10 POINT PITCH CARD GAME RULES

10 point pitch rules title

OBJECTIVE OF 10 POINT PITCH: The objective of 10 Point Pitch is to reach a score of 52.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 Players

MATERIALS: A Standard 52-card deck, 2 distinguishable jokers, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF 10 POINT PITCH

10 Point Pitch, also known as Auction Pitch, is a trick-taking card game for 4 players. The goal is for your team to reach a score of 52 before your opponents.

This game is played with partnerships. Teammates will sit across from each other and share a score for the game.

SETUP

The first dealer is chosen at random and passes to the left for each new deal.

This deck is shuffled and dealt out each player receiving nine cards.

Card Rankings and Point Values

The trump cards are ranked Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, off-Jack, high Joker, low joker, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low). The off jack is the jack of the same color as the trump jack and is a part of the trump suit.

For bidding, there are points awarded to players who win certain cards or meet certain criteria during the game

There are points awarded to players who win certain cards or meet certain criteria during the game. The point cards are only trump cards. They are the ace of trumps, the jack of trumps, off-jack of trumps, High and low jokers, the 10 of trumps, and the 2 of trumps. These all score the team who wins them in a trick 1 point each.

The 3 of trumps is also scored. The winner of it scores 3 points.

There will be a total of 10 points up for grabs.

BIDDING

Once all players have received their hands the round of bidding can begin. The player on the dealer’s left will start and in turn, each player will bid higher than the previous or pass. Each player only gets one chance to bid. Players bid on how many of the above points they must win in a round.

The minimum bid is 4 and the maximum bid is called shoot for the moon.

A bid of shoot for the moon requires the pitcher’s team to score all 10 points in the round. failure to do so means their team loses the game.

If all other players pass the dealer must bid 4.

The bidding ends once the dealer bids or passes, or a bid of shoot for the moon is made. The winner is the highest bidder and they become the pitcher.

After the bid is completed, the pitcher chooses the trump suit. Only trumps are played during the game, so all non-trumps are discarded from all player’s hands. Each player then receives a number of cards to refill their hand back to 6 cards each. Any remaining cards are given to the pitcher who may, before looking at the cards, give them to their partner. If a player has more than 6 trumps in hand then they must discard down to 6 cards, the cards discarded are out of the game.

GAMEPLAY

The pitcher will lead to the first trick. Play proceeds in clockwise order. The following players may play any card from their hand.

The trick is won by the highest-ranked trump. The winner of the trick leads the next trick a card of their choosing and collects the cards from the trick. If they have no more trumps to lead, then the player to their left leads.

If a player is out of trumps, they cannot play to the remainder of the tricks.

The round ends once all 6 tricks are played, or when no more players have trumps to play. 

SCORING

Scoring happens after each round.

The pitcher’s team will determine if they were successful in completing their bid. If they were successful, they score the number of points bid. If they were not successful, then the number bid is subtracted from their score. It is possible to have a negative score. The opposing team scores any points earned to their score as well.

If a bid of shoot the moon was made, then the bidding team must have won all 10 points. if they did and have a score above 0 they win the game. if they were successful and have a negative score their score is set to 0. If they were unsuccessful then they lose the game.

END OF GAME

The game is played until a team reaches a game point of 52 or more. This team wins.

Amber Crook
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