Pinochle is a partnership game with two scoring stages. First you bid for the right to name trump, then you score melds — set combinations of cards you hold. After that you play out the tricks and collect counters, the Aces, Tens, and Kings. You and your partner across the table race the other pair to 150 points. Free in your browser, no sign-up.
Goal: win the bid, name a trump you can support, and make your bid from melds plus counters.
Bidding starts at 20 and rises. The winner names the trump suit. If the first three players pass, the dealer is stuck and must take the bid at 20 — no free pass-out.
Once trump is set, both teams lay down melds for points, then play twelve tricks for the counters.
| Meld | Points |
|---|---|
| Run (A-10-K-Q-J of trump) | 150 |
| Aces around (one in each suit) | 100 |
| Pinochle (J♦ + Q♠) | 40 |
| Royal marriage (K-Q of trump) | 40 |
| Marriage (K-Q, off trump) | 20 |
| Dix (9 of trump) | 10 |
In play, each Ace, Ten, and King you capture is worth 1 point, and the last trick adds 1 more — 25 counters in all. Miss your bid and you go set, losing the bid amount while the defenders keep their points.
Three AI difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) from the menu. This is four-handed partnership Pinochle on the 48-card deck, with the Ten ranking above the King. Stick-the-dealer is always on, so every hand is played, and melds resolve automatically once trump is named. Install it as an app from your browser menu to play offline.
Pinochle came to the United States with German immigrants in the nineteenth century, growing out of the older French game Bézique. The name likely comes from the French "binocle." It became a staple of German-American clubs and remains popular across the American Midwest today.