grampashootch wrote: ↑23 June 2020, 09:21
Setback. Also called Pitch, All Fours, 7 Up, Auction Pitch. See
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(card_game) for details. My family has been playing this game for about 100 years..... grandparents taught it to us, and I'm the grandpa now....It requires 4 players, 2 teams of 2, dealt 6 cards initially. Bidding for the widow begins with bids of 2,3,4 or 5. The highest bidding team must set the trump suit, and capture enough of the 5 possible " points" to equal or exceed their bid, or they are "setback" with a minus score equal to their bid. The 5 possible points are the HIGH of trumps,( usually the Ace but sometimes King or Queen, as only about 40-45 of the 53 cards wind up being dealt out), the LOW of trumps, (usually the Two, but sometimes the 3 or even the 4), the Jack of trumps (if dealt out), the one Joker (also called the Jick) (if dealt out) and the most "game points". Game points are the sum of the face cards and the tens captured by each team. Tens count 10 points, Aces are 4, Kings 3, Queens 2, and Jacks are 1 point.
Thus you see that sometimes only 3 points are available (the High, Low and game points), as the Joker and Jack may not have been dealt, in which case a bid of 4 will be setback even if one catches all 6 tricks.
We love this game so much that we have attempted to replicate it online using an excel spreadsheet, but it is cumbersome so far, and we wish that Board Game Arena would step up and develop it for their platform!
If only 3 players are available, we have developed a version using a "dummy" of 6 cards, and another version with each player being dealt 8 cards. These are not as much fun. The winning bidder receives the 4 cards in the "widow" to help him/her choose their best trump suit. Their partner then tries to help the bidder achieve the points bid. One must "follow suit" unless trumping an non-trump suit.
