Spades

[kandrathe]

Rules for Pitch
The game of Pitch can be played with either 3 players or 4 players. In the 4 player
game the individuals sitting across from one another are partners and scored as
a team.

Start of the game
The game starts by selecting a dealer and the dealer deals six cards to each player.

The Bidding Process
Once all the players have been dealt six cards, the player to the left of the dealer will make
a bid. The valid bids are Pass, 2, 3, or 4. After the first player makes a bid, each player to
his left (moving clockwise) will make a bid in order. Once a player bids either 2, 3, or 4,
the next player must bid higher than the current bid (except for the dealer). The last
person to bid is the dealer. The dealer may submit a bid at the current bid level.
In this case the dealer would win the bid. For example if the highest bid were
3, the dealer could also bid 3 and win the bid. If all the players have passed on
their bids, the dealer may not submit a pass bid. The player that bids the highest
will win the bid with the exception of the dealer, who may win the bid by bidding
the same as the current highest bid.

Selecting the trump
Once the winning bidder is established, that person will need to select a suit that
will be trump for this game. The trump suit is a suit that will have the highest
priority over all other suits for that game. The trump suit is actually determined
by the first card the winning bidder throws.

Playing the trick
A Pitch game is made up of six tricks. During each trick every player selects one
card to play in order starting from the trick leader. After the bid process
the trick leader is the winning bidder. After the first trick, the trick leader is whoever
won the previous trick. The player that wins the trick will gain procession of
all the cards thrown for that trick and the cards are keep face down except for the
first card of the first trick (this represents the trump suit for the game).

Winning the trick
The lead suit for a trick is the suit of the first card that is thrown. The trick
is won by the person throwing the highest value lead suit, unless a trump suit was
thrown. If a trump suit was thrown, then the person throwing the highest trump suit
value will be the winner of the trick. The value of the cards are 2 being the lowest
and Ace being the highest.

Valid cards to throw during a trick
The trick leader (person throwing the first card) may throw any card in his hand.
After that, players have certain restrictions on the cards they may throw. If the
first card thrown is a trump suit, each player must throw a trump suit card if they
have one, otherwise they may throw any other card. If the first trick card thrown is a
not a trump suit card, then each player may throw a trump suit card or a card that
matches the lead suit of the first card thrown. If a player has no cards in the
lead suit, he may throw any card. A player may throw a trump card at any
time.

Ending the trick
When all the six tricks have been played, that game ends and the score for that game
is tabulated.

Scoring a Pitch game
There are 4 points that are possible to be awarded for each pitch game. The points are
calculated from the cards won by each player during the six tricks played during
the game.
One point is awarded to the person that has won the highest trump card.
One point is awarded to the person that has won the lowest trump card.
One point is awarded to the person that has won the Jack trump card.
One point is awarded to the person that has won the most trick points.

Trick points are calculated as follows.
An Ace is worth 4 trick points.
An King is worth 3 trick points.
An Queen is worth 2 trick points.
An Jack is worth 1 trick points.
An Ten is worth 10 trick points.

There are always 2 points awarded for each game (high trump and low trump). The point
for Jack of trump may not be awarded if no one has won that card. Also, if there is a
tie for high trick points, that point is not awarded.

The players (or team) that did not win the bid are automatically assigned the points
that they won during the game. The winning bidder (or team) must have won enough
points during the game to either equal or exceed their original bid to be credited
with the points for that game. If the winning bidder (or team) does not win his bid,
points are deducted in the amount equal to the original bid. In the 4 player game,
the players cards are combined for each team and calculated accordingly.

A Pitch round
After the pitch game is scored, the person to the left of the dealer of the last game
becomes the new dealer. A new game is dealt. A pitch round is won when a player or
team reaches 11 or more points and was the winning bidder and won their bid. If
the team or player that reaches 11 or more points was not the winning bidder, the
team with the most points (11 and greater) will win the round. in this case, if there is a
tie when a player or team reaches 11 or more points the round continues with a new
game until a clear winner is established.