How to Play

Pedro is an American partnership trick-taking game in the All Fours family. The Right Pedro (5 of trump) and Left Pedro (5 of the same-colour non-trump suit, which joins the trump suit for the hand) each score 5 of the 14 points per deal. First partnership to 62 wins the match.

Pedro is an American partnership trick-taking game in the All Fours family that rose to prominence in the late 19th-century American West. 4 players in fixed partnerships bid for the right to name trump, then capture point cards in tricks: the Ace, Jack, 10 (Game), 2 (Low) and the two 5s, where the 5 of trump (Right Pedro) and the 5 of the same-colour non-trump suit (Left Pedro or Off Pedro) score 5 points each. 14 points are available per deal; first partnership to 62 points wins the match. A full match takes 30 to 60 minutes.

Players

4 players in fixed partnerships; partners sit opposite each other. The first dealer is chosen by cutting for high card; deal rotates clockwise each hand. The closely related parent game (Pitch / Setback) supports 2 to 6 players individually; the canonical partnership Pedro is 4 players.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card deck, no jokers. All four suits and all thirteen ranks are used. Rank order within a suit (high to low): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In the trump suit, the rank order is modified by the two Pedros: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5 of trump (Right Pedro), 5 of same colour (Left Pedro), 4, 3, 2. The Left Pedro counts as a trump for the hand; any other card of its natural suit is unaffected.

Objective

As the bidding team, capture at least the number of points bid from the 14 available in each deal. Across successive deals, the first partnership to reach the agreed match target (commonly 62 points; sometimes 52 or 21) wins.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle the 52-card deck thoroughly. The dealer offers a cut to the player on the right.
2. Deal 9 cards to each player in batches of 3, clockwise starting with eldest hand. Set aside the remaining 16 cards as a face-down stock for the later discard-and-draw phase.
3. Bidding: Starting with eldest hand and going clockwise, each player gets one chance to bid. Bids range from 1 (some houses set the minimum at 6 or 7) up to a maximum of 14. Each successive bid must be higher than all previous bids, or the player passes. A player who has passed cannot re-enter the auction.
4. Trump declaration: The highest bidder (the maker) announces the trump suit out loud.
5. Discard and draw: Every player discards any cards they do not want (typically all non-trumps), face-up. The dealer then deals each player enough cards from the stock to bring their hand back up to 6 cards. When refilling the maker's hand, the dealer may sort the stock for trumps to give openly; for opponents the refill is from the top down. If any trumps remain in the stock after everyone is refilled, the dealer turns them face-up and discards them (a convention to prevent information leakage).
6. Misdeal: A deal is void if a card is exposed or if the wrong number of cards is dealt; the same dealer redeals.

Gameplay

1. Leading the first trick: The maker leads any card (not required to be a trump) to the first trick.
2. Trick structure: Play proceeds clockwise. Each player plays one card face-up to the centre. You must follow suit if you hold any card of the led suit.
3. Trump as always legal: A player may play a trump at any time instead of following a non-trump led suit (the standard All Fours 'may trump even when you can follow' rule applies here: but you must still follow trump when trump is led).
4. Winning a trick: The highest trump played wins the trick. If no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The trick winner leads the next trick.
5. Left Pedro behaviour: The 5 of the same-colour suit as trump (Left Pedro) is treated as part of the trump suit for this hand. If trumps are led, a player holding the Left Pedro must play it (since they are not void in trump). If the Left Pedro's natural suit is led, players hold follow-suit obligations only for their naturally-suited cards of that suit; the Left Pedro is trump, not part of its natural suit.
6. End of hand: All 6 tricks are played; each team totals the point cards captured.
7. Renege (revoke): Failing to follow suit when able is a renege. Standard penalty: the offending partnership scores zero for the hand and the other side scores the full 14; if the bidding team reneged, their bid is also deducted from their cumulative score.

Scoring

• 14 points per deal: High (Ace of trump) = 1. Low (2 of trump) = 1 (awarded to the team that captures the 2 of trump in tricks, or alternatively to the team that held it in the original deal; agree which rule before play). Jack (Jack of trump) = 1. Game (10 of trump) = 1. Right Pedro (5 of trump) = 5. Left Pedro (5 of same-colour suit) = 5. Total: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 5 + 5 = 14 points.A♠J♠
• Making the bid: If the bidding team captures at least their bid in points, their side scores the difference between their captured points and their opponents' captured points (some groups simply award the bidder the points captured, not the difference; agree beforehand). The losing partnership also scores the points they captured under the 'simple' scoring.
• Set (failed bid): If the bidding team fell short of the bid, they are set: subtract the bid amount from their cumulative score (scores can go negative). The opposing partnership still scores whatever they captured.
• Running total and target: Track each partnership's cumulative score on paper. The first side to reach or exceed the agreed target (62 is standard; some groups use 52 or 21) wins.
• Tie-resolution on crossing the target: If both sides cross the target on the same deal, the bidding team is checked first: if they made their bid, they win; otherwise the other team wins.

Winning

• Match winner: The first partnership to reach or exceed the agreed score target (62 by default).
• Tie-breakers: If both sides cross the target on the same deal, see the bidding-team-first rule above. A genuine tie after this is almost impossible; if it occurs, play one more deal to break the tie.
• Forfeit end: A partnership repeatedly set may drop well below zero; the match still continues until the opposing team legitimately reaches the target.

Common Variations

• Cinch (Double Pedro, High Five): Adds the Off Pedro (Left Pedro) as a second 5-point trump card for a total of 14 points per deal. Pedro was the precursor; Cinch is the descendant with both Pedros.
• Pedro Sancho: Adds the 9 of trumps (Sancho) as a 9-point card, making the total 23 points per deal. The maker typically bids much higher.
• Dom Pedro (Snoozer): Adds the 3 of trumps (Dom) for 3 more points.
• No-Pedro Pitch: Removes both Pedros; the game reverts to 4-point Pitch (High, Low, Jack, Game).
• 6-card Pedro: Deal only 6 cards and skip the discard-and-draw phase. Faster and simpler; popular with beginners.
• Target variations: Play to 21 for a quick session, 52 for a medium one, 62 for a standard, 100 for a long tournament.
• Individual Pedro: 2 or 3 players play without partnerships; each player scores individually. Rare but possible.

Tips and Strategy

• The two Pedros are worth 10 of the 14 points available every deal. Controlling them (capturing opponents' or protecting yours) is the central tactical problem.
• Bid based on how many trumps you hold and whether you hold or expect a Pedro. A hand with four trumps including the Ace and a Pedro is usually worth a bid of 9 or 10; a Pedro-less hand is rarely worth bidding.
• Lead high trumps (Ace and King) early to strip opponents' trumps before they can use them to capture your Pedros.
• Protect your Pedros by playing them under your partner's winning trumps when the situation allows, or by leading low trump to draw out opposing higher trumps first.
• The discard-and-draw is information-rich: after seeing what opponents discarded, you can deduce how many trumps each side likely holds.
• Track Low (2 of trumps). Low is a guaranteed 1 point for whoever has it in captures; in 'capture' scoring, do not let Low end up in an opponent's trick.

Glossary

• Trump: The suit named by the maker (bid winner) that beats any non-trump card.
• Maker: The highest bidder; undertakes to capture at least the bid in points.
• Right Pedro: The 5 of the trump suit; worth 5 points when captured.
• Left Pedro (Off Pedro): The 5 of the same-colour non-trump suit (for example, if hearts are trump, the 5 of diamonds is the Left Pedro); counts as trump for this hand and scores 5 points.5♦
• High, Low, Jack, Game: The four classic All Fours point cards; High = Ace of trump, Low = 2 of trump, Jack = Jack of trump, Game = 10 of trump. 1 point each.A♠J♠4♠
• Sancho: The 9 of trump in Pedro Sancho variant; worth 9 points.
• Set: When the bidding team fails to make the bid; they lose the bid amount from their cumulative score.
• Discard and draw: The phase after bidding when players shed unwanted cards and refill from the stock back to a 6-card hand.
• Renege / revoke: Illegal failure to follow suit when able; heavily penalised.