Pokerwiner.com → Gaming dictionary

Radio Partnership Pinochle

One of the most fascinating partnership games of the whole Pinochle family is Radio Partnership Pinochle . This game originated in Union City, New Jersey, where it has been played since 1933. Basically it’s Double-Deck Partnership Pinochle. But its unique feature is an informatory exchange, in certain arbitrary and authorized bidding terms, that is made orally between partners before the bidding begins. This discussion, which is not bidding, is done with cues that must be explained to and understood by all the players. Secret conventions are barred.
A cue is not a binding contract. It need not even be an accurate description of what it purports to describe, namely, the card values in the player’s hand. Players will often give their partners inaccurate cues and thus lead their opponents, duly eavesdropping, to disaster. This table talk is capable of being used with infinite subtlety and it is, of course, fraught with risk. A misinformed opponent is a wonderful asset in any game. A misinformed partner, inspired by some harmless little cue of yours, can turn into a runaway and rush off into a beautiful accident.

Requirements

1. Two standard Pinochle decks from which all the nines have been removed, making one deck of 80 cards. The decks may be of contrasting color or pattern.
2. Four players, two against two as partners.

Object of the Game. For a partnership to run up at the end of four hands a higher score than its opponents. If at the completion of four hands the score is tied, a fifth tie-breaking hand is played. There is no bidder’s choice.
Rules Prevailing Before the Actual Deal. Basic General Rules for Pinochle govern selection of partnerships, choosing the dealer, establishing seat positions, changing seats and partners, the shuffle, and the cut.
The Stakes. At the North Hudson Men’s Club, where the game originated, and the only source of a criterion, the stakes are generally $1 a game, plus a 25-cent additional penalty when a partnership goes in the hole.
The Deal. Each player including the dealer is dealt 20 cards face down, five at a time, starting with the leader and rotating to the left, clockwise. The dealer gets the last five cards.
The Informatory Discussion. Before the bidding starts the partners try, using terms familiar to all hands, to impart to each other an idea of each hand’s strength. In no circumstances may a player tell his partner in what suit his strength lies. Example: Holding a flush in diamonds, he may say “I have a flush”; he is absolutely forbidden to say “I’ve a diamond flush.” Suits cannot be mentioned in the cueing.
Let’s start: A online poker player looks at his partner and says “Sing!” Now the partner must respond not necessarily telling the truth in certain conventional terms, a sort of short-hand familiar to everyone at the table.

INFORMATORY TERMS

The Term	Its meaning
A ten	A flush
Twenty	A long suit-seven or more cards in thesame suit, but not comprising a flush
A five	100 aces
One	An ace
Two	Two aces
Three	Three aces
Four	Four aces, but not 100 aces

Any meld other than a flush or 100 aces is stated in precise terms. A player holding a 140 meld says “A hundred forty.” Holding 200 meld, he says “Two hundred.” The player states his holding in a series of spoken numbers this may seem complicated at first but, as you’ll see, these numbers break down into readily understandable units. What the players do is to put informatory sentences together with numbers rather than with words alone. Here are some examples:

1. A player holds 100 in meld, 100 aces, and three other aces with the 100 aces. “Sing,” says his partner. “One hundred, three, and a five,” the player responds.
2. A player holds 160 in meld (not a flush), 100 aces, and an ace besides. “Sing!” And the player calls that hand thus: “No ten, one hundred sixty-one, and a five.”
3. A player holds a double flush (300 points) and 40 meld, plus three aces (not 100 aces). “Sing!” And the player calls the hand thus: “Double ten, and forty-three.”
4. A player holds a roundhouse (240 points) and no aces. The player would call “A weak two hundred forty.” After this informatory exchange has ended, the bidding proper begins.

The Bidding. The leader starts the bidding, and the turn to bid rotates to the left around the table until three successive players have passed; the last bidder wins the auction for his partnership. There is no minimum bid. A player may bid any amount he elects, but the amount bid must end with a zero-200, 300, 320, 400, and so on. The average bid that wins the auction in this game is 900. Every bid after the first must be a raise in some multiple of 10, as in all other Pinochle games. When the final bid is passed by the other three players, this bid is entered on the poker score sheet .
Naming Trump and Melding. The bidder has the privilege of naming the trump suit. After trump is declared, the players lay down their melds. After verifying each player’s count, the scorekeeper enters the total meld score for each partnership as a unit to its credit on the sheet. Then, players restore their melded cards to their holding in their hand, and they are ready for the play.

The Play

1. The bidder, playing any card he elects, leads off to the first trick. Turn to play rotates to the left, clockwise.
2. Each player must playa card of the suit led, if he has one.
3. If the player does not have a card of the suit led, he must playa trump card.
4. If a player does not have a card of the suit led or a trump card, he may play any other card in his hand.
5. When a trump card is led to the trick, each succeeding player must playa higher trump card than the lead off card if he has one.
6. If a non trump card is led and one player trumps that card, the succeeding player (or players), if compelled to trump, need not playa card of higher rank than the trump already played.
7. The highest-ranking card played wins the trick. When two cards of the same value tie to win the trick, the trick is won by the first one played.
8. The winner of that trick leads off to the next, and play continues, rotating to the left, as in the above pattern.
9. Play continues thus until the hands are exhausted and all cards have been played in tricks.
10. The partnership winning poker the last trick scores 20 points for it.

Counting Valuable Cards Won in tricks. The Hole. The value of cards won in tricks is totaled for each partnership and entered as a unit on the score sheet. If a partnership fails to make its bid, it is holed (penalized)for the amount of the bid. It loses its melds previously scored, and the amount by which it is holed is subtracted from its recorded score or a minus sign is used to indicate its deficit. The bidding partnership scores nothing on a holed hand. The opposing partnership, however, scores its melds and valuable cards won in tricks.
Cash for going in the Hole. A cash settlement must be paid by a partnership going in as one-quarter of the total stakes for the game. In a game being played for $1, the penalty for a hole is 25 cents. This penalty must be agreed upon before the start of the game. Here is an optional way of paying off a hole penalty at the end of the game: If a partnership has gone into the hole, but still goes ahead and wins the game, it is not penalized for having gone into the hole. But if the holed partnership loses the game, it must pay a doubled penalty on the holed hand or hands.
Completion of the Game. After four hands have been dealt and played out, the partnership with the highest score at that point wins the game, which is thereupon completed. In case of a tie, a new hand is dealt to break the tie and decide the poker winner