Pinochle Books

I'm a newcomer to Pinochle (but not to card games) and found the book difficult to read. It is full of jargon without any explanation of the jargon. Yes, there is a glossary, but it leaves out many of the jargon. For example, in the bidding section, the author refers constantly to "throwing a meld" without explaining the phrase.

Another problem of the book is that the author never really explains what rule set he is assuming. Also he refers to the "Internet" rules without telling us which sites he is playing and what rules are implemented there.

If you are a beginner of the game, I think you'll be befuddled by the book. It looks like the book is aimed at the experienced/expert players who are familiar with the jargon.

I have been playing pinochle for the past 40 years and can attest to the fact that the authors strategy is 99.9 percent correct. If you want to learn how to play a winning hand, or improve your game, this is a must read book for any rookie or professional.

I read Anthony Collins' "Winning Pinochle Strategies" and found it to be one of the most informative books on the play of the game and the strategies needed to win consistently. If you are a novice to this great game or an advanced player that has been playing for years, you will find this book will not only help your understanding of the basics but of the more advance play necessary in mastering this game. As a two time winner of the National Pinochle Association's national tournament, I even discovered subtle hints and techniques that have aided me in my understanding of the game.

Loved the book. Well written and easy to read. Lots of info on different situations. Keep in mind I believe he plays a game where a run counts 25 pts, which can really affect your bidding. Usual games I have been in and on the internet, usually use a 15 point count for a run. Liked the book and highly recommend it.

I bought this book looking for tips on my pinochle game. I did not realize until the book arrived that it is 99% geared towards double-deck. I'm a single deck player so that sort of put a crimp in the book's usefulness for me.

The author really seemed like he knew what he was talking about and as you can see the other reviewers thought so too. However, the book goes through many hands of pinochle and if you have the patience, time and concentration to go through every trick in the examples then more power to you! Personally I got a lot more out of "Pinochle is the Name of the Game" by Walter Gibson and the US Playing Card Co.

Gibson lays out the mistakes players make as well as explaining the successful strategies of both Three-handed and Auction Pinochle, as well as short chapters on two and four-handed. It is an easy and encouraging read for the novice, and includes many examples of hands played so you can follow along. The discussion of when to bluff, and his guidelines for deciding whether to shoot the moon would be helpful to more experienced players as well.

The first reviewer here didn't like the book because it doesn't cover double-deck. I felt the same way about "Winning Pinochle Strategies" because it doesn't cover single-deck. However, if you play single deck pinochle this book is for you.

The author goes through the major variations of the game (3-handed; auction; 2-handed; partnership; etc) and gives tips and strategies for each type. The book was easy to read in my opinion and gave some great tips.

I would recommend this book for anyone looking to improve their single deck game. For $5 it's worth the money.

This book is pretty worthless. It doesn't give some of the major variation of the game, such as double pack Pinochle where the winner bidders exchange 4 cards and such. Some of the melding scores are incorrect. I would buy a general card rule book, instead of this very outdate and incomplete book.

Scarne does it again! First I discovered Scarne invented poker. Now I learn that he invented every other popular card game out there. Don't waste your time or money reading this book. Scarne wastes most of the space, as he does in his other books, bragging about himself. The book is over 400 pages long and it only addresses NINE games: Gin Rummy, Black Jack, Poker, Pinochle, Cribbage, Pitch, Casino, Kalabrais, and Hearts (including, of course, "Hearts According to Scarne"). Now, if you really really wanna learn how to determine if someone's cheating you in Rummy or determine if the cards in your Pinochle game are marked, I guess you can read those chapters. Much of the stuff in this book appears to be little more than cut and pasted from Scarne's other books anyway.

Overall, very little useful information and Scarne is so arrogant throughout the book that you'll quickly grow weary and turn the TV on.

This is a Dover reprint of the 1965 edition of Scarne on Cards. However, the photos showing card cheating techniques are missing. Also, the reprint is the abridged paperback version by Mass Paperbacks. While Dover is famous for printing its books on high quality paper that are signature-stitched so that it can last a lifetime (and possibly be rebound), none of this is present. The paper it's printed on is like the paper of a low-quality paperback and not signature-stitched. I was hoping that it would have come out much better and unabridged.

I thought this was a book on learning how to play. It is 2 decks of cards and a small pamphlet. I was disappointed.