How to Play Pitch

What you need

• 3–4 players typical, up to 7. Four sit partners across, never side by side. Three is cutthroat — everyone for themselves. Two exists (some deal extra); tonight's default is four.
• One standard 52-card deck. No jokers. Deal 6 each. The rest of the pack stays unused.
• Paper for points: High, Low, Jack, Game. First to 11. Not euchre hash marks to 10.

Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house

At four, partners sit across and score as a team. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.

Say these out loud before the first card:

1. Bid 2, 3, or 4. Left of the dealer speaks first. Must bid at least 2 or pass. Highest bid names trump by pitching a trump. If everyone passes, dealer is stuck for 2.
2. Follow suit. If void, you may trump or throw off. You do not have to trump. Highest trump in the trick wins.
3. Low is taken. Whoever wins the trick with the lowest trump that was dealt scores Low. Not whoever was dealt that card. If your table gives Low to the holder, say so.
4. Game is 11. Some tables play to 21. Smudge is optional, not tonight. Not euchre to 10.

Deal 6

Shuffle the 52. Deal clockwise until each player has 6. Put the rest of the pack aside, face down. You do not look. Those cards are out of this hand — High is the highest trump that was actually dealt, not necessarily the ace.

Four people: 24 cards in play, 28 unused. Three people: 18 in play. If someone has 5 or 7, you misdealt. Throw it in and deal again.

Bid 2, 3, or 4, then pitch trump

Starting left of the dealer, each player may bid or pass. A bid is how many of the four points you think your side will take — 2, 3, or 4 — not a suit yet, and not a number of tricks. Each bid must beat the last. Pass and you are out of this auction. There is no nil.

The last player still in names trump by pitching it: they lead the first card, and that card is a trump. That is the contract. Your side now has to take at least that many of High, Low, Jack, and Game.

Bid a number you can see. An ace of a long suit is High if that suit becomes trump. Jack of a suit you want to name is the Jack point. Do not bid 4 on a wish. If everyone passes, dealer takes 2 and pitches.

Smudge — a bid of 5, or a bid to take all four points and all six tricks — is a real house at some tables. It is not tonight. If someone wants it, stop and agree. Otherwise use this page.

Play 6 tricks

The bidder leads first, and that lead is a trump. After that, the winner of a trick leads the next. You play until the hands are empty.

1. You must follow suit if you have a card of the suit that was led.
2. If you cannot follow, you may play any card: trump, or throw off a side suit.
3. The highest trump in the trick wins. If nobody played trump, the highest card of the led suit wins.

Rank in every suit, high to low: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. No bowers. The ace of trump is High if it was dealt.

You may trump when void. You do not have to. Saving a low trump to take Low, or the jack to take Jack, is the whole game.

Scoring: High, Low, Jack, Game

After the six tricks, look at the trump that was in play and the card-points in each side's tricks. Four points are out, unless Jack was not dealt or Game ties.

Example: you bid 3. Your side takes High, Low, and Jack. East takes Game. That is 3 — you make it, write 3. If you had bid 4, you would be set: minus 4, and East still writes Game.

Paper, not euchre hash marks. Write High / Low / Jack / Game as four marks or a running total to 11. Either is fine. Do not play this to 10 like euchre.

Three people — cutthroat Pitch

Three is a real Pitch table. Do not invent a dummy. Do not sit someone out. Everyone for themselves: same 52, same deal of 6, same bid 2–4, same High, Low, Jack, Game. Each person keeps their own score. First to 11. Paper with three names.

Two people exists — some deal extra cards, or a widow. That is a different sitting. Tonight's default is four, partners across. Five, six, or seven: still deal 6 each, leftover unused, everyone for themselves. Say it. Then deal. Pick three from tonight with 3 players.

Walk through one first-night hand

You are South. Partner sits North. East dealt. You speak first.

Your six cards:

• Ace, jack, and 9 of hearts
• 10 of spades
• King of diamonds
• 4 of clubs

Ace of hearts is High if you name hearts. Jack of hearts is the Jack point. That is two you can see. Partner might take Low, or Game from the 10 and king. You bid 3. West passes, partner passes, East passes. You pitch the ace of hearts.

West follows with the king of hearts. Partner throws a diamond — saving a 3 of hearts. East throws a club. You took High. Next you lead the jack of hearts and take Jack. Later West leads clubs. Partner is void and trumps with the 3 of hearts. That 3 is the lowest heart that was dealt, and partner won the trick: Low. East took the tens and the side aces: Game. Your side has High, Low, Jack. That is 3. You make the bid. Write 3. Race to 11.

Night-one habits

• Count trump. Only the six-card hands matter. The ace might still be in the unused pack.
• Pitch a trump you can afford. The lead names the suit and spends a card.
• Save a baby trump if Low is still out. Low is taken, not dealt.
• Game is tens. A 10 in the trick is 10 card-points by itself.
• Three people is a real Pitch table. Deal. Everyone for themselves.

You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the pad. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick. There is no Pitch trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted five tricks and hash marks to 10, that is euchre.