Pedro is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family based on auction pitch.
Its most popular variant is known as cinch, double Pedro or high five which was developed in Denver, Colorado, around 1885[1] and soon regarded as the most important American member of the all fours family.
Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Niobe NY, Italy, and Finland.
The game is much simpler than pitch, in that all points are awarded to the winners of the tricks containing certain specific cards.
But in cinch (and in Pedro in general) 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][8] 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 original game of Pedro, which developed in the nineteenth century from auction pitch, did not have partnerships (so from four to seven could play).
The modern games described above are based on a variant called Cinch, Double Pedro, or High Five, which arose in Denver, Colorado, around 1885.
In Jack London's short story "The Unexpected," the main characters spend the long winter evenings in Alaska playing "endless games of whist and pedro."
Around 1900, Cinch, Whist, and Euchre were the most popular card games for serious players, though auction bridge (introduced in 1904) replaced them.
When the suit has been called, players discard all non-suited cards (except the other five, or pedro, of the same color).
In other words, no player is allowed to make subtle hints of his/her hand to their respective teammate in relation to their bid or potential play.
California Pedro can be enjoyed with wine, excessive arguing, and stubborn yet very strategic play.
The player who wins the bid is immediately given the two remaining deck cards, and must then call a trump suit.
Play then continues as in traditional Pedro, with the caller and partner needing to win enough points to equal their bet.
A variation of the game commonly known as "King Pedro" is played in Saskatchewan, in the area of Regina but associated most strongly with the village of Lipton.
Scoring is as in traditional Pedro, except that if the bidding party fails to meet their contract (known as being “set"), they lose a number of card-points equivalent to their original bid, while the opposing team gains the number of card-points taken in the course of the hand.
A player who wins a contract by bidding aggressively with few trump cards and then gains the needed cards from the missy is said to pull a "Bob Hays", a reference to a legendary player of King Pedro from Lipton who was well-known for bidding aggressively without a king, and then picking it up from the missy.
In Isle Madame and surrounding areas on Cape Breton Island, (Province of Nova Scotia, Canada) the game is called Pede and is played in both French and English.
If the discarded trump is picked up before one has received their new cards from the dealer the phase carries on and the player reduces their hand to the limit.
If two members of the team opposing the bidder on the final hand pass 62 the player with the highest score wins.
[11] This leads to somewhat different game dynamics compared to North American Cinch: All partnership cooperation must take place early, at the third or fourth trick at latest.
This means, a person with many but not very good trumps may still be able to win points for the team by leaving scoring cards to the last tricks, of which they are the only participant.
Both versions have 4 players, 2 sets of partners sitting opposite one another, who are dealt 52 cards total.
When the suit has been called, players discard all non-suited cards (except the other pedro of the same color), then they are dealt the amount needed to reach 6.
After the round of 4 deals, the individual players will switch partners throughout the party by moving up or down a table, depending on whether they win or lose.
Any point cards accidentally thrown into the discard pile go directly to the dealers hand before play begins.
This is an excellent variation for advanced Pedro players looking to add a bit of challenge to the game.