When playing to a poker trick a player must follow suit if he can, and if he cannot he must play to win the trick by trumping or overtrumping it. Only if he has no card of the suit led and no trump card may be discard. If trump is led, the subsequent players must try to win it.

A trick is won by the highest card of the suit led or the highest trump if the led card has been trumped. If two identical cards are played the one first to be played wins the trick is to be won the card.

When all the tricks have been played, the players score for each Ace 11 points, each 10 ten points, each King four points, each Queen three points, each Jack two points, and for poker winning the last trick ten points. It gives a total of 250 points to be won in tricks.

Every deal is a separate event and settlement is made before the next deal begins. It is usual to reduce the contract to units on which payment is made.

The bidder pays double (called double bete) if his score for melds and cards taken in tricks fails to equal his contract; he receives if his score sheet equals or exceeds his contract, but he does No-Trumps receive more than the unit value of his contract.

Payment is made to and from all players, active and inactive, and to and from a kitty if the contract is for 350 or more.

The kitty is a separate account and is common property of the players. They make good any deficiency if it owes, and divide any surplus when the game breaks up.

PARTNERSHIP PINOCLE

This game, as its name implies, is played by four players, two playing in partnership against the other two. The partners face each other.

The 48-card Pinocle pack is used. The dealer gives each player 12 cards in sets of three, and turns up the last card dealt to himself to determine the trump suit.

In turn, beginning with the player on the left of the dealer, any player who holds the dis (9 of the trump suit) may exchange it for the turned-up card, and if the dealer turns up the dis as the trump card he scores ten points. Each original holder of a dis, whether or not he exchanges it with the turned-up card, scores ten points for it.

The players expose their melds on the table in front of them, and, in addition to the melds for Auction Pinocle, melds and the scores for them are as follows:

Double trump sequence

When the players have shown their melds and scored for them, they return them to their hands. No meld, however, finally counts unless the partnership wins a trick, and when a trick is won both partners scores for their melds.

When the players have shown their melds and scored for them, they return them to their hands. No meld, however, finally counts unless the partnership wins a trick, and when a trick is won both partners scores for their melds.

The player on the left of the dealer leads to the first trick, and the play continues as in Auction Pinocle. When all 12 tricks have been played, the online poker players count ten for every Ace and 10 won, five points for every King and Queen, and ten points for winning the last trick. As in Auction Pinocle the total is 250 points.

The game is won by the partnership that first wins 1,000 points in melds and cards won in tricks, but if both partnership reach 1,000 or more points in the same deal the game continues to 1,250 points, and if it happens again, to 1,500 points, and so on.

At any time during the game a player may claim that he has scored 1,000 points or more and won the game. Play is brought to an end and the claim is verified. If the claim is found to be correct his partnership wins the game; if the claim is found to be wrong his partnership loses the game. In either case, what the opposing side has scored makes no difference to the result.