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Pinochle

Trick-Taking Card Games

Pinochle is a trick-taking, point-scoring card game played with a specialized forty-eight-card deck consisting of two copies each of the nine through ace of every suit, in which players score points both by melding certain card combinations and by winning tricks containing valuable cards. It developed in the United States in the nineteenth century from the European card game bezique, brought over by German immigrants, and it became especially popular as a partnership and social card game across the United States over the twentieth century.

Facts
Classification
Player Count
Two-Player 1
Wikipedia infobox (Pinochle) players field: '4 in partnerships or 3 individually; variants exist for 2–6 or 8 players'
Player Count
Small Group (3-6 Players) 1
Wikipedia infobox (Pinochle) players field: '4 in partnerships or 3 individually; variants exist for 2–6 or 8 players'
Player Count
Team-Based (Two Teams) 1
Wikipedia infobox (Pinochle) players field: '4 in partnerships or 3 individually; variants exist for 2–6 or 8 players'
Player Count
Large Group or Variable 1
Wikipedia infobox (Pinochle) players field: '4 in partnerships or 3 individually; variants exist for 2–6 or 8 players'
Partially Attested
Governing Body
National Pinochle Association, American Pinochle Association and Cambridge Pinochle Association 1
No single governing body is named; the source lists several separate associations that organise double-deck play.
Sport
Game Type (category)
Card Game 1
Originating Region
United States 1
Game Type
Trick-and-meld card game 1
Connections

Derived From

Bezique, Games

American Pinochle developed from the German Binokel/Bezique family of melding card games.

Source The Oxford Guide to Card Games
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Pinochle, Wikipedia
  • History section
    German immigrants brought the game of Binokel to America in the last quarter of the 19th century, where it was mispronounced and misspelled 'pinochle.'
  • Lead section, second sentence
    It is considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which includes the game belote.
  • Section: Game variations, Double-deck
    Today "double-deck" pinochle is a popular form of the game, exclusively played by the National Pinochle Association, the American Pinochle Association, the Cambridge Pinochle Association, and in the "World Series of Pinochle".
  • Infobox, players field
    4 partnership/3 individual; variants 2-6 or 8
View the Source
Wikidata: Pinochle
Wikidata Q1898942, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source

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