consecutive passes the bidding ends with the high bidder playing the hand as the 'bidder'. Once a player passes, he may make no further bids in this hand and must pass each time it would be his normal opportunity to bid for the remainder of the bidding round. When bidding a player must bid at least 10 points higher than the last highest bid or pass. The player to the dealers immediate left is the first player to bid. He then deals additional rounds of three card batches to each player until each player has 15 cards.Īfter the players pick up their dealt cards and have examined their hands, the bidding phase of the game begins. After he has distributed the first packet of cards to each player (including himself) he then deals a three card face-down 'widow' to the center of the table. The cards are distributed in packets of three face down cards at a time. After the cut, the dealer deals the cards clockwise around the table, starting with the player to his immediate left. The dealer then thoroughly shuffles the cards and offers the deck to the player at his right to cut the deck. The player drawing the second lowest sits to the dealers immediate left and the remaining player sits to that players left. The player drawing the lowest card becomes the first dealer. To determine the first dealer, each player should cut a card from the deck which has been laid face down on the table.

Two hand pinochle