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In Double Deck Pinochle, the game ends when at least one team scores 500 or above.

Suppose the two teams scores are 510 and 520 after the hand is over. Who wins?

I had read at Pagat's Double Deck Pinochle page that "If both sides reach 500 on the same hand, the bidding side wins." I interpreted this to mean that the bidding team was used as a tie-breaking decision. But later someone told me that this is always applied, even if the teams have different scores. I asked about this at the Power Pinochle forum, and someone posted that this "Bidder Out" rule applies for single deck Pinochle.

I'd like to know the definitive answer for Double Deck Pinochle.

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There are many different sets of rules for Pinochle, most are the same but almost every household I've played at has something 'different'.

However, my understanding of the winner (in what ever variation being played) was the one who won the bid will be the winner regardless of the scores if both are winning scores. This is because it forces each bidder/team to make a serious attempt at the final bid. The one who wins the bid is putting their money where their mouth is so to speak. If I win the bid and just make the min score, and you only needed 1 point so you are much farther ahead, you could take it easy and assume a win and not bother trying to bid your hand.

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  • +1 I have been beaten by more than 300 points and still won because they couldn't bid because they had a 300 pinochle clogging up their hand and no way to make a run.
    – Jerry Jeremiah
    Sep 17, 2015 at 19:34
  • upvoting this answer because this the way all pinochle should be played (regardless of household). Double Bigger Out scenarios are what ramps up the excitement of an otherwise stoic game. It rewards bold, skillful play -- as all good rules should.
    – mickmackusa
    Feb 21, 2017 at 13:01

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