Pitch (card game)

Pitch, also called high low jack and known in its bidding form as auction pitch or setback, is an American trick-taking card game descended from the English game all fours, played with a standard fifty-four card deck including jokers by two to nine players, most commonly three to five. Each hand begins with a bidding phase in which players wager how many of four available points, High, Low, Jack and Game, they expect to win; the highest bidder becomes the pitcher and leads the first trick, whose suit becomes trump for the hand. Players may compete individually or, with four players, as two fixed partnerships seated across from each other. Failing to make a bid costs the bidder the full value bid, called being set back, which gives the setback variant its name. The game grew out of all fours during the middle of the nineteenth century once the bidding mechanic was added, distinguishing it from the older, non-bidding British game it descends from.