Америкалық «Жұмыр Төрттік» нұсқасы: Pitch ойыны

American version of "Blind All Fours"

Pitch (or "High Low Jack") is the American name of the English trick taking game of Blind All Fours which, in turn, is derived from classic All Fours (US: Seven Up). Historically, Pitch started as "Blind All Fours", a very simple All Fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as Auction Pitch or Setback. Whereas All Fours began as a two player game, Pitch is most popular for three to five players. Four can play individually or in fixed partnerships, depending in part on regional preferences. cuts. The dealer hands out 6 cards to each player in batches of 3. Trump is determined by the suit of the first card played in trick play. Eldest hand leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Standard trick play rules are in effect with the exception that a player who can follow suit to a plain suit lead is nevertheless allowed to play a trump. At the end of the deal, scoring points, also referred to as pointy points in some circles, are awarded as described in the table. The Jack point is not awarded if no player held the Jack of trumps. The Game point is only awarded if one party has won more pips in tricks than any other. The scoring points accrue strictly in the order given in the table, preventing ties in case more than one team reaches the target score at the end of the deal. The pub game played nowadays in northern England under the name All Fours is a four player partnership version of Pitch, played for 11 points. Side payments are made for winning all four points in a single hand. In some areas the point for Low is awarded to the eventual owner. Choosing the trump suit by leading to the first trick is known as pitching. That trump is determined by pitching rather than by turning up a card from the stock is the key difference between Pitch and classical All Fours/Seven Up.

Auction Pitch is played in exactly the same way as simple Pitch, except that instead of eldest hand the highest bidder pitches, and the highest bidder must reach the number of scoring points bid or is set back. Beginning with eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit. A bid is the number of points that the bidder undertakes to win in the deal, the minimum bid being 1. Each player must make a higher bid than the previous player, or pass. A bid of four (the highest possible) is known as shoot the moon, slam or smudge. If no player bids, the deal is abandoned and the same dealer deals again. The player who wins the bid, known as the pitcher or maker, must win as many points as he or she bid. The pitcher pitches, i. e. leads to the first trick and thereby establishes the trump suit (as the suit of the card led). A player who can follow suit but discards a card of a different non trump suit is punished for the revoke by being set back by the value of the bid. Players may receive points even if they did not win the auction. A pitcher who did not win at least the number of points undertaken with the bid does not receive any of the points, and is instead set back by the amount of the bid. Negative scores are possible. It may happen that at the end of a deal more than one player reaches the number of points necessary to win the game. In this case the order in which the points are rewarded becomes crucial: Any points won by the pitcher are counted first. Thereafter the remaining points are awarded in the order as listed above, i. e. first High, then Low, then Jack, then Game. If the game is played with a pool, each player initially pays a fixed amount into the pool. A player who is set back for failing to win as many points as bid for, or for a revoke, also has to pay the same amount into the pool. The winner of the game receives the contents of the pool. Another variation common in partnership Pitch is that only the pitching party can win the game. A Joker may also be added to the pack as the ultimate trump, capturing everything but the Low trump. It also represents a point. In Euchre, the non trump Jack of the same color (not suit) as trumps is called the Left Bower. It belongs logically to the trump suit and ranks immediately below the Jack of trumps (Right Bower). Some variants of Pitch borrow this feature, in which case the Left Bower is referred to as the Off Jack or Jick. If this feature is used, an additional point for Off Jack can be scored in analogy to the point for Jack. A Joker can be used for the same purpose, i. e. ranking between the Jack of trumps and the Ten of trumps. Combining the last two ideas, one can rank the Joker between the Off Jack and the Ten of trumps. Finally, one can play with the Off Jack and more than one Joker, see Smear for details. Some variants have Odd Trumps. For example, the Five of trumps might be worth 5 points ("Chicago Pitch") or the Three of trumps 3 points. In analogy to the Off Jack there may also be other Off trumps which are logically trumps and rank immediately below their trump counterparts. For example, the Off Three might be worth 3 points while the Three of trumps retains its usual worth of 0 points.

A player should try to determine what points his hand will allow the player to win and bid accordingly. The rule of thumb is to add one point to a bid when you have a partner. Typical strategy is to "draw out" valuable cards from other players. Since pitch rules require that players follow suit, it is possible to force the play of Jacks and Jokers, allowing their capture. If the bid winning player cannot be sure he or she has the highest trump, lower trumps may initially be led to draw them out; the hope is that by the second or third trick only Jacks and Jokers will remain in other players' hands they can then be captured. If the player on your left is particularly easy to read as having a good hand, then you may enter a bid even with a worthless hand in hopes to make your mark overbid. In all varieties of pitch, the goal is to set the player or team who wins the bid. In practice, this might mean giving an opponent a point card just to deny it to the bidder. This also means "sloughing game" (cards with a point value) to a single player so that the bidder will not win the Game point.

Barn Pitch is the most common variant of Pitch that requires trump to be "broken" before any trump can be played. Instead of leading with trump, the highest bidder must instead lead with a different suit. Trump is then only allowed to be played if a player cannot follow the led suit, once the first trump of the round is played then trump is broken. Once trump has been broken, or it is the only suit remaining in a players hand, it can be led. Gameplay and scoring after the trump is broken proceed exactly as it is in classic Pitch.

Abacos Pitch is a Pitch variant that is gaining popularity in the mid Atlantic and northeast United States. It varies from classic Pitch as follows: In the bidding round, each player may choose to look or not look at his/her hand before making a decision. At the end of the bidding round, each player who looked at his/her cards before acting loses one card, chosen at random. Players who lose a card have nothing to play in the sixth and final round of play. Play and scoring after the bidding round proceed exactly as in classic Pitch.

Man O War Pitch is another variant of classic Pitch. It is similar to Abacos Pitch except after the bidding round, the player who made the highest bid looks at the cards given up by players who looked at their hand prior to bidding, one at a time. The player with the highest bid may choose to take or not take each card he looks at. If he chooses to take a card, he discards a card of his choice. This variant provides a significant advantage to the player with the highest bid and therefore promotes aggressive bidding.

Contway 6 point pitch is based on auction pitch and combines a number of variations, some of which are unique. The deck is played with a regular 52 card deck plus one joker. The six points consist of High, Low, Jack, Off Jack, Joker, and Game. Trump suit includes the Off Jack and Joker and is ordered Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Off Jack, Joker, 10,9,8, 2.

Four people play in teams of two with partners sitting across from each other. If multiple games are played, partners rotate so all possibilities for partners are fulfilled. Partnering in large groups or multiple tables is done casually using the best guess of the group for the proper partnerships. Overall wins are not partner based, but individual and the person with the most wins after all play has ended is considered the winner. Three people can play with the same rules but there are no teams.

Each player is dealt six cards in two rounds of three cards starting left of the dealer. The player to the left of the dealer is the first to bid, and continues clockwise. Each player has the option to either pass or outbid the previous bid. The minimum bid is 2, and if all players pass, the dealer is given the minimum bid and becomes the winning bidder. After every player has bid, the winning bidder then announces the trump suit. Starting left of the dealer, each player has a chance to throw away any cards, including trump, and is dealt to a total of six cards. If all six cards are thrown, it is called being "pitched". The unused and discarded cards are then placed to the left of the dealer to denote the next dealer and the deal moves clockwise around the table.

The first card is played by the winning bidder and must be trump. Players must always follow suit, but trump can be played at any time. Cards are discarded face up into one pile for each team. Either pile can be examined by any player at any time. This helps the forgetful but also provides a way to actively tally for Game, the sixth point. The bidder and only the bidder has the option to fold the game at any time even before the first hand is played and is equivalent to not making the bid. If cards are in play, the hand must be completed before stopping. Points for High, Low, Jack, Off Jack and Joker are awarded to the non bidding team only if the cards have been successfully played before the game was folded. However, the High and Low points must be the Ace and the 2 even if revealing all cards shows other cards would have won High or Low. Game point is not counted. Unique to Contway 6 point pitch is the ability to toss trump cards before the redeal. Tossing point cards such as the Jack, Off Jack, or Joker can useful if the other team bids too high, or when it is the only trump in the hand and the other team keeps many cards which decreases the chance that the redeal will provide protection. Actively watching the number of cards withheld by each player is informative. The general strategy during the game revolves around taking the Jack, Off Jack and Joker. Leading the highest trump allows the partner to safely give the team a point card, or will potentially force an opponent to give a point card. Since one can trump at any time, playing last in a hand provides the easiest way to win one of these cards. Game point is fought for actively during the game, and if a teammate is playing last, one will often "Alley oop" a face card or a 10 to add to the team's Game tally.

Once all cards are played, the two piles are examined to determine points. The High and the Low, each worth one point, are the highest and lowest trump played during the round. As some cards are never in play, the Ace and 2 of trump are not always high and low. Low is awarded to the team who played the card, not who won the card. It is therefore customary to say "2 for low" or "3 for low" when a low card is played to help recall who threw the card. The Jack, Off Jack, and Joker, collectively called "The Jacks", are each worth one point, and counted for the team who won them. Each team does a tally for Game point with the winner having the most points in their pile. Both face cards and 10's of any suit are counted for points according to the following point system: 10= 10 points, Ace= 4 points, King= 3 points, Queen= 2 points, Jack= 1 point. In the event of a tie, the Joker acts as the winning tie breaker. If there is no Joker in play, no game point is awarded for the tie. If the bidding team makes less than their bid, they are set, or "hickeyed", and subtract the bid from their overall score. A star is placed next to the current score to denote a hickey. Scores never go below zero. Play continues until a team reaches 11 points. In the event that both teams have 11 or more points, the bidding team of the final round wins even if the non bidding team has more points. A separate list is maintained for keeping track of overall wins and losses of each player individually. Each winning player earns +$1.00 (or +1 if playing points only) and each losing player $1.00. If the winning team had hickeys, these are not penalized. However, if the losing team had hickeys, each losing player loses another $1.00 per hickey, and each winning player gains $1.00. In this way, the total for the entire list should always equal zero. At the end of all play, for example at the end of a week long vacation, a winner is declared and everyone is paid out.

Each player is dealt six cards. Bids are usually from 1–9, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. After bidding, players discard non trumps and the dealer distributes cards so that each hand has six cards. Points available are High 'Ace' (one point), Low 'Two' (one point), Jack (one point), Off Jack or Jick 'Jack of same color different suit' (one point), Big Joker (one point), Little Joker (one point), Three (three points), Game '10' (one point), and sometimes Off Three (three points). King and Queen are not counted toward the game points but still take Jack, Off Jack, both Jokers, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, both Threes, and Two. This variant allows players to bid a "straight" hand (like normal) or to double bid. For example, a player may bid a "straight 6", or "6 for 12." In the latter example, the player would score 12 points by earning six; or, failing to earn points equal to his or her bid, would be set 12 points.

Played like Oklahoma Ten Point with a few variations. Each player is initially dealt nine cards. Minimum bid is 5, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. Players discard all non trumps and the dealer distributes remaining undealt cards so all players have six. Points available are Ace, Jack, Off Jack, "High" Joker, "Low" Joker, Ten, Three (worth three points), and Two (an automatic point for the player). This variant uses the Force Bid rule. However, Mucking a Hand and Misdeal are prohibited.

Each player is dealt nine cards. The player to the left of the dealer is the first to bid, and continues in a clockwise pattern. Each player has the option to either pass or outbid the previous bid. The minimum bid is 5, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. If all players pass, the dealer is stuck with the bid. After every player has bid, the winning bidder then announces the trump suit. Every player, other than the winning bidder, then discards any non trumps. The dealer then re deals to each player so that they each player has a total of six cards. The winning bidder is then granted what's left of the deck. This is known as the widow. After the winning bidder picks out all trumps from the widow, he must narrow (or widen) his hand to six cards. If he has more than six trump cards, he must "burn" a trump. When burning a trump, the player must announce what card he is burning to the table. All non pointer trumps must be burned before any pointers can be burned.

The winning bidder is the first to play, and continues in a clockwise pattern. The first hand must be in the trump suit ("Leading Off" is not allowed on the first hand). If the lead player plays a trump, every player must play a trump on that particular hand. The player who plays the highest trump card takes the hand. The winner of the previous hand is the first to play the next hand. Once a player has no more trumps in their hand, they are up (out of that game). You are not allowed to declare that you are up until it is your turn. Other than the first hand, a player can choose to lead a non trump. If a player leads off, all cards become playable. Once again, the highest trump card wins the hand. If no trump cards are played during an off lead, the winner of the previous hand leads the next hand, regardless of what non trump is played.

The objective of the hand for the team with the winning bid is to (at least) match what they bid. The objective of the team without the bid is to make their opponents "go set". When a team with the winning bid fails to reach the amount they bid, they go set. When a team goes set, they lose whatever amount that they won the bid with. For example, if a team wins the bidding with a 6 bid and is only able to take 5 points on that hand, they lose 6 points from their total. Negative points are allowed. In some variations, doubling of the bid is allowed as a half point bet. For example, if one player bids 5, the next player may bid '5 for 10', effectively doubling the outcome if they're right or wrong. A bid of 6 would be larger than '5 for 10' but could be outbid by the following player with a '6 for 12'. If a player with a doubled bid goes set, they get negative points for the entire bet ( 10 or 12 in these examples). The first team to 32 points wins. If the game ends with both teams with 32 or more points, the team that won the bid on the final hand is the winner.

Shoot the Moon A bid of ten. (Some variations differentiate a max bid from "Shoot the Moon" by increasing the difficulty in some way. Others consider "Shoot the Moon" an all or nothing bid, meaning the entire game is automatically won or lost depending on whether the bidder obtains all available points.) Re Deal The second round of dealings to replenish players' hands to six cards. Widow The remnants of the deck following the re deal. Some variations give the entire "widow" to the bid taker to ensure all cards are in play. Pot An alternative to the Widow. A set number of cards (typically 4) are initially dealt to the middle of the table. The winning bidder adds the cards to his/her hand prior to declaring the trump suit. Dead Card A playable card that must be discarded before play begins. This occurs when a player holds more than six playable cards. Discarded points typically are awarded to the player's opponents. Four Handed Game Reaching 32 points after only four hands, the minimum number of hands possible to win a game. Perfect Game A 40–0 win in four hands.

Played like Oklahoma Ten Point with a few variations. After the bid, the maker takes the deck, declares the trump, and discards down to six cards. All other players must discard non trumps, but do not receive additional cards. This variant always incorporates the Call for partner rule.

Played like Oklahoma Ten Point with some variations. The minimum opening bid is 5. 10 point bid is "Shoot the Moon." After the bids, the winning bidder declares suit. Bidder get the remaining cards in the deck but only keeps 6 cards. All other players hold their original 6 cards so other players don't know how many suit cards they have. Also the player who holds the Low card '2' gets to keep that card in when the trick is played. If no one is willing to bid 5 points the dealer get a 5 bid 'Dumped on them'.

Also known as ster don. Seven cards are dealt to each player. Points available are High, Low, Jack, Game, Five Trump, & Last Trick. In this variation, the Low point is made by capturing the lowest trump (rather than simply playing it, as is usual). The Five of Trump is counted for 5 points, the other points only one each for a total of 10 possible points. After trump is declared, players must discard ALL non Trumps and are re dealt to a seven card hand. First card played does not have to be Trump. The Forced Bid rule is in effect. The game ends when one player reaches 50 points. "Win by 2" and "float (first) to 57" can both be declared before the game starts

Played much like Campbell Ten Point with the addition of the Off Ace. The Off Ace, like the Off Jack, is not in the trump suit but is of the same color. It is worth one point and ranks just below the Ace. Play ends at 51 points rather than 32. The Misdeal rule is in effect, as is Shoot the Moon, which is differentiated from and superior to a perfect bid (11) in that Shoot the Moon automatically wins or loses the game. Only the 17 Trump cards are legal for play. A five player variation exists: here, each player has an individual, not partnership, score; partnerships change each round and are determined by the winning bidder calling for one specific Trump card to be led. The player who plays this Trump joins the winning bidder's partnership for that one round, and the other three players join the opposing partnership.

Roadhouse Pitch is an auction pitch variant. Four points are awarded for High, Low, Jack, and Game, scored for their eventual owners. Games are played to 15, with a win by two requirement. Bidding proceeds clockwise, the player left of the dealer assuming the first bid. Players wishing to bid must bid a minimum of two. In addition to bidding two, three, or four; players may also "Shoot the Moon", requiring them to win every trick and all four points. Shooting the Moon is valued at 15 points, failure to win every trick and all four points results in a setback. Negative scoring is allowed. In the event the bid is passed to the dealer, the dealer must assume the minimum bid (or "Shoot the Moon"). The player with the highest bid pitches the first card, thus denoting trump. Players must follow suit regardless of trump, resulting in the primary variation from auction pitch. A player may not trump in unless they are unable to follow suit. The remaining play follows that of classic pitch.

Also known as Kentucky Seven Point or Heckla Pitch. There are seven possible points: High, Low, Jack, Off Jack, Big Joker, Little Joker, and Game. The game is played to 21 points. Bids between 3 and 7 are allowed. The highest bidder calls trumps, and players discard non trump cards face up in the center of the table. The dealer then distributes 6 cards to each player in batches of 1. In Southeast Missouri this version, called 7 point Pitch, is played with a 34 card deck (2's 6's removed with a 10 card blind, no discarding). Points and Bids are the same as described above, and cards are dealt singly or 3 at a time.

This variant allows High, Low, Jack, and Off Jack points and was originally meant for cutthroat play. Bids are from 2–4. The bid winning player can only receive the number of points bid with one exception: If the bid winning player earns points equal to their bid (no higher), he or she receives one extra point towards the total. Non making players earn points only if the making player is set with one exception: the Off Jack, which can be claimed by anyone. Finally, players must follow suit in this variant trumping in is allowed only if a player has no on suit cards. House rules may permit a game point which is calculated by using the 10s only, such that the player who takes the most 10s is awarded the game point and no player receives this point if there is a tie. Like the Off Jack point, the game point can be claimed by any player.

High Five is a very rare Swiss variation of pitch played with two teams of two. This variant uses 9 card hands. Points used are High, Low, Jack, Off Jack, Big Joker, Little Joker, Ten, Five, and Off Five. Five and Off Five are each worth 5 points. Bids are from 6 to 17, the Shoot the Moon variant is used. After bids are made, each player discards all non trumps (or to a six card hand). The dealer restores each hand to six cards, skipping the making player. Finally, the making player may search the deck, choosing cards to bring their hand to six.

This variant, also called New Yorker Pitch, points available are: High, Low, Jack, and Game. Bids 2 4 are allowed, and the Forced bid and Shoot the Moon rules are used. After bidding, the trump is declared; next players may discard any non trumps they choose. The dealer distributes cards so that each player has six. Play proceeds as normal, 15 points wins.

Four players play in two partnerships, sitting crosswise. In all variants of Nine Five the Five of trumps and the Nine of trumps score many game points when captured in tricks: 5 and 9, respectively. The minimum bid is 4 or 9. The maximum number of points that can be won is 18. A minimum bid of 9 is forced if a player holds the 9 and another card of the same suit, however the high bidder may choose a trump suit other than the suit that forced their bid.

The player to the left of the pitcher leads the first card, and is not required to lead trump. If all players pass, the cards are shown face up to prove the lack of a forced bid, and the deal is passed to the left. Holding a "9" and another card of the same suit is a forced minimum bid of 9. The winning bidder will announce the trump suit, players will then discard unwanted cards face up into the "scrap pile" The dealer then deals the draw cards to bring each player back to six cards. Note: Discarded "Trump" cards can be claimed by any player simply by pulling them out of the scrap, (this rarely happens but prevents a dump of point cards, i. e. 9 & 5). The scoring is exactly the same as traditional "Nines and Fives". The game is won by the first team that scores 100 or more. This somewhat obscure variation of the lead forces the non bidding team to "Block" or "Post" a higher trump than the 9 if possible, to prevent the bidder from "running' the 9 on the first trick and then forcing the bidder to play in between his opponents. The bidding partner helps greatly by playing the Ace or King on an early trick to give the bidder a chance to run the 9.

Similar to the Northwest Connecticut variation, with the only differences being in the bidding phase. Bidding can range from the minimum of 5 to a maximum of "double 18." Double 18s require the team winning the bid to win every single trick and rewards 36 points. If no one bids, the dealer is required to take it for 5. Winning requires both a score over 100 and for the team to win the bidding and subsequently making their bid.

Four players play in 2 sets of partners, with partners sitting across from each other. Each player is dealt 6 cards, with 4 face down cards in the kitty. There are 18 total points that can be earned in a round: High (1 pt), Low (1 pt), Jack (1 pt), 10 (1 pt), 9 (9 pts), and 5 (5 pts). There is an auction bid that continues until all but one player has passed. Players can bid up to 18 or Shoot the Moon. If all other players pass, the dealer is forced to bid 1. The player that wins the bid must declare trump before collecting the kitty. Players then discard all cards that are not trump. If the player that wins the bid has more than 6 cards, they must discard down to 6 cards and show the other players which trump cards are being discarded. The dealer then deals each player back up to 6 cards. The player that won the bid must lead trump on the first trick. Players must always follow suit when possible. If a player does not have a non trump suit that was led, they may play a trump card to take the trick. Shooting the moon means that the team that won the bid must get all 18 points. Teams cannot shoot the moon if either team is "in the hole" (they have a score below zero) or has a score of 46 or above. If they succeed, they win the whole game. If they fail to win all 18 points, that team loses the game. A team has won the game when it reaches a score of 64 or above. If both teams exceed 64 points on the same hand, the team that won the bid for that hand wins the game, even if that team has a lower score.

Pitch is played with 3 teams with 3 partners each. Partners are seated an equal 2 seat between each other. All 54 cards (including High Joker and Low Joker). Points are awarded for High Trump (Ace), Jack of Trump, High Joker, Low Joker, Low Trump (2) and trick/card points (82 points possible, each Joker worth 1/2 point). Each player left of the dealer has a chance to bid between 1 6 points with the winning bidder leading their trump. If a team does not make their bid they must give back any points (chips) they have accumulated and receive 1 negative point (pookie).

Reverse Pitch follows all of the rules of basic Pitch, except the low card takes each trick (the lowest card of the suit lead or lowest card of the trump suit). High, low, jack, and game points are scored in the normal fashion. In this variation, valuable cards become much harder to capture; the strength of the card itself is almost always insufficient.

Reaching the negative equivalent of the goal wins in some versions of Pitch. For example, when the goal is 11 points, a score of 11 or lower would win the game. Some variants instead allow a backdoor win for a team with extremely low points: with a goal of 100 points, 200 might win.

In some variants, the low trump wins the trick in which it is played. This is used only in variants where the 2 of trumps is certain to be played.

Two Trump Pitch is a variation of which incorporates all 54 cards. It may be played with any combination of 3 9 players. Nine points are possible: High, Low, Jack, Sub High, Sub Low, Sub Jack, both Jokers, & Game. Bids 3 (or 4) to 9 are allowed. Games are played to 26 points. In this variation, the player who wins the bid declares both the trump and sub trump suits. Sub trump cards rank above non trumps, but below trumps. Players follow suit as in other variations; sub trumps do not count as trumps for this purpose. Sub trumps may be used to "trump in," on non trump leads, however. If a sub trump is lead, main trump can be "trumped in". Jokers are unranked and cannot be used to capture other cards. When leading a Joker it is considered to be suit less, the second play of the trick determines the lead suit, and players must follow suit as usual from there. If a trump suit is lead, Jokers may not be cut in if the player in possession of the joker has cards of that trump remaining. A Joker may be cut in at any time if a non trump suit is lead, regardless of the players remaining cards. A further variant of the Two Trump game is to allow a Joker to be played if the other Joker was lead, regardless of the second card played in the trick and the rest of the players hand. This is known as the Double Down Override as it is performing a “double down” and adding at least a second point to the trick.