PEDRO

OBJECTIVE OF PEDRO: The objective of Pedro is to be the first team to reach 62 points.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 Players

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

TYPE OF GAME: Trick-Taking Card Game

AUDIENCE: 10+

OVERVIEW OF PEDRO

Pedro is a trick-taking card game for 4 players. These 4 players will split into two partnerships of 2 players and teammates will sit opposite of each other. 

The goal of the game is to reach 62 points. Teams do this by bidding on how many tricks they think they can win in the round and winning certain point cards. 

SETUP

The first dealer is chosen at random and passes to the left after each round. The dealer will shuffle the deck and deal each player a hand of 9 cards, 3 cards at a time. Then the bidding round can begin.

Card Rankings and Values

Pedro has two different rankings, one for the trump suit and one for non-trump suits. For Pedro the trump can change each round, this can change the cards in the rankings. The 5 of the suit that is the same color as the trump suit is also considered a trump card. So, if hearts are trumps, the 5 of diamonds is also a trump. 

The ranking for trump suit is Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (the one of the suit), 5 (the one of the other suit of the same color), 4, 3, and 2 (low). The other suits follow the same ranking of Ace (high). King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 (when applicable), 4, 3, and 2. 

Pedro also assigns certain cards with values for scoring. The only cards worth points are of the trump suit. The Ace of trump is worth 1 point, the jack of trump is worth 1 point, the ten of trump is worth 1 point, the five of trump is worth 5 points, the other 5 of trump is also worth 5 points, and the 2 of trumps is worth 1 point.

The Ace, Jack, 10, and 5s are scored by the players who win the cards in tricks. the 2 is scored by the players who were dealt the card at the start of the game. 

BIDDING

The bidding starts with the player to the dealer’s left. They can either bid or pass. If bidding a player will need to bid higher than the previous bid. The bid can be a minimum of 7 tricks or a maximum of 14. Players are bidding for the chance to call the trump suit. 

If all three previous players pass the dealer must bid at least 7.

The winner of the bid will call the trump suit. Then each player will discard face down all their non-trump cards. The dealer will then deal the other three players enough cards to refill their hands to 6 cards, or if they already have 6 or more cards, then no cards are given. The dealer will then look through the remaining cards in the deck and take all the remaining trumps into their hand. If all the trumps do not get them to at least 6 cards, then they will need to pull other non-trump cards to fill their hand to 6 cards. 

GAMEPLAY

Each team is trying to win the tricks containing the point cards. The team that won the bid will also need to win at least the number of tricks they bid to score their point cards. 

The player who won the bidding round will start the game and from them players clockwise in order. The player will lead any card they wish. Other players must follow suit if able, if not able they may play a trump or any other card they wish. Tricks are won by the highest trump played, or if not applicable, by the highest-ranked card of the suit led. The winner of a trick will lead the next. 

For the first trick specifically, players who have more than 6 cards in their hands will need to discard cards into the first trick. Cards discarded cannot be point valued cards and will be played under the card the player wishes to play into the trick. These cards do not affect the trick in any way. This should get all players to the same hand size for the second trick. 

SCORING

Once all tricks have been played out players will score their tricks. The players who did not win the bid will score any points acquired through cards regardless of whether the other team completed their bid.

If the bidding team completes their bid, they will also score all points won during tricks, but if they did not complete their bid, they will lose points equal to those won in tricks. 

END OF GAME

Teams keep cumulative scores over several rounds and the first team to 62 points wins the game. 

If both teams have 55 points at least at the start of a round, this is called bidder goes out, this means on the next round the winner of the bid, if they complete their bid, will win the game. if they do not complete their bid scoring proceeds normally but usually means the opposing team has won. 

If the teams both reach 62 points in a non-bidder goes out round, another bidder goes out round should be played to determine the winner. 

Nakoa Davis
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