The objective of Pinochle is to score the most points by melding combinations of cards in your hand and taking tricks containing Aces, 10s and Kings.

Double Deck Pinochle is a four-player trick-taking-and-melding card game, played with 4 players and two 40-card decks containing only Aces, 10s, Kings, Queens and Jacks. The player opposite you at the table is your partner. Your opponents are seated at your left and right. The objective of the game is to score the most points by melding combinations of cards in your hand and taking tricks containing Aces, 10s and Kings.

At the beginning of each hand, you and the other players are each dealt 20 cards face down. Cards are ranked Ace (high), 10, King, Queen and Jack (low).

Bidding begins with the player to the left of the dealer. You bid on the total number of points you think you and your partner can score, both from melding and taking tricks. You can also pass if you don't think you can beat the current bid.

If you win the bid, you get to declare the trump suit and lead the first trick. You may only choose a trump suit in which you hold both a King and a Queen (also known as a marriage). If you win the bid without a marriage, you must surrender, losing the amount of your bid and ending the hand.

The meld

Meld points change based on the suit that is called. Note that you can only use a card once across cards and marriages. That is, you cannot use the same King or Queen in a run and a marriage.

If you win the bid, you must have at least 20 meld points between you and your partner. If you do not have at least 20 points, you are forced to surrender.

If you and your partner do not have at least 20 meld points and you did not win the bid, then you won't get any points for your melds (so they will not be displayed in the meld screen, except for Aces arounds which are always shown).

Surrender

If you win the bid, but you realize during the meld that it will be too difficult to take enough counters to win the hand, then you can surrender. This means that you lose the number of points of your bid, but you don't allow the other team to take points with any counters. Surrendering ends the hand, and can begin another.

Taking tricks

The order of cards (highest to lowest) is A-10-K-Q-J. You win a trick by playing the highest card of the trump suit, or if none of those have been played, then the highest card of the suit that is lead. If there is a tie, the first person to play that card wins. You must try to win a trick (play a higher card) if you can. You must follow suit; that is, if you have a card of the suit that is led, you must play a card in that suit. If you do not, then you must trump; that is, play a card in the trump suit (if you have one).

Counters

For each trick that you take, you get a counter (point) for each A-10-K in that trick. Taking the last trick gives you an additional 2 points. If you make your bid, AND the total of you and your partner's counters is 20 or more, you get all of your counters and meld points (for you and your partner). Otherwise, you do not make your bid, and you lose the number of points in your bid. If you did not take the bid, you get all of your counters, but you only get your meld points if the total meld points between you and your partner is 20.