


If there are four players, in most variations, cards are dealt evenly to each player until there are no cards left in the deck: 12 cards to each player if single deck or 20 cards to each player if double deck. In single-deck Pinochle, the dealer typically deals 3 cards to each player at a time, whereas in double-deck it’s usually 5 cards at a time. At the start of each hand, the dealer shuffles the deck and begins dealing all cards face-down, starting with the player to their left, and then around the table clockwise, dealing to themselves last. Normally, a random player is selected to be first dealer and then for each subsequent hand the player to the dealer’s left deals the next hand. However, in most 4-player variations, partners are chosen and two players form a team to compete against the others. 3-player or 3-handed Pinochle is often referred to as Cutthroat because it requires each player to play against the other two (i.e. Most variations of Pinochle require either 3 or 4 players (there are 2 player versions and versions with more than 4 players but these are less common). However, most players will remove Nines when playing double deck, leaving a total of 80 cards. Some players prefer to play double-deck Pinochle, which means two decks are used instead of one. In Pinochle, Aces are the highest card, followed by Tens, then Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Nines. When playing with physical cards, one can either purchase a special Pinochle deck or use two standard 52-card decks and remove all of the numbered cards below Nine. Unlike a standard 52-card deck, there are no cards between Two through Eight. There are two of each card for every suit. Pinochle is played using a specialized deck of 48 cards consisting of Aces, Tens, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Nines.
#Double deck pinochle how to#
In subsequent articles, we’ll go into more detailed descriptions of specific versions and elaborate of on how to employ effective strategies for each. We’ll describe some of the most common styles of playing and basic strategies. In this introduction, we’ll start with covering the basics and most universal concepts. There are many different variations of Pinochle and many players have their own unique rules and preferences for how to play.
