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How to Play the Card Game King Pedro

King Pedro is a trick-taking game in which 4 players are dealt a hand to bid in hopes of calling trump. Trump is then chosen by the highest bidder and all hands are reduced in half—yes, you only get to keep a portion of your cards for play. From there, it’s pretty much standard trick-taking rules, except you needn’t follow suit unless trump is led, which can make it a bit of a challenge to actually score your hand. If you’ve ever played a game of trump, you’ll have no problem picking up King Pedro. In fact, even players with no familiarity with this sort of play will only take a few hands to truly catch on.

Things You'll Need

  • Deck of cards
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Instructions

    • 1

      Decide teams by having partners sit on opposite sides of the table from one another.

    • 2

      Deal out the deck until each player has a total of 12 cards in his hand. The remaining 4 cards are set towards the center of the table. They act as the blind of the hand.

    • 3

      Bid your hand, starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Your bid is based on the points, not tricks, you believe you will take if you are allowed to call trump (see the Tips section for the point value of each card). Each subsequent bid must be higher than the previous to count, with 44 points being the highest. One round of bidding will occur at the table.

    • 4

      Choose trump if you win the bid (highest bid at the table). Choose hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades. There is no option of “no trump” in the game of King Pedro.

    • 5

      Earn the blind if you’ve won the bid and chose trump. You may incorporate any of these cards into your hand.

    • 6

      Reduce the size of your hand by discarding half of it (6 cards). Though you’ve bid on a 12-card hand, you’ll only be playing with 6 cards in the game of King Pedro.

    • 7

      Play a card, starting with the winning bid. You needn’t follow suit, unless trump is led, in which case you must play a trump card. Highest trump wins the trick. If no one plays trump on a trick, the player who led the trick takes it. In either scenario, the winner of the trick leads the next.

    • 8

      Continue to play until all tricks are taken and all hands have been exhausted.

    • 9

      Tabulate the point cards of those tricks you’ve won. If you’ve made your bid, earn those points towards your overall score. If you’ve failed to make your bid, lose the bid amount from your overall score. The opposing team will always earn the points they’ve won.

    • 10

      Win the game by being the first team to hit or exceed 200 points.

Tips & Warnings

  • To determine the order of play, the deck is dealt out face up until someone receives a jack. This player acts as the first dealer, and play moves to his left in a clockwise direction around the table. Subsequent deals follow this same path.

  • In the game of King Pedro, not all tricks are worth points. Only tricks with point cards have any value. Point cards are always trump and change from round to round. Ace of trump is worth 1 point, king of trump is worth 30 points, jack of trump is worth 1 point, 10 of trump is worth 1 point, 5 of trump is worth 5 points, 5 of corresponding color is worth 5 points and the 2 of trump is worth 1 point.

  • Ranking order of trump is as follows: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 5 of corresponding color, 4, 3 and 2.

  • You’ll only earn points for the 2 of trump if you’ve played it, not if you’ve won a trick with this card in it.

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Comments

  • jimhale Jun 30, 2009
    ...this game? Four generations. Is it a great game? You can bet on it. But if you don't make your bid: you've just "gone set". What you should say if you and your partner are trailing in the game by a substantial margin? It's about even. What should you say when the other team is trying to verbally give hints on what to do or play down next? "Quit talking across the table." What happens once you play this game for an evening with family or friends? You're going to be hooked.
  • jimhale Jun 30, 2009
    ...and picked up by the bid-winner, used in his hand. What happens is a player (usually the bid-winner) has more than the six cards of trump? The excess must be shown to the other players and then discarded. Cards with point value must not be discarded unless the player has no choice. Point value of the trump cards: Joker = 10 King of trump = 9 Off-king = 9 Five of trump = 5 Off-five = 5 Ace = 1 Jack = 1 Ten = 1 Duece (2) = 1 Total points possible each hand: 42 What happens if the bid-winner and his partner are not able to make the points bid in each hand? the points bid are subtracted from their running score. Can the members of each team talk to each other during the trick portion of the hand? Only if they can get away with it. What happens if a player looks at his hand and does not wish to bid? He passes and picks up his four down cards. How long has my family been playing th...
  • jimhale Jun 30, 2009
    This article does not detail the game of King Pedro I know: Winning score: 162 Points possible per hand: 42 Times around the table during the bid: as many as it takes to enable the bid winner to emerge. Card in deck: 53, including one Joker. Trump in power order: Ace, king of the named trump suit, the "off-king" (other king of the same color), queen, jack, ten, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 of trump suit, the "off-five" (other five of the same color), 4, 3, 2, and the joker. Where the game gets the name "King Pedro": from the fact that the off-king and off-five (called the pedro) are both considered trump for the tricks round. Minimum bid for bidding rounds: 15. Cards dealt and picked-up immediately by each player: 9. Cards per player dealt down and picked up only after a player has withdrawn from the bidding round: 4 The fate of the 53rd card during the deal: Placed in the center of the table,...

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