Pitch (card game)

Pitch

Origin	North America
Alternative names	High-Low Jack, Setback
Type	trick-taking
Players	2-4
Cards	52-card
Deck	Anglo-American
Rank (high→low)	A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Play	Clockwise
Related games
Smear, All-Fours

Pitch is a card game played with a standard 52-card pack of playing cards. It may be played by three players (cutthroat) or by four players organized in teams of two. Pitch involves bidding and trick-taking. Pitch may involve betting or gambling of any sort. A very similar variation on Pitch is High-Low Jack.

History

Pitch is a game of early English origin, was once known to virtually every card-playing American; it has survived principally in the game of Aution Pitch, which is still among the most popular games played in the United States. There are many varieties and the rules have changed greatly ovr the years, but he essential feature always is the scoring of High, Low, Jack, and the game point.

Number of Players

Two to seven; most often played by three to five players, most popular for four. When played with 2,3, or 5+ players, each person plays for himself also known as cut throat. When played with 4 players it is common to have the players who are sitting opposite of each other to play as a team.

The Pack

Standard Deck of 52 Cards

Card Rankings

Cards are ranked, from lowest to highest: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, Ace. Any card of the trump suit (determined by the highest bidder)is superior to all cards of non trump suits.

Rules of Pitch

General Rules

Dealing

The Draw- The high card is identified as the dealer of the first hand

The Deal- The dealer deals the cards to the other players starting with the person on his/her left and continues in a clockwise motion until all players have recieved a total of 6 cards. According to Hoyles rules for pitch, the dealer deals 3 cards at a time to each player. After the hand is played, the player to the left of the dealer will become the new dealer for the next hand.

Object of the game

The object of pitch is to be the first player or team to reach a total of 11 points. Each hand in a game of standard pitch can have a maximum of 4 points. Other varieties of pitch can add other tricks and will be discussed later in this article.

Points are scored as follows:

High: One point for holding the highest trump played at the end of the hand.

Low: One point for holding the lowest trump played at the end of the hand.

Jack: One point for holding the Jack of Trump at the end of the hand. Note: May not be in play if it is not delt

Game: One point for winning the total of game points counted as follows

Every 10 counts as 10 game points

Every Jack counts as 1 game point

Every Queen counts as 2 game points

Every King counts as 3 game points

Every Ace counts as 4 game points

Whomever has the highest number of games points is awarded the game point. Note: if 2 players tie for game points, it is a bust and neither is awarded the point.

Bidding

The player to the left of the dealer gets the first bid. Each player in rotation may either bid or pass; the lowest bid is two, and each successive bid must be higher than any preceding bid, except that the dealer may become the maker for the amount of the last preceding bid without bidding over. however, if any player bids four he is said to smudge, and the bid cannot be taken away from him. Whomever wins the bid will control which suit with be trump but is required to make the number of points he has bid.

The Play

The pitcher (highest bidder, or dealer if all other players have passed) leads with a card from his hand. The first card led will determine the trump suit for the rest of the hand. All other players must follow suit if he is able. If he is unable to follow suit he may throw any card from his hand. Anytime a trump is lead, all other players must play a trump card if they are able. When a non trump card is lead, all others must play a card from the suit that was lead or may throw a trump if they desire. If the player cannot follow suit, the player may throw any card or they may throw a trump card if they desire. The only time you are required to throw a trump card is if the lead card is a trump, otherwise you can use your trump at your descression. The trick is over when all players have pitched one card from their hand. The winner of the trick is determined as follows. If any of the cards is a trump card, the player who played the highest trump card wins the trick. If no trump cards were played in the trick, the player who played the highest card of the suit that was lead wins the trick.

Whoever wins the trick will lead the next trick. The hand is completed when all 6 tricks are finished. The players will then determine who won the High, Low, Jack, and Game point. The winning bidder at the start of the hand must make the number of tricks they bid. If the winning bidder did not make the bid, they are "set" and the total amount of the bid is deducted from their score regardless if they won any of the tricks. All other players are awarded one point for High, Low, Jack and Game.

Ending the game

The first person to reach 11 points wins the game. Some house rules require the winner to bid to go out.

Variations of Points

Off-Jack, sometimes called Jick -- The Jack of the same color as the trump suit. It is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Big Joker -- If one joker is placed in the deck, this joker is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile.

Little Joker -- If two jokers are placed in the deck, each joker is worth one point to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile. To distinguish, one joker is deemed the "big" joker and the other the "small" joker, unless the "first Joker played" rule is used. In some areas, particularly Nebraska, the first Joker played is considered to have the higher rank. If two Jokers are played on the same trick and no other higher card is played, the player who played the first Joker wins the trick.

The Three or The Trey -- The three of the trump suit is worth three points to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile. In some variants, like 13 point pitch, the off-trey is worth three points as well.

Variations

Three-player Pitch

Dealing and Bidding

In three-player Pitch, each player is independent of the other two players. No teams are formed. The dealer deals six cards to each player.*** Beginning with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, players may bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit for the hand. Valid bids are Pass, 2, 3, and 4 (some variants: Pass, 3, 4). The bid represents the number of points the player thinks he or she can earn that hand. If no bid has been made, the dealer must make the minimum bid (2 or 3) and declare the trump suit. The dealer may not pass if both other players have passed.

Declaring Trump

The player who made the high bid (the "making player") declares the trump suit. Trump is determined by the first card played by the making player. In some variants, beginning with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, players may discard any number of cards from their hands and receive that many new cards from the dealer. (Typically, all cards of non-trump suits are discarded this way.)

Playing a Trick

Beginning with the making player and proceeding clockwise, players then play one card from their hand. Each pass around the table is called a "trick." The first player to play in a trick is called the "trick leader." The trick leader may play any card from his or her hand. Players following the trick leader must play according to the following rules:

1. A card of the trump suit may always be played.

2. If a player can not or will not play a card of the trump suit, a card of the same suit as the card played by the trick leader must be played if possible.

3. If a player can not or will not play a card of the trump suit and can not play a card of the same suit as the card played by the trick leader, then any card may be played.

After each player has played a card, then the player who played the highest ranking card of the trump suit wins the trick. If no cards of the trump suit were played, then the player who played the highest ranking card that shares the suit of the card played by the trick leader wins the trick. That player collects all cards played that trick into his or her scoring pile and becomes the trick leader for the next trick.

Scoring

After all six tricks of the hand have been played, players evaluate their scores for the hand as explained above. Three-player Pitch utilizes the High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack, Joker, Joker, The Three and Game scoring categories. If the making player failed to earn at least as many points as he or she bid, then the value of that player's bid is subtracted from his or her score. Otherwise, the making player adds to his or her score the number of points earned that hand. Each other player adds to their score the number of points earned that hand. Shooting the moon results in an automatic win if the player gets every trick, and high, low, jack, and game. If, however, the player does get it, he doesnt get any pie of any sort

Winning the Game

Play proceeds until one or more players has 11 points at the end of a hand. If the making player has 11 points at the end of a hand, that player wins the game, regardless of the other players' scores. If one or more non-making players have 11 points at the end of a hand, the player with the most points wins the game; in case of a tie, play continues until a clear winner is established.

In some variants, the game only ends when the making player's score reaches 11 or higher. That is, the game does not end when a non-making player's score reaches 11. This is often referred to as the "bid-to-go-out" or the "take and make" rule, since you must make your bid and reach 11 to win the game.

Another variation is that the game may be won by being the first to reach -11 points. However this feat is hard to achieve and so one should be careful if going in a negative direction.

Four-player Pitch

Dealing and Bidding

Players are organized into two teams. Players should sit at the table such that partners are sitting across from one another and not next to one another.

The cards are dealt as for three-player Pitch. And bidding proceeds as for three-player Pitch. A player is permitted to outbid his or her partner, and the dealer is allowed to take the highest bid on the table.

Declaring Trump

The player who made the high bid (the "making player") declares the trump suit. Trump is determined by the first card played by the making player. In some variants, beginning with the player to the dealer's left and proceeding clockwise, players may discard any number of cards from their hands and receive that many new cards from the dealer. (Typically, all cards of non-trump suits are discarded this way.)

Playing a Trick

Play proceeds as for three-player Pitch. Note that in four-player Pitch, players are playing as teams. All tricks won by players of the same team will be scored together. If a player's team mate has already played the highest ranking card in the trick, that player is not required (or encouraged!) to play a higher ranking card. Of course, if a player's only "legal" play, by the rules given above, is a card that outranks his or her team mate's card, then that player must play that card.

Scoring

Scoring piles are evaluated as for three-player Pitch except that teams are scored together.

Winning the Game

Play proceeds until one or more teams has 11 points at the end of a hand. If the making team has 11 points at the end of a hand, that team wins the game, regardless of the other team's score. If the non-making team has 11 points at the end of a hand and the making team does not, the non-making team wins the game. If two or more non-making teams reach 11 points at the end of a hand, the game will be awarded to the team who scores points in the following order: High card of trump, Low card of trump, Jack of trump, total game points.

In some variants, the game only ends when the making team's score reaches 11 or higher. That is, the game does not end when a non-making team's score reaches 11. This is often referred to as the "bid-to-go-out" rule, since a team must make their bid and reach 11 to win the game.

Five Point Bid

Regardless of the amount of players or by teams, a "Five Bid" can only be won if the bidder or his team wins every trick, and must include the jack. A perfect hand for this bid would be ace, king, queen, jack, ten and nine of trumps.

Five Card Bid

Five -- The 5 of the trump suit is worth five points to the player or partnership holding that card in their scoring pile. (Five is used only in four-player Pitch.) The cards are dealt as for three-player Pitch. Bidding proceeds as for three-player Pitch, except that valid bids are now Pass, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 (some variants: Pass, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)

Nines-Fives Pitch

Nines-Fives pitch is another variant of pitch, played with two teams of two people each. The 5 of trump is worth five points and the 9 of trump is worth nine points. The rank of the suits is not changed.

Nine cards are dealt to each player. After the initial dealing, bidding begins with the player to the dealer's left. Players bid on the number of points that they will take, and can either pass, bid from 4-18, "smudge", or "blind smudge". A "smudge" bid means that the player believes that his/her team can take all six tricks and is awarded 19 points if they succeed. A "blind smudge" bid means that the player believes that his/her team can take all six tricks without looking at his/her initially dealt hand and is awarded 20 points if they succeed. The bidding continues in a circle until one person is the high bidder (once a player passes, they cannot re-enter the bidding). The dealer always has the option of matching an 18, "smudge", or "blind smudge bid".

The winning bidder declares the trump suit, and each player discards any non-trump cards (if a player is dealt more than six trump cards, he/she must discard down to six cards and show what trump cards are being discarded). After discarding, the dealer will deal each player back up to six total cards. The dealer is allowed to look at any remaining cards to bring his/her hand to six total cards (this ensures that all trump cards are in play); if not enough cards are remaining, the dealer is allowed to choose any discarded cards to bring his/her hand to six total cards.

Game play is normal with the 2 winning conditions: the first team to win a bid that brings them above 100 points or if a team reaches -100 points the other team is declared winner. (A variant to the scoring is that if a team reaches -200 points it is considered a "backdoor" and the game is a draw.)

High-Low Jack

High-Low Jack is another card game that is almost identical to Pitch. It is also referred to by the name of Setback in some parts of the Northeastern United States. However, the rules stay the same no matter how many players there are. It usually is not played without at least 4 players so that teams can be formed. The five of trump plays no significant role and is worth no game points. One largely superfluous and mostly traditional rule is that cards are dealt in threes when playing High-Low Jack. Thus, the deal gives three to the player to the left of the dealer, three to the next, and so on until every player has six cards. Also, cards are never exchanged once trump has been declared, no matter how many players there are. Trump is not announced; the highest bidder simply plays a card. The suit of that card becomes trump.

One rule variation involves playing with 8 players. The eight players form 4 teams of 2 partners. The three's of the deck are removed, so that 48 cards are dealt out, ensuring that the Ace of trump is always high, and the 2 of trump is always low. This also ensures that a jack of trump is always in play.

Two Player Pitch

The players are dealt 9 cards, and the 5 of trump counts as one point. The dealer must accept a minimum bid of two but cannot take the bid of the first player by offering the same bid as the non-dealer. If either player's highest card is a 10, they are permitted to "throw in" their hand, showing their cards to the other player and asking for a new deal. No kitty is employed and players must play with the hands that they are dealt. Scoring is to 21.

Kansas Five Point Pitch

This version of Pitch can be played with anywhere from 3 to 8 players. It can be played with partners or teams if there are an even number of players, however, playing every person for themselves is usually considered more challenging and provides for a more exciting game. The game is played like normal cutthroat pitch, except that you use a 53 card deck, with one of the jokers put in. That is where you get the 5 points. The points, therefore, are High, Low, Jack, Joker, and Game. With only High, Low, and Game being guaranteed to be out in every hand. The player who plays low gets to claim that point. All other points must be taken by playing the highest card. The joker is a trump that falls in between the jack and ten in order of importance. The game is won when one of the players, or teams, reaches 11 points.

Ohio Five Point Pitch

This version of Pitch is played with 4 players, partners sitting opposite one another. With Ohio Pitch, there are 5 possible points: High, Low, Jack, Off-Jack and Game. Off Jack is the Jack of the same color. The rank of the cards in the trump suit is as follows, from low to high: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,Off-Jack,J,Q,K,A. The game is played to a pre-determined point [11, 21, 47, 69], and the winning team must bid or set in order to win. The game is started with two rounds of 3 cards to each player. After the initial bid, the dealer has the option to run the cards and increase the minimum bid by one. The dealer can choose to run either 3 or 4 cards on the first run, but generally chooses 3. The dealer has another option, and can run out the remaining cards and increase the minimum bid by 1. Scoring in Ohio Pitch is as follows: The bidding team wins the number of points that they earn in a particular deal, provided this number is equal to or greater than the number that was bid. If the bidding team fails to earn their bid, then the team loses the number of points that was bid. The non-bidding team wins however many points that they earn in a particular deal. Some versions of this game allow for a 6 bid when the winning team wins all of the points and also wins all of the tricks. In Ohio Pitch, the highest bidder declares trump by leading a card of the trump suit. Gameplay allows a player to play a trump card at any point during the hand, provided they have a trump card. If a trump card is led, each player must play a trump of their own if they have one. For all other leads, a player may trump at any point during the hand.

Ohio Five Point Pitch - Capture Low

In some versions of Ohio Pitch, a capture low format is used. In this game, the team that wins the trick containing the lowest card of the trump suit wins the point for low. In this version, the entire deck is frequently dealt and the most common bid is 4.

Oklahoma Ten Point Pitch

Ten Point pitch is another variant of pitch, played with two teams of two people each. Six cards are dealt to each player. After the initial dealing, bidding begins with the player to the dealer's left. Players bid on the number of points that they will take, and can either pass, bid from 1-9, or "shoot-the-moon". A "shoot-the-moon" bid means that the player believes that his/her team can take all 10 points. The winning bidder declares the trump suit, and each player discards any non-trump cards (except for the Jick, or "off-Jack") and jokers. After discarding, the dealer will deal each player back up to six total cards. Any leftover cards are given to the dealer to "fill up" his or her hand.

This variation uses both jokers and the king and queen have no points. Each joker is worth one point and are labeled high and low. The jokers are not wild, simply extra cards which are always trump cards. The new rank for the trump suit is A, K, Q, J, Jick (or "off-Jack"), High Joker, Low Joker, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, off-3 (if used), 2. All point cards are worth one point, except for the 3, which is worth three points. In addition, the player who plays the 2 card gets to keep that point, regardless of who takes the trick.

There are six total tricks that are played. Each player can only play cards that are in the trump suit (except for the off-Jack). Once the player is out of cards, he/she is out of the game until all six tricks are played.

If the team that won the bid gets that many points or more, that amount is added to their overall total. If not, the team goes "set", and the amount of their bid is deducted from their overall total. The team that does not win the bid will always get the amount of points that they collected, added to their overall total, and cannot go "set". If a team shoots the moon and wins, they receive 41 points. If they do not win all ten points, they go set 41 points: (10 x 4) + 1 = 41.

When one team reaches (the number of points) x (the number of players) + 1 overall points, they are declared the winner, and the game is over. If call your partner or six-player pitch is being played, the number of players would be five or six, respectively.

In some variations, 52 points are needed to win. In these variations, a shoot-the-moon bid is worth 52 points.

Sub-Variations of Oklahoma Ten Point Pitch

Number of Cards Dealt

In some versions, initially, all players are dealt nine cards. After bidding, a trump is announced and all non-trumps are discarded by the players. Cards are dealt to bring the hands back to six cards with the winner of the bid receiving the entire pack to pick through. In one variation, the winner may pass trump cards to his partner. If any point cards must be discarded, it is considered a mis-deal. When the two of trumps is played, it is retained by the person dealt it and does not go to the winner of the hand. If any one player receives no point or face cards (only 4-9) in the initial bidding round of dealing, it is considered a mis-deal.

In another variation, all players are dealt nine cards and everybody draws back to six cards. The winner of the bid will go through the undealt cards one at a time until the hand has six trump. The remaining cards are then given to the partner to go through. If the partner is full of trump, the remaining cards can be given back to the winner of the bid. If anyone has more than six trump in their hand, a non-point trump can be "buried" on the first trick. If a player ends up with more than six point cards in their hand, the hand is considered a mis-deal.

In other versions, the players are dealt six cards initially.

Razzle-Dazzle

10 or 13 point pitch in which there is a kitty dealt, it varies depending on how many people are playing; the normal amount of players are 5 person and 7 person. The players bid clockwise of the dealer (minimum d is usually 5), the winner takes the kitty and THEN decides what trump will be, he must burn enough to get down to 6 cards. Everyone throws away all but the trump, but do not get any new cards. The winner of the bid then calls for his partner by selecting a card that he wants played on that turn; example: I pick up the kitty and have a good spades hand, but not the trey, i can call for the trey and play the Ace, the person who played the trey would be my partner for that round. If you go set, you bring your partner down with you. A very fun game overall.

Missouri Eleven Point Pitch

This variation adds the off-ace (Ace of the same color as trump) as the second highest card, which also counts for one as a point. All other rules are as in Oklahoma 10 point, except for the winning bidder is the player that receives the balance of the deck to "fill up" his hand. Valid bids are 3-10, and shoot the moon to bid 11. This game is also played with six players in three partnerships. In this version, each player receives 9 cards, and discards 3 after the trump is declared, there is no exchange.

Thirteen Point Pitch

Another variation, this time of ten-point pitch, except that the "off-three" is worth three points. The off-three would be the 3-card in the same color of the trump suit.

Call Your Partner Pitch

Ten and thirteen point pitch can be played in a variation called "Call Your Partner". In this version, there are no set teams. The winning bidder can call for a specific card, and the person with that card will become that person's partner, until the next bid. Overall point totals are kept for individuals, rather than teams. This is often played when there are five players since there cannot be even-sided teams.

• In the Northeast Variety of Pitch, which springs largely from Connecticut and the Worcester, Massachusetts area, cards are dealt in three-card bunches, such that each player receives two distributions of three-cards each per hand.

Another variety of pitch played in the Worcester area is Thirteen Card Pitch. This is played with four players meaning that all the cards are dealt. Only three and four bids are permitted and the game is played to fifteen.

Partnership Draw Pitch/New Yorker Pitch

Concept and Objective

Partnership Draw Pitch (or "New Yorker Pitch") is somewhat like euchre, except a full deck is used, and the goal is to get points, not necessarily tricks. It is the quality of the tricks, not the quantity that determines the outcome of the game. Other differences from euchre include: 15 points for a win, the highest card is the Ace, and trump may be thrown at any time, regardless of what is lead. The only reneging that can occur is if a non-trump card is led, and you have that suit, but choose to throw a different non-trump card.

Definitions

• Points: Won by winning high, low, jack, or game
• High: The highest card of trump in play, with Ace as the highest, King as the second highest, etc.
• Low: The lowest card of trump in play, with deuce as the lowest, and 3 as the second lowest, etc.
• Jack: The jack of trump, but may not always be in play. Jack has no special values besides its one point.
• Game: The sum of the corresponding values of face cards and tens. Aces are worth 4, Kings worth 3, Queens worth 2 Jacks worth 1, and tens worth ten, regardless of whether they are trump or not. These point values apply only to game. Do not confuse the point values for game with the points of high, low, jack, or game. "Game" is won by having more point values than your opponent.
• First round of dealing: Deal 3 cards to each player twice, making for a total of 6 cards per player
• Bid: The number of points (high, low, jack, or game) that you believe you and your partner (sitting diagonally from you) can accumulate. Bids can be 2, 3, 4, or moon. Bidding only goes around once, players can overbid each other, and the dealer can be stuck. When bidding, only a number is called, but the suit of trump is not announced until after bidding is over. This is to make sure people bidding after an initial bidder do not know that the initial bidder is strong in one suit or the other.
• Second round of dealing: After a bid is made and trump is called, all players throw away the cards they do not want. However, TRUMP CANNOT BE DISCARDED. You may hang onto other cards you like, but this limits your chances of getting trump in the second deal.
• Moon: The situation in which a player has a hand similar to a Dutchman in euchre. A player who goes moon believes they can win high, low, jack, and game, and also take every trick. When going moon, the bidder gets to lead, and does not dealt in the second round of dealing
• House hand: The situation where during the first round of dealing when a the cards a player were dealt are all 3 through 9. The hand can be laid down, revealing the cards to the other players, and 6 new cards are dealt to the player with the house hand.

Steps

1. Assemble in euchre formation
2. Find dealer by dealing for first black jack
3. First round of dealing
4. Bidding
5. Announce the trump
6. Second round of dealing
7. Play game

Blind Pitch

In this variation, there is a "blind pile," all the cards are in play, and the jokers. When playing 4-handed, you remove the 3's, 4's, and Red 5's from the deck leaving 44 cards (52 - 10 + 2 jokers). The cards are then dealt out 3 to all players...the top 3 go to the player left of the dealer, then the next three to the next person etc. then 4 face down in separate piles, then 2 to all players, another one in each of the piles, then 3 to all players and a third card in each of the piles. If you don't end with the third card in the fourth pile, there was a miss deal for one reason or another. Now, each player has 8 cards in his/her hand and three cards in a pile (the blind pile). You cannot look at these cards until you decide you want to play it. After everybody looks at their cards, the bidding commences, starting with the player left of the dealer. You bet how many points you think can get in that hand. The minimum bid is 2 and a maximum of 6. After someone bids, the minimum bet is the bet plus 1. If you don't think you can make the minimum, you pass the bet to the next person. If nobody bets, the dealer must "bet" two. After this round, the actual playing continues. By definition, the suit the winning bidder plays first is trump. On the first hand, you must follow suit, if you have it...and if you don't you can play any card you want. On any following "trick," if you have the suit led, you may follow suit, trump, or go to your pile (assuming you have one). If you don't have the suit led you can play any card you want. The object is to win the points by taking the tricks that they are in. The ace is the highest card in each suit and the jokers are the lowest trump - a two beats a joker - and if two jokers are played on the same trick, the first joker played wins beats the second. To winner of the game point is the team with the most game points. Tens are worth 10 game points, Jacks 1, Queens 2, Kings 3, and Aces 4. The team with more of these points wins the one point of game. The team to first reach 15 points wins. If there is a possibility where both teams can go reach 15 at the same time, the winning team is the team that bid.

The game can also be played 6 handed with tree teams of two. The only differences in this are that all the cars are in the deck (54) and the dealing goes 2-pile-2-pile-2-pile instead of 3-pile-2-pile-3-pile.

Reverse Pitch

Reverse Pitch, invented by Tom Rosborough and John Caulkins in January of 2006, follows all of the rules of Pitch, except the low card takes each trick (the lowest card of the suit lead or lowest card of the trump suit). High, low, jack, and game points are counted in normal fashion as described above. This is the main strategic difference because the valuable cards become much harder to capture; the strength of the card itself is almost always insufficient. The game was originally named "jiggly pitch" after the game "jiggly ball", which originated on the sitcom Scrubs

High Five

High Five is a very rare Swiss variation of pitch played with two teams of two. In High Five, both fives of the trump color are used, and are worth five points each. Both Jokers and both Jacks of the trump color are also used. The Ace, Both Jacks, both Jokers, and The ten are worth on point each. The low card (usually the 2) is also worth a point, and cannot catch any other cards, but the 2 itself cannot be caught and is awarded to the team that plays it. Nine cards are dealt intially and everyone bids in a clockwise fashion to get to call the trump suit, with the last bid going to the dealer. After trump is called, everyone throws away their non-trump cards. The Dealer then deal them however many cards they need to have a six card hand (non-trumps included), skipping the person who called trump. The person who won trump will then get to choose whatever cards he/she wants out of the remaining deck, which is referred to as the "widow". Minimum Bid is Six, and is not limited, going all the way to the maximum point value of seventeen. Another bid is to "Shoot The Moon", in which one team bets that they can get all seventeen points, and if they do succed, the game is over and they win, but if you are unsuccesful in "Shooting The Moon", the game is over and you lose. You must have a positive point value to "Shoot The Moon." A game of High Five is played to 50, and three games are often played at a time. The trump cards in order, for clubs example, would be the A,K,Q,J,Big Joker,Jack of Spades,Little Joker,10,9,8,7,6,5,5 of spades,4,3,2.

External links

• Pitchplayer.com - A free multiplayer online Pitch game
• A free online game for Windows
• A great pitch game for the Palm OS platform
• Rules and Variations for Pitch