Colorado
Players
Pitch typically involves four players. The players sitting across from each other are partners. Variations for five or six players are covered later.
Object
The object is to score points by “catching” tricks. There are a total of 10 points per hand and players bid on the number of points they believe they can catch. The highest bidder plays the first “lead.”
Rank of Cards
The following list shows the ranks of cards from highest to lowest, e.g. an Ace will take a Queen. An asterisk (*) denotes a point card.
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Special Cards
The "Off Jack" or "Left Jack" is the Jack of the suit of the same color as trump. For example, if the trump suit is spades, the Off Jack is the Jack of clubs, since clubs and spades are both black.
The "High" and "Low" Jokers are designated either by markings on the face of the card, or by the order of play -- the first Joker played in a trick outranks the second Joker.
The 3 or "Trey" is the only card worth three points. All other point cards are worth one point.
The 2 or "Deuce" is worth one point, but it cannot be taken in a trick. It is an automatic point; whoever plays the 2 gets to keep it.
Dealing
Nine cards are dealt to each player. The number of cards dealt at a time is arbitrary, ranging from one to three. For the sake of convenience, dealers typically deal three cards at a time.
A misdeal is declared if a player has been dealt no face cards and no point cards. A new hand is then dealt.
Some people like to have the player to dealer's right cut the deck after it has been shuffled.
Bidding
After the cards have been dealt, each player, starting with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, may either pass or bid by stating the number of points that player believes he or she can score. Minimum bid is five. If no one bids before the dealer, the dealer must bid five. The maximum bid is, of course, ten.
If a previous player has bid ten, a player may "Shoot the Moon," which is, essentially, a bid of 26. If a previous player has “Shot the Moon,” a player may “Double Shoot the Moon,” which is a bid of 52. To win the bidding, partners must get all ten points. Scoring will be covered later.
After all the players have bid, the highest bidder names the trump suit.
Discarding
After trump has been named, the players discard all but the trump (including special) cards from their hands. Each player, in turn, then asks the dealer for a number of cards to fill their hand to six cards. The remainder of the deck is turned face up and the player who won the bidding, may pull out any trump cards he or she finds. No player may have more than six cards in their hand to begin play. If a player has more than six trump cards at the beginning of a hand, that player must "burn" the extra cards. The player does this by laying down the extra cards on his or her first turn and declaring that he or she is burning those cards. Point cards cannot be burned unless all cards in the hand are points. All cards burned are placed face up on the table and the points, if any, are not counted for that hand. Any cards which are part of the trump suit that are thrown out are considered "fair game" and may be picked up by any player.
Each player, in turn, then asks the dealer for a number of cards to fill their hand to six cards. Any cards remaining are given to the bidder. If the bidder chooses, he or she can pass those cards to his or her partner provided he or she has not looked at them. In the event someone has more than six cards in the trump suit they must "burn" cards until they have only six. Burned cards are removed from play for that hand.
Playing
The high bidder leads a card followed by the other players in clockwise order. Only trump cards may be played. If a player has no trump cards, that player declares this by saying he or she is "out" or "up" when it comes his or her turn to play.
The highest card takes the trick and the person who took the trick places the cards face down in front of him or her, then leads a card for the next trick. If that player is out of trump, the player to his or her left leads.
Play continues until everyone is out of trump cards.
Scoring
During the game two scores are kept, one for each partnership. At the end of a hand each partnership counts the points in the tricks they have won and adds this to their total score. However, if the bidding partnership did not win enough points to equal or exceed their bid, the value of their bid is subtracted from their score, (i.e. they are "set" (set back) the value of their bid).
If the bidding partners shoot the moon they must win all ten points. If they do win ten points, 26 points are added to their score. If they fail, 26 points are subtracted from their score. If the bidding partners double shoot the moon and win ten points, 52 points are added to their score. If they fail, 52 points are subtracted from their score.
Winning
A partnership must have at least 42 points to win. In the simplest form of winning, the first partnership to score 42 or more points wins. If both teams have at least 42 points at the end of a hand, the team that won the bidding wins, even if their score is lower than the other team.
It is best that the players decide on the rules for winning before the game begins, otherwise the game is guaranteed to end in an argument.
Variations
· 13 Point
An interesting variation is created by adding an “Off Trey” (similar to the Off Jack”, which is also worth three points.
An interesting variation is created by adding an “Off Trey” (similar to the Off Jack”, which is also worth three points.
· 14 Point
Same as 13 point pitch with the addition of an “Off Deuce.” The off-deuce is an automatic point, similar to the regular deuce.
Same as 13 point pitch with the addition of an “Off Deuce.” The off-deuce is an automatic point, similar to the regular deuce.
· Dirty Pitch
In dirty pitch the deuce is not an automatic point. It must be "carried" as any other card would be.
In dirty pitch the deuce is not an automatic point. It must be "carried" as any other card would be.
· Share the Wealth
The high bidder may, without looking at the kitty, pass cards to his or her partner.
The high bidder may, without looking at the kitty, pass cards to his or her partner.
· Reverse Pitch
In reverse pitch, the cards rank in the same order but from bottom to top. The deuce is the most powerful card with the ace being the lowest.
In reverse pitch, the cards rank in the same order but from bottom to top. The deuce is the most powerful card with the ace being the lowest.
Variations for 2, 3, 5 or 6 Players
Cutthroat Pitch
Cutthroat may be played by any number of players, but usually 2 or 3. The rules of bidding and play are the same as for partnership, however, there are no partnerships; each player scores for themselves. In games with more than two players, opponents tend to gang up against the bidder to try and prevent the bid from being made.
5-Player Pitch (Razzle Dazzle)
Five players create a problem: three partners play against two. To make this more fair the partnership of two is given an advantage, and partnerships are changed with every hand. Here is how it works:
Each player is dealt 10 cards with the 4 remaining cards set aside in a kitty. After naming trump, the player who wins the bid receives the kitty (unseen by the other players) and may add the cards to his hand. All players must reduce their hands to 6 cards, burning cards if necessary. To begin play, the highest bidder leads a card and calls for a card that is not in his or her hand. The player with this card becomes the partner of the high bidder for that hand. For this reason the game is sometimes referred to as "call for your partner" Pitch. A player may choose to “go it alone” and not call for a card.
For example: Player A has won the bid and has named spades as the trump suit; he holds the King, Queen, and Trey of spades in his hand. If his partner had the Ace of spades, they would be guaranteed four points and the first three tricks. Therefore Player A calls for the Ace of spades. Player C has the Ace of spades so she leads it. Players A and C are now partners for this hand.
Since the partnerships are always changing, players keep individual scores. At the end of a hand each player adds to his own score the amount of points the player's partnership accumulated. The first player to reach 52 wins.
6-Player Pitch
This is the simpler variation, so it is presented first. 6-player Pitch is very similar to 4-player Pitch. Instead of having two players in a partnership, there are three. Every other player in the circle belongs to the same partnership, i.e. if the players were numbered in a circle from 1 to 6, the even-numbered players would form a partnership and the odd-numbered players would form the opposing partnership.
Nine cards are dealt to each player, leaving zero cards to be distributed after the bidding. Thus, no cards are discarded, and the high bidder is not given any extra cards. Only trump cards are played, just as before, and the rest of the rules are the same as those for 4-player Pitch. A partnership must have at least 62 points to win.
Variations:· The high bidder receives the kitty after naming the partner's card. There is a risk that the player will draw the card he or she has named and must face the other players unaided by a partner.
· After the high bidder calls for a card not in his or her hand, the player with this card leads it and becomes the partner of the high bidder for that hand.
Tournament Rules
Tournament play is for multiples of four players, each playing at different tables. Each table is numbered beginning with 1. Each game is played as above, however each partnership keeps its own score. The partnership that wins the game moves advances to the next higher table, and the losing partnership stays in place. If a partnership at the highest table loses, they must move to the lowest table. The team that ends up at the highest table after a preset number of games is the winner.
