Loadstar 198/198.d81/t.pinochle34

Text File | 2000-01-01 | 22.4 KB | 490 lines

                            P I N O C H L E 3 4

                 Program and Text by Ron and Kate Slaminko


Introduction:

 Pinochle34 plays 3 or 4 handed (hence the name) single deck Pinochle.
These instructions are divided into 3 parts. Part 1 outlines the rules of
Pinochle. Part 2 describes the Pinochle34 program's options, user
interface, and variation-specific rules. Part 3 contains some tips for
improving your play. Even experienced players should read parts 1 & 2 once,
as there are many different versions of Pinochle and this program may not
use the rules you are familiar with.

 1.0 The rules of Pinochle

 Pinochle is played with a deck of 48 cards. The deck differs from a
standard Poker deck in 3 ways:

     * There are no cards lower than a 9
     * There are two of every card
     * The cards are ranked, in decreasing order, Ace, *Ten*, King, Queen,
Jack, Nine (note the Ten is not in its usual position)

 The object of the game is to be the first player (or team) to score 150
points. Points are scored for each hand through Meld (specific combinations
of cards) and by winning tricks.

 Pinochle34 will play either Cutthroat (3-handed) or Partnership (4-handed)
Pinochle. The rules are generally similar so the remainder of this section
of the instructions will assume you are playing 4-handed. See section 1.8
for other variations.

 1.1 A hand of Pinochle

 A single hand of Pinochle consists of these elements:

    * The deal
    * Bidding
    * Naming of Trump
    * Meld
    * Taking tricks

 1.2 The Deal

 A dealer is randomly chosen at the start of each game. For successive
hands within the same game, the deal rotates clockwise. 12 cards are dealt
to each player. Your hand is sorted and displayed - the other players'
cards are not sorted or shown to you. You sit in the South chair and your
partner is North. East and West are teamed against you.

 1.3 Bidding

 The player to the dealer's left starts the bidding. That player may either
PASS or bid. The minimum bid as 16. (The bid amount is the number of points
you think your team will take this hand - see the tips in section 3 for
bidding strategies). Bidding progresses clockwise, with each player having
the option to either PASS or bid at least 1 point higher than the current
high bid. The bidding continues until 3 consecutive players PASS, and the
player to bid last wins the bid.

 If nobody bids, the dealer is 'stuck' with the bid at 15.

 1.4 Naming of Trump

 The winning bidder, or the dealer if he got stuck, names the Trump suit,
usually the suit which gives him the most Power (see Taking Tricks) or the
highest Meld (see Meld).

 1.5 Meld

 Once trump has been named, all 4 players display their Meld. Meld are
specific combinations of cards which are worth points. Since there are 2 of
every card, it's possible to have a double of any meld - sometimes having
the double is worth extra points, other doubles merely count as having the
same thing twice. Here's what the various melds are worth:

 Name           Cards Needed             Value-Single      Value-Double
 Run            A-10-K-Q-J IN TRUMP            15                150
 Dix            9 IN TRUMP                      1                  2
 Aces Around    Ace in each Suit               10                100
 Kings Around   King in each Suit               8                 80
 Queens Around  Queen in each Suit              6                 60
 Jacks Around   Jack in each Suit               4                 40
 Marriage       Queen & King in Same Suit       2                  4
 Royal Marriage Queen & King IN TRUMP           4                  8
 Roundhouse     Marriage in every Suit         24                240
 Pinochle       Jack Diamonds & Queen Spades    4                 30

 Note that a Run or Dix are only valuable if in the Trump suit, and a
Marriage in Trump is worth twice what a non-trump marriage is. This is one
of the reasons why Naming Trump (and therefore successful bidding) is
important.

 A card may be part of more than one piece of meld, as long as one of the
melds isn't contained within the other. For example: a single Queen of
Spades may be part of a Pinochle, Queens around, and a Marriage, but if you
have a Run in Trump, you don't also get credit for the Royal Marriage
contained within the Run (although if you have BOTH Kings and Queens of
Trump, you could have a Run using one set and a Royal Marriage using the
other). Similarly, if you have a Roundhouse, you don't get points for the
Kings Around, Queens Around, or any of the Marriages contained within it.

 The computer will count the meld for all players, but it's still important
that you be able to recognize and add up your own meld so you can decide
what to bid. The Training Wheels option (section 2.2) can help with this
until you're comfortable counting your own meld.

 Your Meld score is added to your partner's (North) and the total becomes
your initial score for the hand. Likewise, East and West add their Melds
together. The Melded cards are then picked back up off the table. It's a
good idea to pay attention to what the other players melded as this gives
you a partial idea of what cards they hold.

 1.6 Taking Tricks.

 A 'trick' is one card from each player. The winning bidder leads the first
card of the first trick, and after that, whoever wins the trick leads the
next one. The winner of a trick is the person who played either the highest
card in the suit led, or the highest trump. A trump card, regardless of
rank, beats any card in any non-trump suit. If identical cards are played,
the first one played is the winner. The player leading the trick is free to
play any card in his hand. The remaining players must follow strict rules
of engagement:

     * You MUST play a card in the suit which was led, if you have one.

     * If you can follow suit, you MUST play a card higher than the current
highest in-suit card showing (unless someone has trumped, see below). So if
the lead was a Queen of clubs, the next player threw a King of Clubs, and
you're holding an Ace, Ten, King, and Nine of Clubs, you MUST throw either
the Ten or the Ace. Remember: Ten beats a King, and the King already played
has precedence over your King.

     * If you can follow suit but not beat the current high card, or if
someone other than the leader has played trump, you are free to play any
card in your hand of the led suit.

     * If you cannot follow suit, but have trump in your hand, you must
play a trump card. If someone prior to you has already played trump, you
must throw a higher trump if you have one. If you can't beat the current
high trump, you can throw any trump card in your hand.

     * If you can't follow suit, and you can't play trump, you are free to
throw any card in your hand (this is called 'sloughing').

 These rules can be summed up as: (1) You Must Follow Suit, (2) you Must
Trump if you can't follow suit, and (3) you Must Beat the current winner,
if possible.

 The cards in each trick you win are added to your pile. Every Ace, Ten, or
King in the pile is worth 1 point (these cards are called 'counters').
There are 24 counters in the deck, and the last trick is also worth one
point to its winner. There are, therefore, 25 points to be won each hand.
Within the limitations imposed by the rules of engagement, you will
generally want to throw counters on your partner's winning tricks, and non-
counters on your opponents'.

 Your points and your partner's are added together and combined with your
meld to get your total score for the hand. If you (or your partner) were
the winning bidder, your total score must be at least as high as your bid,
otherwise your team's score for the hand is a negative of your bid amount:
if you bid 30 but only total 28, your score is -30. This is called 'getting
Set'.

 If neither team has reached the required score of 150, the deal passes to
the next person and the game continues.

 1.6 Drift Out with Bid Preference

 Some versions of Pinochle require you to 'Bid Out', meaning you can't win
the game unless you were the winning bidder on the last hand even if your
score is above 150. Others allow you to 'Drift Out' - win the game without
bidding. Pinochle34 uses the 'Drift Out with Bid Preference' system - If
both teams end a hand with scores of 150 or higher, the bidding team wins
the game even if they have the lower score. If only one team has reached
150, it doesn't matter if they bid or drifted.

 1.7 Other Special Rules

 1.7.1 One Point Minimum - Your team must take at least one point during
the Trick phase or you lose your meld and receive a total score of zero for
the hand. If you were the bidder, your team gets Set even if you had enough
Meld to cover the bid.

 1.7.2 Five Nines - A player who is dealt 5 or more Nines may (but is not
required to) demand a redeal. This decision must be made before bidding
commences. The cards are tossed in, reshuffled, and redealt by the same
dealer. No points are scored. It's as if the deal never occurred. The
message "XXXX demands a redeal" will be displayed if computer player XXXX
is in this situation.

 1.8 Game Variations

 Described above is standard 4-handed Partnership Pinochle. Pinochle34 also
supports some other common variants: Partnership with Exchange, 3-Handed
Cutthroat, and 3-Handed Cutthroat with Kitty. Most of the rules don't
change from what's above. Here's what's different:

 1.8.1 Partnership with Exchange

 After the bidding is done and Trump is declared, the players on the team
that won the bid exchange 3 cards. The exchange is done simultaneously. The
3 cards you receive may change the meld you hold, so you might want to bid
a bit higher on the chance your partner gives you that missing card for a
Run in trumps. See the Strategy Tips in section 3 for other suggestions on
what cards to pass.

 1.8.2 Three-Handed Pinochle

 In this game, you don't have a partner - each of the 3 players keeps his
own score and tries for 150 points. You are dealt 16 cards, the minimum
opening bid is 20, and the dealer gets stuck at 19 if nobody else bids (the
numbers are higher than in 4-handed since you have more cards and therefore
better possibilities for Meld and Power). A traditional strategy in 3-
handed is for the 2 players who didn't win the bid to combine forces
against the bidder (throwing points on each other's tricks, for example) in
an attempt to Set him. This is why the game is often called Cutthroat.

 1.8.3 Three-Handed with Kitty

 Same as above, except 3 cards are placed face down into a 'kitty' during
the initial deal, so each player receives only 15 cards. After the bidding,
but BEFORE Trump is declared, the kitty is exposed to all players and these
3 cards are added to the winning bidder's hand. The winner then picks a
trump suit and discards any 3 cards from his hand into his trick pile
(bringing his hand back down to 15 to match the other players). Meld is
displayed and play proceeds normally from there. As with Partnership with
Exchange, you might want to consider bidding a bit higher on the
possibility that the card you need is in the kitty.

 2.0 Playing Pinochle34

 You start the game by (1) Entering your name, (2) Selecting the game to
play:  Cutthroat, Cutthroat with Kitty, Partnership, or Partnership with
Exchange, (3) Choosing the skill level of your opponents [and, separately,
the skill level of your partner if playing one of the Partnership games],
(4) Training Wheels On or Off, and (5) Mouse [1351 in port 1], joystick
[port 2], or keyboard control.

 2.1 Skill Levels

 Three skill levels for the computer players are available: Beginner,
Intermediate, and Advanced. At lower skill levels, the players will make,
shall we say, less than optimal decisions as to how high to bid, what cards
to pass, and which card to play. The Advanced level plays a very tough
game. The skill level you select for your opponents will apply to both the
East and West player. If you selected Partnership, you can select a
different skill level for your partner in the North chair. Use this feature
to give yourself a little advantage when learning the game, or a bit of a
handicap if you've outgrown the advanced players.

 2.2 Training Wheels Mode:

 This mode can be helpful for learning the game of Pinochle. When in this
mode, the computer will:

 (1) Show you all your possible meld, identify your strongest suit, and
suggest a maximum bid amount.
 (2) Suggest the trump suit (which may be different than the earlier
"strongest suit" after you've picked up the Kitty in that version of the
game)
 (3) Suggest cards to pass or discard if that option was selected
 (4) Leave all the other players' meld cards exposed until they are played
so you don't have to remember them
 (5) Suggest a card to play, and
 (6) Give a running update on which cards have been played

 You can override any of the computer's suggestions at any time, or accept
them as is.

 2.3 Game Control

 The mouse and joystick work pretty much the same way: move the pointer to
the card you wish to select or de-select (for passing, discarding, or
playing in a trick) and press the button. For bidding, click on the up or
down arrows by the bid amount to change it then the BID button to place the
bid, or PASS to decline bidding.

 If you selected keyboard control, each card will have a letter in the
lower left corner. Press the corresponding key to select that card. To bid,
use the Up and Down cursor keys to change the bid amount then press B to
bid, or P to pass.

 With Training Wheels on, the suggested card(s) will be marked with an
asterisk. Press the card's letter (keyboard control) or click on the marked
card (mouse/joystick) to follow the suggestion, or some other card to make
a different play. Note that if this is a multi-card selection (cards to
exchange or discard), the suggested cards are already 'selected' - to
change one or more, you'll have to de-select some of the suggested ones.

 There will be other points during the game when play pauses (so you can
see the kitty, other player's meld, or the scoreboard). Press <RETURN>
(keyboard) or the mouse/joystick button to continue play.

 2.4 End of Game (or Exiting Early)

 To exit the game, click on the PINOCHLE34 logo in the upper left corner
(or press X if using keyboard control). This will bring up a submenu
allowing you to eXit, start a New game, or Continue the current game. The
Exit option is only available when it's your turn to bid, name trump,
select cards to exchange or discard, or play a card.

 If the game ends naturally, you will have a choice of playing again or
exiting. Press the appropriate key or click on the letter that corresponds
to your selection.

 3.0 Strategy Tips:

 As with any card game, the best way to learn strategy is to play the game,
try different things, and see what works. The Training Wheels option can be
a big help since it frees you from having to remember cards played and you
can use the computer's suggestions to guide your bidding and card playing.
Feel free to override the suggestions if you think you've got a better
strategy. And don't get too dependent on the Training Wheels: if you ever
play against real people, you'll be on your own!

 Following are some specific tips on bidding, passing, and taking tricks.

 3.1. Bidding

 This is probably the most intimidating aspect of Pinochle for the new
player, since the penalty for overbidding is so great. On the other hand,
the winning bidder has the power to name the trump suit and to make the
first lead, maximizing the points in his hand and minimizing his
opponents'. So it's safe to say that if you never bid, you won't win the
game either.

 So the question becomes: 'How High should I bid?' Here are some pointers
for setting a max bid amount:

  * Assume you will take the bid and call trump. How many points (meld +
sure winners) can you safely be assured of taking?

  * For 4-handed pinochle, your partner's meld will be added to yours and
he/she will try to throw points on your winning tricks and might win a few
tricks himself. It's a guess, but you can probably assume your partner will
contribute between 4 and 8 points to your score.

  * If playing 4-handed with Pass, consider the possibility that your
partner might give you that missing card for a trumps run, or that 4th Ace.
Chances of getting what you need through passing are about 50/50, so factor
that in and decide if you want to take a chance. Your max bid should
probably be somewhere between your score with no help from your partner and
your potential score with perfect help.

  * If playing 3-handed, remember that the other players will probably join
forces against you, so be very careful when counting potential winners. And
if playing with a kitty, the chances of filling in a specific missing card
from the kitty are only about 1 in 10.

 3.2. The strategy of not bidding

 There are times when, even if you could safely bid, you might not want
to:

  * If the value of your hand is pretty much independent of the trump suit
(that is, you don't have a Run and your power is distributed over multiple
suits).

  * You're bidding against your partner (the other team has dropped out of
the bidding). Just because you don't care about the trump suit doesn't mean
it's unimportant to your partner.

  * You want to try to Set the other team, particularly if the dealer will
get stuck if you don't bid. You may score slightly fewer points than if you
declared trump, but the difference will be more than made up for if your
opponents have to take a negative score.

 Try to bid realistically. Your team will suffer serious penalties if you
fail to make your bid. But, hey! It's just a game and these penalties are
only exacted on the score pad. The only way to learn is to try. You won't
learn the best way to play a hand until you've seen it a few times, and if
you happen to fail a few times along the way, don't sweat it. I've always
felt that if I didn't get set once in a while, I must not be bidding high
enough!

 3.3. Calling Trump

 As the winning bidder, you get to name trump. You probably already had
some idea of what your preferred trumps suit was even before bidding
(although if playing three handed with a kitty, the extra cards may change
your mind). The decision should be based on:

   * If you've got a run, it's obvious that's your trumps suit. If playing
partnership with pass, the suit you're closest to a run in might be a good
choice.

   * The suit you hold the most cards of, especially if you hold the Ace
and at least four other cards in that suit.

   * The suit that maximizes your meld. You should consider this if you've
been stuck with a low-power hand. The extra points from those 9's of trump
and trump marriages may be just enough to save you.

 3.4. Exchanging Cards (4-player Partnership with Exchange only)

 Both the winning bidder and his/her partner have the same goal: to
maximize the power of the bidder's hand without sacrificing important meld.
Therefore, you would generally choose not to break up a trumps run, Aces or
Kings around, or double pinochle. Beyond that, if you are the winning
bidder, you should send:

   * Jacks of Diamonds & Queens of Spades if Hearts or Clubs is trump.
   * Non-trump marriages (as a set)
   * Non-trump kings, queens and tens, starting with those in your weakest
suit
   * Other losers (non-trump jacks and nines)

 As the partner of the winning bidder, you should send:

   * Jacks of Diamonds & Queens of Spades if Diamonds or Spades is Trump
   * Trump, starting with the highest power (but not the nine if you can
pass an out-of-trump Ace instead).
   * Aces out of trump.
   * Off-trump non-counters.

 3.5. Discarding (3-player version with Kitty, only)

 The 3 discards cannot be used for meld, but do go into your trick pile.
Therefore, the following suggestions apply:

   * Throw cards that are not needed for meld. In particular, throw
unneeded counters (Kings and Tens) that are likely to be losers.
   * If you are long in trump, consider making yourself void in a suit so
that you can trump any leads by other players in that suit.

 3.6. Taking Tricks

 Knowledge is power. The more you know about what cards the other players
hold, the better your chances of taking tricks. You will have some initial
knowledge of the other hands based on (1) what you hold, and (2) what meld
they played. Additional knowledge comes from watching the cards fall.
Because of the rules of engagement, each trick tells you something about
the other players' cards. For example:

 - If a player fails to follow suit, you know he's void in that suit.
Furthermore, if the suit led was not trumps, and a player doesn't follow
suit and doesn't trump, you know he's void in 2 suits (the suit that was
led and the trumps suit). Knowing who's void in trump can be very
valuable.

 - Counting trump is also a good strategy. If the number of trumps in your
hand + the number already played = 12, then you know everybody else is out
of trump.

 - If a player follows suit but doesn't beat the current leader, or plays
trump but doesn't beat the current high trump, it means he can't. So if the
card to beat is a ten, you know he doesn't have an Ace in that suit.

 Some suggestions for what to play:

   * The longer you lead the trick, the more counters you will pull. Try to
lead a card that will win the trick outright so that you can also lead the
next one.

   * The Ace of Trump is an unbeatable card. If you are the declarer, lead
the Ace of Trump on your first trick. (If you don't have either Ace of
Trump, you may be in serious trouble!) Because of the rules of engagement,
you will find out if anyone is out of trump right away.

   * Pull as much trump as you can without giving away the lead before you
go off into another suit. If everyone else is out of trump, save your
remaining trumps and move on to another suit.

   * If you have a lone Ace out of trump (an Ace with no other cards in
that suit), lead it immediately after you have finished your first string
of trump leads. You don't want to lose the lead and have an opponent play
the other Ace of the same suit, because you would be forced to follow suit
(play the Ace), and since it would be the second one on the trick, it would
be worthless.

   * If you've reached a point where you have no likely winners to lead
(except trump you're saving for last trick), try to play a trick your
partner will win. If you know your partner will win, try to force a point
out of your opponent by leading a Queen or King.

   * If the opposing team took the bid, pay attention to what the declarer
melded. If there is a loser among the meld, try to save a card to capture
it later on.

   * If you cannot follow suit and you cannot trump the trick, you may
"slough," or play any other card. Pay attention, though, to who controls
the trick and play a counter or a non-counter, as appropriate, if you can.