User:Liblamb/pitch

'Bold textRules for Seven Point Pitch.

Setup

It uses a normal deck of 54 playing cards, including two jokers. There can be three to nine players, and each hand will involve two teams (who is on which team is unknown until certain cards are played). Each player is dealt six cards and the remaining cards, if any, are not used during this hand.

In non-trump suits and excluding the off Jack, the order is the normal Ace-King-Queen-Jack-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. In the trump suit, there are three extra cards, Ace-King-Queen-Jack-(Off-Jack)-Joker-Joker-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The jack in the suit of the same color as the trump suit, called the left bower or off-jack. The first Joker played is considered the high Joker if two are laid in one trick. For all intents and purposes, the opposite jack and two jokers are considered as if they were part of the actual trump suit.

Scoring Categories

There are six possible scoring categories in Pitch.

High -- The highest ranked card of the trump suit among cards dealt in a hand is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Low -- The lowest ranked card of the trump suit among cards dealt in a hand is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card at the beginning of the game. It does not matter who takes the low in a trick, the person who lays it receives the point.

Jack -- The Jack of the trump suit is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Off-Jack -- The Off-Jack is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Joker -- The Jokers are each worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Game -- The player or team with the highest tally of "game points" among cards in their scoring pile earns one point. When totalling "game points", every Jack is worth one point, every Queen is worth two points, every King is worth three points, every Ace is worth four points, and every 10 is worth ten points. For example, if Team A has a 10 and a King (10 + 3 = 13 "game points") among the cards it has taken as tricks and Team B has three Jacks and two Aces (3x1 + 2x4 = 11 "game points") among cards it has taken as tricks, then Team A earns one point for Game. In case of a tie, no point is awarded for Game.

Gameplay

Dealing

Before the cards are dealt, the dealer offers the deck to be cut by the player to his right. Also, as in many card games, the order of deal is traditional, and expected to be followed. Cards are dealt clockwise starting with the player left of the dealer in sets of 3, although in casual play, any combination may be dealt, as long as everyone ends up with six cards. The remaining cards are placed aside and not used during that hand.

Bidding

Bidding is the key to the game. Opening with the person to the left of the dealer, the bidding continues clockwise until the dealer bids or passes. Each person gets only one chance to bid. When a player has the turn to bid, he may either make a new bid or pass. Each bid must supersede the last preceding bid by naming a greater number of points. The lowest possible bid is three and the greatest is seven. The player who made the highest bid lays the first card of the first trick, which determines trump. Those who failed to win the bid do not need to make any certain number of points.

Although this is a game of teams, nobody knows who the teams are during bidding.

In order to win the hand, a bidders score must be equal to or greater than the winning bid. Thus bidding involves anticipating the points that will be accumulated from the points acumulated by ones self and by teamates. If the bid is higher than this combined score the bidder and his teammates (if any) are "set", this means that the total bid amount is subtracted from the total game score.

Teams

One of the unique things about this game is that players do not know who their teammates will be before the cards are played. Every hand will have two teams. Nobody knows who will be on which team until the played cards reveal it. The person who plays the high of trump is always teamates with the person who plays the low of trump. In the case that one person has both the high and the low of trump, he/she is his/her own partner. The players who have neither high nor low of the trump suit form the remaining team. This means that when six people are playing there will usually be two people on one team and four on the other but if one person has both high and low of trump their will be five people on one team and one on the other.

Teams vary from one hand dealt to the next hand dealt. Because teams vary, scores are kept for each individual.

Trick-taking

First Trick

The bid winner begins by playing the first card. That first card determines what suit is trump. If the card is a Jack or Joker, the player must also declare the trump suit out loud. This is because a Joker could be any suit and the Jack could be either suit of its' color. Other rules during the first trick are the same as all following tricks.

Other Tricks

The lead starts with the person who took the previous trick. All following players must play a card of the same suit if they have a card of that suit in their hand or they may play something from the trump suit. If they cannot follow suit, they can play any card they want.

The player who played the highest trump wins the trick. If no trump have been played, the highest card that followed suit wins the trick. The player that won the trick is responsible for clearing the played cards from the play area and then leading the next trick.

After all six tricks have been played, the hand is scored. The player to the left of the previous dealer then becomes the dealer for the next hand, so that the deal moves clockwise around the table.

Going alone

If the player making trump is dealt a very good hand, or if his team is in danger of losing the game, the player making trump has the option of "going alone". Here, his partner sits out that hand. This is advised when the player makes trump, and the player is then known for the remainder of the hand as the "loner".

Scoring

• Makers win 3 or 4 tricks: 1 point
• Makers win all 5 tricks: 2 points (this is known as a "march")
• Defenders win 3, 4, or 5 tricks: 2 points (this is known as a "Euchre" or "set")
• Loner takes all 5 tricks: 4 points

The first team to score 10 points wins the round. Score is usually kept using cards from the deck that are not in play, such as a six and a four, or a pair of fives. In this case, one card is used to cover the other so that only the correct number of pips are showing.

Cheating

As mentioned above, Euchre is a game of etiquette. For this reason, there are several opportunities to cheat. Some of these breaches are significant enough to have become a permanent part of the game, either as an accepted part of the rules, or as part of specific variations. Some of these include:

• Failing to offer the cut: When a dealer fails to offer the opportunity to cut to the player to his right, after shuffling and before dealing. When caught, the dealer forfeits his turn to deal and passes it to the next player.
• Reneging: Failure to follow suit when able. When it is noticed, the hand is generally forfeited, and 2 points are awarded to the opposing team. Because of the fast pace of the game, catching a reneger is difficult.
• Stealing the deal: When a player either intentionally or accidentally deals out of turn. Depending on the variation(s) played, there is a slight advantage to being the dealer, as the making of trump based on the upcard automatically gives the dealer one trump card. When it is noticed, the hand is generally forfeited, and 2 points are awarded to the opposing team.
• Table talk/signals: When a player or team intentionally communicates the contents of their hands to each other or otherwise interferes with otherwise objective play. When caught, the hand is generally forfeited and 4 points are awarded to the opposing team.
• Stacking the deck: When the dealer arranges the cards prior to the deal so that he and his partner become more likely to win.

Gameplay Variations

Variations in gameplay are generally invoked by agreeing on them before gameplay begins.

Throw-ins

These variations (and others) allow a player dealt one of several types of poor hands to "throw in" their cards and initiate a redeal.

• Nines & Tens: a hand consisting only of 9's and 10's. It is impossible for more than one player to have such a hand in regular gameplay. Also known as a "Farmer's hand"
• Ace, No Face: a single ace and nothing else except 9's and 10's.
• King Nothing: a single king and nothing else except 9's and 10's.
• Bitches' Hand: three queens and nothing else except 9's and 10's.
• Jack Shit: a single jack and nothing else except 9's and 10's.
• No Ace, No-Face, No-Trump: a throw-in hand determined after the make, containing only non-trump 9's and 10's.

Farmer's hand

Common in the Midwestern US, certain throw-in hands are designated as "farmer's hands". The first player, upon being dealt one of the designated farmer's hands, to call out "farmer's hand!", is then allowed to exchange some pre-determined number of cards in their hand with the same number of cards from the kitty. Some variations allow for multiple farmer's hands to be called out, but those exchanging cards with those left behind in the kitty after the first exchange are essentially guaranteed very poor cards.

Making trump

• Stick/Screw the Dealer: If the trump selection comes all the way back around to the dealer the second time, the dealer must call the trump suit. In other words, there is no option to redeal.
• Club Euchre: Whenever the upturned kitty card is suited clubs, the dealer must "pick it up" and his team must play as the makers, with clubs as trump.

Trick-taking

• Super-Euchre: If the defenders take all 5 tricks, then they score a Super-Euchre and 4 points are earned.

Going alone

• Partner's Best: When a maker "goes alone", he and his partner exchange a single card from their hands, concealed from all other players, before trick-taking begins.
• Canadian: When a player orders his partner to "pick it up", he must attempt the hand as a loner.
• Blind-Double Loner: Before the maker sees his cards, the maker calls "blind double loner". Here, the turn card is automatically trump, and the game is played by normal loner rules. If the Blind-double Loner wins all 5 tricks, 8 points are awarded to the player's team.
• Defending Alone: When a maker decides to go alone, one of the opposing players has the option of "defending alone". Here, one of the opposing players calls out "I'll defend alone" right after the loner establishes himself or herself. If the "partner's best" subvariation is invoked, then this "lone defender" also has the opportunity to exchange a single card with their partner before tricks are played. In either casBold texte, if the lone defender Euchres the loner, then his team earns 8 points.

Scoring rituals

• In Upstate NY, the scoring is almost always done with a 2 and a 3. the score is the number of pips showing. When the score is 5 or more the cards are turned into a V shape and then the score is 5 plus whatever is showing. The V is the Roman numeral for 5.

• For some players in the Midwest, when a team has nine points one places the score cards next to each other, face down. The team is now "in the barn" (also "on the corner") or "mooing". Some more casual players have been known to place the two score cards in their Bold textears upon "entering the barn." If the team scores their tenth point then the "barn doors are opened:" the cards are flipped to show all ten pips.

• On many American college campuses, the players of a losing team which failed to earn any points at all are considered to have been "skunked" by the winning team. Sometimes, the relatively rare event of being skunked implies that the losers must perform some form of ritual penitence such as streaking the campus.

International variations

Other variations of Euchre are widely played in the southwestern counties of England, where it is common for a pub to have its own team which takes part in competitive league matches with other teams. The most common form of the game played in the UK is one where a twenty-five card deck is used; the deck consists of A-K-Q-J-10-9, with an extra card called the Benny. This card, usually a joker card or the two of spades, is the highest trump no matter which suit is called. Should this card be the one turned over by the dealer, the dealer must decide which suit to call for trumps before looking at their own hand. The bidding then continues as normal.

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