Pitch (card game)

Pitch without auction

Two or more players play individually or in equal-sized teams, seated alternatingly. Normal play rotation is clockwise. Players cut for first deal. Cards rank as in Whist and have certain numerical values called pips as shown in the table. In each deal up to 4 scoring points are distributed among the parties. The game is won by the party that first reaches a previously specified target score over several deals.

The dealer shuffles and the pone cuts. The dealer hands out 6 cards to each player in batches of 3. Trump is determined by the suit of the first card played in trick-play. Eldest hand leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Standard trick-play rules are in effect with the exception that a player who can follow suit to a plain suit lead is nevertheless allowed to play a trump.

At the end of the deal, scoring points, also referred to as pointy points in some circles, are awarded as described in the table. The Jack point is not awarded if no player held the Jack of trumps. The Game point is only awarded if one party has won more pips in tricks than any other. The scoring points accrue strictly in the order given in the table, preventing ties in case more than one team reaches the target score at the end of the deal.

The pub game played nowadays in northern England under the name All Fours is a four-player partnership version of Pitch, played for 11 points. Side payments are made for winning all four points in a single hand. In some areas the point for Low is awarded to the eventual owner.

Choosing the trump suit by leading to the first trick is known as pitching. That trump is determined by pitching rather than by turning up a card from the stock is the key difference between Pitch and classical All Fours/Seven Up.

Same amount of points - rock paper scissors to delegate point.

Auction Pitch

Auction Pitch is played in exactly the same way as simple Pitch, except that instead of eldest hand the highest bidder pitches, and the highest bidder must reach the number of scoring points bid or is set back.

Beginning with eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit. A bid is the number of points that the bidder undertakes to win in the deal, the minimum bid being 1. Each player must make a higher bid than the previous player, or pass. A bid of four (the highest possible) is known as shoot the moon, slam or smudge. If no player bids, the deal is abandoned and the same dealer deals again. The player who wins the bid, known as the pitcher or maker, must win as many points as he or she bid. The pitcher pitches, i.e. leads to the first trick and thereby establishes the trump suit (as the suit of the card led).

A player who can follow suit but discards a card of a different non-trump suit is punished for the revoke by being set back by the value of the bid.

Players may receive points even if they did not win the auction. A pitcher who did not win at least the number of points undertaken with the bid does not receive any of the points, and is instead set back by the amount of the bid. Negative scores are possible.

It may happen that at the end of a deal more than one player reaches the number of points necessary to win the game. In this case the order in which the points are rewarded becomes crucial: Any points won by the pitcher are counted first. Thereafter the remaining points are awarded in the order as listed above, i.e. first High, then Low, then Jack, then Game.

Scores can be kept on paper, in which case negative numbers may be marked by circles. (A player with a negative score is said to be "in the hole".) Alternatively, each player may begin with as many counters as are needed to win the game, and get rid of one for each point won.

All Fours and its variants have always been used as gambling games, and according to John McLeod, cutthroat Pitch is probably still popular for this purpose at the American coasts. If the game is played with a pool, each player initially pays a fixed amount into the pool. A player who is set back for failing to win as many points as bid for, or for a revoke, also has to pay the same amount into the pool. The winner of the game receives the contents of the pool.

Common minor variations

Partnership Pitch

Most forms of the game have a partnership variant for four players in two teams, sitting crosswise. (Three teams of two players or two teams of three players can play by the same principle.) Scoring works as in basic pitch, but by team. It is sufficient for the pitcher's team to score the number of points indicated by the bid. The partnership game is typically played for a higher number of points, e.g. 21 points.

Winning all four points is much easier in the four-player partnership version than in other versions. Therefore, one common variation is that shooting the moon is a separate bid worth 5 points and involves winning all six tricks in addition to winning all four points. The fifth point for winning all six tricks is only awarded if the pitching team undertook to shoot the moon.

Another variation common in partnership Pitch is that only the pitching party can win the game.

Off-Jack, Jokers and odd trumps

In some variants a Joker is added to the pack as an additional trump ranked below the Two of trumps. For the determination of the Low point it is ignored, but its owner or winner is awarded an additional Joker point.

A Joker may also be added to the pack as the ultimate trump, capturing everything but the Low trump. It also represents a point.

In Euchre, the non-trump Jack of the same color (not suit) as trumps is called the Left Bower. It belongs logically to the trump suit and ranks immediately below the Jack of trumps (Right Bower). Some variants of Pitch borrow this feature, in which case the Left Bower is referred to as the Off-Jack or Jick. If this feature is used, an additional point for Off-Jack can be scored in analogy to the point for Jack.

A Joker can be used for the same purpose, i.e. ranking between the Jack of trumps and the Ten of trumps. Combining the last two ideas, one can rank the Joker between the Off-Jack and the Ten of trumps. Finally, one can play with the Off-Jack and more than one Joker, see Smear for details.

Some variants have Odd Trumps. For example, the Five of trumps might be worth 5 points ("Chicago Pitch") or the Three of trumps 3 points. In analogy to the Off-Jack there may also be other Off-trumps which are logically trumps and rank immediately below their trump counterparts. For example, the Off-Three might be worth 3 points while the Three of trumps retains its usual worth of 0 points.

Scoring variations

Most variation in Pitch centers around a multitude of scoring systems. While many different points are possible in pitch, no variant offers the ability to earn every type of point. Instead, most variants use a selection of the points listed below.

Miscellaneous options

Players start with six cards

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

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

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.

Players start with more than six cards

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

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.

Strategy

A player should try to determine what points his hand will allow the player to win and bid accordingly. The rule of thumb is to add one point to a bid when you have a partner.

Typical strategy is to "draw out" valuable cards from other players. Since pitch rules require that players follow suit, it is possible to force the play of Jacks and Jokers, allowing their capture. If the bid-winning player cannot be sure he or she has the highest trump, lower trumps may initially be led to draw them out; the hope is that by the second or third trick only Jacks and Jokers will remain in other players' hands - they can then be captured.

If the player on your left is particularly easy to read as having a good hand, then you may enter a bid even with a worthless hand in hopes to make your mark overbid.

In all varieties of pitch, the goal is to set the player or team who wins the bid. In practice, this might mean giving an opponent a point card just to deny it to the bidder. This also means "sloughing game" (cards with a point value) to a single player so that the bidder will not win the Game point.

Barn Pitch

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

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

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

Overview

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….2.

Partners

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.

The Deal

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.

Play

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.

Scoring

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.

Oklahoma Ten-Point

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 6 cards. Points available are High 'Ace' (1 Point), Low '2' (1 Point), Jack (1 Point), Off-Jack or Jick 'Jack of same color different suit' (1 Point), Big Joker (1 Point), Little Joker (1 point), Three (3 Points) (and sometimes Off-Three) and Game '10' (1 Point). King and Queen are not counted toward the game points but still take cards of lower rank.

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.

Campbell Ten-Point

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 so that each hand has 6 cards. Points available are Ace, Jack, Off-Jack, "Hi" Joker, "Lo" Joker, Ten, Three (worth 3 points), and the Two (an automatic point for the player).

This variant uses the The Force Bid rule. However, the Mucking a Hand rule is prohibited.

Overview

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 King and Queen are not pointers, but are considered power cards because of their rank. 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.

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, earning one point to the player, regardless of what else is played on the hand.

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