Pitch (card game)

• "No Junk Points" - only the bidding player/team can score points in each round. If he fails to make his bid he is setback, but no points are awarded to the other players/team.
• Some of the lower cards may be removed from the deck. The two-player game is more interesting if the Threes, Fours and Fives are removed. Removing the Threes ensures that in the eight-player game all cards are dealt.
• The game is often played for a number of points other than 11, for example 7, 9, 15 or 21. The best number depends on the number of players and on how many points are typically won in a deal. Sometimes the following formula is used to determine the number of points required to win: (points available) * (number of players) + 1.
• The minimum bid may be two, rather than one.
• The dealer, being the last to bid, may have the privilege of stealing the bid by bidding the same as the highest bid. Under this variation the dealer is obliged to make at least the minimum bid if all other players have passed.
• The point for Low is often awarded to the player who won the trick containing the lowest trump, rather than the original owner of the lowest trump.
• A pitcher who made and wins the maximum bid is said to smudge, slam or shoot the moon. Such a player, if not "in the hole" (i.e. if the player does not have a negative score), automatically wins the entire game.
• Two jokers are included in the deck, raising the possible take in a round to 6 points. Jokers are considered trump, ranking just below the jack, and are not allowed to be led in the first trick of a round. The eventual owner of the joker is the one to earn the point for it, not the original owner. Jokers are worth half a pip.

Various variations deal with ways of improving players' hands. Some address the case that one player has exceptionally poor cards:

• Players who have received no point cards (that is, no cards which could contribute toward the Game point) may lay their cards face down and receive a new hand. The cards can be checked by the other players after the hand has been played. A player who has made use of this option may not bid unless forced to do so (i.e., if the player is the dealer).
• A player who has received no point cards may ask for a complete re-deal by the same dealer.

In some variations, the highest bidder does not pitch immediately, but first announces the trump suit, after which all players get a chance to discard a number of cards. Their hands are afterwards completed to six cards by the dealer. Each player

• discards all non-trumps, or
• discards as many non-trumps as desired.

In some variations a widow (extra hand) is dealt along with the players' hands. Before deciding the trump suit, the maker adds the widow to his or her hand and brings the number of cards back down to six by discarding.

The players may initially be dealt more than six card (typically nine). After the highest bidder has announced the trump suit, each player

• discards all non-trumps and as many trumps as necessary to get down to six cards, or
• discards at least three non-trumps, or exactly three cards including all non-trumps,

after which the dealer completes each hand to six cards. In some variations the highest bidder has the privilege of completing his or her hand by searching the remaining stock after all other players have received their cards.

As a simpler alternative, each player brings his or her down to six by discarding the appropriate number of cards. The discarded cards must all be non-trumps or include all of the player's non-trumps.

Barn Pitch is the most common variant of Pitch that requires trump to be "broken" before any trump can be played. Instead of leading with trump, the highest bidder must instead lead with a different suit. Trump is then only allowed to be played if a player cannot follow the led suit, once the first trump of the round is played then trump is broken. Once trump has been broken, or it is the only suit remaining in a players hand, it can be led. Gameplay and scoring after the trump is broken proceed exactly as it is in classic Pitch.

Abacos Pitch is a Pitch variant that is gaining popularity in the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States. It varies from classic Pitch as follows: In the bidding round, each player may choose to look or not look at his/her hand before making a decision. At the end of the bidding round, each player who looked at his/her cards before acting loses one card, chosen at random. Players who lose a card have nothing to play in the sixth and final round of gameplay. Gameplay and scoring after the bidding round proceed exactly as in classic Pitch.

Man-O-War Pitch is another variant of classic Pitch. It is similar to Abacos Pitch except after the bidding round, the player who made the highest bid looks at the cards given up by players who looked at their hand prior to bidding, one at a time. The player with the highest bid may choose to take or not take each card he looks at. If he chooses to take a card, he discards a card of his choice. This variant provides a significant advantage to the player with the highest bid and therefore promotes aggressive bidding.

Contway 6-point pitch is based on auction pitch and combines a number of variations, some of which are unique. The deck is played with a regular 52-card deck plus one joker. The six points consist of High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack, Joker, and Game. Trump suit includes the Off-Jack and Joker and is ordered Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Off-Jack, Joker, 10,9,8,...2.

Four people play in teams of two with partners sitting across from each other. If multiple games are played, partners rotate so all possibilities for partners are fulfilled. Partnering in large groups or multiple tables is done casually using the best guess of the group for the proper partnerships. Overall wins are not partner based, but individual and the person with the most wins after all play has ended is considered the winner. Three people can play with the same rules but there are no teams.

Each player is dealt six cards in two rounds of three cards starting left of the dealer. The player to the left of the dealer is the first to bid, and continues clockwise. Each player has the option to either pass or outbid the previous bid. The minimum bid is 2, and if all players pass, the dealer is given the minimum bid and becomes the winning bidder.

After every player has bid, the winning bidder then announces the trump suit. Starting left of the dealer, each player has a chance to throw away any cards, including trump, and is dealt to a total of six cards. If all six cards are thrown, it is called being "pitched". The unused and discarded cards are then placed to the left of the dealer to denote the next dealer and the deal moves clockwise around the table.

The first card is played by the winning bidder and must be trump. Players must always follow suit, but trump can be played at any time.

Cards are discarded face up into one pile for each team. Either pile can be examined by any player at any time. This helps the forgetful but also provides a way to actively tally for Game, the sixth point.

The bidder and only the bidder has the option to fold the game at any time even before the first hand is played and is equivalent to not making the bid. If cards are in play, the hand must be completed before stopping. Points for High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack and Joker are awarded to the non-bidding team only if the cards have been successfully played before the game was folded. However, the High and Low points must be the Ace and the 2 even if revealing all cards shows other cards would have won High or Low. Game point is not counted.

Unique to Contway 6-point pitch is the ability to toss trump cards before the redeal. Tossing point cards such as the Jack, Off-Jack, or Joker can useful if the other team bids too high, or when it is the only trump in the hand and the other team keeps many cards which decreases the chance that the redeal will provide protection. Actively watching the number of cards withheld by each player is informative.

The general strategy during the game revolves around taking the Jack, Off-Jack and Joker. Leading the highest trump allows the partner to safely give the team a point card, or will potentially force an opponent to give a point card. Since one can trump at any time, playing last in a hand provides the easiest way to win one of these cards. Game point is fought for actively during the game, and if a teammate is playing last, one will often "Alley-oop" a face card or a 10 to add to the team's Game tally.

Once all cards are played, the two piles are examined to determine points. The High and the Low, each worth one point, are the highest and lowest trump played during the round. As some cards are never in play, the Ace and 2 of trump are not always high and low. Low is awarded to the team who played the card, not who won the card. It is therefore customary to say "2 for low" or "3 for low" when a low card is played to help recall who threw the card. The Jack, Off-Jack, and Joker, collectively called "The Jacks", are each worth one point, and counted for the team who won them.

Each team does a tally for Game point with the winner having the most points in their pile. Both face cards and 10's of any suit are counted for points according to the following point system: 10= 10 points, Ace= 4 points, King= 3 points, Queen= 2 points, Jack= 1 point. In the event of a tie, the Joker acts as the winning tie-breaker. If there is no Joker in play, no game point is awarded for the tie.

If the bidding team makes less than their bid, they are set, or "hickeyed", and subtract the bid from their overall score. A star is placed next to the current score to denote a hickey. Scores never go below zero. Play continues until a team reaches 11 points. In the event that both teams have 11 or more points, the bidding team of the final round wins even if the non-bidding team has more points.

A separate list is maintained for keeping track of overall wins and losses of each player individually. Each winning player earns +$1.00 (or +1 if playing points only) and each losing player -$1.00. If the winning team had hickeys, these are not penalized. However, if the losing team had hickeys, each losing player loses another $1.00 per hickey, and each winning player gains $1.00. In this way, the total for the entire list should always equal zero. At the end of all play, for example at the end of a week long vacation, a winner is declared and everyone is paid out.

Each player is dealt six cards. Bids are usually from 1-9, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. After bidding, players discard non-trumps and the dealer distributes cards so that each hand has six cards. Points available are High 'Ace' (one point), Low 'Two' (one point), Jack (one point), Off-Jack or Jick 'Jack of same color different suit' (one point), Big Joker (one point), Little Joker (one point), Three (three points), Game '10' (one point), and sometimes Off-Three (three points). King and Queen are not counted toward the game points but still take Jack, Off-Jack, both Jokers, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, both Threes, and Two.

This variant allows players to bid a "straight" hand (like normal) or to double bid. For example, a player may bid a "straight 6", or "6 for 12." In the latter example, the player would score 12 points by earning six; or, failing to earn points equal to his or her bid, would be set 12 points.

Played like Oklahoma Ten-Point with a few variations. Each player is initially dealt nine cards. Minimum bid is 5, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. Players discard all non-trumps and the dealer distributes remaining undealt cards so all players have six. Points available are Ace, Jack, Off-Jack, "High" Joker, "Low" Joker, Ten, Three (worth three points), and Two (an automatic point for the player).

This variant uses the Force Bid rule. However, Mucking a Hand and Misdeal are prohibited.

The deck consists of a traditional 52-card deck with both Jokers included, making a 54-card deck.

Ace is always high and the highest playable card, but is not the most valuable. The Off-Jack is the non-trump Jack of the same color. For instance, if the trump suit is Spades, the Off-Jack would be the Jack of Clubs, Jack of Clubs will therefore be a Spade instead of a Club.

The Three is among the lowest-ranked cards, but is the most valuable as it is worth three points. The Two is an automatic point, as the player of the Two always keeps it.

Teams are chosen randomly by having each player draw a single card from a facedown deck. The two highest cards and the two lowest cards become teammates and sit crosswise from each other.

Each player is dealt nine cards. The player to the left of the dealer is the first to bid, and continues in a clockwise pattern. Each player has the option to either pass or outbid the previous bid. The minimum bid is 5, and the Shoot the Moon rule is in effect. If all players pass, the dealer is stuck with the bid.

After every player has bid, the winning bidder then announces the trump suit. Every player, other than the winning bidder, then discards any non-trumps. The dealer then re-deals to each player so that they each player has a total of six cards. The winning bidder is then granted what's left of the deck. This is known as the widow.

After the winning bidder picks out all trumps from the widow, he must narrow (or widen) his hand to six cards. If he has more than six trump cards, he must "burn" a trump. When burning a trump, the player must announce what card he is burning to the table. All non-pointer trumps must be burned before any pointers can be burned.

The winning bidder is the first to play, and continues in a clockwise pattern. The first hand must be in the trump suit ("Leading Off" is not allowed on the first hand). If the lead player plays a trump, every player must play a trump on that particular hand. The player who plays the highest trump card takes the hand. The winner of the previous hand is the first to play the next hand.

Once a player has no more trumps in their hand, they are up (out of that game). You are not allowed to declare that you are up until it is your turn.

Other than the first hand, a player can choose to lead a non-trump. If a player leads off, all cards become playable. Once again, the highest trump card wins the hand. If no trump cards are played during an off lead, the winner of the previous hand leads the next hand, regardless of what non-trump is played.

The objective of the hand for the team with the winning bid is to (at least) match what they bid. The objective of the team without the bid is to make their opponents "go set".

When a team with the winning bid fails to reach the amount they bid, they go set. When a team goes set, they lose whatever amount that they won the bid with. For example, if a team wins the bidding with a 6 bid and is only able to take 5 points on that hand, they lose 6 points from their total. Negative points are allowed.

In some variations, doubling of the bid is allowed as a half-point bet. For example, if one player bids 5, the next player may bid '5 for 10', effectively doubling the outcome if they're right or wrong. A bid of 6 would be larger than '5 for 10' but could be outbid by the following player with a '6 for 12'. If a player with a doubled bid goes set, they get negative points for the entire bet (-10 or -12 in these examples).

The first team to 32 points wins. If the game ends with both teams with 32 or more points, the team that won the bid on the final hand is the winner.

Shoot the Moon

A bid of ten. (Some variations differentiate a max bid from "Shoot the Moon" by increasing the difficulty in some way. Others consider "Shoot the Moon" an all-or-nothing bid, meaning the entire game is automatically won or lost depending on whether the bidder obtains all available points.)

Re-Deal

The second round of dealings to replenish players' hands to six cards.

Widow

The remnants of the deck following the re-deal. Some variations give the entire "widow" to the bid-taker to ensure all cards are in play.

Pot

An alternative to the Widow. A set number of cards (typically 4) are initially dealt to the middle of the table. The winning bidder adds the cards to his/her hand prior to declaring the trump suit.

Dead Card

A playable card that must be discarded before play begins. This occurs when a player holds more than six playable cards. Discarded points typically are awarded to the player's opponents.

Four-Handed Game

Reaching 32 points after only four hands, the minimum number of hands possible to win a game.

Perfect Game

A 40-0 win in four hands.

Played like Oklahoma Ten-Point with a few variations. After the bid, the maker takes the deck, declares the trump, and discards down to six cards. All other players must discard non-trumps, but do not receive additional cards. This variant always incorporates the Call for partner rule.

Played like Oklahoma Ten-Point with some variations. The minimum opening bid is 5. 10 point bid is "Shoot the Moon." After the bids, the winning bidder declares suit. Bidder get the remaining cards in the deck but only keeps 6 cards. All other players hold their original 6 cards so other players don't know how many suit cards they have. Also the player who holds the Low card '2' gets to keep that card in when the trick is played. If no one is willing to bid 5 points the dealer get a 5 bid 'Dumped on them'.

Also known as ster-don. Seven cards are dealt to each player. Points available are High, Low, Jack, Game, Five Trump, & Last Trick. In this variation, the Low point is made by capturing the lowest trump (rather than simply playing it, as is usual). The Five of Trump is counted for 5 points, the other points only one each for a total of 10 possible points. After trump is declared, players must discard ALL non-Trumps and are re-dealt to a seven card hand. First card played does not have to be Trump. The Forced Bid rule is in effect. The game ends when one player reaches 50 points. "Win by 2" and "float (first) to 57" can both be declared before the game starts

Played much like Campbell Ten-Point with the addition of the Off-Ace. The Off-Ace, like the Off-Jack, is not in the trump suit but is of the same color. It is worth one point and ranks just below the Ace. Play ends at 51 points rather than 32. The Misdeal rule is in effect, as is Shoot the Moon, which is differentiated from and superior to a perfect bid (11) in that Shoot the Moon automatically wins or loses the game. Only the 17 Trump cards are legal for play. A five-player variation exists: here, each player has an individual, not partnership, score; partnerships change each round and are determined by the winning bidder calling for one specific Trump card to be led. The player who plays this Trump joins the winning bidder's partnership for that one round, and the other three players join the opposing partnership.

Roadhouse Pitch is an auction pitch variant. Four points are awarded for High, Low, Jack, and Game, scored for their eventual owners. Games are played to 15, with a win by two requirement. Bidding proceeds clockwise, the player left of the dealer assuming the first bid. Players wishing to bid must bid a minimum of two. In addition to bidding two, three, or four; players may also "Shoot the Moon", requiring them to win every trick and all four points. Shooting the Moon is valued at 15 points, failure to win every trick and all four points results in a setback. Negative scoring is allowed. In the event the bid is passed to the dealer, the dealer must assume the minimum bid (or "Shoot the Moon"). The player with the highest bid pitches the first card, thus denoting trump. Players must follow suit regardless of trump, resulting in the primary variation from auction pitch. A player may not trump in unless they are unable to follow suit. The remaining gameplay follows that of classic pitch.

Also known as Kentucky Seven-Point. There are seven possible points: High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack, Big Joker, Little Joker, and Game. The game is played to 21 points. Bids between 3 and 7 are allowed. The highest bidder calls trumps, and players discard non-trump cards face up in the center of the table. The dealer then distributes 6 cards to each player in batches of 1.

In Southeast Missouri this version, called 7-point Pitch, is played with a 34 card deck (2's-6's removed with a 10 card blind, no discarding). Points and Bids are the same as described above, and cards are dealt singly or 3 at a time.

This variant allows High, Low, Jack, and Off-Jack points and was originally meant for cutthroat play. Bids are from 2-4. The bid-winning player can only receive the number of points bid with one exception: If the bid-winning player earns points equal to their bid (no higher), he or she receives one extra point towards the total. Non-making players earn points only if the making player is set with one exception: the Off-Jack, which can be claimed by anyone. Finally, players must follow suit in this variant - trumping in is allowed only if a player has no on-suit cards. House rules may permit a game point which is calculated by using the 10s only, such that the player who takes the most 10s is awarded the game point and no player receives this point if there is a tie. Like the Off-Jack point, the game point can be claimed by any player.

High Five is a very rare Swiss variation of pitch played with two teams of two. This variant uses 9-card hands. Points used are High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack, Big Joker, Little Joker, Ten, Five, and Off-Five. Five and Off-Five are each worth 5 points. Bids are from 6 to 17, the Shoot the Moon variant is used. After bids are made, each player discards all non-trumps (or to a six-card hand). The dealer restores each hand to six cards, skipping the making player. Finally, the making player may search the deck, choosing cards to bring their hand to six.

Seven point pitch is played the same as ten point pitch, except that the three is not counted as a point. In case of a tie in counting up game, any jokers count as a half point to break the tie. Seven point pitch is usually played in eastern Nebraska

Seventeen Point

Seventeen point pitch is played the same as ten point pitch, except that the three does not count as three points. Instead, the five and off-five each count five points.

This variant, also called New Yorker Pitch, points available are: High, Low, Jack, and Game. Bids 2-4 are allowed, and the Forced bid and Shoot the Moon rules are used. After bidding, the trump is declared; next players may discard any non-trumps they choose. The dealer distributes cards so that each player has six. Play proceeds as normal, 15 points wins.

Four players play in two partnerships, sitting crosswise. In all variants of Nine-Five the Five of trumps and the Nine of trumps score many game points when captured in tricks: 5 and 9, respectively. The minimum bid is 4 or 9. The maximum number of points that can be won is 18. A minimum bid of 9 is forced if a player holds the 9 and another card of the same suit, however the high bidder may choose a trump suit other than the suit that forced their bid.

Nine cards are dealt to each player. A "smudge" bid is worth 19 points in this variant. A "blind smudge" bid must be made before the player looks at his or her hand. It is worth 20 points.

The winning bidder declares the trump suit, and each player discards any non-trump cards. If a player has more than six trumps, he or she must discard down to six cards. Next, the dealer will deal each player back up to six total cards. Finally, the dealer brings his or her own hand to six cards, and is allowed to look at remaining cards when doing so. If too few trump cards remain, the dealer may take any card he or she chooses. This discard process ensures that all trump cards are in play.

Game play is normal with the 2 winning conditions: the first team to win a bid that brings them above 100 points or if a team reaches -100 points the other team is declared winner. (A variant to the scoring is that if a team reaches -200 points it is considered a "backdoor" and the game is a draw.)

Variant

Legal bids are 9–18. 18 is called "hotshot". The pitcher need not lead a trump. Bidding "hotshot" makes the game sudden death; if the bidder succeeds and collects all 18 points in the round, he wins the entire game, but if he fails, the game is over.

The player to the left of the pitcher leads the first card, and is not required to lead trump. If all players pass, the cards are shown face up to prove the lack of a forced bid, and the deal is passed to the left. Holding a "9" and another card of the same suit is a forced minimum bid of 9.

The winning bidder will announce the trump suit, players will then discard unwanted cards face up into the "scrap pile" The dealer then deals the draw cards to bring each player back to six cards. Note: Discarded "Trump" cards can be claimed by any player simply by pulling them out of the scrap, (this rarely happens but prevents a dump of point cards, i.e. 9 & 5). The scoring is exactly the same as traditional "Nines and Fives". The game is won by the first team that scores 100 or more. This somewhat obscure variation of the lead forces the non bidding team to "Block" or "Post" a higher trump than the 9 if possible, to prevent the bidder from "running' the 9 on the first trick and then forcing the bidder to play in between his opponents. The bidding partner helps greatly by playing the Ace or King on an early trick to give the bidder a chance to run the 9.

Similar to the Northwest Connecticut variation, with the only differences being in the bidding phase. Bidding can range from the minimum of 5 to a maximum of "double-18." Double-18s require the team winning the bid to win every single trick and rewards 36 points. If no one bids, the dealer is required to take it for 5. Winning requires both a score over 100 and for the team to win the bidding and subsequently making their bid.

Pitch is played with 3 teams with 3 partners each. Partners are seated an equal 2 seat between each other. All 54 cards (including High Joker and Low Joker). Points are awarded for High Trump (Ace), Jack of Trump, High Joker, Low Joker, Low Trump (2) and trick/card points (82 points possible, each Joker worth 1/2 point). Each player left of the dealer has a chance to bid between 1-6 points with the winning bidder leading their trump. If a team does not make their bid they must give back any points (chips) they have accumulated and receive 1 negative point (pookie).

Reverse Pitch follows all of the rules of basic Pitch, except the low card takes each trick (the lowest card of the suit lead or lowest card of the trump suit). High, low, jack, and game points are scored in the normal fashion. In this variation, valuable cards become much harder to capture; the strength of the card itself is almost always insufficient.

Reaching the negative equivalent of the goal wins in some versions of Pitch. For example, when the goal is 11 points, a score of -11 or lower would win the game. Some variants instead allow a backdoor win for a team with extremely low points: with a goal of 100 points, -200 might win.

In some variants, the low trump wins the trick in which it is played. This is used only in variants where the 2 of trumps is certain to be played.

Two-Trump Pitch is a variation of which incorporates all 54 cards. It may be played with any combination of 3-9 players. Nine points are possible: High, Low, Jack, Sub-High, Sub-Low, Sub-Jack, both Jokers, & Game. Bids 3 (or 4) to 9 are allowed. Games are played to 26 points. In this variation, the player who wins the bid declares both the trump and sub-trump suits. Sub-trump cards rank above non-trumps, but below trumps. Players follow suit as in other variations; sub-trumps do not count as trumps for this purpose. Sub-trumps may be used to "trump in," on non-trump leads, however. If a sub-trump is lead, main trump can be "trumped in". Jokers are unranked and cannot be used to capture other cards. When leading a Joker it is considered to be suit-less, the second play of the trick determines the lead suit, and players must follow suit as usual from there. If a trump suit is lead, Jokers may not be cut in if the player in possession of the joker has cards of that trump remaining. A Joker may be cut in at any time if a non-trump suit is lead, regardless of the players remaining cards. A further variant of the Two Trump game is to allow a Joker to be played if the other Joker was lead, regardless of the second card played in the trick and the rest of the players hand. This is known as the Double Down Override as it is performing a “double down” and adding at least a second point to the trick.