Pinochle

Yesterday marked eleven years since my dad passed away, so to celebrate and remember, my Monday game review will explain one of his favorites, Pinochle.


I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my earliest gaming memories (outside being mercilessly creamed in Risk, Monopoly and Dutch Blitz), and one my favorites, is when my dad taught me how to play Pinochle. What I really wanted in life was to be like my dad, so instead of fellowship with my sisters, I would often watch him as he played games even if there was little chance of my understanding what was happening. I watched him as he played Rook and Pinochle, and while I didn't know this at the time, I was apparently observing one of the best. (At least, his friends and family thought so. My mom still tells me when we play games about Dad making outrageous bids and meeting them.)

Collect Them All!

I have a long history with card games. One of the first card games I played was Dutch Blitz, which I was woefully outmatched at. (It doesn't help when you are the youngest in your family. It also doesn't help when you miscount your pile at the start of the round, don't play any cards in the round, and your family holds you accountable for the twelve cards in your should-be-ten-card pile.) Being the youngest, I often found my way into family games through watching, asking questions, and trying to learn on my own. This is how I learned Pinochle, which remains one of my favorite card games, though I haven't really played since my grandma died in 2007 (and didn't play much after my dad died in 2000). While my sisters were doing other things, I sat at my aunts' table and watched closely as my dad--renowned for his high bids and frequent victories--carefully chose which cards to play. He didn't get to play Pinochle often, so he valued the few opportunities he got to play--namely, when Grandma was around. (Grandma was the only person I knew who had an electronic handheld Pinochle game.) So it was so special to me when Dad scooted his chair over a little bit to allow me a better view of the table and explained in full the rules I had guessed in part. This is one of my favorite memories, because it is one of the first times I felt included in something.

After Pinochle I learned Rook (which was played in both my dad's and mom's families); after Rook, Euchre (which always seemed the sickly Eustace to the robust Lucy and Edmund of Pinochle and Rook); and from there, the collectible card games that bled my allowance dry in my adolescence.