Пинохль: История и правила карточной игры

Card game

Pinochle (/lang//pron/'/p//iː//n//ʌ//k//əl/), also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick taking ace–ten card game, typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick taking and also by forming combinations of characters into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick and meld" category which also includes the game belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle".

Pinochle is thought to have two possible origins. One is that it is a cousin of Binokel, with both games evolving from the game of bezique. A second alternative is that pinochle actually developed from the Swiss and, later, South German game of Binocle or Binokel, which in turn is a descendant of bezique. There are also suggestions that the word pinochle comes from bis (until) and Knöchel (knuckle) because originally the game ended when a player rapped their knuckles on the table. The term may also be related to the French word binage for the combination of cards called "binocle". This latter pronunciation of the game was adopted by German speakers. German immigrants brought the game of Binokel to America in the latter quarter of the 19th century, where it was mispronounced and misspelled "pinochle." Pinochle was the favorite card game of American Jewish and Irish immigrants, while Skat was the preferred game of a majority of German immigrants. Auction Pinochle for three players has some similarities with the German game Skat, although the bidding is more similar to that of bid whist. During World War I, the city of Syracuse, New York, outlawed the playing of pinochle in a gesture of anti German sentiment. It was also temporarily banned in some other US cities as a result of its German heritage, but has since regained popularity.

A pinochle deck consists of two copies of each of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace cards of all four suits, for 48 cards per deck. Aces are always considered high. Pinochle follows a nonstandard card ordering. The complete ordering from highest to lowest is A, 10, K, Q, J, 9. The game can also be played using standard ranking with a simple change to scoring. Originally, the deck had to be composed by combining two poker, piquet or euchre decks and removing unneeded cards (a piquet deck does not have the 2–6, making it easier to modify, and a euchre deck is exactly half a pinochle deck), but with the game's popularity in the United States in the early 1900s, a single boxed deck with the necessary cards was marketed, and these specialized pinochle decks are now widely available in similar styles to common 52 card counterparts. Variants of pinochle can be played with five, six, eight or more players. These larger variations can combine two pinochle decks called a "double deck". The double deck can also be used when playing with four players; hand sizes, average scores and minimum bids are doubled.

The game is played with a deck of 48 cards and four players; one player is the dealer. After the shuffle, the dealer will offer a cut to the player on their right, then distribute the cards. All the cards are dealt in partnership pinochle. In variations for odd numbers of players like three, a "widow's hand" (also called a "kitty", "talon", or "stock") of cards remains. Traditionally, the deal is done clockwise, dealing a packet of three or four cards at a time, starting with the player to the left (the eldest hand) and ending with the dealer. The deal rotates clockwise, so the dealer's left hand opponent will deal next.

In auction pinochle, players bid for the points they predict their hand could earn. The highest bidder earns the right to declare the trump suit. One of the players, usually the player to the left of the dealer, or the dealer themselves, is obligated to open with a first bid. The size of bids is based on the point scale and number of decks used; traditionally, points are in multiples of 10, thus a minimum opening bid might be agreed to be 100 or 250. However, many alternate scoring rules drop the unnecessary trailing zero; in that case, bids of 10 and 25, respectively, have the same values. When a player has the turn to bid, the player may either bid or pass. A popular variation for four (or three) player pinochle involves dealing a 4 card kitty (3 or 6 cards for three players), with the bid winner taking the kitty and discarding 4 (3 or 6) cards from his hand. The point value of the discards can sometimes be added to the bid winner's total trick count or not, depending on the pre established rules. In three player games the 6 card kitty can often lead to very competitive and extravagant bidding. Each bid must be greater than the previous one, and be a multiple of 10 or 25 (if playing without trailing zeroes, the bid must be one or two greater respectively). When a player passes, they can no longer bid. The auction ends when all subsequent players in rotation have passed after the last bid. The last bid becomes the "contract". The player that made this final bid will then declare trump in the suit that is desired. In some house rules, trump cannot be declared in any suit not containing a "run", "marriage" or "dix" meld. In order for the winning bidder to win the hand, the combined total of melding and trick points must be equal to or greater than the winning bid. Thus bidding involves anticipating the points that will be accumulated from melds and from the points accumulated from winning tricks. If the combined score is lower than the bid, then the bidding team or player has been "set". This means that the total bid amount is subtracted from the total game score, often accompanied by losing the points scored in meld for that hand as well. This can result in a negative score. although some rules require the first card led to be a trump card. Then there are two variations of following suit depending if you are playing post 1945 or pre 1945 rules. According to the pre 1945 rules, every player must follow the lead suit if possible. Usually every player must play a winning card against those played so far, if it is possible to do so, even when the current player expects a later player to win the hand with a better card. The only exception is if a player played a trump card when trump was not the suit led. In that case, those following that player may play any card of the lead suit, since they must follow the lead suit but are already losing to the player who played trump. Likewise, if a player cannot follow suit, but has trump, they must play trump. Again, if a player does not have any cards of the lead suit and can play a trump card higher than any other trump played so far, the player must do so, even if the player expects that a later player will beat the card. If another trump has already been played that a player cannot beat, then they can play any trump in their hand, but they still must play a trump card if they can. Only when a player has no cards in suit, and has no trump, can the player choose to play any card in their hand. Most books of post 1945 rules say that unless trump is led, there is no requirement to try to win the trick. It is only when trump is led that "heading" the trick is mandatory. In pinochle circles and tournaments the post 1945 rules are played about half of the time according to Pagat and Hoyle. If two identical cards are played, the first one outranks the second. After the first trick, the winner of each trick leads the first card for the next trick, until all the cards are played.

Two handed pinochle is the original pinochle game, while partnership, auction, and all other variants are derived from it. It is the game most similar to the original Bezique game, whence pinochle was derived, via the German game of Binokel. The only significant difference in its rules from Bezique is the scoring. The original version of pinochle involves a partial deal of twelve cards to both players in packets of four, leaving a stock of 24 cards. A player can score one meld after each trick won of the first 12 tricks. Melded cards can even be used to win tricks. After each trick, players draw one card from the stock into their hand starting with the trick winning player. For the last 12 tricks, melds are taken into each player's hand and are no longer announced by the player who wins the trick. The traditional trick taking rules apply only for these last 12 tricks. In variations of two handed play, no cards are initially dealt, a distinction from all other variations. Instead, the entire deck is placed face down on the playing surface between the two players to form the widow. One player begins the hand building process by drawing the top card of the widow. The player can either keep that card for her or his hand or reject the card. If the player chooses to hold the initial card, the player then draws a second card from the widow, then places it face down, without looking at it, creating a discard pile. If the player rejects the first card, the card becomes the first card in the discard pile. The second card drawn from the widow must be kept, regardless of whether she or he preferred the first card. Players alternate turns in this hand building process until all cards are chosen. With bidding, the player winning the bid declares trump, then lays all meld face up on the table. The other player shows her or his melds as well. Meld points are tallied, and players return meld cards to their hands. Some varieties accept a "round house", kings and queens of each suit, and earn a bonus 10 points awarding a total of 250 points. Trick taking commences and continues until all held cards have been played. One variation has no "leading" requirement for the bid winner or subsequent trick winner to lead a specific card, however the rules of "following" are still observed. When adding counters, cards from each player's discard pile are included in totals for a total of 240 counters per round, plus one counter for winning the final trick. One variation to make it more difficult for the bid winning player, the discard pile created by drawing cards is used by the non bidding player to score towards tricks.

Internet pinochle is almost always "double deck" except for a few applications for some smart phones. Today the Internet is host to many live professional cash tournaments, although many are still cautious about playing online because of potential cheating.

Two full decks are dealt between eight players, forming four teams. Team members are spaced so that they are not able to see any other hands. The game is usually played to a score of 5,000 or higher. Other than this, the four player rules apply, and any variations may also be used. There is an increased possibility that when one team declares trump another team may have an equal number of trump also, which may lead to an interesting game. An optional scoring rule rewards 1,000 points for a quadruple pinochle—four jacks of diamonds and four queens of spades in a meld.

One variation on winning allows a team or individual to win instantly from any score by taking all the tricks in a hand. To win in this fashion, the winning player or team must play very skillfully to prevent opposing players from taking even one lowly (even zero point) trick. This victory is known as "pinochling". A player or team can play for this victory even if they are not the highest bidder. "pinochling" does not require a bidder to make their bid. They also can play for this victory even if their bid cannot be made with the maximum number of trick points available plus their meld. However, the highest bidding player or team can prevent other players from attempting this if they elect to "throw in" the hand before the first card is played. When playing "bid out" rules, a team can win without bidding if their score reaches (and remains above) the agreed upon game ending score while their opponents fail to make their bid three times. This is known as a "slide out".