Classic trick taking card game in which players bid how many points they will score for the right to set trump, then have to make their bid to get their points. Pinochle is played with a modified standard deck. It consists of a 48 card deck with all 2-8's discarded, and two of each card (a Pinochle deck can be made by combining two 52 card decks and stripping all 2-8's).
Pinochle has several unique elements not found in other trick taking games:
- Before playing the hands, players form melds (runs, marriages, pinochle, sets) which are added to their score.
- Played with a double (and sometimes quadruple) deck of cards: A 10 K Q J 9
- Players are required trump when void and over trump if they can.
The original version of Pinochle is a two-handed version which is derived from the virtually identical Bezique.
The game was modified for more players with several popular variants including Partnership Pinochle, Partnership Auction Pinochle, and Double Pack Pinochle (Partnership).