[1] Developed in Denver, Colorado in the 1880s,[2] it was soon regarded as the most important member of the all fours family in the USA, but went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge.
As in Pedro, all points are awarded to the winners of the tricks containing certain cards rather than to the players who originally held them.
But in Cinch (and already in Pedro) the original card-points were abolished in favor of directly assigning game points to the cards.
As a result of this process, only six of the fourteen trumps carry card-values, while the plain suit cards do not score at all.
Beginning with the eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit.
[7] When the highest bidder has announced the trump suit, starting with eldest hand each player in turn discards at least three cards face up.
The standard rules for card play in trick-taking games hold, with one exception: It is always allowed to trump instead of following suit.