How to Score a Hand in Pinochle

Pinochle is a card came in which bids are made and tricks are taken. The game is played with a deck of 48 cards. The game can be played with 2, 3 or 4 players and involves three phases: the bid, melding and play.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Score 150 meld points for a run of Ace, Ten, King, Queen and Jack in the suit of trump. Add 40 points for every "royal marriage" of a King and Queen in the trump suit in the hand.

2. Rack up 20 points for each King-Queen combination in the same suit, even if multiple Kings and Queens in the same suit. Score 100 for any Ace in the hand.

3. Check for "Kings around," or a King in each suit in one hand. Score 80 points for the four. Add 60 points for "Queens around" and add 40 meld points for any player with a Jack in each suit.

4. Give 40 points to any player with a Pinochle: the Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades combination. Score 300 points for two Pinochles.

5. Add a bonus only for two Pinochles. Double the score for all other melds that appear twice. Allow a player to use a card in more than one meld provided a different meld is being made.

6. Tally up 11 points for every Ace captured during play. Add four points for every King, 10 points for every Ten, three for each Queen and two points for each Jack captured. Give 10 points to the player who takes the last trick.

Tips & Warnings

• Play the game with cards that includes two each of all four suits of the nine through Ace. The cards rank with aces as the highest card, with 10, King, Queen, Jack and nine following in descending order.