Pitch Game Review

What Is A Pitch Game?

‘All Fours’ is an English game that inspired the American version, called a ‘pitch game’. This card game has been played since in the 17th century. In the United States, it is still extremely popular.

Pitch game Explained

Most Americans that play card games are familiar with the pitch. The game is also referred to as ‘auction pitch’. Dating back to ‘All Fours’, the 17th-century game was originally called ‘Blind Fours’. Aversion of the game is still played, even today. U.S. players are also familiar with versions of ‘All Fours’ that have developed over the years. These include ‘Cinch’ and ‘Seven Up’. However, over the years the rules of the game have changed. Yet that hasn’t changed the fact that certain features are still included in the game. These features are the scoring features of a Jack, both low and high.

When the game starts, players get six cards each. Following any turn, gameplay moves to the left. That player then gets to place a bid. All other players must choose to pass or place a bid of their own. For each bid, the player must bid more than the previous player did. The exception is the dealer, who can use the same bidding terms the player before they did. If any player bets a four, they are considered to have ‘smudged’. This means no one can take that bid of four away from them.

The pitcher is the highest bidder in the game. This player leads the game using the pitcher’s chosen suit. This gives the game its trump suit. It becomes trump-lead in which players are expected to follow the chosen suit if they are able to. In the event they can’t, they are allowed to play the card of their choosing. The player that bids the highest is said to have won the trick. Each game consists of six tricks and every player’s scores for all six are tallied. Whichever player achieves seven plus points before anyone else wins the game.

A pitch game is unique in that it can be played by one person or two teams of people. One alternate way to play the game is with two people on each team. However, most people agree that there should be three players on each team. The differences in the way the game is played are one of the reasons why it’s so popular.