Once
all the cards are passed back and forth across the table, all four
players will then lay down meld. Although this may be one of
the most confusing parts of the game, it is a detail that you must
learn nonetheless. When it comes down to it, laying down meld is one
of the most important details of pinochle.
You need to know what a meld is before you can fully understand what
it means within the context of pinochle. Generally speaking, meld is
a combination of cards face up on the table. Each combination that
is made is called a piece of meld. And each one of these is worth a
differing number of points. If you are worried about keeping up with
this part of the game, do not worry. The more that you play pinochle,
the better you will become at laying down meld as well as
understanding how it affects you.
Each player will only place cards face up that show the overall
value of their meld. There are three types of meld that you will
want to become familiar with.
Type One
Runs – they must all be in trump
Double run – Ace, Ace, 10, 10, King, King, Queen, Queen, Jack, Jack
– 1,500 points
Run with extra marriage – Ace, 10, King, King, Queen, Queen, Jack –
230 points
Run with extra queen – Ace, 10, King, Queen, Queen, Jack – 190
points
Run with extra king – Ace, 10, King, King, Queen, Jack – 190 points
Bare run – Ace, 10, King, Queen, Jack – 150 points
Marriages – Known as king and queen of the same suit
Common marriage, non trump – 20 points
Royal marriage, in trump – 40 points
Type Two
Double – both queens of spades, both jacks of diamonds – 300 points
Single – one queen of spades, one jack of diamonds – 40 points
Type Three
Arounds
Aces – one of each suit, 100 points – both of each suit, 1000 points
Kings – one of each suit, 80 points – both of each suit, 800 points
Queens – one of each suit, 60 points – both of each suit, 600 points
Jacks – one of each suit, 40 points – both of each suit, 400 points
Once every player has laid their meld, points are recorded for each.
From here, things begin to heat up. During the
trick taking phase of
the game there are only 250 available points. If the amount that
was bid is more than 250 points above the melded amount by the team who had
the chance to declare, they cannot make their bid.
Although laying down meld may sound difficult, this is actually the
part of the game that you need to learn the most about. And of
course, as you begin to play pinochle more and more, you will learn
how to do this with simplicity.
