How To Play Pitch

This video tutorial will teach you how to play the card game Pitch.
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This video will start by teaching you the general concepts of Pitch, and is followed by the more detailed features of the game. This tutorial is perfect for beginning players, and experienced players that need a refresher.
After watching, you will know the basics on how to play the card game Pitch. All that is left to do is grab some friends and start playing!
This Pitch tutorial will cover the following topics:
- How to deal the cards
- The overall objective of the game
- The rank of the cards
- How to bid
- How a round is played
- How to keep score
- A review of the rules
- An example round
Please leave a comment below if you need any additional information about Pitch, if you have any questions about the game, or if any aspect of the game was not clear in the video.
Thanks for watching!
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[@cavecookie1]

My grandpa and his cronies used to sit in back of his printing shop after he "retired"; playing Pitch by the hour. Quarter a game, 50 cents a set. I remember when he finally let me sit in a few games as his partner against Doc Prentiss and Gib Reising...I was awestruck. Heck, I can't even remember who won. Guess I'll just remember it the way I want! LOL! Seriously, great memories every time I play this great game.

[@johnd921]

I learned this game on a summer job, between lifeguarding, so much fun

[@Barfyman362.]

What is the point of bidding if you can score without bidding? Why take the risk of losing points by not reaching your bid? Does it only exist as a tie breaker?

[@4D4MU9Hi11]

I grew up playing a variation of this. We call it Smear. It’s played with A-7, with the 7 being the low. You get a point for having the low of trump. Eight cards are buried or sleeping. I’m from Wisconsin ;)

[@4D4MU9Hi11]

And there’s no going negative. Buck and a buck: $1 a game, $1 a set 😎👉

[@gatorade7553]

Thank you I need to figure out how to play for a family event and this was very helpful

[@KhoiNguyenk-ks1qk]

If I win one round but the trick I do a overtrick than the bid, how score?

[@stevekoller5194]

Thank you for making this video because my brothers wouldn't teach me and told me this was to hard for a little kid

[@wanistrawberry6274]

Hi, very nice explaination 👍 can you do Cluedo next?

[@barbfeldmann6276]

I have been playing Pitch for years (taught to me by a family member) and we have always played to 21 pts with the player holding the lowest trump card winning that point (regardless if it was overtrumped). Is this correct or have we been playing wrong all these years?

[@Malkier67]

You’ve been playing wrong. You lose the low trick if someone takes it with a higher Trump card

[@JM-eq5vm]

We have always played low trump card to holder. Probably a family rule.

[@Malkier67]

@@JM-eq5vm where is the skill in that? Your goal as bidder is to make your bid by winning the low trump card if you don’t have it in your hand. Someone gets lucky and has the 2 in their hand and they automatically get a point? If you are dealt J, Q, K, A of a suit a dream hand and you can’t bid 4 because someone else has a 10 or lower? That’s crazy.

[@rrsafety]

@@JM-eq5vm That is incorrect as it undermines the skill of the game. One of the difficult aspects of bidding is how to assure one wins the low card which requires forcing everyone to exhaust their trump cards and to win the low card by having a higher trump. On the other hand, if you have the low trump you want to be playing almost anything besides your low trump so long as others have a trump left.

[@elizabethemelio1904]

On the game it says smudge and u don’t talk about that at all what dose it mean it in bidding

[@crystallight2]

Can you do dice game Pig next please?

[@elizabethemelio1904]

I still don’t understand it asked on bid to pick bid 2,3,4 or smudge so if I pick smudge what dose that mean

[@Malkier67]

I’m pretty sure smudge is what a 4 bid is called

[@burnts0x]

Thank you so much! Can you clarify one scorekeeping rule, which I think is a difference between this version and your 5-point pitch In the second hand, the player who started with the lowest trump.did not win it. Here, the player who won it gets the point. Contrast with 5-point pitch, where the player who PLAYS, not wins, the lowest trump gets the point. Am I making the right distinction?

[@GatherTogetherGames]

You’re right. In this version the low point is given to the player that wins it. In 5-point, low point is given to the player that plays it.

[@matbreitling4838]

The low card of the trump is the only point that you don't have to take the trick. Example: The person who won the bid plays the ace of hearts. You follow suit with the four of hearts. You keep the four in front of you. As long as the 2 or 3 doesn't comes up,

[@matbreitling4838]

As long as the 2 or 3 doesn't come up, you get a point for low.

[@dorothyslatcher4816]

Thanks

[@greggcearley5349]

We always played seven point pitch. High, low, main jack, off jack, big joker, little joker and deuce. Deal seven cards to each player and six cards in the middle called a “widow”. High bidder got the “widow” to pick what the trump will be for the hand.

[@matbreitling4838]

Yes! I forgot about the widow hand. I haven't played in about 25 years. I love it! But, I need to make sure on two of the rules. Let's say you won the bid. You get to look at the widow hand. You get to pick which hand you want to play, right? Then you discard one of the hands. That's the first rule I wanted to clear up. The second one is very important. Once again, you won the bid. You play the ace of clubs. Clubs are Trump. If a club is ever led, all players must follow suit if they they have a card in the trump suit. So, it's your lead after you played the ace. Then , you lead the queen of hearts. Not Trump. Now, let's say I have the 10 of hearts. Also, in my hand, I have the jack of clubs. Trump. I don't have to follow suit with my 10 of hearts, right? I can trump in with my jack of clubs and take the trick, UNLESS someone to the left of me has the king or queen, right? So, the question is, you don't have to follow suit unless trump is led. And, you can't just play anything. Clubs are trump. You lead a heart. I don't have any trump. But, I still have the 10 of hearts. I can't just play a club, because I don't want you to have the 10. You either have to trump trump OR follow suit- IF you have the suit that was led, right? Now, if I don't have a trump suit OR the other suit that you led, then I can play anything, right? Because, I may have the 10 of diamonds and I don't want to give you 10 points towards the game point. If someone leads a diamond and my 10 happens to be the highest, I may end up with the game point, right? Anyway, thank you so much for the info. Hopefully, I'll find some folks to play! Also, you can play with 2 or more players correct ? And, it's always a cut throat game, right? Never partners. On your own. Which is fine with me. I'm a bit of a gambler when comes to bidding. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Mat Breitling OKC, OK

[@greggcearley5349]

@@matbreitling4838 you are right about playing a hand. You have to follow suit if you have it or you can trump it at anytime. We always played with four players and two person teams. Player across from you is your partner and help each other when either one of you win the widow. No talking across the table is aloud! Lol

[@bidesignable]

What is jic

[@Zzimzzalabeamssss]

Me and my cousins used to play this card game at funerals and family gatherings.

[@majorpaiyne2124]

I play Spades and the opposite, Hearts. One thing in both of these games is the rule about following suit. This is probably the weirdest game for me because you can "cut" with a trump card even if you have the trick suit in your hand still. It's very confusing.

[@p4tmchef]

We play 9 card teams.

[@elmbrookvillage4044]

I don't know why but the people I play with have this idea that if you can follow suit you have to, no matter what. Even if you have a trump card they say you're not allowed to play the trump you have to follow suit and can only play the trump if it follows suit. This doesn't make sense to me. When would you trump in if you're always stuck following suit?

[@rrsafety]

You are correct and they are wrong. You can play a trump whenever you wish to.

[@SupremeKing570]

Cuesta traducir estos juegos 😓😓

[@avneeshmistry3055]

What are trump cards

[@reillywalker195]

Trump cards are cards of the particular suit chosen in a hand to beat all other suits. For example, if the suit led to a trick is diamonds and the trump suit is clubs, a club of any rank would beat a diamond if played to the trick.

[@Billsbyjoe]

That was some count for game, 54, happy days if you only need one and yv been dealt a hand like a foot !

[@jamielake-boyd3600]

I love this game so much. One reason is you get to pick trump. when we play with our friends if thr cards fall just right and you pull out a win with a dumped hand and set you opponents. We say "it's just like kissing your sister". in yo face.

[@travisfarmer3851]

Lass in the tik tok ad lookin pretty good eh?

[@P4R4X]

Looks like the MS Windows card game Hearts, just here with trumps.

[@burnts0x]

You will recognize, though, that Pitch has several striking differences: Players bid to select a trump suit. The goal is not to avoid taking cards, but instead to earn points by taking specific cards. You use only 24 cards, not all 52.

[@Griffith2910]

"Its an old East Texas card game"

[@bluenightskiess]

I always played that you had to follow suit no matter what. That you are not allowed to Trump in. So if hearts are Trump and spades lead and I have spades I have to throw spades not able to Trump in with Jack if hearts. Otherwise all else is same and great video. Thanks

[@closeaus88]

So you cant take a trick with a low trump card? This came is so different with everyone.

[@user-nl3qy8cf5n]

Same here! We always played you have to follow suit if you had it

[@gizmotheharbingerofchaos]

Never heard of a method where you can't trump in. Kind of takes some of the power away, trumps are essentially useless then if you can't use them to overpower the other cards.

[@bluenightskiess]

@@gizmotheharbingerofchaos yah u can only trump if you dont have the suit that was lead.... is how i learned

[@Billsbyjoe]

No point in having a boss suit if yu cant trump in, I think the game yr actually describing is called trumps. Pitch is very very close to a game we play in England called Hi Lo Jack, its highly competitive and we gamble on it, on and off the table. Hi Lo Jack, like pitch, is a game of strategy but while there are 4 players the 4 players are teams of 2 that sit diagonally at the table, we play to 11. Serious stuff too. Trumping in is not only allowed its expected, otherwise you will find no one will want to partner you 😂😂😂😂😂

[@closeaus88]

its called SETBACK!!!!!!!

[@dexterlaynespencer1118]

My family LOVES setback! It seems the main difference is that this counts points for individual players. We always played Setback in pairs: player 1 and 3 vs player 2 and 4, combining cards from tricks won each round by either player. Also, we played to 21, not 10 (with 11 to 0 or 1 "skunking" the other team); and, if you didn't make your bid, it was taken from your total score, not accounting for points gained. as in, if you bid 3, but only got 2, your score for the round was -3, not -1 (2-3).

[@Sh3ll3y214]

In Pennsylvania, it is called Cinch.

[@gizmotheharbingerofchaos]

It's called Pitch, Auction Pitch, Bid Pitch, Setback, some slightly altered versions are called Smear or Schmier, we call it High-Low Jack.

[@bigblack9819]

@@gizmotheharbingerofchaos in Oklahoma they call it "Big Swanger"

[@absurdjunk]

dude this is called high low jack in Rhode Island.

[@Randy_Savage_ohyeah]

We always played where the points for game point were only accumulated with Trump cards.

[@timothyball7502]

Do this with three others. Just your hand and your voice isn't enough, for me; sigh. 5-22-2022