Play 7 Point Pitch with a Friend or Two The dealer deals 6 cards to each player.
Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise players bid or pass. If no one bids, the dealer has to take the bid it for two. The amount you bid is the number of points you have to take. If you do not make your bid, you go set (negative) the amount you bid.
The person with the highest bid throws out the first card. The suit of this card is trump. If the card does not make trump obvious, the player declares trump. The player cannot throw out a jack of hearts and declare anything but hearts or diamonds trump. Play continues clockwise. When all players have played a card, the highest card takes the trick. The trick winner throws out a card to start the next trick.
What is lead must always be followed, but you can trump at any time.
At the end of a round the points are added up.
The Points
* High – The highest card played in trump.
* Low – The lowest card played in trump. Unlike all other points, low does not have to be won in a trick.
* Jack – The jack of trump
* Jick – The jick is the jack of the same color as trump. For example: If spades were trump, the jack of clubs would be the jick.
* Joker – The first joker played, is the higher of the two jokers.
* Joker – The other joker
* Game – There is one point for game. Game is counted from all the cards you took in the trick you won. In the case of a tie there is no game out.
o Aces – 4
o Kings – 3
o Queens – 2
o Jacks – 1
o Tens – 10
o Jokers are worth .5 in the case of a tie, but two jokers do not add up to one point.
First one to 15 wins. In the case where more than one person has enough points to win, the bidder goes out.
Tips
* Always* run a jack if you can. Running a jack means to play it if it takes the hand. Jacks are all worth a point, but only if you take them. Typically you do not lead them, unless you have to (ie you’ll go set if you don’t take another jack), or you know your jack is the highest.