Cedar Mile

Pitch 31 The cheat sheet

10-Point Pitch cheat sheet

Every rule on one page. Free to print and copy, US Letter.

The trump order with the Off-Jack and both Jokers, what every card is worth, bidding, the widow and scoring, on one page for the card table. It’s 10-Point Pitch for four players in two teams, first to 31, the way Pitch 31 plays it. There’s room at the bottom for your table’s house rules.

Download the cheat sheet (PDF)

It pairs with the score sheet. The whole page is below, too.

The 10-Point Pitch cheat sheet

Trump, high to low

Ace of hearts, 1 pointKing of heartsQueen of heartsJack of hearts, 1 pointJack of diamonds, the Off-Jack, 1 pointHigh Joker, 1 pointLow Joker, 1 point10 of hearts, 1 point9 of hearts8 of hearts7 of hearts6 of hearts5 of hearts4 of hearts3 of hearts, 3 points2 of hearts, 1 point
Hearts are trump here. These 16 cards are the only trump, and only trump is played. Both Jokers are always trump.

Ten points in every hand. The Ace, Jack, Off-Jack, both Jokers, the 10 and the 2 of trump are worth 1 each. The 3 of trump is worth 3.

The Off-Jack, or Jick, is the other Jack of trump’s color. It leaves its own suit and is trump all hand.

  • ♥ trump: J♦
  • ♦ trump: J♥
  • ♠ trump: J♣
  • ♣ trump: J♠

1 The deal

  • 54 cards: a standard deck and two Jokers, High and Low.
  • Four players in two teams. Partners sit across from each other.
  • Nine cards each, three at a time. The other 18 go face down: the widow.
  • Anyone dealt only 4s through 9s? The same dealer deals again.
  • The deal moves clockwise every hand.

2 Bidding

  • Starts left of the dealer. One chance each: bid or pass.
  • Bids go 4 to 10, then Shoot the Moon. Each bid must beat the last.
  • Over a 10, only a Moon. The dealer alone may take a 10 or a Moon by matching it.
  • Everyone passed? The dealer must bid.
  • Your team can Shoot the Moon only with a score of 1 or more.

3 Trump and the widow

  • The high bidder names trump.
  • Clockwise from the dealer’s left, skipping the bidder: throw away your non-trump and draw from the widow to six cards. Keep whatever you draw.
  • The bidder goes last, takes the rest of the widow, and keeps six.
  • More than six trump? The extras go to the other team, points and all.
  • No trump at all? Sit this hand out.

4 Playing

  • The bidder leads. Only trump is played, and the highest trump takes the trick.
  • The winner leads next. Out of trump? The lead moves clockwise.
  • The 2 always goes back to whoever played it, with its point.
  • The 3 ranks 15th: any trump but the 2 takes it.
  • The hand ends when a team runs out of trump. The other team keeps the trump it still holds.

5 Scoring

  • Made your bid? Score everything you took, whatever you bid.
  • Missed it? Lose the full bid.
  • The other team always scores what it took.
  • Shoot the Moon: all ten points for +20, or −20.
  • A bid of 10 or a Moon is set the moment the other team gets a single point.
  • Scores can go below zero.

6 Winning

  • First team to 31 wins. You don’t need the bid to go out.
  • Both past 31 in one hand? The bidding team wins.

Every rule in full, with the edge cases: the complete rules. What each card is worth, with worked hands: scoring.