Loadstar 198/198.d81/t.pinochle34

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 23KB | 490 lines

                            P I N O C H L E 3 4

                 Program and Text by Ron and Kate Slaminko


Introduction:

 Pinochle34 plays 3 or 4 handed (hence the name) single deck Pinochle.
These instructions are divided into 3 parts. Part 1 outlines the rules of
Pinochle. Part 2 describes the Pinochle34 program's options, user
interface, and variation-specific rules. Part 3 contains some tips for
improving your play. Even experienced players should read parts 1 & 2 once,
as there are many different versions of Pinochle and this program may not
use the rules you are familiar with.

 1.0 The rules of Pinochle

 Pinochle is played with a deck of 48 cards. The deck differs from a
standard Poker deck in 3 ways:

     * There are no cards lower than a 9
     * There are two of every card
     * The cards are ranked, in decreasing order, Ace, *Ten*, King, Queen,
Jack, Nine (note the Ten is not in its usual position)

 The object of the game is to be the first player (or team) to score 150
points. Points are scored for each hand through Meld (specific combinations
of cards) and by winning tricks.

 Pinochle34 will play either Cutthroat (3-handed) or Partnership (4-handed)
Pinochle. The rules are generally similar so the remainder of this section
of the instructions will assume you are playing 4-handed. See section 1.8
for other variations.

 1.1 A hand of Pinochle

 A single hand of Pinochle consists of these elements:

    * The deal
    * Bidding
    * Naming of Trump
    * Meld
    * Taking tricks

 1.2 The Deal

 A dealer is randomly chosen at the start of each game. For successive
hands within the same game, the deal rotates clockwise. 12 cards are dealt
to each player. Your hand is sorted and displayed - the other players'
cards are not sorted or shown to you. You sit in the South chair and your
partner is North. East and West are teamed against you.

 1.3 Bidding

 The player to the dealer's left starts the bidding. That player may either
PASS or bid. The minimum bid as 16. (The bid amount is the number of points
you think your team will take this hand - see the tips in section 3 for
bidding strategies). Bidding progresses clockwise, with each player having
the option to either PASS or bid at least 1 point higher than the current
high bid. The bidding continues until 3 consecutive players PASS, and the
player to bid last wins the bid.

 If nobody bids, the dealer is 'stuck' with the bid at 15.

 1.4 Naming of Trump

 The winning bidder, or the dealer if he got stuck, names the Trump suit,
usually the suit which gives him the most Power (see Taking Tricks) or the
highest Meld (see Meld).

 1.5 Meld

 Once trump has been named, all 4 players display their Meld. Meld are
specific combinations of cards which are worth points. Since there are 2 of
every card, it's possible to have a double of any meld - sometimes having
the double is worth extra points, other doubles merely count as having the
same thing twice. Here's what the various melds are worth:

 Name           Cards Needed             Value-Single      Value-Double
 Run            A-10-K-Q-J IN TRUMP            15                150
 Dix            9 IN TRUMP                      1                  2
 Aces Around    Ace in each Suit               10                100
 Kings Around   King in each Suit               8                 80
 Queens Around  Queen in each Suit              6                 60
 Jacks Around   Jack in each Suit               4                 40
 Marriage       Queen & King in Same Suit       2                  4
 Royal Marriage Queen & King IN TRUMP           4                  8
 Roundhouse     Marriage in every Suit         24                240
 Pinochle       Jack Diamonds & Queen Spades    4                 30

 Note that a Run or Dix are only valuable if in the Trump suit, and a
Marriage in Trump is worth twice what a non-trump marriage is. This is one
of the reasons why Naming Trump (and therefore successful bidding) is
important.

 A card may be part of more than one piece of meld, as long as one of the
melds isn't contained within the other. For example: a single Queen of
Spades may be part of a Pinochle, Queens around, and a Marriage, but if you
have a Run in Trump, you don't also get credit for the Royal Marriage
contained within the Run (although if you have BOTH Kings and Queens of
Trump, you could have a Run using one set and a Royal Marriage using the
other). Similarly, if you have a Roundhouse, you don't get points for the
Kings Around, Queens Around, or any of the Marriages contained within it.

 The computer will count the meld for all players, but it's still important
that you be able to recognize and add up your own meld so you can decide
what to bid. The Training Wheels option (section 2.2) can help with this
until you're comfortable counting your own meld.

 Your Meld score is added to your partner's (North) and the total becomes
your initial score for the hand. Likewise, East and West add their Melds
together. The Melded cards are then picked back up off the table. It's a
good idea to pay attention to what the other players melded as this gives
you a partial idea of what cards they hold.

 1.6 Taking Tricks.

 A 'trick' is one card from each player. The winning bidder leads the first
card of the first trick, and after that, whoever wins the trick leads the
next one. The winner of a trick is the person who played either the highest
card in the suit led, or the highest trump. A trump card, regardless of
rank, beats any card in any non-trump suit. If identical cards are played,
the first one played is the winner. The player leading the trick is free to
play any card in his hand. The remaining players must follow strict rules
of engagement:

     * You MUST play a card in the suit which was led, if you have one.

     * If you can follow suit, you MUST play a card higher than the current
highest in-suit card showing (unless someone has trumped, see below). So if
the lead was a Queen of clubs, the next player threw a King of Clubs, and
you're holding an Ace, Ten, King, and Nine of Clubs, you MUST throw either
the Ten or the Ace. Remember: Ten beats a King, and the King already played
has precedence over your King.

     * If you can follow suit but not beat the current high card, or if
someone other than the leader has played trump, you are free to play any
card in your hand of the led suit.

     * If you cannot follow suit, but have trump in your hand, you must
play a trump card. If someone prior to you has already played trump, you
must throw a higher trump if you have one. If you can't beat the current
high trump, you can throw any trump card in your hand.

     * If you can't follow suit, and you can't play trump, you are free to
throw any card in your hand (this is called 'sloughing').

 These rules can be summed up as: (1) You Must Follow Suit, (2) you Must
Trump if you can't follow suit, and (3) you Must Beat the current winner,
if possible.

 The cards in each trick you win are added to your pile. Every Ace, Ten, or
King in the pile is worth 1 point (these cards are called 'counters').
There are 24 counters in the deck, and the last trick is also worth one
point to its winner. There are, therefore, 25 points to be won each hand.
Within the limitations imposed by the rules of engagement, you will
generally want to throw counters on your partner's winning tricks, and non-
counters on your opponents'.

 Your points and your partner's are added together and combined with your
meld to get your total score for the hand. If you (or your partner) were
the winning bidder, your total score must be at least as high as your bid,
otherwise your team's score for the hand is a negative of your bid amount:
if you bid 30 but only total 28, your score is -30. This is called 'getting
Set'.

 If neither team has reached the required score of 150, the deal passes to
the next person and the game continues.

 1.6 Drift Out with Bid Preference

 Some versions of Pinochle require you to 'Bid Out', meaning you can't win
the game unless you were the winning bidder on the last hand even if your
score is above 150. Others allow you to 'Drift Out' - wi