PARTNERSHIP PINOCLE FOR MORE
THAN FOUR PLAYERS
This poker game is played with two 48 card Pinocle packs shuffled together. Six players form two partnership of three players each sitting alternately at the table: eight players form two partnerships of four players each sitting alternately.
The dealer gives 16 cards to each player in bundles of four each and turns up the last card dealt to himself to denote the trump suit.
The game is played in the same way as Partnership Pinocle, but in addition to the melds above, melds and the scores form them are as follows:
| Triple trump sequence 10, K, Q, J | 3,000 |
| Double trump sequence A, 10, K, Q, J | 1,500 |
| 4 Kings and Queens of the same suit | 1,200 |
| 3 Kings and Queens of the same suit | 900 |
| 2 Kings and Queens of the same suit | 300 |
| Quadruple Pinocle | 1,200 |
| Triple Pinocle | 900 |
| Double Pinocle | 300 |
| 15 Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks | 3,000 |
| 12 Aces | 2,000 |
| 12 Kings | 1,900 |
| 12 Queens | 1,200 |
| 12 Jacks | 800 |
| 8 Aces | 1,000 |
| 8 Kings | 800 |
| 8 Queens | 900 |
| 8 Jacks | 400 |
FIRETHOUSE PINOCLE
This version is played as a partnership game for four, two playing in partnership against the other two. Twelve cards are dealt to each player. As in Auction Pinocle the trump suit is bid for; the player on the left of the dealer bids first; each player has only one bid or pass, and the minimum bid is 200.
The bidder makes the trump suit and leads to the first trick. Game is won by the partnership that first reaches 1,000 points. The score of the bidder’s side is counted first, and the game is played to the end. A partnership cannot concede defeat.
CHECK PINOCLE
This version was developed some say in Texa, out of Firehouse Pinocle, and is considered one of the best and most skilful of all partnership games, No-Trumps excluding bridge. The game is played by four players, two playing in partnership against the other two, with the regular 48 card Pinocle pack.
Twelve cards are dealt to each player three at a time, and each player in turn, beginning with the player on the left of the dealer, must either bid or pass. The lowest bid is 200, subsequent bids must be made in multiples of ten, and once a player has passed he may No-Trumps re-enter bidding.
None of the first three poker players may make a bid unless he holds a marriage (King and Queen of one suit) but if all three pass the dealer must bid at least 200 and he does No-Trumps need a marriage to do so; if however, he wishes to make a higher bid than 200 he must hold one.
The bidding ends when a bid has been passed by the three other players, and the bidder then names the trump suit. The players then expose their melds on the table. The melds and the scores for them are the same as in Auction Pinocle and the partners add the values of their melds together and record the total as a single score.
Some melds have what is known as a check (chip) value: a trump sequence (Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack) and four aces each of a different suit are each worth two checks, four Kings, four Queens, four Jacks each of a different suit, and double Pinocle are all worth one check. Check values are paid across the table as the game proceeds.
The players return the melds to their hands, and the play is the same as in Partnership Pinocle. When all 12 tricks have been played a partnership scores 10 points for every Ace and 10 that it has won, 5 points for every King and Queen, and 10 points if it has won the last trick.
The bidding side adds these points to those that it has already scored for its melds, and if the total is at least equal to the bid the contract has been made and the partnership scores for everything that it makes; if its total is less than its bid the amount of its bid is deducted from its score. In all cases the opposing side for everything that it makes.
At the end of each deal a partnership pinochle is entitled to checks on the following scale:
| Contract | If made |
| 200-240 | 2 checks |
| 250-290 | 4 checks |
| 300-340 | 7 checks |
| 350-390 | 10 checks |
| 400-440 | 13 checks |
If the contract is defeated the bidding partnership pays double checks to the opposing partnership.
A partnership that wins all 12 tricks in a deal receives four checks; for winning the game it receives seven checks and one check for each 100 points (or part thereof) by which the score of the winning partnership exceeds that of the winning partnership; and if the losing partnership has a net minus score, the winning partnership receives an additional four checks.
The game is won by the partnership that first scores 1,000 points. The score of the bidding partnership is counted first, and as the online poker game is over when it reaches 1,000 points, the opposing partnership scores nothing in the final deal.