ARIZONA 29-CARD PITCH

ARIZONA 29-CARD PITCH

OBJECTIVE OF ARIZONA 29-CARD PITCH: The objective of Arizona 29-card Pitch is to score the most points by winning bids.


NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 Players


MATERIALS: A modified 52-card decks, a way to keep score, and a flat surface.


TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game


AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF ARIZONA 29-CARD PITCH

Arizona 29-card Pitch is a game where players bid on what they think their partnership can manage to win during the game. Then the hand of tricks is played, and players score points according to their success or lose point according to their failure. 

This game is a variation of traditional Pitch, but I will discuss all the relevant rules below. For games similar please check out the rules for Pitch on our site.

SETUP

To set up for Arizona 29-card Pitch you will need to modify a standard 52 card deck. You will keep the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s, 9s, 6s and one joker. This leaves you with a 29-card deck. 

This deck is shuffled and dealt out each player receiving 6 card hands and 5 cards remaining in the center unrevealed. 

Card Rankings

The trump suit is ranked Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, Joker, 10, 9, 6. The other suits are the same except they do not have a joker. 

BIDDING

Once all players have received their hands the round of bidding can begin. The player on the dealer’s left will start and in turn, each player will bid higher than the previous or pass. Players bid on how many points they can take in a round. The higher the bid the more things they must accomplish from the list below. 

The things that award points are completing the following things. You earn a point for winning the trick with the highest played trump, winning the trick with the lowest played trump, winning the trick containing the joker, winning the trick containing the jack of the trump suit, and for earning the most value from tricks taken. 

Cards have values and they are: Aces have a value of 4, Kings have a value of 3, Queens have a value of 2, Jacks 1 and 10s are worth a value of 10. The team that has the higher value takes the point for game value. If there is a tie no point is awarded.

If the card needed to complete a point is not available, the point cannot be earned. 

Bidding is won once a bid is made and all other players pass or when a maximum bet is reached. 

GAMEPLAY

The winning bidder plays the first card and calls trump. The winner of each trick leads the next. A player will lead a card and all players must either play a trump or follow suit. If not able, you can play any card. 

The highest trump wins the trick but if not applicable the highest card of the suit led wins. 

Once all tricks have been won scoring takes place.

Scoring

Scoring happens after each round. Players will determine which if any of the points they will be awarded if the bidder completed their bid then they earn as many points as they won, which can be more than they bid. If they did not complete the bid though, they will lose however many points they bid.

END OF GAME

The game is played until a certain point value is reached. 

Nakoa Davis
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