Player Support

BACK TO THE GAME

This article contains everything you need to know about Arkadium’s Pinochle Game.

Use the list below to navigate specific topics about Pinochle. 

Game

Jump into single-deck Pinochle, where strategy, memory, and teamwork intertwine in a dynamic dance of cards. It's all the fun of trick-taking games, compacted into a fast-paced, 48-card challenge for four players. With teams of two, this game scales the heights of strategy and partnership, setting it apart from the rest.

Here is how the game looks on a typical match. The player is in the bottom, with all of the available cards ready to play.

You can see the username of the player on the left, and the number of tricks on the right. The center is the player's in-game avatar, which can be changed in the options menu. The D on the right of the Aida player represents who is the current dealer. The symbol will switch to different players when it's time for someone else to deal.

NOTE: As the game functions on a different system than standard Arkadium accounts, your username in-game will always be displayed as a variation of "Guest".

Your score, bid and currently held hand score are located on the top right, with a color set for each of the teams. The teams have the same color as represented in their game icons, blue and red.

You can see all of the options available to you on the bottom of the table. Here is what each of them represents.

The Table option allows you to see the game's stats, as seen here.

The Pause option allows you to pause the game. This is not allowed in multiplayer games.

The Chat option allows you to type a message to chat with other players.

Using Game will let you quit the table or join a brand new one, with bots or real players. It will also allow you to use the Multiplayer menu.

The Multiplayer Menu gives you more options, to browse the different available tables, host your own, or join a private table with other players you know.

Using Help and Rules allows you to check guides for the game's options and rules, if you need a quick refresher.

The Profile allows you to check a variety of options to do with your chat and player interactions. You can also change the deck you play with, the game's wallpaper, the avatar you use and check your stats.

Main Menu

The main menu of the game will give you a wide range of options to choose from. Spades can be played in both singleplayer against the computer, and multiplayer against real people. You can see how many players are active at the time next to Play.

The New Game option will allow you to play against the computer, while Join Table will match you up with existing players. Browse Tables lets you check from a variety of tables hosted by different players, each with their own options. You can choose to your liking.

HOST TABLE: Some of the options regarding hosting a game connected to a registry are locked out, due to the game using a different account system that is incompatible with the Arkadium system. Due to this, these options will not be available in our version of the game.

There are several options to choose from.

To learn how to play the game, you can use the interactive Tutorial. This will teach you all of the game's rules. You can also read the game's rules directly.

You can also customize your account and game settings on the bottom.

How To Play

Rank of cards

Understanding card power is crucial in Pinochle. The Ace reigns supreme as the highest card, followed by the 10 (unusually high in this game!), then King, Queen, Jack, and finally the 9. When a suit is declared trump, any card in that suit beats all cards in other suits.

In scoring tricks, only three cards carry point value: Aces, 10s, and Kings each earn one point when captured in a trick.

Objective

Your team's mission is simple but challenging: be the first to accumulate 150 points. Points come from both melding card combinations and capturing valuable cards in tricks.

Deal

The game begins with a randomly selected dealer distributing the cards. From a special 48-card deck (containing two of each A, 10, K, Q, J, and 9 in all suits), each player receives 12 cards.

Bid

The real strategy begins with bidding, starting left of the dealer and moving clockwise. Players bid for the privilege of choosing the trump suit - a powerful advantage that can help secure both meld and trick points.

Each bid must exceed the previous one, starting at a minimum of 25 points. Players can choose to pass rather than bid. After three consecutive passes, the bidding ends. If everyone passes initially, the dealer must make the minimum bid of 25.

Here's a crucial rule: if the dealer is forced to bid 25 but holds no marriages (King-Queen pairs), their team immediately loses 25 points!

Choosing Trump

After winning the bid, that player must select a trump suit - but there's a catch! You can only choose a suit where you hold a marriage (King and Queen pair). This restriction is crucial because if you win the bid but have no marriages at all, your team faces a steep penalty: your bid gets subtracted from your score!

Choose wisely - the trump suit will be the most powerful throughout the hand, with even a 9 of trump beating an Ace of any other suit.

Passing Cards

After the winner selects trump, an unique element of Single Deck Pinochle comes into play: card passing. The winning bidder's partner passes them 4 cards, and then receives 4 cards in return. This exchange can include cards that were just received, adding an extra layer of strategy.

Showing Meld

After the card passing phase, players show any "meld" in their hands. A "meld" is a group of cards in a specific pattern. For example, the Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades form a "pinochle" meld, which is worth 4 points.

Here are the meld patterns and point values:

A specific card in your hand may belong to more than one meld of different meld types, but it cannot belong to more than one meld within a meld type. For example, if you have Kings around and also a Queen of Clubs, the King of Clubs can be used in both the Kings around and a Marriage meld. However, if you have a Run in Clubs, those cards cannot be used for additional melds of the same type.

Use the "Show Meld" button to display all valid melds in your hand that don't require trump. You'll need to identify Runs and Royal Marriages on your own.

Play

The highest bidder leads the first trick by playing any card. Play continues clockwise, following these key rules:

You must follow the led suit if possible.

If you can't follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one.

When following suit, you must "crawl" - play a higher card than the highest one played if you can.

Highest card wins the trick (trump beats all other suits).

Each trick containing Aces, 10s, or Kings is worth points (1 point each). The last trick carries a 2-point bonus, making the total trick points always equal 5.

Score

After each hand concludes, teams total their points from both melds and tricks. Keep track carefully - every point counts on the road to 150!

Scoring

The excitement builds as teams approach 150 points. The first team to reach this threshold wins! If both teams cross 150 in the same hand, the team with more points claims victory. In case of a tie, the bidding team wins.