How to Name the Trump Suit in Pinochle

Video Transcript

"One of the worst things that you can do though is to get in a battle between you and your partner as to who is going to name the trump suit. If he has passed and your partner has bid and then you are bidding somebody needs to take the reins here. You don't want to see it go back and forth with 55, 57, 59, 60, and 65, that are ridiculous. You are just going to price each other out of the game so the way to get around that is when you are still in the 50s and your partner has bid and he says 57 and I say 59, I'm telling him I want the hand. That's what you are begging him and telling him is to have the hand. Quick summary - 50 is a general bid, 51 is aces all around and there is one special bid that is reserved in opening seat or in a jump position and that's the bid of 59. If it went something like 51, 53 and I leaped right up to 59 that is reserved exclusively for double aces, 100 points, 100 big fat juicy points I may have had in meld. If you bid 59 you absolutely have to have two aces of diamonds, two aces of spades, two aces of hearts, and two aces of clubs. No exceptions, don't bid 59. Whatever system you use, and this is just one system I've seen, please make sure you're on the same page; absolutely important."