A pitcher who did not win at least the number of points undertaken with the bid does not receive any of the points, and is instead set back by the amount of the bid. Players may receive points even if they did not win the auction. Ī player who can follow suit but discards a card of a different non-trump suit is punished for the revoke by being set back by the value of the bid. leads to the first trick and thereby establishes the trump suit (as the suit of the card led). The player who wins the bid, known as the pitcher or maker, must win as many points as he or she bid. If no player bids, the deal is abandoned and the same dealer deals again. A bid of four (the highest possible) is known as shoot the moon, slam or smudge. Each player must make a higher bid than the previous player, or pass. A bid is the number of points that the bidder undertakes to win in the deal, the minimum bid being 1.
That trump is determined by pitching rather than by turning up a card from the stock is the key difference between Pitch and classical All Fours/Seven Up.Īuction Pitch is played in exactly the same way as simple Pitch, except that instead of eldest hand the highest bidder pitches, and the highest bidder must reach the number of scoring points bid or is set back.īeginning with eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit. In some areas the point for Low is awarded to the eventual owner.Ĭhoosing the trump suit by leading to the first trick is known as pitching. Side payments are made for winning all four points in a single hand. The pub game played nowadays in northern England under the name All Fours is a four-player partnership version of Pitch, played for 11 points. The scoring points accrue strictly in the order given in the table, preventing ties in case more than one team reaches the target score at the end of the deal. The Game point is only awarded if one party has won more pips in tricks than any other. The Jack point is not awarded if no player held the Jack of trumps. Standard trick-play rules are in effect with the exception that a player who can follow suit to a plain suit lead is nevertheless allowed to play a trump.Īt the end of the deal, scoring points, also referred to as pointy points in some circles, are awarded as described in the table. Eldest hand leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Trump is determined by the suit of the first card played in trick-play. The dealer hands out 6 cards to each player in batches of 3. The game is won by the party that first reaches a previously specified target score over several deals. In each deal up to 4 scoring points are distributed among the parties. Cards rank as in Whist and have certain numerical values called pips as shown in the table. Two or more players play individually or in equal-sized teams, seated alternatingly. 9.5.3 Five-Nine Regional (Northeast Connecticut).9.5.2 Nine_Five Regional (Northwest Connecticut).9.4 Pitch games with other point variations.