What is Double Deck?
Double deck Pinochle is the partnership game played with two Pinochle decks shuffled together and the nines taken out. That leaves 80 cards: four copies of the ace, ten, king, queen and jack of every suit. Four players in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite, each get 20 cards.
The auction starts at 50. Bids go up by one point at a time until 60, then by five. The bidder's partner passes four cards to the bidder and gets four back, as in the standard game. Trump must be a suit in which the bidder holds a marriage, a king and queen of the same suit. A bidder who holds no marriage at all can't name trump: the hand is thrown in, and the bidding side loses the amount it bid.
With four copies of every card, melds can come three or four times over. A triple or quadruple meld scores more than two or three single melds would, so a hand with three aces of every suit is worth far more than one with two. Meld counts for both sides whether or not they take a trick. In the play, aces, tens and kings count one point each and the last trick two, so each hand has 50 points in tricks. The first side to reach 500 wins; if both sides reach it in the same hand, the bidding side wins.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Pinochle | Double Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Players | Standard PinochleFour in two partnerships. With two or three seats the table plays the two-handed or three-handed game instead. | Double DeckFour in two partnerships only. The option is offered at a four-seat table. |
| The deck | Standard Pinochle48 cards: two of each nine, jack, queen, king, ten and ace in every suit. | Double Deck80 cards: four of each jack, queen, king, ten and ace in every suit. There are no nines. |
| The deal | Standard Pinochle12 cards each. | Double Deck20 cards each. |
| Bidding | Standard PinochleThe first bid is at least 20, and every bid is at least one point higher than the last. | Double DeckThe first bid is at least 50. Bids go up by one until 60, then only by multiples of five. |
| Naming trump | Standard PinochleThe bidder may name any suit. | Double DeckThe bidder must name a suit in which they hold a marriage. Without any marriage the hand is thrown in and the bidding side loses its bid. |
| Melds | Standard PinochleSingle and double melds, for example aces around 10 and double aces around 100, and the nine of trump (the dix) for 1. | Double DeckTriple and quadruple melds as well: runs 225 and 300, aces around 150 and 200, kings 120 and 160, queens 90 and 120, jacks 60 and 80, triple pinochle 60 and quadruple 90. There is no dix. |
| When meld counts | Standard PinochleOnly for a side that takes at least one trick. | Double DeckAlways, whether or not the side takes a trick. |
| Points in the play | Standard PinochleAces, tens and kings count one point each and the last trick one: 25 points per hand. | Double DeckAces, tens and kings count one point each and the last trick two: 50 points per hand. |
| Winning the game | Standard PinochleThe first side to 150. If both sides reach it in the same hand, the bidding side wins. | Double DeckThe first side to 500, with the same rule when both sides reach it in one hand. |
| Other options | Standard PinochleCheck Pinochle, a target score and a minimum bid can be chosen. | Double DeckThe target and minimum bid still apply; Auto plays to 500 with a minimum bid of 50. The double deck can't be combined with checks: if both are chosen, the double deck is played without checks. |
History
Pinochle came to the United States with German immigrants, who brought the game of Binokel with them in the last quarter of the 19th century; both belong to the family of games that grew out of bezique. The double deck game takes two Pinochle decks, throws out the nines and plays with the 80 cards that remain.
Double deck Pinochle has apparently been played since the 1940s, and many versions have developed with no universally accepted standard. The rules here follow a common base game: a minimum bid of 50, trump only in a suit where the bidder holds a marriage, aces, tens and kings worth a point each, two points for the last trick, and a game to 500.
In the eastern United States aces around is often scored as 100, and as 10 elsewhere. The scores here use the smaller scale, the same one the standard game here uses. Two common variations are played here as well: the bidding side passes four cards each way, as in the standard game, while the rule that a side needs 20 points in tricks before its meld counts is not used.