- Score sheets
- Card games
- Pinochle
Pinochle score sheet
Each hand, a side scores its meld plus the counters it wins in tricks. The side that won the bid has to reach it, or it scores nothing and loses the bid. Keep both sides on one Pinochle score sheet; the game ends when a side reaches 1,500.
- 4 players, 2 teams
- 48 cards, 9 to ace twice
- Ends at 1,500
- Tricks share 250
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real app screen, live. Each side’s hand goes under one partner. Hands 3 and 8 are a side going set: the bid comes off.
Pinochle
A partnership game played with a 48-card deck holding two of every card from 9 to ace, where each side scores for the card combinations it shows (meld) and the valuable cards it wins in tricks, and the side that won the auction must reach its bid or lose it.
Pinochle on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Pinochle, in brief
Partners sit across and play as a side, using a 48-card deck: two of each card from 9 to ace per suit. Sides score for combinations they show and valuable cards they win; first to 1,500 wins.
- Deal 12 eachCards rank ace, 10, king, queen, jack, 9: a 10 beats a king.
- Bid for trumpBid higher or pass for good. The high bidder names trump, the suit that beats the rest, and their side must make the bid.
- Pass and meldBidder and partner swap 4 cards. Then everyone shows their meld: combinations like a suit’s king and queen.
- Play 12 tricksA trick is one card each. Follow suit and beat the winning card if you can; with none of the suit, trump if you can. Highest trump wins, or the highest card of the suit led.
Meld what you hold, then take what you can.
Before play, each side shows its meld: combinations of cards worth set points. Then the tricks are played for counters. The side that won the auction has to reach its bid with meld and tricks together, or it scores nothing and loses the bid.
What meld and tricks are worth
| Meld or counter | Points |
|---|---|
| Run in trump (A, 10, K, Q, J) | 150 |
| Royal marriage (K and Q of trump) | 40 |
| Marriage in another suit | 20 |
| Nine of trump | 10 |
| Pinochle (Q♠ and J♦)A double pinochle is 300 | 40 |
| Aces around (one of each suit)Kings 80, queens 60, jacks 40; both of each suit is ten times as much | 100 |
| Each ace, ten and king won in tricksThe last trick is 10 more, so the tricks share 250 | 10 |
| Bidding side short of its bidIt scores nothing for the hand | minus the bid |
- Note the bidThe high bidder names trump. That side must score at least its bid this hand, from both partners’ meld and their tricks.
- Count the meldEach side adds up the melds it showed before play: runs, marriages, pinochles and the arounds.
- Count the tricksEvery ace, ten and king won is 10, and the last trick is 10 more. The two sides’ trick points always add to 250.
- Made it, or setIf the bidding side reached its bid, it scores meld plus tricks. If not, it scores nothing and the bid comes off its total.
- Score the defendersThey add their meld and tricks, but under Pagat’s rules they keep the meld only if they won a counter or the last trick (a lone nine of trump always counts). The game ends when a side reaches 1,500.
Hand 8: You bid 340 and go set.
You and Anya are Team A, Jonas and Priya Team B, playing Pagat’s count to 1,500. Going into hand 8 it is 1,370 to 1,420. You win the bid at 340 with hearts as trump, so with 190 in meld you need 150 in tricks. This is hand 8 on the Scorepad above.
| Team | Meld and tricks | Hand |
|---|---|---|
| Jonas and Priya | Jonas: kings around · Priya: marriages in clubs and spadesThey won counters, so their meld stands. Meld, then tricks: 80 + 20 + 20 + 110 | 230 |
| You and Anya | You: a run in hearts · Anya: a pinochle190 in meld and 140 in tricks is 330, short of the 340 bid: set, so the bid comes off | −340 |
Big hands, kept straight.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. For Pinochle, pick Teams and set Play to a score at 1,500. Type each side’s points after every hand, and Tabletales keeps each side’s total, even when a set takes points away.
- Two sides, two totalsTap a letter to put partners on Team A or B. The teams bar adds up each side and puts the trophy on the higher total.
- Meld plus tricks in one goType a side’s hand under one partner and leave the other blank. Type the total, or type the meld and counters as you count them (80 + 20 + 20 + 110) and Tabletales adds it up.
- A set goes in as a minusTap minus, then type the bid. The hand shows in red, and the side’s total drops by the bid.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and how often you win.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Pinochle, with its scores
Common Pinochle scoring mistakes
- Keeping the meld after going setThe bidding side scores nothing for the hand, meld included, and the bid comes off its total.
- Forgetting the last trickIt is worth 10. If the two sides’ trick points don’t add to 250, someone missed it or miscounted.
- Using one card twice in one kind of meldA king can sit in a marriage and in kings around, but not in two marriages at once (Pagat).
- Crowning the higher score when both pass 1,500If both sides reach 1,500 in the same hand, the side that won the bid wins, even when behind. The Scorepad crowns the higher total, so settle that one at the table.
Pinochle scoring, answered
- How do you keep score in Pinochle?
- Each hand, add a side’s meld to the counters it took in tricks. If the side that won the bid falls short of it, that side scores nothing and the bid is subtracted from its total.
- How many points do you need to win Pinochle?
- 1,500 in the partnership game Pagat describes. Some tables play to 1,000 for a shorter game.
- How much is a pinochle worth?
- A pinochle, the queen of spades with the jack of diamonds, is 40 points of meld. A double pinochle, both queens of spades and both jacks of diamonds, is 300.
Pinochle score sheet
Print one for the table: two sides and fifteen hands, with room for the bid, the meld, the tricks, the hand and a running total, and the meld values at the bottom.
Score another game
There is no official rulebook and tables differ: some play to 1,000, open the bidding at 150, count 11, 10, 4, 3 and 2 for the counters, or divide every value by 10 so the tricks share 25. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Pagat, Wikipedia and Trickster Cards.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
