Pitch (card game)
Pitch is an American trick-taking game equivalent to the British blind all fours which, in turn, is derived from the classic all fours. Historically, pitch started as "blind all fours", a very simple all fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as auction pitch or setback.
Whereas all fours began as a two-player game, pitch is most popular for three to five players. Four can play individually or in fixed partnerships, depending in part on regional preferences. Auction pitch is played in numerous variations that vary the deck used, provide methods for improving players hands, or expand the scoring system. Some of these variants gave rise to new games such as Pedro, Pedro Sancho, Dom Pedro or Cinch.
Pitch or blind all fours
Two or more players play individually or in equal-sized teams, seated alternatingly. Normal play rotation is clockwise. Players cut for first deal. Cards rank as in whist and have certain numerical values called pips as shown in the table. In each deal up to 4 scoring points are distributed among the parties. The game is won by the party that first reaches a previously specified target score over several deals.The dealer shuffles and the pone cuts. The dealer hands out 6 cards to each player in batches of 3. Trump is determined by the suit of the first card played in trick-play. Eldest hand leads to the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. Standard trick-play rules are in effect with the exception that a player who can follow suit to a plain suit lead is nonetheless allowed to play a trump.
At the end of the deal, scoring points, also referred to as pointy points in some circles, are awarded as described in the table. The Jack point is not awarded if no player held the Jack of trumps. The Game point is only awarded if one party has won more pips in tricks than any other. 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 pub game played nowadays in northern England under the name all fours is a four-player partnership version of pitch, played for 11 points. Side payments are made for winning all four points in a single hand. In some areas the point for low is awarded to the eventual owner.
Choosing the trump suit by leading to the first trick is known as pitching. 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.
Auction pitch
Auction 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.Beginning with eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit. A bid is the number of points that the bidder undertakes to win in the deal, the minimum bid being 1. Each player must make a higher bid than the previous player, or pass. A bid of four is known as shoot the moon, slam or smudge.
If no player bids, the deal is abandoned and the same dealer deals again.
The player who wins the bid, known as the pitcher or maker, must win as many points as he or she bid. The pitcher pitches, i.e. leads to the first trick and thereby establishes the trump suit.
A 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.
Players may receive points even if they did not win the auction. 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. Negative scores are possible.
It may happen that at the end of a deal more than one player reaches the number of points necessary to win the game. In this case the order in which the points are rewarded becomes crucial: Any points won by the pitcher are counted first. Thereafter the remaining points are awarded in the order as listed above, i.e. first High, then Low, then Jack, then Game.
Scores can be kept on paper, in which case negative numbers may be marked by circles. Alternatively, each player may begin with as many counters as are needed to win the game, and get rid of one for each point won.
All fours and its variants have always been used as gambling games, and according to John McLeod, cutthroat pitch is probably still popular for this purpose at the American coasts.
If the game is played with a pool, each player initially pays a fixed amount into the pool. A player who is set back for failing to win as many points as bid for, or for a revoke, also has to pay the same amount into the pool. The winner of the game receives the contents of the pool.
Common minor variations
- "No junk points" - only the bidding player/team can score points in each round. If he fails to make his bid he is setback, but no points are awarded to the other players/team.
- Some of the lower cards may be removed from the deck. The two-player game is more interesting if the Threes, Fours and Fives are removed. Removing the Threes ensures that in the eight-player game all cards are dealt.
- The game is often played for a number of points other than 11, for example 7, 9, 15 or 21. The best number depends on the number of players and on how many points are typically won in a deal. Sometimes the following formula is used to determine the number of points required to win: * + 1.
- The minimum bid may be two, rather than one.
- The dealer, being the last to bid, may have the privilege of stealing the bid by bidding the same as the highest bid. Under this variation the dealer is obliged to make at least the minimum bid if all other players have passed.
- The point for low is often awarded to the player who won the trick containing the lowest trump, rather than the original owner of the lowest trump.
- A pitcher who made and wins the maximum bid is said to smudge, slam or shoot the moon. Such a player, if not "in the hole", automatically wins the entire game.
- Two jokers are included in the deck, raising the possible take in a round to 6 points. Jokers are considered trump, ranking just below the jack, and are not allowed to be led in the first trick of a round. The eventual owner of the joker is the one to earn the point for it, not the original owner. Jokers are worth half a pip.
Partnership pitch
Winning all four points is much easier in the four-player partnership version than in other versions. Therefore, one common variation is that shooting the moon is a separate bid worth 5 points and involves winning all six tricks in addition to winning all four points. The fifth point for winning all six tricks is only awarded if the pitching team undertook to shoot the moon.
Another variation common in partnership pitch is that only the pitching party can win the game.
Off-jack, jokers and odd trumps
In some variants a joker is added to the pack as an additional trump ranked below the two of trumps. For the determination of the low point it is ignored, but its owner or winner is awarded an additional joker point.A joker may also be added to the pack as the ultimate trump, capturing everything but the low trump. It also represents a point.
In euchre, the non-trump jack of the same color as trumps is called the left bower. It belongs logically to the trump suit and ranks immediately below the jack of trumps. Some variants of pitch borrow this feature, in which case the left bower is referred to as the off-jack or jick. If this feature is used, an additional point for off-jack can be scored in analogy to the point for jack.
A joker can be used for the same purpose, i.e. ranking between the jack of trumps and the ten of trumps. Combining the last two ideas, one can rank the joker between the off-jack and the ten of trumps. Finally, one can play with the off-jack and more than one joker, see smear for details.
Some variants have odd trumps. For example, the five of trumps might be worth 5 points or the three of trumps 3 points. In analogy to the off-jack there may also be other off-trumps which are logically trumps and rank immediately below their trump counterparts. For example, the off-three might be worth 3 points while the three of trumps retains its usual worth of 0 points.
Scoring variations
Most variation in Pitch centers around a multitude of scoring systems. While many different points are possible in pitch, no variant offers the ability to earn every type of point. Instead, most variants use a selection of the points listed below.| Name | Description | Points | Receiver |
| High | highest trump in play | 1 | original owner = eventual owner |
| Low | lowest trump in play | 1 | original owner |
| Jack | jack of trumps | 1 | eventual owner |
| Off-Jack | jack of same color as trumps | 1 | eventual owner |
| Joker 1 | first joker played / higher joker | 1 | eventual owner |
| Joker 2 | second joker played / lower joker | 1 | eventual owner |
| Last trick | winning the last trick | 1 | — |
| Game | most card-points | 1 | eventual owner |
| Trey | Three of trumps | 3 | eventual owner |
| Old Nate | Four of spades if trumps | 1 | eventual owner |