The High Low Jack (Pitch) Card Game Group

This group's goal is to have people come together to have a fun time playing the card game, High Low Jack.

This group is looking to meet engaging and competitive people who love to play cards.

For these events we will break into teams of two and play against another team, enjoying getting to know people while having a great time playing High Low Jack.

-- The Rules --
High-Low-Jack (or Pitch) is a partnership trick-taking game where players bid on capturing points in a trump suit, with points for the highest trump (High - Ace), lowest trump (Low - 2), Jack of trumps (Jack), and the Ten (Game/10). Players aim to win tricks, scoring points for specific cards within the trump suit, and the first team to a target score (of 21 points) wins, but failing a bid results in losing points. 
Setup & Dealing

• Players: Four players in two partnerships (partners sit opposite).
• Deck: Standard 52-card deck.
• Deal: Dealer deals 6 cards to each player.
• Trump: The player who wins the bid names the trump suit.

Bidding & Trump Selection

• Bidding: Players bid on how many points they think their team can capture.

Starting with the player to the dealers left and going around clockwise. If the person on the left bids two, the next player must be at least three ( a higher bid!) if he wants to win the bid. Only the dealer does not have to bid higher….He can “take” the bid for the equal bid.  The dealer is the last bidder.

You can bid on the value of your hand. Possible bids are two, three, four, or 4 smudge. For smudge, you have to win all the points below, and take all six tricks in the round.

Whoever wins the bid, announces what suit (clubs, hearts spades, diamonds) he is coming out in.

• Points: High (highest trump), Low (lowest trump), Jack (Jack of trumps), Ten (Ten of trumps, 1 pt).

High: You win the trick which has the highest available card in the trump suit.
Low: You win the trick which has the lowest available card in the trump suit.
Jack: You win the trick which has the jack of the trump suit.
Game: You get the most game points in the round. All 10s are worth 10, all aces are worth 4, all kings are worth 3, all queens are worth 2, and all jacks are worth 1. Other cards aren’t worth anything. Each player in turn bids or passes; bidding always starts at two. Bidding only lasts one round (each player only gets one chance to bid or pass). If all players pass, the dealer must bid two.

• Pitcher: The highest bidder names the trump suit and leads the first trick (becomes the "Pitcher").
• Dealer's Option: The dealer can "steal" the bid by matching the highest bid if all others pass.

Trick Play

• Leading: The Pitcher leads the first trick with any card.
• Following: Players must follow suit if they can; if not, they can play any other card, including a trump.
• Winning: The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the led suit if no trumps are played.

Scoring

• Meeting Bid: If the bidding team makes their bid, they score the points they bid and the other team scores points for cards taken.
• Failing Bid (Going Set): If the bidding team fails, they lose points equal to their bid, and the other team scores their captured points.
• Winning:  You have to bid on the last hand to win the game (Go out). The game is typically played to 21 points.

Below is a You Tube link to a High Low Jack tutorial:
https://youtu.be/_-AWlgeYTjM?si=lPr6w15wImNi27yF