Copyright: Copyright ® 1996-2005 MeggieSoft Games


Introduction
Pinochle & Bezique

Welcome to Pinochle & Bezique by MeggieSoft Games.   You may configure the dealing, rule, and scoring preferences to play one of the following two-player games:

•	Pinochle, the popular American game, which was introduced to the U.S.A. by German immigrants

•	Binokel,  the German/Swiss game from which Pinochle evolved

•	Bezique, the original French ancestor of Binokel and Pinochle, the six-player version of which was reported to be Winston Churchill's favorite game.

The three games are mechanically very similar, but the variations in the deal, the melding conventions, and the scoring of points, will provide very different challenges.

This Introduction section contains the following topics:

MeggieSoft Games Software License

Other MeggieSoft Games

Following the Introduction section, the remaining sections are organized as follows:

How to Play Pinochle

How to Play Bezique

How To Play Binokel

Melding Summary

Understanding the Interface

Menus & Preferences

Online Play

Online Update

Useful Things To Know

Miscellaneous Topics

For latest versions, information, and news, please visit our website at www.meggiesoftgames.com

For problem reports and other support requests, please send an email to support@meggiesoftgames.com

(Connection to the website and email are available as menu selections under the Help menu.)


MeggieSoft Games Software License

"THE SOFTWARE"

This license agreement applies to all MeggieSoft Games software products and documentation that are marked "Copyright (C) MeggieSoft Games".

THE SOFTWARE includes:

Canasta by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Cribbage by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Euchre & Écarté by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

German Whist by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Gin Rummy by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Pinochle & Bezique by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Piquet by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

Rummy 500 by MeggieSoft Games (all versions)

LICENSE AGREEMENT

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software.  If you do not agree to the terms in the following license and disclaimer of warranty, you should delete all copies of the software that are currently in your possession.

The "Shareware Versions" are versions of THE SOFTWARE that  are operated without a valid registration code. These include all accompanying files and documentation.

You are hereby licensed to use any Shareware Versions of THE SOFTWARE for a 30 day evaluation period.

You may make as many copies of THE SOFTWARE as you wish.  You may give exact copies to anyone, and redistribute the complete and  unmodified software via electronic means, including uploading to electronic bulletin boards, as long as all accompanying files are included intact and unmodified.

You are specifically prohibited from charging a fee, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made, with the exception of a  reasonable fee associated only the expense of duplication and distribution.

You are permitted to redistribute exact copies of the original Shareware Versions and accompanying documentation, in its unmodified form, in packages with other products, provided that all accompanying files are included intact and unmodified.  Distributors are requested to ensure that the most recent version is distributed by consulting the MeggieSoft Games Internet Web Site home page at: http://www.meggiesoftgames.com

YOU ARE PROHIBITED FROM REVERSE ENGINEERING, DECOMPILING, OR DISASSEMBLING THE SOFTWARE.

Any copying or redistribution of the software that is not in accordance with the policies stated in this license agreement is a violation of United States and International copyright law.  Any copying or redistribution of the software that does not include all accompanying files intact and  unmodified is a violation of United States and International copyright law.

Unregistered use of the Shareware Versions after the 30-day evaluation period, plus a 15-day grace period, is a violation of United States and International copyright law.

EVALUATION AND REGISTRATION

This is not free software.  This license allows you to evaluate THE SOFTWARE in its shareware (unregistered) form, without charge for a period of 30 days.  If you wish to use THE SOFTWARE after the 30-day evaluation period, plus a 15-day grace period, a registration fee is required.

Registration of THE SOFTWARE permits unlimited usage of THE SOFTWARE by the registered party on any computer of which that person is the primary user.

If THE SOFTWARE registered to a person is installed on more than one computer of which that person is the primary user, simultaneous operation of THE SOFTWARE on more than one computer is not permitted.

YOU MAY NOT DISTRIBUTE, OR MAKE PUBLICLY KNOWN, ANY PERSONAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION PROVIDED TO YOU BY ANY PARTY.

COPYRIGHT

The software and documentation are owned by the author, MeggieSoft Games, and are protected by United States and International copyright laws and international treaty provisions.  Therefore, you agree to treat the software like any other copyrighted material, except that you may make and

distribute exact copies of the Shareware Versions of the software as specifically provided in this license agreement.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

This software and all accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied.  The author disclaims all implied warranties, including without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or use, or against infringement.  The user must assume the entire risk arising out of use of or distribution of the software, including all accompanying files and documentation.  In no event shall the author or seller be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, consequential or incidental damages, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software or documentation, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages.  Any liability of the author and seller will be limited exclusively to product replacement or refund of purchase price.


Other MeggieSoft Games

MeggieSoft Games is committed to the development of quality two-handed card games for the Microsoft Windows environment.  We currently offer eight games: Rummy 500 (first released in 1994), Gin Rummy (1995), Pinochle & Bezique (1996), Piquet (2003), German Whist (2003), Euchre & Écarté (2003), Canasta (2004), and Cribbage (2005).

All of the MeggieSoft Games use the same basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) .  Thus the display and the use of the mouse is similar in all eight games.

For latest versions, news, etc., visit us on the Worldwide Web at: www.meggiesoftgames.com


Canasta

Canasta adheres to the rules of  "Classic Canasta" as documented in Hoyle's Rules Of Games, and other sources.  A set of dealing, rule, and scoring preferences corresponding to the rules of "Modern American Canasta" are provided for those who prefer the Modern American variation, or who wish to enhance the Classic Canasta rules..

The Canasta deck of cards is comprised of 108 cards, being two normal 52-card decks plus four Jokers.

Fifteen cards are dealt to each player.  The remaining cards are placed face down by the mat as the stock.  The top card is turned face up on the mat to begin the discard pile.  If the top card is a red three, another card is turned over on top of it (repeatedly, if necessary).

If either player has been dealt any red threes, these are placed on the mat and replaced from the stock (repeatedly, if necessary).  These red threes, and any others subsequently placed on the mat, will count towards a bonus at the end of the round.  They do not however form a meld.

Play starts with the non-dealer taking the first turn.  Each player starts their turn by taking either the top two cards from the stock, or all of the cards from the discard pile.  There are limitations on when you may take the discard pile, as described below.  You continue your turn by playing melds to the mat, if you are able to and wish to.  A meld is a number of cards or the same rank (e.g., three Tens) and may include a limited number of wild cards (Jokers or Twos).  You conclude your turn by discarding one of the cards in your hand, unless you have melded them all.

A round ends when: (i) a player has discarded or melded their last card or (ii) there are no cards in the stock and the player whose turn it is elects not to take from the discard pile.  Cards remaining in hand are deducted from the round score, and other bonuses and penalties earned are applied.

The game ends when a player reaches 5000 points (8500 points for Modern American Canasta).


Cribbage

Sir John Suckling, a British poet and knight, invented the card game of cribbage about 1635, reportedly as an evolution from an earlier game named Noddy.  Cribbage has survived, with no major changes, as one of the most popular games in the English-speaking world.

The more modern Six Card Cribbage has now almost entirely replaced the original Five Card Cribbage game in the USA.  However the five card version does still survive in parts of Britain, where it is one of the few games allowed by law to be played in a public house for small stakes.

Cribbage by MeggieSoft Games is the traditional game for two players, and supports the original Five Card game in addition to the later Six and Seven Card derivations.

Cribbage is a game of  cunning in which the two players must balance a number of different objectives and remain alert in recognizing scoring combinations.  It is a game where experience counts - together with some luck.

The deck is the standard fifty-two cards deck, being the Ace through King of each suit (i.e., Ace is low).

Depending upon the game variation, five, six or seven cards are dealt to each player.  The remaining cards cut and the exposed card is placed face up on top of the stock, which is placed to the side of the playing mat.  The upturned stock card is termed the "Start".   If this is a Jack, the dealer scores two points ("for his heels").   In the Five Card game, non-dealer always scores three points from the deal as compensation for the dealer having the first crib scoring advantage.

There are three phases to a round of Cribbage: the Discard, the Play, and the Show.

Discard

After the deal, the non-dealer selects and discards two cards from their hand, the dealer does likewise.  These four cards form the "Crib" for the "Show" phase.

Play

The play starts with the leader (the non-dealer) playing a card to the mat; the other player follows, and play continues until either all the cards have been played, or the cards played total 31 points (or less, if neither player has a card to play which would keep the total below 31).

In the Five Card Game, the play then stops.  In the six and seven cards versions, if either player has cards remaining in hand, play continues after resetting the points total to zero; the player of the most recent card scoring "One for Go" (unless 31 points were achieved).

At the end of the Play phase, the player of the last card earns "One for Last", unless 31 points were achieved.  (In the Five Card game, there may be a card or cards remaining in either or both players' hands, whereas in the Six and Seven card versions, all cards will be played from the hands.)

As each player plays a card, they will earn points if the card played makes a pair, a sequence, a total of fifteen, or a total of thirty.  There are other scoreable points, as described in the Points Scoring section.

Show

When play has completed, the cards played are returned to their respective players, who then score for combinations of cards in their hand together with the Start (the upturned stock card).  Non-dealer shows first, then the dealer.  The scoring combinations are pairs, sequences, a flush (all the cards are of the same suit, including or excluding the Start), and groups of fifteen points.  If the Start is not a Jack and a player holds the Jack, they score an extra point.  After the players have scored the points from their hands, the dealer takes the crib and scores points for the same combination types therein (together with the Start), with the exception that a flush must be five cards (i.e., including the Start).

Repeated rounds are played until one of the players has reached a total of 61, 121, or 181 for the five, six and seven card games respectively.


Euchre & Écarté

Euchre & Écarté is a dual-mode game which can be set to play either two-player Euchre or Écarté (or a hybrid from selected rules of each)

Euchre

Euchre dates from the 19th century, possibly from a common root with Écarté, possibly from Écarté itself.  In any case, it became very popular in the USA at that time, and may have originated with the Pennsylvania Dutch.

The standard Euchre deck for the two-person game comprises twenty-four cards, being the Nine through Ace, of each suit.

Five cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down by the mat as the stock, of which the top card of the stock is turned face up. The suit of this "upcard" defines the starting point for defining the trump suit for the round.

The play starts with the leader (the non-dealer) deciding whether to accept or reject the trump suit as indicated by the upcard.  The process of defining the trump suit may result in acceptance of the upcard suit, the choice of another suit, or a void round if both player's pass on each step of the process.

When the trump suit is "made", the Jack of the trump suit and the Jack of the other suit of the same color are promoted to become the Right and Left Bowers and are both now part of the trump suit, ranking higher than the Ace.  It is important to remember that the "other" Jack is no longer part of its original suit.

The upcard is transferred to the dealer's hand, and the dealer will then discard a card in return.  (There is an available rule preference that this does not occur, in which case the upcard remains with the stock.)

Trick play then starts with non-maker playing a card to the mat to which the other player follows. This forms the first trick.  (There is an available rule preference that non-dealer always leads, even if non-dealer is the maker.)

The leader of a trick is the winner unless the follower plays a higher card of the same suit, or plays a card of the trump suit. The follower must play a card of the suit led if they are able. If they cannot follow suit, they may either play a card of the trump suit (and win the trick) or play a card of another suit (and lose the trick).

A round ends after the five tricks have been played. if the maker wins the most tricks they score one point (two for all five tricks), otherwise the maker is said to have been "euchred" and the other player scores two points. The first player to accumulate 10 points wins the game.

Écarté

Écarté is a two-handed game which originated in 19th century France. The word Écarté means "to discard"..

The standard Écarté deck comprises thirty-two cards, being the Seven through King, plus the Ace, of each suit. The King is the highest card of each suit, and the Ace ranks between the Ten and the Jack.

Five cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down by the mat as the stock, of which the top card of the stock is turned face up and placed under the stock. The suit of this card defines the trump suit for the round.

The play starts with the leader (the non-dealer) deciding whether to play or propose. If the non-dealer elects to propose, and the dealer accepts the proposal, the non-dealer may exchange any or all of their cards with fresh cards from the stock. The dealer then does likewise. Another proposal may then be made, and so forth until either the stock is exhausted (the trump card is not exchangeable), or the non-dealer elects to play.

When the non-dealer decides (or is forced) to play a card to the mat; the other player follows. This forms the first trick.

The leader of a trick is the winner unless the follower plays a higher card of the same suit, or plays a card of the trump suit. The follower must play a card of the suit led if they are able. If they cannot follow suit, they may either play a card of the trump suit (and win the trick) or play a card of another suit (and lose the trick).

A round ends after the five tricks have been played. The player with the most points from winning a majority of the tricks and from bonus points wins the round. The first player to accumulate 5 points wins the game.


German Whist

German Whist is a two-handed version of Whist which was created in England, not Germany.  Why it is named German Whist is not known.

The deck is the standard fifty-two cards, being the Two through Ace of each suit (i.e., Ace is high).

Thirteen cards are dealt to each player.  The remaining cards are placed face down by the mat as the stock. The top card of the stock is turned face up.  The suit of this card defines the trump suit for the round.

The play starts with the leader (the non-dealer) playing a card to the mat; the other player follows. This forms the first trick.

The winner of a trick is the leader unless the follower plays a higher card of the same suit, or plays a card of the trump suit.  The follower must play a card of the suit led if they are able.  If they cannot follow suit, they may either play a card of the trump suit (and win the trick) or play a card of another suit (and lose the trick).

During the first phase, while there are still cards in the stock, the winner of the trick takes the top (visible) card from the stock, and the loser takes the next (unseen) stock card.  The purpose of winning tricks in this phase is therefore to improve your hand as much as possible.

When all the stock cards have been taken, the second phase is played.  In this phase, the winner of each trick earns one point.

A round ends after the thirteen tricks of the second phase have been played.  The player with the most points wins the round.  The first player to win three rounds or accumulate 50 points (depending on the scoring preference) wins the game.


Gin Rummy

Gin Rummy is oriented towards who goes out (knocks) first and who has the lesser amount of unmeldable points remaining in their hand.

A round of Gin Rummy starts with each player being dealt ten cards.  As the round progresses, each player picks up from the stock or the discard pile, melds out their hand (knocking) if able, and discards a card. The following are the major features of the game:

•	The last discard may be picked up as alternative to taking a new card from the stock

•	Melds are only played when a player knocks.  A player must have ten or less points of deadwood in order to knock.  The knocking player then lays down their melds, and the other player follows by laying down their meldable cards.  This ends the round.

•	The points scored are based upon the difference in deadwood points between the players; plus bonuses for knocking, undercutting (having less deadwood than the knocker), and winning a game (100 points).

Gin Rummy supports all well documented variations including: Hollywood Scoring, Oklahoma Gin, and 11 Card Gins.


Piquet

Piquet dates from the 15th century and is therefore one of the oldest existing card games for two players.  It is also generally regarded as one of the best.

There are three phases to a round:

•	After the cards are dealt, the players may exchange a number of cards from their hands with undealt cards from the stock (called the talon in Piquet).  The object being to improve their respective hands for the remaining phases of the round.

•	Declarations are then made, starting with the non-dealer, of particular card combinations.  The three categories of declaration are: Point (the longest suit), sequences (runs of three cards or more of the same suit), and sets (three or four cards of the same face value).  Points are accumulated for successful declarations, but not for those which are equalled or bettered.

•	The cards are then played as tricks, with no trump suit.  Points are accumulated for leading and capturing tricks.

Other bonuses apply for other features such as Carte Blanche (no face cards in dealt hand), Pique/Repique (scoring 30 points before the other player scores any), and for winning the most tricks.


Rummy 500

Rummy 500 is oriented towards building the highest possible score from creating melds.

A round of Rummy 500 starts with each player being dealt thirteen cards.  As the round progresses, each player picks up from the stock or the discard pile, melds if desired, and discards a card.  The following are the major features of the game:

•	Any number of cards from the discard pile may be taken, provided the earliest discarded of them is melded immediately.  The remainder are added to the player's hand.

•	Players may lay down melds, or add to each other's melds, at any time that it is their turn.  Melding scores points and reduces the liability of points in a player's hand, but gives the opponent a greater chance of scoring points from melding some of their cards.

•	A round ends when one of the players has melded or discarded their last card, or when the stock is exhausted.  There is no lay-off of deadwood; what the other player holds when the round ends counts against them.

•	The first player to score 500 points wins the game.


How to Play Pinochle

The following is the sequence of each of player's turn:

•	Playing one of the cards from those in your hand to lead to a trick, or follow the opponent's lead.

•	Melding cards if you are able.

•	Taking a new card from the stock (winner of the previous trick takes first).  When the stock is exhausted, play moves into the second phase.

During the second phase, the remaining cards are played as tricks (no further melding may take place).  Points are scored for taking tricks.

Select a topic:

Pinochle Overview

Terminology

The Deal

Playing A Card

Melding Cards

Taking A Card From The Stock

Melding Options

Meld Scoring

Trick Scoring

Ending A Game

Getting Started  - Phase 1

Getting Started  - Phase 2

Watching a Game Being Played

Strategies

Tournament Play & Replays


Pinochle Overview

Pinochle adheres to the rules of two-handed Pinochle documented in Hoyle's Rules Of Games, and provides common rule variations.

The standard deck consists of forty-eight cards, being the Nine through Ace of each suit, twice.  Therefore, there are two instances of each card.   A dealing variation permits an alternative structure with a sixty-four card deck which adds two Sevens and two Eights of each suit.  In Pinochle, the rank ordering of the cards differs from most card games in that Jack follows Nine, and Ten ranks between King and Ace.

Twelve cards are dealt to each player in groups of three.  The remaining cards are placed face down by the mat as the stock. The top card is turned face up and placed under the stock to define the trump suit for the round.  The round starts with the leader playing a card to the mat; the other player follows.  Each round is comprised of two phases of taking tricks.  After each trick, each player takes a new card from the stock until it is depleted, thus ending the first phase.

During the first phase, one need not follow suit, but one may trump.  During the first phase only, each player earns points by melding cards in their hand after taking a trick.  When the stock has been depleted, melded cards are returned to the players' hands and the second phase of the round starts.  During the second phase, players must follow suit if they can, must win a trump trick if they can, and must trump if they cannot follow suit.  During the second phase, points are won for taking tricks.  In each phase, the leader wins a trick unless the following plays a higher card of the suit, or trumps it.

A round ends after the twelve tricks of the second phase have been played.  Successive rounds are dealt and played until one of the players achieves the goal of 1000 points to win the game.


Terminology

The following are the main terms associated with playing Pinochle:

Melds: Combinations of cards which score points.  The meld types are: Dix, Pinochle, Marriage, Royal Marriage, Jacks, Queens, Kings, Aces, Flush, Double Pinochle (if selected as a rule preference) and Roundhouse (if selected).  Descriptions of the cards comprising each meld type are described under Melding Options, and the associated points awarded under Meld Scoring (both within "How To Play Pinochle").

Trick: A play of one card from each player's hand, one player leading and the other following.  In phase two, after melding is complete, points are earned for each trick won.

Trump Suit: One of the four suits which, for the current round, has been designated to have the ability to take beat any non-trump card which is led to a trick.  In phase 2, one must follow the suit led if possible, otherwise one may play any card of the trump suit and win the trick, or discard a card of another suit and lose the trick.


The Deal

The first round is dealt automatically after you confirm that you will start the first round, or after the cut for deal (if this option is selected).

The standard deal is twelve cards each, dealt in threes.  The twenty-fifth stock card is placed face up under the bottom of the stock to denote the trump suit (this then becomes the last stock card).  Pinochle also supports the sixty-four card deck variant (including sevens and eights) and a sixteen card deal variant.  These are selectable as Dealing Preferences.

After the end of each round, Pinochle will shuffle and deal the cards for the next round.

At the end of each game, you will be asked if you want to proceed with the next game.  If you select "Yes", Pinochle will shuffle and deal the cards.

At any time, you may select "Replay Game" from the Game Menu.  In this case, the current game is abandoned, and the cards are  redealt.  Alternatively, you can select "Replay Round", in which case the current round is restarted.  In both "replay" cases, the cards are dealt as before, without reshuffling.   If you wish to restart a game with a fresh shuffle of the cards, select  "Restart Fresh Game" from the Game Menu.

If "AutoMouse Cards" is enabled, the mouse pointer will  be moved automatically to the player's hand after the cards have been dealt.

Previous deals may be replicated via the "Replicate Game" option of the Game Menu, or via "Game Scores" under the View Menu.  Also, deal sequences may be fixed for a whole series of games via the "Tournament" option under Dealing Preferences.  This permits multiple players to play the same series of deals.


Playing A Card

Each turn is comprised of each player by playing one of the cards in their hand.  Whomever won the previous trick of a round leads to the next.

During phase 1, while the stock is not exhausted, the other player may follow with any card in their hand, including their melded cards.  The trick is won by the second player if they play a higher card of the same suit or a trump card.  Otherwise the trick is won by the first player.

During phase 2, the following rules apply when  following the other player's lead: If you can follow suit, you must do so;  when following suit and a trump suit was led, you must win the trick with a higher card if you have one; if you cannot follow suit, you must play a trump if you have one.

To play a card, position the mouse pointer over the card and click the RIGHT mouse button.   Alternatively, you may click the LEFT mouse button with the ALT key depressed.  Alternatively, you may drag and drop a card directly from your hand to the mat.

If you have selected "Play Protect" under Player Preferences, a confirming pop-up menu will appear when you click on the right mouse button.

Note that you cannot play a card to the mat while cards are highlighted.  You must deselect any highlighted cards first.


Melding Cards

You may create a new meld whenever you have just taken a trick.

You meld a card by clicking on it (it will then be highlighted, click on it again if you wish to deselect it), and then clicking to the right of your hand.  Or you may drag the card directly to the right of your hand.

To create a new meld, place the card in the clear area to the right of your hand.  To add to an existing meld, place the card on top of the meld.

Alternatively, you may double-click on a card in your hand to meld it in one action.  (It will be added to a currently unfinished meld if one exists; thus you can create a meld by double-clicking the individual cards in turn.)

Multiple cards may be melded in a group (select each first), or singly.  If you meld singly, you must complete the meld before starting another or discarding.  Use the "Undo Last Action" feature if you make an error.

You may also select and meld a group of cards in one simple drag-and-drop action, via the "MultiSelect "and "AutoMeld" capabilities.   Unless disabled under the Player Preferences, "MultiSelect" is effected by dragging across the cards with the right mouse button down, and AutoMeld is effected when the mouse button is released.  See "Using The Mouse" for further information.

Regarding Dix Melds

Rule sources vary regarding the requirement to meld Dices, and the rule preferences provide for either (i) a requirement to meld Dices as a standard meld type, or (ii) the ability to score for a Dix merely by showing it or playing it during the melding phase.

If you enable the "Dices Must Be Melded" rule preference:

•	Each Dix must be melded in order to earn the 10 points,

•	If the upturned trump card (under the stock) is not itself a Dix, the melded Dix will be exchanged with it (in the meld area).

•	You may also select the "Multi-Meld Dix " rule preference if you wish to be able to meld Dices in the same turn as another meld.  Otherwise, a melded Dix is treated as the single meld permitted after trick won.

If the "Dices Must Be Melded" rule preference is not enabled:

•	If the upturned trump card (under the stock) is not itself a Dix, you initiate the exchange by operating the melding process to show your Dix (i.e., by placing it to the right of your hand).  The Dix will then be exchanged with the trump card, which will be placed in your hand (not in the meld area).

•	There is no requirement to meld a non-exchangeable Dix  - it will be scored automatically when it is played to a trick at any time during the melding phase.  If you approach the end of the melding phase without having played it, you will need to meld it in order to score the points for it.

•	You may meld (i.e. "show") your Dices in the same turn as another meld.


Taking A Card From The Stock

To take a card from the stock, position the mouse pointer over the face down card on top of the stock. (In AutoMouse mode, the mouse will have been automatically positioned over the stock after you played the previous card, if you had nothing to meld.)

Click down with the left mouse button on the card.

The card will then be displayed face up for you to see it.  When you release the mouse button, it will be removed from the stock and added to your hand,  which will immediately be sorted.

If AutoMouse mode is operative, the mouse pointer will also move to your hand and point to the card taken.

The new card in your hand which was taken from the stock will be shown with a pale green color tint until you move the mousepointer across the cards in your hand, select a card or discard.  (The tinting may be suppressed via the Player Preferences.)


Melding Options

The melds are:

Dix:  Nine of Trumps

Pinochle: Jack of Diamonds plus Queen of Spades

Marriage: Queen and King of a non-Trump suit

Royal Marriage: Queen and King of the Trump suit

Forty Jacks: Four Jacks of different suits

Sixty Queens: Four Queens of different suits

Eighty Kings: Four Kings of different suits

Hundred Aces: Four Aces of different suits

Flush: Jack, Queen, King, Ten, Ace of the Trump suit

Roundhouse (if selected): Four Queens of different suits plus four Kings of different suits

Double Pinochle (if selected): Two Jacks of Diamonds plus two Queens of Spades

Each meld must include at least one previously unmelded card.  Cards may be remelded subject to the following:

•	a card which has already been melded as part of a set (Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces) may not be melded as part of another set or a roundhouse

•	a card which has already been melded as part of a marriage may not be melded as part of another marriage or a roundhouse

•	a card which has already been melded as part of a flush may not be melded as part of a marriage, but a card which has already been melded as part of a marriage may be melded as part of a flush

•	a card which has already been melded as part of a roundhouse may not be melded as part of a marriage or a set.


Meld Scoring

During the first phase, points are earned as each meld is laid down.  The points values of melds are:

10 Points : Dix

20 Points : Marriage

40 Points : Pinochle, Royal Marriage, Forty Jacks

60 Points : Sixty Queens

80 Points : Eighty Kings

100 Points : Hundred Aces

150 Points : Flush

220 Points : Roundhouse (if rule preference selected)

300 Points : Double Pinochle (if rule preference selected)

The first Dix melded during a round will be exchanged with the upturned trump card (under the stock) if it is not itself a Dix.  An unexchangeable Dix need not be declared as a "meld" but will be scored whenever it is played during phase one (the melding phase).  In this case, the only advantage to declaring such a Dix as a meld would be to score the points before the start of phase two commences.

A player wins the game by reaching the goal of 1000 points before the other.  If both players reach the goal together, the goal is extended by 250 points (continually if necessary, until one player has won).   If one of the players reaches the goal during melding, they may knock and declare the game completed.  The opponent will knock automatically.  You may set the appropriate option under Player Preferences if you wish to knock automatically; otherwise, you must  knock yourself by clicking on the table to the right of where the tricks are played.


Trick Scoring

During the second phase, points are earned for each trick taken but are added to the players' scores only after the end of the round.

The points value of a trick is determined by adding together the points value of each card in the trick.  The points values of trick cards are:

Ace: 11 Points

Ten: 10 Points

King: 4 Points

Queen: 3 Points

Jack: 2 Points

Ten points may also be awarded for taking the last trick, if the corresponding rule option is selected.

If you have selected the rule preference to score tricks using the simplified method, the trick points are:

10 Points: Ace and Ten

5 Points: King and Queen (no points for Jack)

A scoring preference is available whereby tricks also may be scored during the first phase.


Ending A Game

A game normally ends when one of the players has accumulated the goal of 1000 points or more.  The goal is displayed to the right of the status bar at the bottom of the Pinochle window.

If, at the end of a round, both players have passed the goal, the goal is incremented by 250 points.  This can happen repeatedly until one player is the clear winner.

A player who passes the goal during the melding phase of a round may knock by clicking on the right side of the mat.  This action ends the game before the end of the round.  The opponent will always knock automatically.  The player may set the "Automatic Knock" option preference to knock automatically, if desired.


Getting Started Phase 1
Getting Started - Phase 1

When you first start Pinochle, you will see a "Start" button in the status bar.  If you wish to make any menu option changes before starting, now is a good time to do this.  Then click on the start button.  The first round of the first game starts with your turn, which you make by playing a card from your hand, by clicking on it with the RIGHT mouse button.  The lead alternates for each successive round.

After you have played your card, the opponent will play a card.  If the opponent's card is a higher card of the same suit, or if it is a card of the trump suit and your card was not a trump, then the opponent takes the trick.  Otherwise you win the trick.  When you win a trick, you may meld a set of your cards.  During the first phase of the game, the second player does not have to follow suit, and they may trump to take a trick.

After the trick has been taken, and any possible meld laid down by the winner of the trick, each player takes a new card from the stock - the previous trick winner taking first.  The next trick is then played, the first card being played by the winner of the previous trick.

When you take a new card from the stock, you click down on the top of the stock.  The top card will then be turned face up for you to see, and, when you release the mouse button, will be automatically added to your hand.  The first phase continues until the stock is depleted.


Getting Started Phase 2
Getting Started - Phase 2

If the opponent takes the penultimate card from the stock (before you take the last, upturned, card), it will be shown to you.

After the stock is exhausted, the second phase of the round is played.  This is more akin to a Whist game than a Rummy game in that the objective is now to make points by taking tricks.  However, unlike phase 1, players must follow suit if they are able, they must trump when possible if they cannot follow suit.

If the "Must Overplay" rule preference is selected, the following player must play a higher card than the led card if they are able.  In other words, if a player can take a trick, they must.

The round ends when all the cards have been played.

The lead alternates on each successive round.  The initial lead also alternates from game to game, unless the "Cut For Deal" option has been selected under Dealing Preferences.

At any time you can get assistance on what to do next by clicking on the leftmost button in the status bar.


Watching A Game Being Played

If this is your first experience of Pinochle, you might benefit from a guided walk through of a game being played before launching into reading the help information in detail.

Pinochle & Bezique incorporates a tutorial facility for this purpose.  The game is played fully automatically, and you are provided with an explanation of what is taking place at each step.

To use the tutorial, select Tutorial from the Assist Menu.  The operation of the tutorial will be self-explanatory.


Strategies

Selecting which card to play (phase 1)

If it is early in the round, you may benefit from taking an opponent-led trick rather than leading a possibly unnecessary high card.  Even if you lead a high card, the opponent may not follow suit and may trump it.  Tens have little melding value since only the Ten of Trumps can be melded (as part of a flush), but they can be valuable for taking tricks in either phase.  If you suspect that the opponent has high potential to play melds, you might be more aggressive in taking tricks (even if you cannot meld) as a blocking measure.

Melding

Use as many already melded cards as possible to avoid letting the opponent see more of your hand than is necessary.  If the "MultiMeld Dix" rule preference is in effect, meld Dices in the same turn as another meld.

Selecting which card to play (phase 2)

Take as many early tricks from your Aces and Tens as possible -- otherwise the opponent may amass points from them.  Remember that the leader wins a trick that is comprised of matching cards.  If you have some Aces and Tens of Trumps, or if you believe you have more trump cards than the opponent, draw out trump cards early.


Tournament Play and Replays
Tournament Play & Replays

When the Tournament option is enabled (via Dealing Preferences), Pinochle deals a prescribed set of cards to each player's hand for a given game number and round number.  Thus a player would always get the same cards for, say, Game 2 Round 4.

This feature permits two different players to play the same sequence of hands against the computer in a competition method of play. Alternatively, you might establish two or more player names for yourself and repeat the same sequences of dealt hands as a method of self-training.

To permit variety, you may select a tournament sequence number from 1 to 100.  The deal sequences for each tournament number are different.  The hand dealt for, say, Game 1 Round 5 of Tournament 2 will be different from the hand dealt for Game 1 Round 5 of Tournament  3.

Replays

The Game Menu permits you to restart games and rounds (hands) with the same deal(s).  You may either restart the current round or current game from the beginning, or you can replicate the deal sequences of the previous game.   You may also replicate the deals of any previous game played under version 8.0 or later via the "Game Scores" entry of the View Menu.  Additionally, you will get the option to replay a round when the results of a completed round are displayed.


How To Play Bezique

When you first start Pinochle, the game is set up to play two-handed Pinochle.  If you wish to play Bezique, select the Rules section under the Preferences Menu and press the "Set Defaults" button for Bezique.

In Bezique, the sequence of play is identical to that of Pinochle.  The differences between the games being in regards to scoring and melding.  The primary differences in Bezique, compared with Pinochle, are:

•	Trick points are scored in both phases for each "brisque" (Ace or Ten) in a won trick.

•	A meld of Double Bezique (similar to a Double Pinochle) is always permitted.

•	A Double Marriage may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	A Common Sequence (a Pinochle "Flush" in a non-trump suit) may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	There is no requirement to use an unexposed card as part of a new meld.  Thus if you have melded four Kings and four Queens, you may remeld these as four marriages - but only one at a time after winning a trick.

•	The restrictions on remelding cards are less rigid.  A card may not be remelded as the same type, as in Pinochle, but may be remelded as any different type.  Thus marriages may be made out of sequences, and a marriage may extended to become a double marriage.

•	Because points are usually accumulated faster than in Pinochle, the default game target is 2000 points.

In most respects, Bezique and Pinochle are almost identical games.   You are advised to study the sections in the "How To Play Pinochle" section for an understanding of to play the game.  The melding differences between Pinochle, Binokel and Bezique are described in the "Melding Summary" chapter.

The areas where Bezique differs from two-handed Pinochle are described in the following sections:

Bezique Terminology

The Deck And Deal for Bezique

Playing and Melding in Bezique

Scoring in Bezique

Bezique Strategies

Regarding Deferred and Multiple Melds

Players who are familiar with Bezique should note that deferred declarations are not supported.  Under some documented rules of Bezique, it is permissible to expose the cards of two overlapping melds at one time in order to score one meld immediately, and defer the scoring of the other until the next trick is won.  For example, under the deferred declarations convention, one might expose the Jack of Diamonds, Queen of Spades and King of Spades together, score the 40 points for the Bezique immediately and declare the 20 points for the marriage "to come" (when the next trick is taken).   In the MeggieSoft Games implementation, the two cards forming the Bezique would be melded on this turn, and then the exposed Queen and the unexposed King would be married as a new meld after the next winning trick.  The mechanics are slightly different, but the end result is the same (except that the King is not needlessly exposed before it is to be scored).

However, there is a "Multi-Meld All" rule preference which does permit the melding and scoring of multiple melds within the same turn.


Bezique Terminology

In addition to the terminology for Pinochle, the following terms are unique to Bezique:

Brisques: Tens and Aces taken as part of won tricks.  Each of these scores ten points.

Bezique: The equivalent term for a Pinochle (Queen of Spades plus Jack of Diamonds).

Royal Sequence: The equivalent term for a Flush.

Common Sequence: A "Flush" in a non-trump suit.

Magor Kvinta: An old term for "sequence".  This is not used within the MeggieSoft Games implementation, but is described here for those familiar with the term.


The Deck And Deal for Bezique

The  deck consists of sixty-four cards, being the Seven through Ace of each suit, twice.  In Bezique, as in Pinochle and in Binokel, the rank ordering of the cards differs from most card games in that Jack follows Nine, and Ten ranks between King and Ace.

Note that when the dealing preferences are configured to specify Bezique as the base game, the terminology used during game play will use to Bezique terms, and Bezique scoring conventions, where these are different from the equivalent Pinochle terms.  Otherwise, the terminology will be that of Pinochle.

The deal is eight cards each.  These are dealt in groups of three, then two, then three.  The next stock card is placed face up under the bottom of the stock to denote the trump suit (this then becomes the last stock card).


Playing And Melding in Bezique

The method of playing Bezique is operationally identical to Pinochle except for the scoring of brisques and some differences to the permitted meld combinations.

Importantly, Bezique does not have the restriction that at least one card of each meld come from the unexposed cards in hand, and the re-use of melded cards is more freely permitted in Bezique.

The only remelding restrictions are that: (i) a melded card may not be re-used in the same type (i.e., a married King may not be re-married with the other matching Queen), and (ii) a card that has been melded in a Double Bezique or Double Marriage cannot be remelded as part of a Bezique or Marriage, respectively.  However, the reverse is not restricted - for example one may meld two Beziques and then combine the four cards into a Double Bezique, if there is time so to do.  (Sometimes it is more prudent to forego the single Beziques and just meld the Double Bezique to be sure of the 500 points).

In Bezique, one may meld a Royal Sequence and then remeld the King and Queen as a subsequent Royal Marriage.  (The equivalent of remelding from a Flush to a Marriage is not possible in Pinochle).

Note that a Seven that is not exchangeable with the upturned trump card (because the first Seven has already been exchanged, or because a Seven was dealt as the trump suit card) may be scored at any time merely by playing it to a trick - just as a Dix may be played and scored at any time in Pinochle.

The meld combinations in Bezique which are equivalent to the melds in Pinochle are as follows:

Seven: The same as a "Dix" in Pinochle

Common Marriage: The same as a "Marriage" in Pinochle

Royal Marriage: The same as a "Royal Marriage" in Pinochle

Bezique: The same as a "Pinochle" in Pinochle.  There is an optional rule preference which redefines a Bezique to be the Queen of Clubs and Jack of Hearts for the current round if either Spades or Diamonds is the Trump suit.

Four Jacks: The same as a "Forty Jacks" in Pinochle

Four Queens: The same as a "Sixty Queens" in Pinochle

Four Kings: The same as a "Eighty Kings" in Pinochle

Four Aces: The same as a "Hundred Aces" in Pinochle

Royal Sequence: The same as "Flush" in Pinochle (but scores 250 points)

Double Bezique: The same as a "Double Pinochle" in Pinochle  (but scores 500 points)

The following meld combinations are optionally playable in Bezique (if the corresponding rule preferences are enabled), but do not exist in the normal rules of Pinochle:

Double Common Marriage: Two Common Marriages played as a single meld

Double Royal Marriage: Two Royal Marriages played as a single meld.

Common Sequence: Jack, Queen, King, Ten, Ace of a non-trump suit

The Roundhouse meld does not exist within the rules of Bezique.


Scoring in Bezique

In Bezique, a game usually continues until one player has scored 2000 points (although 1000 points is a common scoring variation).

The points are scored as follows:

Trick Scoring

10 Points : A trick won which contains one brisque (i.e., one Ten or one Ace).

20 Points : A trick won which contains two brisques (i.e., each card is a Ten or an Ace).

10 Points : For winning the last trick of the round.

Meld Scoring

The meld combinations in Bezique which are equivalent to the meld combinations in Pinochle are scored as follows.  These are the same as for Pinochle meld scoring with the exception of the Royal Sequence and Double Bezique:

10 Points : Seven of Trumps

20 Points : Common Marriage

40 Points : Bezique, Royal Marriage, Four Jacks

60 Points : Four Queens

80 Points : Four Kings

100 Points : Four Aces

250 Points : Royal Sequence (instead of 150 points for a Flush in Pinochle)

500 Points : Double Bezique (instead of 300 points for a Double Pinochle)

The optional melds special to Bezique are scored as follows:

40 Points : Double Common Marriage

80 Points : Double Royal Marriage

100 Points : Common Sequence (equivalent to a Pinochle "Flush", but in a non-trump suit)


Bezique Strategies

The strategies used in playing Bezique are similar to those of Pinochle.  In particular, you should remember that:

•	There are sixteen brisques (Aces and Tens), which together represent a total of 160 points that will be awarded to trick winners.  The difference between winning  60% of the tricks versus 40% of them therefore represents a net points advantage of 64 points (since you would be 32 points ahead instead of 32 points behind).  This exceeds the points earnable from three marriages, for example, which highlights the value of attempting to capture the brisques.

•	Many points will be accumulated by each player remelding their already exposed cards (without needing to include a card from the unexposed part of the hand).  Be sure to take advantage of these remelding opportunities.

•	Double Beziques and Royal Sequences score many more points than their Pinochle equivalents (Double Pinochles and Flushes).  These are valuable melds and worth building towards.

•	Only 25% of the deck is dealt in Bezique (compared with 50% in standard Pinochle).  This increases the probability that cards that you may need are still in the stock in the early stages of a round.


How To Play Binokel

When you first start Pinochle, the game is set up to play two-handed Pinochle.  If you wish to play Binokel, select the Rules section under the Preferences Menu and press the "Set Binokel Defaults" button.

In Binokel, the sequence of play is identical to that of Pinochle.  The differences between the games being in regards to scoring and melding.  The primary differences in Binokel, compared with Pinochle, are:

•	Trick points are scored in both phases.

•	A meld of Double Binokel (similar to a Double Pinochle) is always permitted.

•	A Grand Binokel (including a King) may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	A Roundhouse meld is always permitted.

•	A Common Family (a Pinochle "Flush" in a non-trump suit) may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	A Double Family may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	A Double Set may be melded if the corresponding rule preference is selected.

•	There is no requirement to use an unexposed card as part of a new meld.  Thus if you have melded four Kings and four Queens, you may remeld these as four marriages - but only one at a time after winning a trick.

•	The restrictions on remelding cards are less rigid.  A card may not be remelded as the same type, as in Pinochle, but may be remelded as any different type or a double meld of the same type.  Thus marriages may be made out of sequences, and a marriage may extended to become a double marriage.

•	Because points are usually accumulated faster than in Pinochle, the default game target is 1500 points.

In most respects, Binokel and Pinochle are almost identical games.   You are advised to study the sections in the "How To Play Pinochle" section for an understanding of to play the game.  The melding differences between Pinochle, Binokel and Bezique are described in the "Melding Summary" chapter.

The areas where Binokel differs from two-handed Pinochle are described in the following sections:

Binokel Terminology

The Deck And Deal for Binokel

Playing and Melding in Binokel

Scoring in Binokel

Binokel Strategies

Players who are familiar with Binokel should note that multiple melding on a single turn is permitted if the "Multi-Meld All" rule preference is selected.  The advantage is accelerated points scoring; the disadvantage is exposing your cards earlier than you would by delaying some of the melds.  When "Multi-Meld All" is selected, so too is the "Score Differences" scoring preference so that promoted melds score the incremental difference in points; otherwise, multi-melding a Double Marriage as two single marriages and then combining them on a single turn would result in an unfair double accumulation of points.


Binokel Terminology

In addition to the terminology for Pinochle, the following terms are unique to Binokel:

Binokel: The equivalent term for a Pinochle (Queen of Spades plus Jack of Diamonds).

Royal Family: The equivalent term for a Flush.

Family: A "Flush" in a non-trump suit; i.e., equivalent to a Common Sequence in Bezique.

Grand Binokel: A Binokel plus a King of Spades to match the Queen.


The Deck And Deal for Binokel

The  deck is the same as for Pinochle and consists of forty-eight cards, being the Nine through Ace of each suit, twice.  In Binokel, as in Pinochle, the rank ordering of the cards differs from most card games in that Jack follows Nine, and Ten ranks between King and Ace.

Note that when the dealing preferences are configured to specify Binokel as the base game, the terminology used during game play will use to Binokel terms, and Binokel scoring conventions, where these are different from the equivalent Pinochle terms.  Otherwise, the terminology will be that of Pinochle.

As in Pinochle, the deal is twelve cards each and the next stock card is placed face up under the bottom of the stock to denote the trump suit (this then becomes the last stock card).


Playing And Melding in Binokel

The method of playing Binokel is operationally identical to Pinochle except for the scoring of trick points in the first phase, and some differences to the permitted meld combinations.

Importantly, Binokel does not have the restriction that at least one card of each meld come from the unexposed cards in hand, and the re-use of melded cards is more freely permitted in Binokel (as it is in Bezique).

The only remelding restrictions are that: (i) a melded card may not be re-used in the same type (i.e., a married King may not be re-married with the other matching Queen), and (ii) a card that has been melded in a Double Binokel, Double Marriage, Double Family or Double Set cannot be remelded as part of a Binokel, Marriage, Family or Set respectively.  However, the reverse is not restricted - for example one may meld two Binokel and then combine the four cards into a Double Binokel, if there is time so to do.  (Sometimes it is more prudent to forego the single Binokel and just meld the Double Binokel to be sure of the 300 points).

In Binokel, one may meld a Royal Family and then remeld the King and Queen as a subsequent Royal Marriage.  (The equivalent of remelding from a Flush to a Marriage is not possible in Pinochle).

The meld combinations in Binokel which are equivalent to the melds in Pinochle are as follows:

Dix: The same as a "Dix" in Pinochle

Common Marriage: The same as a "Marriage" in Pinochle

Royal Marriage: The same as a "Royal Marriage" in Pinochle

Binokel: The same as a "Pinochle" in Pinochle.

Four Jacks: The same as a "Forty Jacks" in Pinochle

Four Queens: The same as a "Sixty Queens" in Pinochle

Four Kings: The same as a "Eighty Kings" in Pinochle

Four Aces: The same as a "Hundred Aces" in Pinochle

Royal Family: The same as "Flush" in Pinochle

Double Binokel: The same as a "Double Pinochle" in Pinochle

Roundhouse: The same as a "Roundhouse" in Pinochle

The following meld combinations are optionally playable in Binokel (if the corresponding rule preferences are enabled), but do not exist in the normal rules of Pinochle:

Grand Binokel: A three-card Binokel meld which includes a King to match the Queen.

Family: Jack, Queen, King, Ten, Ace of a non-trump suit

Double Family: Two families of the same suit played as a single meld

Double Set: Two sets (Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces) - i.e., all eight cards or the same rank - played as a single meld.

The Double Marriage meld does not exist within the rules of Binokel.


Scoring in Binokel

In Binokel, a game usually continues until one player has scored 1500 points (although 2000 points is a common scoring variation).

The points are scored as follows:

Trick Scoring (trick points are scored in both phases or a round)

Ace: 11 Points

Ten: 10 Points

King: 4 Points

Queen: 3 Points

Jack: 2 Points

10 Points : For winning the last trick of the round.

Meld Scoring

The standard meld combinations in Binokel which are equivalent to the meld combinations in Pinochle are scored as follows.  These are the same as for Pinochle meld scoring.

10 Points : Dix (Nine of Trumps)

20 Points : Common Marriage

40 Points : Binokel, Royal Marriage, Four Jacks

60 Points : Four Queens

80 Points : Four Kings

100 Points : Four Aces

150 Points : Royal Family (Sequence)

240 Points : Roundhouse  (optional in Pinochle)

300 Points : Double Binokel  (optional in Pinochle)

The optional meld combinations for Binokel score as follows:

80 Points : Grand Binokel (including a King)

100 Points : Common Family (non-trump sequence)

400 Points : Eight Jacks

600 Points : Eight Queens

800 Points : Eight Kings

1000 Points : Eight Aces

1000 Points : Double Common Family

1500 Points : Double Royal Family


Binokel Strategies

The strategies used in playing Binokel are similar to those of Pinochle.  In particular, you should remember that:

•	Many points will be accumulated by each player remelding their already exposed cards (without needing to include a card from the unexposed part of the hand).  Be sure to take advantage of these remelding opportunities.

•	If you select the Multi-Meld rule preference, remember that you risk exposing more of your hand earlier in the round than if you wait and make the melds one per turn.   However, multi-melding does permit you to accelerate melding if you believe that you have a comparatively weak hand for winning tricks, and it does permit you to defer melding until later in the round and not lose the opportunity to earn points for each of the melds that you then hold.  Nevertheless, there is a risk that you will need to play a card that you could have previously melded, or you may not win the required later trick, if you defer melding unwisely.


Melding Summary

The documented melding rules for each of the three games (Pinochle, Binokel and Bezique) provide for different valid meld combinations and apply different rules governing the remelding of cards that have already been melded.

The following subsections tabulate the meld types and the remelding rules that are normally applied for each game  according to its official rules.  Note that MeggieSoft Games Pinochle & Bezique provides complete freedom regarding what rules and conventions you may wish to select so that you may create hybrid sets of melding rules should you so wish.

Standard Meld Types

Meld Scores

Remelding Rules

Remelding Scoring

To set the defaults for a game, select the corresponding "Set Defaults for..." button within the Rule Preferences.  The standard melding rules and conventions for the selected game will then be marked as selected.   Any preference items that then remain unselected but are annotated with the corresponding game code letter (P=Pinochle, K=Binokel, B=Bezique) have been found to be documented as optional for that game, or have been found in some rule sources, but not all.


Standard Meld Types

Some meld types are common to all three games (under different names in some cases), and some are specific to one or two of the games.  Nevertheless all meld types are selectable via the Rule Preferences irrespective of whether each is an officially permitted standard or optional meld for the base game selected in the Dealing Preferences.  This flexibility permits you to create interesting hybrid games.

The meld categories are (some terminology varies by game):

Dix	A single Nine (Seven in Bezique)
Pinochle(Binokel/Bezique)	Jack of Diamonds plus Queen of Spades (subject to rule preference variations)
Marriage	King and Queen of a suit. ("Royal" if in the trump suit)
Sequence(Family)	Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack of a suit. ("Flush" or "Royal" if in the trump suit.)
Set	Four Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks of different suits
Roundhouse	Four marriages of different suits (the same as a set of Kings plus a set of Queens)

The following is a full list of meld types permitted within the documented rules of the three games.  ("Optional" means that all rule sources cite it as optional, or that some (but not all) sources cite it as standard, or that some sources cite it as optional.)

	Bezique	Binokel	Pinochle
Dix	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pinochle	Yes	Yes	Yes
Marriage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Flush	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set	Yes	Yes	Yes
Double Pinochle	Yes	Yes	Optional
Roundhouse	No	Yes	Optional
Common Sequence	Optional	Optional	No
Double Flush/Sequence	No	Optional	No
Double Set	No	Optional	No
Grand Binokel	No	Optional	No
Double Marriage	Optional	No	No
- A Flush is a Sequence in the trump suit; a non-trump sequence is a Common Sequence.

- A Grand Binokel is a Pinochle plus a King of the same suit as the Queen.

See also:

Remelding Rules


Meld Scores

The points awarded for newly formed melds are as follows.  If the "Score Differences" scoring preference is selected, the points will be reduced accordingly if another meld is used as part of creating the new meld - as described under the "Remelding Scoring" section..

The following table entries are colored as follows:

•	Green (and underlined in boldface): The meld is one of the standard default melds for the game.

•	Blue (and underlined): The meld is a valid option for the game.

•	Red: the meld does not technically exist for a game.

Note that only the points awarded for Double Pinochle and Flush differ between the games.

	Bezique	Binokel	Pinochle
Dix	10	10	10
Pinochle	20	20	20
Marriages
Common Marriage	20	20	20
Royal Marriage	40	40	40
Double Marriage	40	40	40
Double Royal Marriage	80	80	80
Sequences
Common Sequence	100	100	100
Flush (Royal Sequence)	250	150	150
Special Melds
Grand Binokel	80	80	80
Roundhouse	240	240	240
Double Melds
Double Marriage	40	40	40
Double Royal Marriage	80	80	80
Double Pinochle	500	300	300
Double Common Sequence	1000	1000	1000
Double Flush	1500	1500	1500
Sets & Double Sets
Four Jacks	40	40	40
Four Queens	60	60	60
Four Kings	80	80	80
Four Aces	100	100	100
Eight Jacks *	400	400	400
Eight Queens *	600	400	400
Eight Kings *	800	800	800
Eight Aces *	1000	1000	1000
* All double sets will score 1000 points if the associated "points variations" option is selected in the scoring preferences.


Remelding Rules

Cards which have already been melded may be subsequently remelded as part of a different meld subject to certain restrictions.

If a card has already been melded in a meld listed in the first column, it may or may not be remelded as part of another meld (indicated by a column heading in the following table) according to the intersecting table entry:

•	Remelding the card is always permitted.

X  	Remelding the card is never permitted.

O 	Remelding the card is permitted only if the "Liberal Remelding" rule preference is selected.  This is the standard for the rules of Binokel and Bezique, but not for Pinochle which has stricter remelding rules.

Thus, for example, a card which has already been melded as part of a Marriage (see "Mar." row) may never be remelded as part of another Marriage, and may not be remelded as part of a Double Marriage or a Roundhouse unless the  "Liberal Remelding" Rule Preference is selected.  All other remelding possibilities are valid providing the new meld type is permitted under the rules selected for the game.

Note that some meld types are technically not valid for some games (see Standard Meld Types), but Pinochle & Bezique permits selection of  technically invalid meld types for each of the games so that you can experiment with hybrid game combinations if you wish.

Already melded as:	May or may not be remelded as part of:
	Pin.	G. Bin.	D. Pin	Mar.	D. Mar.	Seq.	D. Seq.	Set	D. Set	RH
Pin.	X	O
G. Bin.	X	X
D. Pin	X	O	X
Mar.				X	O					O
D. Mar.				X	X					O
Seq.				O	O	X	O
D. Seq.				O	O	X	X
Set								X	O	O
D. Set								X	X	O
RH				X	O			X	O	X

Abbreviations:

Pin. = Pinochle (Binokel in Binokel; Bezique in Bezique)

Mar. = Marriage

Seq. = Sequence (Family in Binokel; Flush in Pinochle, in the trump suit )

RH = Roundhouse

G. = Grand (as in Grand Binokel)

D. = Double (as in Double Set)

To summarize those remelds that are permitted only when "Liberal Remelding" rule preference is selected:

•	A Pinochle or half of a Double Pinochle may be remelded as part of a Grand Binokel

•	A Marriage may be remelded as half of a Double Marriage or part of a Roundhouse

•	Half of a Double Marriage may be remelded as part of a Roundhouse

•	Cards from a Sequence may be remelded as a Marriage or half of a Double Marriage or half of a Double Sequence

•	Cards from a Double Sequence may be remelded as a Marriage or a Double Marriage

•	Cards from a Set may be remelded as half of a Double Set or as part of a Roundhouse

•	Half of a Double Set may be remelded as part of  a Roundhouse

•	Cards from a Roundhouse may be remelded as part of a Double Marriage or as part of a Double Set


Remelding Scoring

When the cards of a previously played meld are used to form a new meld, the full score for the new meld is earned unless the "Score Differences" scoring preference is selected.

Mechanics of Scoring Differences:

When scoring differences, the points already scored for the contributing meld are deducted from those awarded for the new meld.

For example, melding a Flush using an existing Royal Marriage will score 110 instead of 150, and melding a Double Pinochle using an existing Pinochle will score 260 instead of 300.

In the above example, if two Royal Marriages had been melded and a new Flush meld is created using the King is used from one and the Queen from the other, the score for the flush will still be reduced by 40 points because each of the contributing cards has been used in a Royal Marriage (even though these were separate melds).

If the Queen and Jack from a Grand Binokel is used to create a new Double Binokel meld, the score for the new meld will be reduced by 40 points (the score for a Binokel) and not the full 80 points awarded for the Grand Binokel. This is because only the Binokel part of the Grand Binokel meld was used in forming the Double Pinochle.


Understanding the Interface

The stock is shown face down to the left of the mat.  The opponent's cards are displayed face down above the mat, and the player's cards are displayed face up below the mat.  Melds are displayed to the right of each player's hand.  Cards are played as tricks on the mat.

The scoresheet is displayed to the right of the mat.   If you have rule or scoring preferences selected, these will be shown to the left of the mat, under the stock.  The status bar along the bottom of the window displays information about the game in progress as well as providing shortcut buttons to facilitate hand adjustments and obtaining hints.

Select a topic:

Using the Mouse

Drag and Drop

Point and Click

Arranging Your Cards

Card Interleaving

Mousepointer Icons

The Scoresheet

Status Bar Counters

Shortcut Buttons

The Toolbar

Visual and Sound Effects


Using The Mouse

Pinochle & Bezique supports both "Drag and Drop" and "Point and Click" mouse operations.  Point and Click operations are performed by single clicking.

For both methods of mouse operation, actions take effect when the mouse button is released, and are ignored if the mouse button is released in a different area from where it was depressed when the "No Drop" cursor is showing.  The only exception is when taking a new card from the stock when the card will move to the player's hand if the mouse button is released under the "No Drop" cursor.

For Point and Click operation:

•	The left mouse button is used for all game operations except that of playing a card from your hand to a trick.

•	The right mouse button is normally used to play a card from your hand to a trick, although you may use the "Alt" key with the left button if you prefer.  If "Play Protect" is selected, the PopUp menu displayed over the player's hand will include play confirmation as the first option.

Double-clicking is not supported within Pinochle & Bezique, with the exception that you may double-click on a card in your hand in order to select it and automeld it in one action.  If other cards are selected when a card is double-clicked, the selected group is melded.

The MultiSelect and AutoMeld  features enable you to select and meld multiple cards in a single action.  (These features may be disabled via the player preference settings if you find that they interfere with your preferred method of mouse operation; disabling AutoMeld removes the ability to perform double-click melding)

To select multiple cards, click down on a card in your hand with the right mouse button and then, with the button down, drag the mouse pointer across your cards sideways.  The group of cards traversed will be automatically highlighted as being selected.  When you release the mouse button, that group of selected cards will be melded to the mat - provided that if forms a valid meld.  You may traverse left and right to select/deselect more of the cards.   If you move the mouse off the cards and then release the button, the selection will be cleared.

Left-clicking on the stack of completed tricks will display the cards face up until you release the mouse button.

If the Opponent Preference setting to permit "Quick Peek" is enabled, you may click down on the opponent's cards to view them face up.  When you release the mouse button, the cards will return to be face down.

Right-clicking on the scoresheet is a shortcut to the Scoring Preference settings, and right-clicking on the rules panel (or under the stock if the rules panel is not displayed) is a shortcut to the Rules Preference settings.  Elsewhere, a right-click will display a convenient Pop-Up of common menu options.

The AutoMouse features may be enabled to move the mouse automatically between the stock and the player area and/or to and from the message and information windows.


Drag and Drop

"Drag and Drop" mouse operations are performed by clicking down on the mouse button above the card to be moved, dragging the mouse pointer to the destination, and then releasing the mouse button.

Unless the "Suppress Card Animation" animation preference has been selected, the card will be dragged with the mousepointer - in which case the left side of the card  denotes the specific drop position instead of the horizontal position of the mousepointer itself.   In order to provide leeway when dragging cards, the overall position of the card within the screen is considered when determining the intended drop area.  In order to be sure that the card is in the desired drop area,  watch the changing mousepointer icon.

The valid moves are:

•	Stock card to: player's hand

•	Player's hand to: mat, meld, another part of player's hand

Cards may be melded from the player's hand individually or as a group.  To move as a group, select the  cards using the point-and-click method and then drag one of the cards in the group to the right of your displayed hand.

Multiple cards may be selected for melding in one action.  To select multiple cards, click down on a card in your hand with the right mouse button and then, with the button down, drag the mouse pointer across your cards sideways.  The group of cards traversed will be automatically highlighted as being selected.  You may traverse left and right to select/deselect more of the cards.  If you return to the card from which you started, no cards will be selected.   If you have selected cards in this way, they will be melded automatically when you release the mouse button.  You may disable this "MultiSelect" facility  (and the associated "AutoMeld" facility) via the Player Preferences.

When melding cards individually for a Flush, Double Pinochle, Sequence (Bezique),  Double Marriage (Bezique), or Double Bezique, be sure that the first two cards of the meld do not form a Marriage or a Pinochle/Bezique themselves, otherwise the meld will be scored at that point.  For example, if the first two cards you place are a King and Queen then the meld will be taken as a (single) Marriage, even if you were intending to continue to form a Flush, Sequence or Double Marriage.  For a Double Marriage or a Double Pinochle/Bezique, place the two Queens first.  For a Flush/Sequence, place the cards such that the first two are not a King and a Queen.

Note that the stock card is displayed face up as soon as you click down on it.

Note: If you wish to use only the Point-and-Click method of mouse operation, and find that you inadvertently initiate unintentional card movements and playing actions when the mouse is moved with the button down, you may turn off the Drag-and-Drop capabilities via the Mouse Preferences.


Point and Click

"Point and Click" mouse operations are performed by clicking down and releasing the mouse button on the card to be moved and then clicking down and releasing the mouse button on the destination.

The valid moves are:

•	Stock card to: player's hand

•	Player's hand to: mat or meld area

Cards may be melded from the player's hand individually or as a group.  To meld as a group, select each of the cards and then click to the right of your displayed cards.  To meld individually, meld the first card and then add each of the additional cards by selecting it and clicking  on the partially melded card(s).

When melding cards individually for a Flush, Double Pinochle, Sequence (Bezique),  Double Marriage (Bezique), or Double Bezique, be sure that the first two cards of the meld do not form a Marriage or a Pinochle/Bezique themselves, otherwise the meld will be scored at that point.  For example, if the first two cards you place are a King and Queen then the meld will be taken as a (single) Marriage, even if you were intending to continue to form a Flush, Sequence or Double Marriage.  For a Double Marriage or a Double Pinochle/Bezique, place the two Queens first.  For a Flush/Sequence, place the cards such that the first two are not a King and a Queen.

Note that the stock card is displayed face up as soon as you click down on it.  When the button is released it will move to the player's hand.

Playing of a card is immediate upon a right click, unless "Play Protect" is selected from the Player Preferences.


Arranging Your Cards

By default, Pinochle & Bezique automatically sorts and resorts the player's cards when dealt, and when new cards are added to it.  The default sortation is suit within rank.  When the "Sort By Suit" option is selected under Player Preferences, the sortation is changed to be rank within suit.  All sorting is performed in the order: Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts.  This improves color differentiation of adjacently displayed suits.

You may chose to arrange the cards yourself by selecting the "Do Not Sort" option under Player Preferences.  In this case,  new cards are always added to the right of the hand.

You may Drag and Drop cards to the left and right within your hand to order them to your liking at any time.  If you do not have the "No Sorting" preference selected, this will be a temporary adjustment for the current turn only.

If you are familiar with MeggieSoft Games'  Rummy 500 or Gin Rummy games, note that Pinochle & Bezique does not support a "reserved" set of cards.  In Pinochle & Bezique, the area to the right of the Player's unmelded cards is used to display the Player's melded cards.

Remember that if you click on the left mouse button and release the button without moving the card, the card will be selected for melding.


Card Interleaving

Card interleaving provides the very realistic appearance of cards sliding into and out of the player's hand.  However, the additional graphics processing involved with the display of the card interleaving effects may result in jerky movements and disjointed card display on slower systems, or those will other processor-intensive programs running simultaneously.  In such cases the capability may be disabled via the Animation Preferences.

What is Card Interleaving?

Single cards added to the player's hand and single cards leaving the player's hand are displayed in a manner that slides the moved card in or out of the hand, underneath the card to the right of it.  Unless automatic player hand sorting has been suppressed via the Player Preferences, a single discard or a card from the deck which is dragged to the player's hand will realistically slide into the correct position if it is dropped in the incorrect sorted location .

Dragging a card within the player's hand (rearranging the order) will similarly maintain the display of the moved card in an realistically interleaved manner, subject to the TrueSlide preference setting in the Animation Preferences.

By default (if TrueSlide is not selected), when a card is dragged within the area of the player's hand, the other cards in the player's hand will automatically jump to the front or back of the moving card such that the dragged card is always positioned between those that are adjacent to its left side (i.e., over those to the left of it, and under those to the right of it).

What Is TrueSlide?

TrueSlide provides perfectly realistic card sliding, in that cards cannot cut through other cards or jump over or under them. However, this will result in the card disappearing if it is slid horizontally to the right (as it would with an actual spread of playing cards in your hand).   For this reason, TrueSlide is not active by default lest it causes confusion.

If TrueSlide is enabled, the recommended method of moving a card within the hand (particularly to the right) is to drag it upwards out of the hand (over the mat) and then drag it back into the hand at the required new position. Because the card was completely withdrawn from the hand, its new interleaved position will be at the point of vertical re-entry to the hand. The point of re-entry is defined by the card's leading moving edge - i.e, the right side if it is moving to the right on re-entry, the left side if it is moving to the left.

If TrueSlide is enabled and a card is dragged to the left so that it is completely visible, its new interleaved position at any time will be defined by its right edge (as this would logically slide under the left edge of the card to its immediate right).

During the TrueSlide drag operation, the right mouse button may be clicked (while the left button performing the drag remains down) in order to momentarily override the effect of TrueSlide. This action will therefore pop the dragged card into a visible interleaved state between the adjacent cards at its current horizontal position.  You may also press and hold down the right mouse button while continuing to drag with the left button, in which case TrueSlide is overridden until you release the right mouse button.

TrueSlide summary:

•	A card cannot slice through other cards, only between them.

•	A card moved to the right in the hand will slide behind the cards to the right of it (and then not be visible unless its upper edge is partly over the table or is over an uncovered area of the table within the player's hand area).

•	A card moved to the left which is currently visible will remain fully visible as it traverses and covers the cards to the left of it.

•	A card moved to the left which is not currently visible (because it is behind the other cards in the hand) will slide on top of the next card to the left which has its right-edge to the left of the card being moved.


Mousepointer Icons

Pinochle & Bezique uses a set of informative mousepointer icons, which change depending upon where the mouse is located and what Drag and Drop operation is currently being performed.

The normal pointer is slightly larger than the standard Windows mousepointer and the mousepointers are colored so that they are easier to see when over a card images.

The meaning of each icon is shown below:

Normal pointer.  Awaiting your action.

Pinochle & Bezique is working.  Please wait.

Your actions are restricted (for example, because your online opponent is thinking).  Some menu and shortcut button operations are available.

You may drop the card here (play or meld).  Release the mouse button to do so.

You may not drop the card here.  If you release the mouse button, the card will go to the player's hand

Card selected for shifting within player's hand.  Move to required position and release button.

If you experience flickering problem when using the special mousepointers, you may disable them via the Animation Preferences.


The Scoresheet

The information on the scoresheet to the right of the mat is displayed as follows:

•	The scores for each completed round are added the scoresheet at the end of the round.

•	After the second round of a game is completed, the running totals for the current game are displayed as a sub-total line under the round scores.

•	Within a round, points earned from melding are displayed in italics in color.  The running totals of points melded during the first phase of the current round are displayed under the round scores, followed by the running game totals.

•	The trick points being accumulated are reported at the bottom of the scoresheet.

•	If the scoresheet is about to become full, earlier round scores will be consolidated into a single line, displayed in bold font.

Because the scoresheet is facing the player, it is maintained from the player's perspective - hence the player is "Me" and the opponent is "You".

Select "Round Scores" under the View Menu option to see the full details (including date and skill level) of all rounds of the current game.  These round scores are always shown individually, even if some have been consolidated on the scoresheet to make more room (see above).


Status Bar Counters

The following counters are displayed in the status bar:

Stock:  The number of card remaining in the stock.  Unless the "Show Who Dealt" Dealing Preference has been deselected, an indicator of who dealt the current round is also displayed as a small green box in the upper (opponent dealt) or lower (player dealt) part of the status display.

Status: Current status, unless the player and opponent game counters (see below) are being displayed in the status bar. Also error messages (click on an error message to dismiss it).

Player (if set in Screen Preferences):  The number of prior games won by the player.

Opponent (if set in Screen Preferences):  The opponent skill level and the number of prior games won by the opponent.

Round: The current round number within the current game and the trump suit of the current round.

Trick: The trick number within the current round.

Meld (if set in Player Preferences): The points value of the highest playable meld currently in the player's hand.   This may include Dix melds if a melded Dix is not required to be melded alone (see rule preferences).  You may click on this counter to see what comprises the points value shown.

Goal:  The points required to win the game.  Normally 1000 points, but increments by 250 points each time that the players pass the goal together.


Shortcut Buttons

The following buttons in the status bar provide shortcuts to certain menu operations.

 Query Symbol:  Click to get assistance on what you can do at this point of your turn

 Light Bulb:  Click to get a hint.

 Undo Turn: Click to undo the current round to one of your previous turns.  (Equivalent to "Undo Prevous Turn" under the Player Menu.)

 Undo: Left-click to undo your highlighted cards or your most recent melding action (if no cards are highlighted), or right-click to undo your current turn and start over.  Note that you cannot undo the taking of a card from the stock. This button corresponds to the "Undo Last Action" and "Undo Turn" items under the Player Menu.

 Cannot Undo: There is nothing to undo at this time.

 Cannot Undo: There is nothing to undo at this time.  (This version of the icon is shown if the "Undo Turn" facility is disabled in the Player Preferences.)

 Stagger Cards: Click to display the player's cards offset by suit.

 Align Cards: Click to align the player's cards.

 Sort By Rank:  Click to sort cards by rank, right click to disable automatic sorting.

 Sort By Suit:  Click to sort cards by suit, right click to disable automatic sorting.

 Sort Disabled: Right-click to re-enable automatic sorting

 Waiting As Host (Online Play): A reminder that you are awaiting a guest connection.  Click to disconnect.

 Chat (Online Play): Click to open the chat window in order to communicate with your online opponent.

An alternative set of shortcut buttons are displayed when AutoStep is active.

Where a shortcut button is associated with a Preference setting, the change is not saved.  You must change the setting via the preference settings if you wish a change to be saved permanently.


The Toolbar

The toolbar (enabled or disabled via the Screen Preferences) may be displayed under the menu bar or on the left side of the main window.

The toolbar buttons provide shortcuts to items within the menus, plus three sound toggle buttons for music, speech and sound effects.

The  sound toggles are displayed by default if the corresponding sound type is enabled and permit you to temporarily mute (suppress) and unmute (hear)  the corresponding sound type.  The effect of the toggle buttons is temporary and does not alter the saved preferences setting (i.e., enabled or not enabled) for that sound type.

The default toolbar contains reduced selection of the more commonly used menu items.

You may also select the use of the "all buttons" screen preference, in which case buttons representing almost all menu items will be displayed (except the Assist and Explore menus and operations accessed via the Shortcut Buttons).  These will usually extend beyond the right-side of the toolbar (or the bottom of the toolbar if "show on left side is selected) unless your window size is sufficiently large to show them all.  The extra buttons also include buttons to switch to the other MeggieSoft Games, but only those buttons for the other games which are installed on your computer will be visible .

Selecting the "show on left side" option displays the toolbar on the side, rather than the top, of the window.  This might be more convenient for some users, particularly if the ability to use larger card sizes is restricted due to the reduced table and mat heights when the toolbar is at the top .

You may customize the toolbar by double-clicking or right-clicking on it, or by using the "customize toolbar" button.  This permits you to remove buttons, change the display sequence of the buttons, and insert and remove separators.  If you remove buttons, you may add them back by again customizing the toolbar, or chose "Reset" to re-add all buttons.   (The "Help" button in the customization dialog window is intentionally inoperative.)

Customizations of each of the toolbars (with and without extra buttons) are saved separately between sessions.  This means that if you have customized either toolbar it will be restored as it was customized when you next select or deselect the "all buttons" preference.


Visual and Sound Effects

Pinochle & Bezique provides a number of visual effects and sound effects to improve realism and enhance your playing pleasure.  These are:

•	Rounded card corners

•	Customizable color schemes

•	"Wallpaper" effects for the main table window and the mat

•	Animation and visual card dragging

•	Custom card-style mousepointer icons

•	MIDI, MP3 and WMA Music support

•	Sound effects

•	Synthesized speech output

The above may be selected, customized, and deselected via the preference settings.

Note that these effects make intensive use of processor and graphics resources and can reduce responsiveness on slower or less graphics-capable systems.  If you find Pinochle & Bezique's interface to be sluggish, you should experiment with disabling some of the visual and sound effects.


Menus & Preferences

The following drop-down menus are available:

Game Menu

Online Menu

Player Menu

Preferences Menu

View Menu

Assist Menu

Admin Menu

Help Menu

In addition, a Pop-Up menu is provided for easy access to commonly used menu items:

Pop-Up Menu


Game Menu

The following selections are available under the Game Menu:

Restart Round

Restart Game

Redeal Fresh Game

Replicate Game

Switch To Canasta

Switch To Euchre & Écarté

Switch To German Whist

Switch To Gin Rummy

Switch To Piquet

Switch To Rummy 500

Terminate

Exit

Each of the "Switch To ... " options is only shown if the corresponding game is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.  If you use these frequently, you may care to select one of the "On Exit/Sleep" options within the Operational Preferences for all the games you have installed.  In this case, each game will sleep in the background when you switch from it and will re-awaken immediately when you switch back to it (i.e., without the loading delay).

All of the above selections will ask "Are You Sure?" before taking the corresponding action.  These confirmation requests may be suppressed by selecting the applicable Message Preference.


Restart Round

Select this menu option to restart the current round.  Pinochle & Bezique will abandon the current round and restart it from the beginning, with the cards in the same start order.


Restart Game

Select this menu option to restart the current game with the same deal. Pinochle & Bezique will abandon the current game, reset all counters and scores, and redeal the game (without reshuffling).  If you wish to restart the game with a fresh shuffle, select "Redeal Fresh Game" instead of "Restart Game".

This action restarts only the current game.  If you want to replicate the deal of the immediately previous game use "Replicate Game".  You may also make a selection under the "Game Scores" option of the View Menu to replicate from an even earlier game.


Redeal Fresh Game

Select this menu option to restart the current game with a fresh deal.  Pinochle & Bezique will abandon the current game, reset all counters and scores, and shuffle the cards into a different start order before dealing.

This option is not available during tournament play (use Restart Game instead).

This action redeals only the current game.  Thus, if you are currently on game 3, the play will restart at round 1 of game 3.

If you want to start the current game again with the same deal, select "Restart Game".

If you want to start over from the beginning of game 1, select "Reset Scoreboard".


Replicate Game

Select this menu option to replay your most recent previously completed game, with the same card deal as was used for that game.

Pinochle & Bezique will abandon the current game, reset all counters and scores, and arrange the cards in the order they were at the beginning of the previous game before dealing.

All subsequent rounds of the new game will also be dealt with the deck ordered as it was in the corresponding round of the previous game.

This option is obviously not available during Game 1.

To replicate a game other than the previous game, you may do this via the "Game Scores" option under the View Menu.


Switch To Canasta

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start Canasta for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a Canasta scoreboard file, Canasta will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if Canasta is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Switch To Euchre & Écarté

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start Euchre & Écarté for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a Euchre & Écarté scoreboard file, Euchre & Écarté will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if Euchre & Écarté is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Switch To German Whist

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start German Whist for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a German Whist scoreboard file, German Whist will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if German Whist is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Switch To Gin Rummy

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start Gin Rummy for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a Gin Rummy scoreboard file, Gin Rummy will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if Gin Rummy is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Switch To Piquet

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start Piquet for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a Piquet scoreboard file, Piquet will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if Piquet is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Switch To Rummy 500

Select this menu option to exit Pinochle & Bezique and automatically start Rummy 500 for the same player.

If the player name does not currently have a Rummy 500 scoreboard file, Rummy 500 will automatically create one and inform you that it has done so.

If you switch part way through a round, remember that Pinochle & Bezique only saves the scores of games and rounds completed, unless the "AutoStart - Restore" option is selected under Operational Preferences.

Note: This option is only shown if Rummy 500 is found to be installed in the same filefolder/directory as Pinochle & Bezique.


Terminate

This menu item is shown if you have selected a special "On Exit" Operational Preference which places Pinochle in a background "sleep" state instead of being terminated when it is exited normally.

Select "Terminate" to force Pinochle to terminate instead of sleeping as a background process.


Exit

Terminates the session and exits from Pinochle & Bezique.

Pinochle & Bezique automatically saves the scores of games and rounds completed, together with the state of a partially completed round, unless the "AutoRestore" option is deselected under Operational Preferences.

If AutoRestore is deselected then, before exiting, Pinochle & Bezique asks if you want to save the updated scoreboard for the current player, if it has changed since it was last saved.

•	If you respond "Yes", Pinochle & Bezique will save the scores of all previous games and the scores of the rounds of the current game (if not yet completed) for the current player.  When this player next plays Pinochle & Bezique, this information will be restored automatically and play will proceed from the start of the same game number and round number.

•	If you respond "No", the scoreboard information will not be updated and when the current player next plays Pinochle & Bezique, the situation will be as it was previously.

If, when you next play Pinochle & Bezique, you start part way through an unfinished game (e.g.,  round four) and you wish to restart from round one of the game, use the "Replay Game" option.

If you have selected a special "On Exit" Operational Preference which places Pinochle & Bezique in a background "sleep" state instead of being terminated, this menu item is displayed as "Exit (Sleep)" .


Online Menu

The following menu entries support Online Play:

Online Preferences

Preference Alignment

Find A Partner

Direct Host

Direct Guest

Chat

AutoPilot (optional)

Online Status

Disconnect


Preference Alignment

There are a number of deal, rule, and scoring preferences that must match those of your online opponent for online play to operate.  A description of how the matching process is negotiated is described under "Online Preference Agreement".

The initial default is that Pinochle is the game basis and all of the online preferences are disabled.  Thus when you start an online game, any dealing, rule and scoring preference selections you have made for playing against your computer opponent are turned off until you disconnect from the online session.

The preference alignment menu option permits you to define one or more of the preferences that you would prefer to enforce for your online games.  If your candidate opponent has different preference alignment settings, the negotiation process may, or may not, result in acceptance of these.  Therefore, if you were to have many of these preferences enabled, you may find it harder to find an online opponent prepared to agree to them all.

Clicking the respective "Set Online Defaults" button will automatically select the normal preferences for these games.  Preferences are annotated with P (Pinochle), K (Binokel) and/or B (Bezique) if they are technically a permitted rule or a common rule variation for the respective game.  Those that are not selected by default and either are not annotated, or are annotated with the matching game character, are the technically legitimate rule variations.   Nevertheless, you may select a preference which is technically not permitted if you wish to play a hybrid game (although it may be harder to find an online opponent to agree to this).

The preference alignment window includes two buttons in addition to the "OK" button.  The "Clear" button clears the selection, while the "=Offline" button sets the selection to be the same as your current normal (offline) preference settings.

The same alignment window is shown if you decide to adjust your alignment preferences for the benefit of a particular negotiation.  In this case, any changes made will apply only to the current online session.  When in adjustment mode,  the differences are displayed in colored boldface; green indicating a preference that the online opponent has selected but you have not, and red indicating a preference that you have selected but the opponent has not.  If you wish to fully align the highlighted preferences with your opponent, check the green items and uncheck the red items.

For a summary of which meld types are included in the commonly documented rules for each game, see "Standard Meld Types".


Find A Partner

When you want play online, the first step (after completing the online preferences) is to connect to an opponent.

If you do not have a pre-arranged opponent for a direct online session, you may seek your opponent via the MeggieSoft Games Online Forum.

The two parties in a session are termed "host" and "guest".  A "guest" is a user who connects to a "host" (one who is already online and waiting).  Thus the host is the user who prepares to accept a connection which a guest will complete.

When you select "Find A Partner", you will be connected to the forum and a list of waiting hosts will be displayed.  Click on one of these and then click on the "Connect" button to inform the host that you are ready to play.  The online game will commence as soon as the host accepts your response.

If there are no waiting hosts listed in the forum, you may click the "Be A Host" button to list yourself in the forum as a waiting host.  You may then continue to play in local (human versus machine) mode until someone accepts your invitation.

For more detailed information, see "Forum Pairing".


Direct Host

Click the Direct Host menu option to initiate a Direct Online Session.  Your current IP address and port number will be displayed.  This information will be needed by the guest for a successful connection to be completed.

When you have dismissed the confirming dialog box (assuming you don't withdraw), your computer will be actively listening for a connection, and a pulsating watch icon will be displayed in the status bar to remind you.


Direct Guest

Click the Direct Guest menu option to connect to a Direct Online Session.  The host must already be waiting and have informed you of the IP address and port number to which you are to connect.  Enter this information, and click on "Connect".


Chat

At any time during online play either player may contact the other via an online chat window.  Select "Chat" under the Online Menu, or click on the chat shortcut button which will have been added to the status bar.  The online chat window will then appear.

To send a message to your opponent, type it in the box at the bottom of the chat window and click on "Send".  What you send will be echoed in the conversation history window.  You may then wait, or click on "Hide" to hide the online chat window.

If the online chat window is hidden (or you have not yet invoked it), it will automatically appear if your online opponent sends you a message or replies to your message.


AutoPilot

The optional "AutoPilot" menu entry may be enabled via "Online Preferences".  By default it is not visible.  If enabled, it is only operable when it is your turn to play.

AutoPilot operates similarly to the offline AutoPlay feature in that your online moves will be made for you automatically.   To turn the AutoPilot off, select the menu entry again (it will be captioned "AutoPilot Off").

The AutoPilot is not intended as a means to cheat on your online opponents, but as a facility you might use to keep the online game running if you are called away for a few minutes.

The AutoPilot was created to facilitate the development and testing of the MeggieSoft Games online features and is included in the released versions for your convenience.


Online Status

This provides an information display of your current online status, including (as applicable): the names and IP addresses of you and your opponent, whether you are disconnected, connected, or waiting as a host, the port number used, and your playing position (host or guest).


Disconnect

This will disconnect you from online activity.  If you are currently playing against a remote opponent, the opponent will be immediately informed that you have disconnected.

Abrupt disconnection may deter the opponent from choosing you as a partner in the future.  Good protocol is to disconnect only after the end of a game, or by using the chat facility to advise the opponent of your intention to disconnect.  Alternatively, you might chat at the beginning of the session to agree upon the number of games that will be played.


Player Menu

The following selections are available under the Player Menu:

Change Name

Add/Remove Player

Save Scoreboard

Reset Scoreboard

Undo Last Action

Undo Turn

Undo Previous Turn

In addition, if more than one player name has been created using "Add Player" , the menu will contain a "Switch to..." selection for each of the other players.  This facilitates one-click switching between players.


Change Name

Select this menu option to change your player name.

Initially, the player name is "Player".  You may choose any name that it is legitimate to add, as described under Add/Switch Player.  Generally this would be your first name or a one word nickname.

When you change your name, all scoreboard, game history and preferences settings are preserved under the new name.


Add/Remove Player

Select this menu option to add a new player, to switch to another player, or to remove a player.

Add:  When you first use Pinochle & Bezique, the only player is "Player".  Use the "Add" button to add more players.  When you select the "Add" button, a sub-window will appear, into which you will enter the name for the new player.  Press "OK" to create a scoreboard for the new player.  Enter players' names as 1-8 letters and numbers.  Spaces, punctuation marks, and special characters are not permitted.  Irrespective of how you specify upper and lower case, Pinochle & Bezique will always display the player names in lower case with the first letter capitalized.  You may have up to 12 named players at any time

Switch:  Select the incoming player name, and press the "Switch" button.  You may select any named player except yourself (the current player).  When switching players, you will first be asked if the scoreboard for the outgoing player is to be saved, if it has changed since it was last saved.

Remove:  Select the player name to be removed, and press the "Remove" button.  You may select any named player except yourself (the current player).    You will be asked to confirm that the player is to be removed, after which the scoreboard file and the saved options for the player will be permanently deleted from your system.

The Switch facility described above is primarily for switching to a newly added player.  The quickest way to switch to another existing player is by selecting the "Switch to <name>" entry in the player menu.


Save Scoreboard

Select this menu option to perform an immediate save of the current scoreboard status (games and rounds) for the current player.

This option is useful if you are enjoying an extended session of Pinochle & Bezique and don't want to wait until you exit Pinochle & Bezique, or change players, before your updated scoreboard status is safely saved to disk.


Reset Scoreboard

Select this menu option to reset your game scoreboard to zero.  The game counter will return to game number 1.

If you are part way through a game, the scores of the previous rounds of the game are not cleared.  Thus you can make the current game the first of your new scoreboard.

The previously saved copy of your scoreboard is not erased by this action.  You must use the "Save Scoreboard" option to replace the previous scoreboard with the new one.

If you clear the scoreboard and decide you would have preferred not to have done so, exit Pinochle & Bezique (or change players) and respond "No" when asked if the updated scoreboard is to be saved.


Undo Last Action

This option is enabled when you have taken from the discard pile or have started melding cards during your turn.

Select this option to clear the highlighted cards (if any), otherwise to undo the most recent melding action.

You may use "Undo Turn" to undo your entire current turn; this being all melding actions plus the taking of the trick that started your current turn.

The status bar "undo" button (using the left mouse-button) may be used as a shortcut to this action.


Undo Turn

Select this option to undo your current turn and start it again.

This option is only enabled during your turn.   You cannot undo the opponent's turn, nor your previous turns.  You cannot return a seen card to the stock.  Once you have played a card, you cannot turn back.  Thus, the undo feature only permits what a reasonable human opponent would permit.

If you have highlighted cards in your hand, the undo option will deselect them - even if there is nothing else to undo.

If you have started melding cards in the current turn, you may use "Undo Last Action" to undo just the last melding action.

The status bar "undo" button  (using the right mouse-button) may be used as a shortcut to this action.


Undo Previous Turn

Select this option to undo the current round to one of your previous turns.  A selection box is displayed, from which you may choose to return to any of your previous turns.

Once you have returned to a previous turn, you must continue from that point.

This feature is provide as a practice and skill development aid in order to answer the question: "What if I had done something different?"

There is a small overhead in respect of saving the status at each turn.  If this overhead is noticeable, or if you wish to disable the "Undo Turn" feature for any other reason, you may do this via the Player Preferences.


Preferences Menu

You may customize Pinochle & Bezique to your taste by selecting from the Preferences menu.  When the preferences panel is visible, you may switch to any of the other sections.  If you want your changes to be saved for future sessions, ensure that the "Save Properties" box is checked.  Preferences are saved separately for each player.

Animation Preferences

Card Preferences

Card Back Preferences

Color Preferences

Dealing Preferences

Game Preferences

Message Preferences

Mouse Preferences

Music Preferences

Online Preferences

Opponent Preferences

Player Preferences

QuickSet Preferences

Rule Preferences

Scoring Preferences

Screen Preferences

Sound Preferences

Speech Preferences

Restore Pre-"Safe Mode" Preferences

Reset Default Preferences

The tree-structured selection menu may be replaced by the "radio-button" style of earlier versions by checking the "Button Navigator" option at the lower left of the preferences panel.

Note that right-clicking on the scoresheet is a shortcut to the Scoring Preference settings, and right-clicking on the rules panel (or under the stock if the rules panel is not displayed) is a shortcut to the Rule Preference settings.


Animation Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Suppress Card Animation: When selected, a card being moved automatically will disappear from the source and reappear at the destination, instead of floating from the source to the destination.

Suppress Animated Card Twisting: When selected, cards do not twist when floating, but are moved flat.

Constant Travel Time: When selected, the duration of each animated card movement is the same.  Otherwise, the duration is distance dependent (i.e., cards move at a constant speed).

Animation Speed: Select the flight time duration for when cards are moved automatically from source to destination.

Suppress Card Display When Dragging: When selected, a dragged card will not be displayed in motion under the mousepointer.

Suppress Card Interleaving: When selected, card interleaving is suppressed.  In this case a dragged card will always fully appear over the top of the other cards in the players hand until the mouse button is released.

Enable TrueSlide: When selected, interleaving is displayed with true realism in that a card being moved will not automatically leap in front and behind the other cards as it traverses the player's hand.   See the Card Interleaving section for more information regarding TrueSlide.


Card Preferences

Card & Font Size: Provided that the required "Plus Pack" card image files exist in the "Cards" subfolder of the installation filefolder, you may select the Regular card size, or one of three alternative card display sizes: Small, Large, and Extra Large, depending upon the current main window size.  The font size displayed in the main window and the size of the status bar and shortcut buttons are adjusted when the card size is larger than the regular size.

Apply to Dialog Font Size: When selected, the font size of the text displayed in dialog boxes will also be larger when the card size is larger than the regular size.

When Resizing Main Window:

You may specify how the card and font size is to change when you resize the main window (by maximizing it, by dragging an edge or corner, or edge, or by direct selection via the Screen Preferences):

Do Not Change: The card size will always be as specified, unless the window size is too small to accommodate the selection - in which case it will be reduced appropriately.

AutoSize Per Window Size: The card and font sizes will adjust to the second largest possible for the new window size (i.e., extra large will never be used).

AutoSize To Largest Possible: The card and font sizes will adjust to the largest possible for the new window size.

Deck Design: By default, the "Standard" design is used.  However, if you have installed additional card sets (downloadable from the MeggieSoft Games website), you may also select these.  The images in many of these sets have been adapted from artistic card designs which were created by, and are owned by, the respective designers of the original decks.

Index Notation: You may select one of a number of European card index notations as an alternative to the standard Anglo-American notation (AKQJ).

Select "True Corners" for a more realistic card appearance with rounded instead of square corners. This may result in a performance penalty when cards are displayed.

Select "Wider Hand Spreads" to display cards in the player's and the opponent's hands with twice the card separation than the default setting.  The default is 25%  separation (75% overlap) whereas the wider spread is 50% separation (50% overlap).  (Note that card separation is dynamically reduced if the hand currently contains too many cards to display at the full 25% or 50% separation.)

Select "Melded Cards In Color" to tint the cards that have been melded.

Select "Display Face-up" to show tricks face-up at the end of each round.


Card Back Preferences

There are six standard card back designs available for each deck design, plus you may use an image file (jpg, bmp or wmf) of your own design or choosing.  Click on the Predefined or Custom button to select the type required.

Predefined Card Backs

Use the drop-down Card Back list for the predefined cards associated with the current deck design.

If you have more than the Standard deck design installed, you may also select the card backs from other installed card decks by first selecting the required Deck Design, and then the required Card Back.

If you do not wish your selected card back to change if you select another deck design via the Card Preferences, ensure that the "Link Deck Design to Card Preferences" box is unchecked.   When this box is checked, the predefined card back designs automatically change whenever you change the deck design via the Card Preferences.

Custom Card Backs

Select "Browse" to select a custom card design.

Pinochle & Bezique does not provide graphic design capabilities, so it is assumed that you are able to scan, copy, or design any custom image file(s) you require using other tools.  You may also use other appropriately sized bitmap files on your system.

The size of the "regular" card image is 71 by 96 pixels.  If the image is larger, the File Selector will reduce it to size and, if the aspect ratio of the image is different from that required for the card, will indicate that the image is horizontally or vertically adjustable.  In this case, you may click the mouse down on the image and gently drag it so that a hidden or obscured part of the image becomes part of the image display.

Pinochle & Bezique will automatically resize the card back design when card sizes other than "regular" are selected.

If "With Frame" is selected for the custom card back, a white frame will surround the selected image.  This usually creates a more attractive card back.

You do not need to add the card boundary (single pixel black line around the edge) or trim the corners.  Pinochle & Bezique will do this automatically when it loads the card back image file, which will override your efforts anyway.


Color Preferences

The color preferences are used to provide on-screen adjustment of the colors displayed by Pinochle & Bezique.

First, in the upper part of the window, select the target area for which you want to change the color.  The current color is displayed below the "Target" selection frame.  If the target allows you to change both the text and the background colors, select the one desired.

Second, click on the "New Color" button to select the color to which you require to change the target.  The standard Windows color selection window will be displayed.  You will return to the color control window after you have made your new selection.

If you wish to preview the effect of the change, click the "Preview" button.  The revised color scheme will be dynamically displayed "on-screen" in the main Pinochle & Bezique window.  If you cancel the preferences window after previewing, the previous color scheme will be reinstated.

The "Reset" selection frame allows you to set all colors to how they were before you selected "Preferences", or to the Pinochle & Bezique default color scheme.


Dealing Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Game Basis: The foundation game.  The preferred method of establishing the default setup for a specific game is to use the "Set Defaults" buttons from within the Rule Preferences; this will apply the Game Basis setting accordingly.  The Game Basis setting affects the marking of the descriptions within the Rule Preferences and Scoring Preferences sections as being technically valid (displayed in black) or invalid (displayed in cyan) for the game selected.

Cut For Deal: (Not available when Tournament Dealing is selected.)  When selected, each new game will start with a cut for deal and the starter option applies only to rounds.  Cuts are determined by the normal Pinochle card rankings -- i.e., ten beats king.

Starter: Select either that the starting player of games and rounds is to alternate. or that the loser of the previous game or round starts the next game or round.

64 Card Deck: A deck of sixty-four cards, including the Sevens and Eights of each suit (twice), will be used.  Dix is the seven of trumps.

Deal 16 Cards: 16 cards are dealt to each player as four groups of four cards.  (Available only with 64 card deck.)

Deal 8 Cards: (for Bezique) 8 cards are dealt to each player as groups of three, two, three cards.  (Available only with 64 card deck.)

Tournament Dealing: Pinochle & Bezique will always deal the same sequence of cards for a given game number, depending upon the selected sequence number.  Thus, two or more player names set to the same sequence number preference can separately play identical hands for each game number as a tournament.

Quick Deal:  Cards are dealt as a single block instead of as groups of three or four cards.  This speeds up the display at the start of the game, at the expense of realism.

Quiet Deal:  Cards are dealt individually but the Place Card sound effect is inhibited.  This speeds up the display.

Show Who Dealt: When selected (the default), the dealer of the current round is indicated in the left side of the status bar as a small green box in the upper (opponent dealt) or lower (player dealt) part of the status display.


Game Preferences

The following preferences are available:

AutoDeal: When selected, the "Deal" button will not appear in the status bar at the start of each round.  Note that preference changes before the start of a round may only be made when the "Deal"  button is displayed.

AutoResume:  When selected (as is the default), Pinochle & Bezique will remember which player was playing when it exits, and will automatically resume for that player when Pinochle & Bezique is next run.

AutoRestore: When selected (as is the default), the state of a game in progress is automatically saved with the scoreboard and is automatically restored when the player next plays Pinochle & Bezique.

AutoStep - Full Cycle Step: By default, AutoStep plays one turn for either the player or opponent for each click of the step button.  When the Full Cycle Step option is selected, each click of the button plays one cycle of player turn followed by opponent turn, ending at the next player turn.

Minimize Window: By default, minimizing the window will follow the normal Windows practice of continuing to show the Window icon and description as a button in the Windows taskbar, from which it may be restored.  You may specify alternative behaviors if you wish:

Minimize As Tray Icon: When the main window is minimized, an icon will appear in the Windows tray (the area at the bottom left of the screen which contains the clock).   The normal taskbar button is not displayed in this case.  Click on the tray icon to restore the Pinochle & Bezique window, or right-click on the tray icon to terminate the program.

Minimize To Background: When the main window is minimized, all visible references to it are removed and Pinochle & Bezique is "sleeping" in the background.  To re-awaken, merely run Pinochle & Bezique again as usual, in which case the sleeping process will be re-activated.

On Exit: By default, exiting Pinochle & Bezique (by whatever means, including switching to one on the other MeggieSoft Games) will follow the normal Windows practice of terminating the program execution.  You may specify alternative behaviors if you wish:

Sleep As Tray Icon: Instead of terminating, Pinochle & Bezique stays in the background in a sleeping mode and an icon is displayed in the tray.  To re-awaken, click on the tray icon, or right-click on the tray icon to terminate the program.

Background Sleep: Instead of terminating, Pinochle & Bezique stays in the background in a sleeping mode and all visible references to it are removed.  To re-awaken, merely run Pinochle & Bezique again as usual, in which case the sleeping process will be re-activated.

The "Minimize Window" and "On Exit" preferences are system-wide (they apply to all users of your computer).  They provide convenient methods of placing Pinochle & Bezique in the background so that Pinochle & Bezique may be swiftly re-awoken when you want to play again.

•	If you "minimize to background" or "exit to background sleep", you will need to re-run Pinochle & Bezique to re-awaken it.

•	If you "minimize as tray icon" or "sleep as tray icon", you will need to click on the tray icon to restore/re-awaken Pinochle & Bezique.

•	If you "minimize as tray icon" or "sleep as tray icon", you may right-click on the tray icon and select "Terminate" to terminate the process execution completely.

•	If you have enabled one of the alternative "On Exit" preferences, a "Terminate" item entry will be shown the Game Menu in order to bypass the specified "On Exit" behavior.

•	The operational difference between minimizing and exiting (whether to tray or background) is that exiting will save the scoreboard and game status (providing AutoRestore is enabled).

•	If you use the special "Minimize Window" and "On Exit" preferences, the recommended combination is to minimize as tray icon and exit to background sleep.


Message Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Display Error Box:  When selected, error messages displayed by Pinochle & Bezique are shown as dialog boxes (with an "OK" button) instead of in the status bar.

Suppress Tool Tips: When selected, Tool Tips are not displayed when the mouse is positioned over one of the shortcut buttons in the status bar.

Suppress "Are You Sure?" for Game Menu Items: When selected, these messages are not displayed when games and rounds are to be redealt/restarted/replicated and for Switch/Exit/Terminate.  In such cases these game menu actions are immediate when the menu item, or corresponding toolbar icon, is selected.

Suppress Status Messages: When selected, status messages are not displayed in the status bar during play.  Error messages will continue to be displayed as appropriate.

Note that opting to have game scores displayed in the status bar automatically suppresses status messages.

No Start Reminders:  When selected, the reminder of who starts the next round or game is suppressed.

No Bell:  When selected, the bell/beep sound associated with errors is suppressed.  It is recommended that the "Display Error Box" option be selected in this situation so that error messages don't go unnoticed.


Mouse Preferences

The following preferences are available:

AutoMouse - Cards: When selected, the mouse pointer automatically moves: (i) to your hand when you take a new card from the stock or you take one or more cards from the discard pile, and (ii) back to the stock after you discard.

AutoMouse - Dialogs: When selected, the mouse pointer automatically moves to any message or information windows which are displayed and, if "AutoMouse - Cards" is also selected, back to the player's hand or the stock after the dialog window is dismissed.  Some mouse drivers and add-in utilities also perform this function. Therefore this is a separately selectable option within Pinochle & Bezique.

Use Windows Mouse Pointers: When selected, the standard Windows mouse pointers are used instead of the special MeggieSoft Games mousepointer icons used by Pinochle & Bezique.

Use MeggieSoft Games Mouse Pointers: When selected, the special MeggieSoft Games mouse pointers are used.

... in black & white: when selected, the MeggieSoft Games mouse pointers are displayed in monochrome instead of in color.

... without online indicators: when selected, the offline MeggieSoft Games mouse pointers are always displayed, even when you are online.

Disable Card Drag And Drop: When selected the ability to move cards via drag-and-drop mouse operation is suppressed.  In this case, all mouse operations will be performed by the point-and-click method.  This preference is provided for users who find that the drag-and-drop capabilities are inadvertently interfering with their preferred use of point-and-click if the mouse is moved with the button down.


Music Preferences

This preference panel permits you to enable and disable the playing of MIDI, MP3 and WMA music files and to specify the music file(s) to be played.  MeggieSoft Games does not distribute music files, but Pinochle & Bezique will automatically select the first MIDI file found in your windows\media or windows filefolder as the default (if one is found).

If your system has difficulty playing music and other sounds simultaneously, either do not enable the music feature, or do not enable sound and speech features.

When music is playing, you may also select the "Music Status" option (View Menu) to display the name of the file being played, to skip to the next music file in the filefolder, or stop the music.

To change the music file from that displayed, press "Browse..." and select the required MIDI, MP3 or WMA music file.  (If there is no currently associated file, [none] will be displayed.)  To test the music, press "Test".  To clear the music file selection, press "Clear".

The available play modes are:

Single - the selected music file will be played once.

Repeat - the selected music file will be played repeatedly

Cycle - the music files in the filefolder will be played in sequence.

Random - the music files in the filefolder will be played in random order.


Online Preferences

Note: The MeggieSoft Games online technology uses your system's Internet Settings for managing network connections.  Non-standard specifications (e.g. pertaining to firewalls) must be present in your Internet Settings.  If the default IP port number used by MeggieSoft Games conflicts with local network policies or causes unexpected disconnection, this may be changed (see below).

In addition to the following preferences, see Online Preference Agreement for details of how critical deal, rule and scoring preferences are managed in order to ensure that both players are playing under the same conventions.

Online Name

You may freely choose a name by which you wish to be known within the MeggieSoft Games community.  Each time that you register as a waiting host for forum pairing, this name will be displayed to users who are looking to find a partner.  Your online name will also be shown to the host when you connect to them as a guest (forum or direct).

The forum does not check for uniqueness of online names, so choosing something a little unusual will more clearly identify you to those seeking partners.  Useful examples may be "Dortmund Dieter", "Anna Napolis", or "Disparate Don".  If someone else of the same name registers as a waiting host, the worst that will happen is that you may receive partners expecting to play with the other person.  In such a case, you might consider changing your online name.

By default, your online name is the computer name defined in your Windows System properties.

Minimal Dialog

The default connection process provides step-by-step confirmations as the host and guest computers acknowledge each other and initialize the game.   If this is too much verbosity for your liking, check this box.  When checked, the dialog is restricted to the notification to the host that the opponent has accepted the invitation to join.  (Note that error conditions will be displayed whether the box is checked or not.)

Enable AutoPilot

Check this box to include the "AutoPilot" entry in the Online Menu.

Private Forum

The address of the private forum server that you wish to use, if you have access to one that has been created.  Advanced users who wish to create a private forum will find instructions on how to do so under "Establishing A Private Forum".

Use Private Forum

Check this box if you have specified a private forum address and wish to use that forum to seek online partners.  The default, when unchecked, is to access the MeggieSoft Games public forum.

Default Direct Host

You may specify a default opponent IP address if you frequently play in direct online session mode against an opponent who has a fixed IP address.   If specified, this address is used as the default in the "Direct Guest" connection dialog.

IP Port

There is normally no need to change this entry, but there are instances where a different IP Port number may need to be defined.  Such instances include satisfying local restrictions (such as firewalls) and avoiding unexpected disconnection due to some other program using the default port number.

The specified port number will be included automatically in your "Be A Host" registration at the "Find A Partner" forum so that guests will respond to the correct port.  It will also be the default for a "Direct Guest" connection so that frequent partners who connect directly and encounter connection/disconnection problems with the MeggieSoft Games default (54001) may each choose the same alternative number.

If you are not sure what alternative port number to define, use trial and error on five digit numbers in the vicinity of the MeggieSoft Games default.


Opponent Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Skill Level:  Select the skill level required from the six ascending skill levels listed in the drop-down box.

Quick Display:  When selected, Pinochle & Bezique does not enact the 400 millisecond pause between each of the opponent's actions.

Suppress Card Highlighting:  When selected, the highlighting of the card played by the opponent will be suppressed.

Suppress Stock Highlighting:  When selected, the highlighting of a card taken from the stock by the opponent will be suppressed.

Show Cards:  When selected, shows the opponent's cards face up.

Permit Quick Peek: When selected, you may click the mouse button down on the opponent's cards to show them face up.  The cards will return to the face down display when you release the mouse button.


Player Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Play Protect:  The playing of a card requires confirmation from the resulting Pop-Up menu.

Meldable Card Warning:  Confirmation will be requested if the player is about to play a card which could be melded, or is about to miss the last chance to play (and therefore score) a Dix in phase one.

Automatic Knock: A game will automatically end if the player passes the game points goal during the melding phase of a round.

Do Not Sort:  The player's hand is not automatically sorted as cards are added to it.

Sort By Suit:  The sort criterion is set such that cards will be sorted by rank within suit.

Sort High to Low: When selected, the cards in the player's hand are sorted in descending value order (highest card on the left).

Stagger Hand:  The cards in the player's hand will be displayed such that the suits are vertically offset from each other.

Display Meldable Points: Adds a counter to the status bar which shows the value of the highest meld in your hand.

Disable MultiSelect: When selected, the MultiSelect facility is disabled.  (MultiSelect enables multiple cards to be selected in one drag-and-drop action.)

Disable AutoMeld: When selected, the AutoMeld facility is disabled.  (AutoMeld automatically melds MultiSelect selections and permits double-click melding.)

Disable Undo Turn: The ability to undo turns is removed, together with the small processing overhead associated with providing this facility.

Suppress Card Tinting: When selected, cards taken from the stock will not be tinted when they are added to your hand.


QuickSet Preferences

Click on the preference group buttons to facilitate selection and deselection of the following groups of  preferences.  Finer adjustments may be made via the corresponding preference panels.  Changes will take effect when the "Apply" or "OK" button is pressed.

Appearance/All:

•	The table and mat image effects are enabled (if the corresponding image files exist)

•	3-D effects are enabled (i.e., if the suppression option is selected, it is deselected)

•	The custom card back image effects are enabled (if the corresponding image file exists)

•	Cards are displayed with "True Corners"

•	The game totals are displayed at the top of the scoresheet and the scoresheet headings are the player/opponent names

Appearance/None:

•	If the default font has been altered, it is reset to the default

•	If enabled, use of the table, mat, and  custom card back images is disabled

•	3-D effects are suppressed.

•	Cards are not displayed with "True Corners"

•	The game totals are displayed as on-table scoremasts and the scoresheet headings are "You/Me"

Interface/All:

•	If card animation has been suppressed, it is re-enabled

•	If standard Windows mousepointers have been selected, this option will be deselected in favor of the MeggieSoft Games intelligent mousepointer icons

•	AutoMouse will be enabled for cards and dialogs

Interface/None:

•	Card animation is suppressed, standard Windows mousepointers are used and AutoMouse is disabled

Audio/All:

•	Depending on system capabilities, the sound effect, music and speech options are all enabled

Audio/None:

•	Any enabled sound effect, music and speech options are disabled

Operation/All:

•	Enables the AutoStart, AutoRestore, and AutoResume features

Operation/None:

•	Disables the AutoStart, AutoRestore, and AutoResume features


Rule Preferences

The following preferences are available.  Three "Set Defaults" buttons are also provided to set all Deal, Rule and Scoring preferences to the defaults for  Pinochle, Binokel, or Bezique respectively.  After the defaults have been set in this way, individual rule and scoring preferences may be adjusted individually.

Melding:

The P/K/B annotations in the following melding options indicate whether each option is technically valid for the game of Pinochle, Binokel or Bezique, respectively.

•	When you select one of the "Set Defaults" buttons, the meld types pertaining to the normal basic rules of the corresponding game will be set as selected.  Those rule preferences that are displayed in black but are not automatically selected are the documented variations for the default game selected.

•	The description of an option which is technically invalid (i.e., not included in any of the rule sources for the game) will be shown in cyan (blue/green).  Nevertheless, it may be individually selected if you wish in order to create a hybrid game.

For clarity, the words "Pinochle", "Binokel" and "Bezique" in the following will all appear as either "Pinochle", "Binokel", or "Bezique" depending on the base game selected, even though some of the resulting cyan-color descriptions will be technically meaningless within the normal rules of each respective game.

Red Pinochle (P): A Pinochle will comprise a Queen of Hearts and a Jack of Diamonds instead of the more common combination of a Queen of Spades and a Jack of Diamonds.

Switch Bezique Suits (B):  If the Trump suit is either Spades or Diamonds, a Pinochle will comprise a Queen of Clubs and a Jack of Hearts instead of the more common combination of a Queen of Spades and a Jack of Diamonds.  Thus, when enabled, a Pinochle will never contain a Trump suit card.

Dices Must Be Melded (P): All Dices must be melded in order to score points.  (Merely playing a dix does not score the 10 points.)  In the case of the Dix being exchanged with the stock trump card, the replacement card will replace the melded dix in the meld area, instead of moving to the player's hand.

...and may Multi-Meld (P): Dix melds may be made in the same turn as another meld.

Multi-Meld All (K): An unlimited number of melds may be made in the same turn.   When selected, so too is the "Score Differences" scoring preference so that promoted melds score the incremental difference in points.  (Otherwise, multi-melding a Double Marriage as two single marriages and then combining them on a single turn would result in an unfair double accumulation of points.)

Double Pinochle (P/K/B): Permit melding of two Pinochles as one meld (300 points).

Grand Binokel (K): Permit the addition a King (matching the Queen) to a Pinochle (80 points).

Double Marriage (B):  A double marriage of both Queens and both Kings of a suit may be melded as a single meld.  The score is double that of a corresponding single marriage.

Roundhouse (P/K): Permit melding of an eight-card combination of four marriages of different suits (240 points)

Common Sequence (K/B):  A sequence of Jack, Queen, King, Ten, Ace of a non-Trump suit may be melded for 100 points.  (The Trump suit sequence may always be melded as a Royal Sequence in Bezique for 250 points - this being equivalent to a Flush in Pinochle, or Royal Family in Binokel, which scores 150 points.)

Double Sequence (K): Permit melding of two sequences as one meld (1500 points for royal, 1000 points for common).

Double Set (K): Permit melding of all eight Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks as one meld.  The score is 10 times that of a single set, unless the scoring preference to always score 1000 points is selected.

No Hand Requirement (K/B): A new meld does not have to include an unseen card from the player's hand.   Thus a new meld may be formed totally from previously melded cards, subject to the remelding rules. (This is standard for Binokel and Bezique.)

Liberal Remelding (K/B): The ability to form new melds from old are less rigid; this being standard for Binokel and Bezique, but not for Pinochle.  See the Remelding Rules section for a table of what additional remelds are permitted when liberal remelding is selected.

For a summary of which meld types are included in the commonly documented rules for each game, see "Standard Meld Types".

Phase Two Trick Taking:

Must Overplay:  During the second phase of a round, the following player must not only follow suit if possible, but must also play a higher card of that suit, if possible.  If they cannot follow suit, they must trump if they have a trump card  (unless the subordinate qualifying preference is selected, see below).

 ... but only when trump led (P): The "Must Overplay" option is restricted to apply only to trump suit leads.  This is a common alternative convention in Pinochle.

... but need not trump if cannot follow suit (K/B): If a player cannot follow suit, they do not have to play a trump card.  This is a common alternative convention in Binokel and Bezique.


Scoring Preferences

The following preferences are available.  In Bezique and in Binokel, cards taken in tricks are always scoreable in both phases as they are taken; in Pinochle, the scoring of trick points in the first phase may be selected but the phase one points are not formally added to the scoresheet until the end of the round.

The K/B annotations in the following melding options indicate that the option is associated with the game of Binokel (K) and/or Bezique (B), and not with Pinochle.

•	When you select one of the "Set Defaults" buttons in the rule preferences, or set the Game Basis in the dealing preferences, the options  pertaining to the normal scoring conventions of the corresponding game will be set as selected.  Those preferences that are displayed in black but are not automatically selected are the documented variations for the game selected.

•	The description of an option which is technically invalid (i.e., not included in any of the rule sources for the selected base game) will be shown in cyan (blue/green).  Nevertheless, it may be individually selected if you wish in order to create a hybrid game.

Scoring Conventions:

Score All Tricks (K/B): (Default is "selected" for Binokel and for Bezique.)  Trick scores are also earned in the first phase and added to the round score at the end of the round.

Penalty: If no score is made in the second phase, then the meld points scored in phase one are deducted from, rather than added to, the scoresheet.

Score By Round:  Points earned during a round, including those from melds, are added to each player's game total at the end of a round.

Simplified Scoring:  Queens and Kings are scored with a trick points value of five; and Tens and Aces are scored as worth ten points.

Points Variations:

Score Differences: When an entire existing meld is used as part of a new meld then only the difference between the existing meld and the new (upgraded) meld is scored.  For example, melding a Flush using an existing Royal Marriage will score 110 instead of 150, and melding a Double Pinochle using an existing Pinochle will score 260 instead of 300.   (This is selected automatically when the "Multi-Meld All" rule preference is selected.)

1000 Points for All Double Sets (K): (Selectable when the Double Sets rule preference is selected.)  All double set melds will score 1000 points instead of 10 times the single set score (i.e., 400 for Jacks up to 1000 for Aces).

Additional Points Awards:

Dix Dealt (K/B): 10 points are awarded to the dealer when the upturned card is a Dix.

Last Trick (K/B): 10 points are awarded to the winner of the last trick of a round.

Other Scoring Options:

Brisque Trick Scoring (B): (Default is "selected" for Bezique.)  Tens and Aces, termed "brisques", are scored as ten points each when contained in a won trick.  If this preference is not selected, the default Pinochle trick scoring convention is adopted (eleven points for Ace, down to two points for Jack).   If this preference is selected, so too is the "Score All Tricks" scoring preference (see above).

1500 Point Goal (K): The goal for a game is the common Binokel target of 1500 points.  If this preference is not selected, the goal will be 1000 points (as it is for standard Pinochle).

2000 Point Goal (B): The goal for a game is the normal Bezique target of 2000 points.  If this preference is not selected, the goal will be 1000 points (as it is for standard Pinochle).


Screen Preferences

The following preferences are available:

Main Window - Size:  Depending upon your monitor resolution setting, up to five window sizes are available, the fifth of which is "Custom".  As an alternative to selecting a standard window size via preferences, you may also resize the main window by dragging the lower left corner.  The resulting size is held as the Custom setting so that you can return to it later.

Main Window - Font:  The default font is the earliest named of the following, depending upon whether each is installed on your system: Tahoma, Arial, MS Sans Serif.  (Versions prior to v12.1 were fixed as MS Sans Serif).  A change to the font setting affects the status bar, scoresheet and Rules/Scoring panel.  The "Font" label to the left of the drop-down list is shown in the currently listed font to facilitate comparison and selection before applying the change.

Remember Position: When selected, the position of the game window within the monitor screen is remembered on exit and is recovered to the same position when the next session is played.  Otherwise, the game always starts with the game window centered within the monitor screen.

Scoresheet Headings: The default scoresheet headings are "Me" and "You". Select "You"/"Me" if you wish the computer to be "Me".  Select names if you want the player and opponent skill name displayed as the headings.  Deselect both for the default of "Me"/"You".  If "names" is selected you may also choose to shrink to fit if the current font setting can accommodate such small sizing, otherwise the names may be truncated.  Shrink to fit may result in unreadable column headings at smaller card/font preference settings.

Scoresheet (Handwritten): Select if you would like the scoresheet entries to be displayed in a handwritten blue font.

Table Effect: Select if you want the main table window to be "wallpapered" with an image file (jpg, bmp or wmf) of your choosing.

Mat Effect: Select if you want the mat to be "wallpapered" with an image file (jpg, bmp or wmf) of your choosing.

Suppress 3D Effect: Select if you wish to disable the 3D effects in the main window.

Hide Rules/Bonuses: Select if you wish the rules/bonuses panel to not be displayed.

Enable Toolbar: Select if you wish to display the menu toolbar.

...with all buttons:  The default menu toolbar is a "short version" corresponding to the more commonly used menu items.  Select "all buttons" if you wish to use a "full" toolbar containing almost all menu selections.   As all the possible buttons will most likely not fit within the toolbar (depending upon your main window size), you should customize this toolbar to remove those buttons you are less likely to use.

...show on left side: When selected, the toolbar is shown on the left side of the game window instead of at the top.

Game Score Display: Select "Title Bar", "Status Bar" or "Top of Scoresheet" to display game scores elsewhere than the default of in the main window.   If you select display in the status bar, error messages will continue be shown in the status bar and will temporarily cover the game score display (unless you have selected the "display error box" option of Message Preferences).


Sound Preferences

This preference panel permits you to enable and disable sound effects, and to specify the sound effect files to be used.  Pinochle & Bezique permits the optional association of a wav file with each of the eleven events shown.  Note that the Welcome and Goodbye sounds are not used if Speech is enabled.

If you do not have a sound card, the speak.exe driver is a freely available Microsoft product which uses your PC speaker to play (low quality) sound.

If your system has difficulty playing music and other sounds simultaneously, either do not enable the music feature, or do not enable sound and speech features.

To change a sound effect, select the corresponding button.  The name of the currently assigned file name will be displayed.  (If there is no associated sound file, [none] will be displayed.)  To test the sound, press "Test".  To assign or change a sound file, press "Browse...".  To break the association between the file and the event, press "Clear".


Speech Preferences

When enabled, Pinochle & Bezique will speak to you if you have a speech engine installed on your system.  The spoken phrases will include prompts, error messages, confirmations, points scored, and score summaries.

Host/Opponent: You may set the pitch, speed, and volume of the host and opponent voices to your liking.

Mode: A drop down selection box permits you to define the spoken phrases as "Standard" or "Terse".  When "Standard" is selected, various phrases are randomly selected when spoken to reduce monotony.

Speech Engine: Pinochle & Bezique supports three speech engines.  All three are available for download from the MeggieSoft Games website.  The WinSpeech engine is older and simpler, but represents a smaller download.  The more superior engines are Microsoft's Text-To-Speech engines.  If more than one speech engine is installed on your computer, the default selection is the highest Microsoft engine installed (v4 or v5.1).

With the Microsoft TTS engines, you can define different host and opponent voices by name, depending on which voices you have installed on your system.  With WinSpeech, only a single voice style is supported, but you can define different pitch parameters to differentiate the spoken host and opponent phrases.

Enable: When selected, the speech capability is enabled.  Uncheck this selection to disable the speech capability.

Stop Speaking When Interrupted: When selected, the currently spoken information will stop immediately when you exit a dialog box.


Restore Pre-"Safe Mode" Preferences

(This selection is only available if you started the current or previous session in "Safe Mode".)

Select this option to restore your preferences to their most recent settings prior to selecting "Safe Mode" for this, or for the previous, session.

At the end of your next normal session, this menu item will no longer be available as it is assumed that you wish to retain the preference settings that exist at that time.


Reset Preferences To Defaults

Select this menu option to remove all non-default preference settings for the current player from the registry.  This facility is provided as a swift method for resetting all preferences.  The Preference facility may then be used to alter your preferences, or the QuickSet Preferences facility may be used to re-establish preferences to one of the preset configurations.


View Menu

The following selections are available under the View Menu:

Review Tricks

Review Player Meld Types

Review Opponent Meld Types

Points Details

Round Scores

Game Scores

League Table

Hall Of Fame

Music Status

Hide/Show Toolbar

Toggle Rules/Bonuses

Refresh Display


Review Tricks

Select this option to review the cards which comprise the tricks taken during the current phase of the round.

You may also click on the trick pile as a shortcut to this menu item, in which case the cards are displayed face up when you click down with the mouse, and returned to the face down pile when you release the mouse button.


Review Player Meld Types

Select this option if you wish to be reminded of the meld types (pinochle, marriage, set, etc.) of the cards displayed which have been melded by the player.

The resulting display will indicate the meld type of each set of melded cards.


Review Opponent Meld Types

Select this option if you wish to be reminded of the meld types (pinochle, marriage, set, etc.) of the cards displayed which have been melded by the opponent.

The resulting display will indicate the meld type of each set of melded cards.


Points Details

Displays the scores of the player and the opponent for each of the melds and tricks of the current round.


Round Scores

Displays the winner, and the scores of the player and the opponent, for all previous rounds of the current game.

The display includes the date and opponent skill level for each game.

The text colors (blue for wins, red for losses) may be changed via Color Preferences.


Game Scores

Displays the winner, and the scores of the player and the opponent, for all previous games played by the currently active player. The display includes the date and opponent skill level for each game.

A selection pad permits the display of the game history against the opponent at a particular skill level.  The text colors may be changed via Color Preferences.

Game Replication

Game replication means playing a new game with the cards being arranged for the first deal, and each subsequent round's deal, exactly as they were for the corresponding round of a previous game.  You can select the game to be replicated by clicking on the result in the game scoreboard and then pressing the "Replicate Button".

If you wish to replicate the immediately previous game, you may also do this from the Game Menu.  Note: Only games played with version 8.0 or later are replicable, otherwise "Replicate" button will not be enabled.


League Table

When selected, Pinochle & Bezique will display the following information for all players for whom a saved scoreboard file exists: Games Won, Games Lost, Points For, Points Against, Average (points for divided by games played).


Hall Of Fame

When selected, Pinochle & Bezique will examine all saved scoreboards and display statistics such as highest and lowest scores for and against, narrowest and widest winning margins, etc.


Music Status

Select this menu option to see what music track is currently playing.  You may then choose to skip or stop the current music track if you wish to.


Hide/Show Toolbar

If the menu toolbar option in Screen Preferences is selected, you may toggle between the toolbar display state via this menu selection.


Toggle Rules Bonuses
Toggle Rules/Bonuses

Selecting this menu option will toggle between the rules display and the bonuses display.

You may also click on the Rules/Bonuses panel itself to achieve the same action.


Refresh Display

Clears and refreshes the display window.  This action is rarely necessary unless some strangeness with the display layout is encountered.


Assist Menu

The following selections are available under the Assist Menu:

Tutorial

Explain Options

Suggest Hint

AutoStep

AutoPlay


Tutorial

The tutorial provides a documented walk through of the game in action and the operation of the tutorial is self explanatory once it has been started.  Each set of moves is explained as they take place, and help is always available.

The tutorial is intended to facilitate learning of the basic game.  Therefore, any specific dealing, rule, or scoring preferences that you have enabled will be disabled for the tutorial.

The tutorial restarts the current game and can guide you through as many games as you wish.  When it is dismissed, you are returned to the original game state at the point you started the tutorial, with your chosen preference settings if any were disabled for the tutorial.

See also: Tutorial Operation


Tutorial Operation

If your screen size is large enough to accommodate it, the tutorial display will be in an extended panel under the game window.  If your screen resolution is 640x480, it is not possible to accommodate the tutorial panel, and feedback will be provided by pop-up dialog boxes.

Tutorial Panel

The game window may be adjusted to accommodate the panel, in which case it will be returned as it was when the tutorial is stopped. The left side of the feedback shows the sequence of current moves by the player or opponent.  The right side shows pertinent rule notes (black), or notes regarding Pinochle operation (blue).  These notes do not reappear once shown until the tutorial is next started.

Dialog PopUps

The upper part of the displayed messages show one or more recent moves and the lower part may show pertinent rule notes, or notes regarding Pinochle operation.  These notes do not reappear once shown until the tutorial is next started.  Every attempt is made to position the popup box in a non-obtrusive position, but if it is in the way, you may move it by dragging its title bar.

To step through the tutorial, press the "Next >>" button each time that it is enabled.  To exit the tutorial, press "Stop".

You may hold down the Shift key when pressing the "Next" button in order to advance rapidly to the next rule note, or the end of the round (whichever occurs first).  If there are operation notes pending, these will be skipped.

The following links provide useful further information regarding topics covered during the tutorial:

Melding Cards

Melding Options

Trick Scoring


Explain Options

When selected, the "Assist!" window will appear.

The Assist! window is context sensitive and will describe your alternatives at the current state of play.

You may move the Assist! window by dragging its title bar.


Suggest Hint

When selected, Pinochle & Bezique will examine your hand and display a reasonable series of actions for you to take.  (Pinochle & Bezique does not take advantage of this knowledge when determining subsequent turns for the opponent.)

When it is your turn to take a card, the display will merely inform you to take a new card from the stock.

When it is your turn to play a card, Pinochle & Bezique will suggest which card you should play and towards what goal (discard, attempt a trick, win).  If you could meld a card or cards from your hand, the display will include a suggestion of the best melding strategy.   However, if the "Score Differences" scoring preference is selected and the net value of a meld is zero, the meld will not be included.

You may select the "Do It" button when the suggestion box is displayed, and Pinochle & Bezique will play the suggestion(s) for you.  If you select "Do It" and the suggestion includes a playing recommendation and a meld, then if the trick is not won, the meld obviously won't be executed.

Pinochle & Bezique employs the same logic for providing the suggestion as it does for playing the opponent's hand.  The method employed is the "Master" skill level.


AutoStep

AutoStep puts Pinochle & Bezique into an interactive automatic mode whereby both the opponent's and the player's hands are played alternately by the computer.  Unlike AutoPlay, AutoStep provides the additional ability to control pausing, stepping and speed control.

The initial buttons include a run button and a step button.  If you press the step button, you will see the next turn played by either the player or the opponent (alternately).   If you wish a full-cycle mode of operation (player turn and opponent turn in one step), this may be selected via Operational Preferences.

If you press the run button, the step button is replaced by a pause button and the run button is removed.

Then AutoStep will run constantly until it is again paused (for step mode operation), or stopped.

Always visible are the stop button, and buttons to increase (right double chevron) or decrease (left double chevron) the speed of play in steps of 200 milliseconds. The slowest speed introduces a delay of two seconds between each play.  Clicking a chevron symbol using the right-hand mouse button will increase/decrease the speed to the highest/lowest limit.  The current speed setting speed is retained between sessions.

After you press the red stop button, the turn cycle will need to continue until it returns to your turn to play.  If this takes a second or two, you may see a notification message covering the status bar buttons during this process.  However, cycle completion is executed with no sound/speech, no animation, and at maximum speed, in order to minimize completion time.

AutoStep starts at the current point of the game in progress.  At the end of AutoStep, the game may be continued at its current position ("As Is"), or returned to the game position when AutoStep was started ("As Was").

AutoStep always uses the Master skill level for the player.  The opponent will play at the skill level in operation when AutoStep is selected.


AutoPlay

AutoPlay puts Pinochle & Bezique into a fully automatic mode whereby both the opponent's and the player's hands are played alternately by the computer.  AutoPlay is used in development testing and is provided for users who might find it useful.

Learners and students of Pinochle & Bezique are recommended to use the AutoStep facility, which provides interactive control.

You will be asked to define which of the six skill levels is to be used by the player. The opponent will play at the skill level in operation when AutoPlay is selected.  You may also select fast mode and silent mode.

After the player skill level has been selected and you have selected "OK", just sit back and enjoy the view.  AutoPlay starts a separate set of games (starting at game 1).  When you have seen enough, press the "Stop AutoPlay" button in the middle of the status bar.

Before AutoPlay starts, you may be asked if the updated scoreboard for the current player is to be saved.  Respond "yes" if you wish to recover to the current state after AutoPlay has finished, otherwise recovery will be to the point that the scoreboard for the current player was last saved.

When it is stopped, AutoPlay will permit you to display the game scoreboard for the AutoPlay session, if at least one game was completed.  After AutoPlay is dismissed, Pinochle & Bezique returns to status of the player's game when AutoPlay was started.


Explore Menu

The following selections are available under the Explore Menu:

Analyze Hand

Distribution

Recall

Deduce

Recall & Deduce

Swap Cards

Doctor Hand


Analyze Hand

Select this option if you wish the assistant to analyze your hand.

The resulting display will indicate:

Meldable cards - those which could be melded the next time that you win a trick.

Holdable cards - those which may be held in the hope of picking up a card from the stock which will complete a meld.  No account is taken of cards already seen; i.e., the required card may not still be in the stock.

Discardable cards - those which are unmeldable.

The possible melds and their points values are also displayed if meldable cards are found.  However, if the "Score Differences" scoring preference is selected and the net value of a meld is zero, the meld will not be shown.


Distribution

Select this option to see a map of all the cards and their current locations (tricks, melds, etc.)  The display does not identify the location of cards that the player has not seen which are either in the stock or in the opponent's hand.


Recall

The Recall facility is a powerful aid to those who cannot remember which cards have been seen during play.  It is not intended to be used frequently as an alternative to concentration, but may help you develop improved powers of recall.

The recalled cards are listed in two parts: those in your hand that the opponent has seen you take from the discard pile, and those that you have seen the opponent take.

"Deduce" cards are all those cards which are: not in your hand, not in the discard pile, not melded, and not among those of the opponent's cards that you have seen.  They are therefore the content of the stock and the unseen portion of the opponent's hand - but who knows which is where?


Deduce

The Deduce facility lists all those cards which are: not in your hand, not in the discard pile, not melded, and not among those of the opponent's cards that you have seen.  They are therefore the content of the stock and the unseen portion of the opponent's hand - but who knows which is where?


Recall & Deduce

Select this menu item to produce a combined report of recalled cards and deduced cards.


Swap Cards

Select this menu option if you wish to swap cards with the Opponent.  Pinochle & Bezique will then swap the cards currently in the player's hand with those in the opponent's hand.

This option not available once a player has played a meld during a round.

The purpose of the option is as a learning tool.  It is not intended to be used to distort your true scoring ability relative to your peers, as might be reported by the League Table and the Hall Of Fame.


Doctor Hand

This facility is provided for learning and experimentation purposes.  It permits you to change the cards in your hand.

The option is enabled after a new deal, and is disabled when you lead or follow to the first trick.

When selected, the mat is cleared and a spread of all the cards available is shown.  The ones already in your hand are shaded.  To exchange a card in your hand, click on it to highlight it.  Then click on an available card on the mat.  Wherever that card is currently (the talon, opponent's hand, opponent trick lead), it will be swapped with the card in your hand.

While doctoring is being performed, all menu and status bar actions are inhibited.

When you have finished the doctoring process, click anywhere on the card display with no card selected in your hand.


Admin Menu

The following selections are available under the Admin Menu:

* Order Registration Code: Provides information regarding the registration process for Pinochle & Bezique.

‡ Enter Registration Code: Permits you to enter your registration number.  Should the Pinochle & Bezique options data on your hard disk become missing, or if you move to a new computer, Pinochle & Bezique will return to the unregistered status.  In this case, you will need to re-enter your registration details.  Note that the validation code shown at the top of the "Enter Registration Code" window must also be copied and entered as security confirmation that the registration information is being entered manually.

Check For Updates: Checks the MeggieSoft Games website to determine if program updates exist.   For further information see the online update section.

Manage Old Install Files: This entry appears only if you have downloaded files stored on your hard disk from the online update process.  The menu entry shows the total size of these files.  Selecting this menu item will provide you the option to explore (using Windows Explorer) or delete all of these files.   See the Downloaded File Store section for an understanding of what these files' names mean.

Reinstate Knock Prompt: Reverses your previous election to not show the knock prompt again. (Visible only if applicable and if you do not have Autoknock enabled as a preference).

Create Diagnostic File.  Creates a diagnostic dump file for analysis by MeggieSoft Games in order to resolve system and program problems.  If your email method is using a MAPI-compliant mail client (such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, AOL version 7.0 and later, etc.), you will be offered the option to open your email "compose" window automatically with the MeggieSoft Games email address already included and the required file included as an attachment.  Otherwise, the email address for MeggieSoft Games will be shown for you to use in other email methods.  (For further information, see "Automatic MAPI Email Creation" under "Miscellaneous Topics".)

Create Preferences Backup.  Creates a disk file named "msgprefs.reg" in the MeggieSoft Games installation filefolder.  This file contains all the preferences information for all installed MeggieSoft Games.  Running it (by clicking on it in Windows Explorer) will apply the saved registry settings for all installed MeggieSoft Games.  You would use this feature if you wish to transfer your preference settings to a new computer.

* "Order Registration Code" is only shown during unregistered evaluation.

‡ "Enter Registration Code" is shown during unregistered evaluation.  After you have entered your registration information, this item becomes "Re-enter Registration Data".  This would be used if you have been sharing a registration code between your computers and you now wish to use them simultaneously for online play.  In this case, one of the computers must be registered to a different name than the other and therefore you will need to re-enter newly obtained registration data (under a different registered name) on one of them.


Help Menu

The following selections are available under the Help Menu:

Show Tip Of The Day: Displays a random "Tip Of The Day".  If applicable, clicking the "More Info" button will display the relevant section of the help file, and the "Show How" button will display the corresponding section of the preference settings.

Select or deselect the "Show automatically" checkbox to define whether these tips should be shown on start up and at the start of each new game.  If deselected, the tips will only be seen via this Help menu entry.

Help Contents:  Displays the main Pinochle & Bezique help window.

Help Index:  Displays the Pinochle & Bezique topics index window.

User Guide (Printable): The contents of the help file are provided as a printable user guide (with page-numbered contents and index sections).  This file is in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file format, for which you will require the Acrobat Reader (from www.adobe.com/acrobat) if it is not already installed on your system.

Note: The User Guide is formatted for US Letter size (8.5x11.0).  Users of other paper sizes, such as A4 (8.3x11.7), will need to select the "Shrink Oversize Pages..." option in the print dialog within the Acrobat Reader.  For A4, this will very slightly (2½ percent) reduce the document width and add about ¾ inch of horizontal whitespace to each printed page

Revision History: Displays the READPIN.TXT file using the associated txt file program for your system.

ReadMe File: Displays the README.TXT file using the associated txt file program for your system.

MeggieSoft Home Page: Accesses the MeggieSoft Games home page (Provided you have Internet capability and an associated web browser).

Email MeggieSoft Games: If your email method is using a MAPI-compliant mail client (such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, AOL version 7.0 and later, etc.), you will be offered the option to open your email "compose" window automatically with the MeggieSoft Games email address already included.  Otherwise, the email address for MeggieSoft Games will be shown for you to use in other email methods.  (For further information, see "Automatic MAPI Email Creation" under "Miscellaneous Topics".)

About:  Displays information about the version number and author, and the registration confirmation.

Note:

The User Guide is not included as part of the Pinochle & Bezique installation.  If you select the User Guide option, and the user guide is not present on your system, you will be asked if you would like to download it from the MeggieSoft Games website.

Also, if your system is unable to display the newer Windows "chm" help files (requires Internet Explorer 4.1 or later), you will be offered the facility to download the alternative, older style, "hlp" file.

In either case, if you elect to download, the file will be retrieved from the website and will be displayed automatically when the retrieval has completed.  (The help file size is less than 200K  and the user guide size is less than 500K.)

If you select the option to remove older files during a subsequent installation of Pinochle & Bezique, these files (if present) will be removed from your system and you will be able to download the newer versions.


Pop-Up Menu

The PopUp menu is invoked by right-clicking the mouse on any part of the Pinochle & Bezique window where a right-click has no other meaning.  In general, this means anywhere except the melded cards and cards in the player's hand.

The Pop-Up menu offers easy access to the Play special action (enabled when the Play Protect player preference is active), and common menu options, as follows:

Play <Card>

Preferences

Music Status (View Menu)

Explain Options (Assist Menu)

Suggest Hint (Assist Menu)

Undo (Player Menu)

Add/Switch Player (Player Menu)

Change Skill (Preferences/Opponent)  This change is only applied for the current session.

Round Scores (View Menu)

Game Scores (View Menu)

Help (Help Menu - Contents)

Exit (Game Menu)


Online Play

Pinochle & Bezique supports the ability for two human opponents to play against each other via the Internet or a LAN using TCP/IP protocols.

The user interaction for online play is exactly the same as it is for local human vs. computer play.  Each time that you play your turn, coded details of it are transmitted to the online opponent and you will then be waiting for the opponent's response.  When the opponent plays their turn, the actions are transmitted to your computer and displayed upon your screen exactly as they would be in human vs. machine play.  With the exception of a longer delay waiting for the opponent to play, you will experience no difference compared with local human vs. computer play.

Connections between opponents may be made by private arrangement as a direct online session, or by connecting to the public MeggieSoft Games Online Forum to locate a waiting opponent ("Find A Partner").

For either connection method, one person will first establish themself as the "host" and remain in a waiting state (with the "watch" button flashing in the status bar) until the other person (as the "guest") makes the connection to the host.

For online play to be sucessful, certain deal, rule and scoring preferences must be adopted in common.  For example, if one player had a certain rule enabled and the other did not, it would be impossible for them to play against each other.  The Preference Alignment menu option ensures that each player is able to define these key preferences for online play, and is able to negotiate with a prospective online opponent who has different online preference alignment settings.

The MeggieSoft Games online technology incorporates a chat window which either player can invoke at any time if they wish to communicate with the other.

Select a topic:

The Host and The Guest

Direct Online Session

Forum Pairing

Online Preference Agreement

Establishing A Private Forum

The following help topics are also relevant to online play:

Online Menu

Online Preferences

Online Play Protocol (for the technically curious)


The Host and The Guest

For a successful connection, one party must first be established as waiting as the "Host", and the other then connects to them as the "Guest".

The Telephone Analogy

When you make a regular telephone call, one person needs to be waiting near a phone, and the other needs to dial the correct number in order to make the connection.

If there is no-one waiting near the telephone being called, the caller will receive the ringing tone until they decide to give up.  If the caller calls the wrong number, they will not connect to the required person (if they indeed connect to any person).  If the caller calls when the other person is already making a call, they will receive a busy signal.  (if each calls the other simultaneously, they will each receive the busy signal.)

MeggieSoft Games Online Connection

The online connection process is very similar to the telephone analogy.  In this case, the caller is termed the "Guest" and the person being called is termed the "Host".

Being the Host:

First the Host must establish themselves as waiting to receive the connection.  (Otherwise, the caller will be calling someone that is not there.)  This is done as either selecting the Direct Host option under the Online menu (if you are expecting a specific caller), or by using the "Find A Partner" facility and selecting "Be A Host" (if you do not mind who calls you).

After the Host has established themselves as waiting, the Guest may now initiate connection to the Host.  If the Host has not completed the "waiting process" or has withdrawn from the waiting state, they will not see a flashing "wristwatch" symbol in the status bar - in which case they are not waiting as a Host, and therefore no Guest will be able to connect to them.

Being the Guest:

If the Host used the Direct Host method, the Guest must use the Direct Guest method specifying the exact IP address and port number of the Host.  (The IP address and port number is akin to a telephone number and extension number - if either is in error, the expected connection to the Host will fail).

If the Guest chooses to connect to anyone who might be waiting as a Host in the Find-A-Partner forum, they do so by selecting the name of the Host and pressing the "Connect" button.  (The IP address and Port number of the Host are stored in the forum and are not required to be specified by the Guest).

If the Guest attempts to connect to someone who is not (or no longer) waiting as a Host, no connection will be made.

Reasons For Failure To Connect:

•	Each person waits as the Host.  (Analogy: two people waiting to receive a call, but neither is making the call.)

•	Each person attempts to connect as a Guest.  (Analogy:  two people telephoning each other simultaneously, neither is able to receive the other's call.)

•	The Guest attempts to connect to a party who is not waiting as a Host.  (Analogy: There is no-one there to receive the call.)

•	The Guest specifies an incorrect IP address and/or port number.  (Analogy: Wrong number, or no such number.)

•	A firewall setting is preventing communication.  (Analogy: Call Blocking.)


Direct Online Session

A direct session is a private one that has already been agreed between you and your opponent.  One of you will be the host, the other the guest.

Whoever is the host will run Pinochle & Bezique, make or ensure connection to the Internet or LAN, and select "Direct Host" from the Online Menu.  The host will, if necessary, make a note of the host IP address and port number shown in the confirmation dialog box before clicking on "OK".

Unless the host has a fixed IP address which is already known to the guest, the host will need to communicate the host IP address and port number to the guest.  This might be via local oral conversation, a phone call, an online instant chat facility, or email.

The guest will then run Pinochle & Bezique, make a network connection if necessary, and select "Direct Guest" from the Online Menu.  To complete the connection, the guest will enter the host's IP address and port number and click on "Connect".

The host must remain in Pinochle & Bezique while waiting for the guest to connect,  but can continue to play in local (human vs. computer) mode until the connection is made.   During the waiting period, a flashing watch will be displayed in the status bar to remind you that you are awaiting a guest connection; you may click on this to stop the waiting process (i.e., to disestablish yourself as a waiting host).

You will be immediately informed when connection occurs. At this point your local game status will be remembered, and will be recovered automatically at the end of your online session.

The alternative to establishing a private session is to take advantage of Forum Pairing, the MeggieSoft Games publicly available player matching facility.


Forum Pairing

Forum Pairing is the alternative to establishing a direct online session.

Forum pairing supports the situation where a user wishes to play an online game, but does not have a prearranged opponent.  In this situation, a central forum server facilitates the pairing of hosts and guests.

Find A Partner

To participate in a forum-arranged game, select the "Find A Partner" option of the "Online Menu".  You will then be connected to the MeggieSoft Games forum server.

The process of finding available hosts takes approximately 15 seconds, after which a list of available playing partners will be displayed.  Click on the name of the player you wish to play against, and then click on the connect button.

Be A Host

If no waiting hosts are available, you may register yourself as an available host by clicking the "Be A Host" button.   Your connection details will then be recorded in the forum as an available host for the next person seeking a forum pairing to find.   The host list will be redisplayed with your entry in gray as confirmation.

After confirming the registration, you must remain in Pinochle & Bezique while waiting for your partner to identify and connect with you, but you can continue to play in local (human vs. computer) mode until the connection is made.   During the waiting period, a flashing watch icon will be displayed in the status bar to remind you that you are awaiting a guest connection; you may click on this to stop the waiting process (i.e., to disconnect yourself as a waiting host).

You will be immediately informed when connection occurs, which might even before you have confirmed your registration.  At this point your local game status will be remembered, and will be recovered automatically at the end of your online session.

If you exit Pinochle & Bezique before an opponent makes contact, your status as a waiting host in the forum will be removed.  You may "Be A Host" again when you next go to "Find A Partner".


Online Preference Agreement

For the successful operation of online play between two players, a number of the Pinochle & Bezique deal, rule, and scoring preferences must be in alignment between the two players.  The preferences involved may be reviewed by clicking on the Preference Alignment item under the Online Menu.

The first stage of a guest connection to a waiting host is the exchange of these preference settings.  This occurs automatically and invisibly.  If the players' settings are found to be the same, the connection process continues.  When the game starts, the online preference overrides will be applied to each player's normal (offline) preferences.

If the online preferences are different, the guest will be informed of the specific differences first.  If you are the guest, you then have four alternatives:

Disconnect: You are not interested and wish to withdraw the connection.

Adjust: You intend to issue a counter proposal, but wish to adjust your default alignment preferences before countering.  A preference alignment adjustment window will be displayed with differences between your preferences and the host's preferences highlighted.  You may check and uncheck preferences before returning to the notification window.  (Any changes made will apply only to this connection.)

Counter: You reject the host's preferences and are countering with your own proposed alignment (which may have been adjusted from your alignment defaults, as described above).  If your counter proposal is accepted, your preference alignment settings will be adopted by both players.

Accept: You accept the host's preferences. The host's preference alignment settings will be adopted by both players.

If the guest counters, the host will be informed of the specifics, and requested to accept or decline the connection contingent upon the guest's preference alignment settings being adopted by both players.

If the host declines, the guest will be informed of this and the connection process is terminated.  As there is only one opportunity to counter per connection attempt, the guest is best advised to accept the host's conditions if they are acceptable, or minimize the differences in the counter proposal so that the host is more likely to find the counter proposal acceptable.

After the preference alignment is agreed, the online game proceeds with the corresponding overrides applied to each player's normal (offline) preferences.


Establishing A Private Forum

This section is provided for advanced users who wish to establish a private online forum.  Please read all content carefully before acting upon it.

What is a forum?

A forum in the context of MeggieSoft Games is merely a central file area where users can create and access tagfiles as a means to connect with each other.

What is a tagfile?

A tagfile is a very small file with a filename constructed from data which includes the host user name, their IP address and the port number  being monitored.

•	When a user selects "Find A Partner", the designated forum is accessed and the user names associated with the tagfiles are listed.

•	When a user elects to "Be A Host", a new tag file is created.

•	When a user connects to a waiting host, the extension of the tagfile is changed until the connection is accepted.  If the host accepts, the tagfile is deleted.  If the host declines, the tagfile is renamed back to its original extension.

•	When a host user disconnects from the forum without accepting a connection, the tagfile is deleted.

•	If a connection is attempted to a host to which a connection cannot be made, the tagfile is deleted.

Thus tagfiles provide a simple, self-cleaning, method of connecting parties together.

What is a Private Forum?

By default, users seeking online partners will access the central MeggieSoft Games online forum.   An alternative to this forum may be created by anyone who wishes to provide a closed forum for members of an association, a company, or any other grouping.  All that is required is a central file area provided by the person establishing the private forum.   Once this is ready, other users in the group can specify the address of the private forum and select the "use private forum"  checkbox in their Online Preferences.

What is the format of the address?

Private forums may be established as a directory (filefolder) on a file server or an internet (ftp) server.

•	If a fileserver is used, the address is simply the full directory name, such as:

"k:\myfiles\meggieserver".

It is the responsibility of the user group to ensure that any required login/password access and file write permission requirements are catered for locally.  The MeggieSoft Games will merely open and use this directory.

•	If an ftp server is used, the address must be of the form ftp.<site>/<dirpath>:login:pword, such as:

"ftp.mysite.com/games/forum:onplay:letmein".

Be sure that you are comfortable with the server area being accessible by login and password without compromising security to other areas of the ftp site.

Anything else?

•	The server must be able to accommodate reasonably long file names (40-50 characters, typically) as these will include the user name, IP address, port number, plus some delimiting characters.

•	Test the forum access yourself, perhaps with one other user, before declaring the forum open

•	Check the forum area for debris from time to time.  The MeggieSoft Games forum management technology is designed to be self-cleaning but, as with any generally accessible file area, other content may become deposited there.

•	MeggieSoft Games does not provide support to users who have problems accessing private forums.  Be sure that your user group knows who to contact if they need access support.


Online Update

The MeggieSoft Games Online Update feature connects to the MeggieSoft Games website to determine what updates and additional features are available for you to download and install.  By using this capability  from time to time, you will be able to keep fully up-to-date with the latest releases.

The process is comprised of three steps:

•	Connecting to the MeggieSoft Games website

•	Downloading the updates and features you select

•	Managing the process of installing the updates.

Select a topic:

The Connection Process

The Retrieve Process

The Installation Process

Downloaded File Store


The Connection Process

If you are not already connected to the Internet, you will need to press the "Connect" button.  This will use your default internet connection method (as defined in your Internet Settings) to connect to the MeggieSoft Games website.  If you use a proxy server, this will need to be defined in your Internet Settings (via the Windows Control Panel).

After the connection has been made, or if you were already connected when the Update Manager started, you will need to press the "Start" button.  This retrieves the details and file sizes of the latest files available at the website and displays this information.  The display indicates the latest version and build numbers available alongside the version you currently have installed (if this is known to the Online Update Manager).  A checkbox is placed beside any file that you may wish to download and install.  These may be updated versions, or additional files which you are entitled to install but have not yet done so.

If the Update Manager itself has been updated since the version you are using, its own update will take priority and you will be informed of this.  After the new installer module and Update Manager have been downloaded, the Update Manager will exit and will be restarted with the updated version.

With respect to speech systems, the default speech system will be Microsoft Text-To-Speech v5 unless you are running Windows 95, in which case Microsoft Text-To-Speech v4 will be the default.  If you wish to use another supported speech system (in addition to, or instead of, the default), you will need to download and install it from the MeggieSoft Games website.   If you select Text-To-Speech v5 for installation then the MSI file installer will be required if you are using Windows 98 or NT4 and msiexec.exe is not already found to be on your system.  This will be automatically downloaded and installed if it is required.  (Note that msiexec.exe is a standard part of Windows Me/XP/2000.)

After you have reviewed the information, click on the check boxes of those items that you wish to install.  Then press the "Retrieve" button to start the retrieve process step.


The Retrieve Process

The retrieve process downloads the selected files from the MeggieSoft Games website.

As the selected files are downloaded a progress indicator will be displayed.  If more that one file is to be downloaded, you may press the "Skip" button to abandon that file and move to the next.  Alternatively, you may press the "Stop" button to abandon the entire retrieve function (skipping the downloads of all remaining selected files).  You may then alter your selections before restarting the retrieving function, or you may exit the program.

Occasionally, MeggieSoft Games releases a major update which requires that a full base installation be performed instead of a simple update.  The Online Update will detect this condition automatically by comparing your currently installed version with the latest version.  If a full installation update is required, you will notice a much larger file size for the first game listed.

When the retrieval process has completed, you will be presented with the "Install" button.  Press this to start the installation process step.


The Installation Process

The installation process runs each of the selected installation files in turn.

If one of the MeggieSoft Games to be updated is running, it will need to be exited before the new version is installed.  You may do this yourself when prompted, otherwise the Online Update process will terminate it for you.


Downloaded File Store

Files downloaded by the online update process are placed in the "downloads" subfolder of your MeggieSoft Games filefolder - i.e., the filefolder which you specified when installing MeggieSoft Games programs.

The names given to the files in the download file store are based upon what they contain and the version/build numbers.  The higher the number, the later the version.

The prefix to the version/build number is a program code, as follows:

For the games:

•	The first two characters of the program code are "cn", "cb", "eu", "gw", "gr", "pn", "pq" and "r5" for Canasta, Cribbage, Euchre & Écarté, German Whist, Gin Rummy, Pinochle & Bezique, Piquet, and Rummy 500, respectively.

•	The third character is "f" for full installation, "u" for update installation" and "b" for beta version

•	The numeric part is the build number

Thus pnu16001.exe is an update installation for version 16.0 of Pinochle & Bezique.

For other files, the three character codes for these files:

•	upd (Online Update prior to version 3)

•	plp (Plus Pack),

•	wsp (WinSpeech)

•	t4s (Text-To-Speech v4.0)

•	t5s (Text-To-Speech v5.1)

•	mmv (Mike and Mary Voices)

•	msi (MSI file installer)

You may delete these files unless you wish to keep them for reinstallation later.  You may review and delete any existing files in your downloaded file store via the "Manage Old Install Files" selection in the Admin Menu.  Note that this selection will not be displayed if you have no downloaded files stored.


Useful Things To Know

The MeggieSoft Games share a number of features to facilitate operational ease and playing realism.  A number of the most popular of these are presented in the following sections:

Assistance and Information

Starting and Resuming

Mouse and Mousepointers

Realism and Sound Effects

Visual Customization


Assistance and Information

Each of the MeggieSoft Games includes a wealth of facilities to help you understand and play the game.  These include:

Query button:  To the left of the center of the status bar, clicking on this button will informs you of what you should be doing next.  This is equivalent to selecting "Explain" under the Assist Menu.

Lightbulb button: Next to the query button, clicking on this button will result in an examination of your cards with a specific recommendation, i.e., hint,  of what the computer opponent (master level) would do in this situation.  This is equivalent to selecting "Suggest" under the Assist Menu.

Status Bar Displays:  Helpful information regarding the state of play and (depending on the game and selected preferences) the state of your hand.

Tutorial: The tutorial feature is started from the Assist Menu.  This will walk-you through as many turns, rounds or games as you wish while providing a visual commentary of what is happening at each step.  Your current game in progress will be suspended for the tutorial and resumed when you conclude the tutorial.

AutoStep: The AutoStep feature is started from the Player Menu.  This operation permits you to step through the playing of the game with the computer opponent playing your cards for you.  when you stop the AutoStep operation, you may resume playing yourself, either from the current state of play, or from where you were before invoking AutoStep.

Help: The MeggieSoft Games provide in-depth help documentation regarding how to play the game and how to get the best from the user-interface.  The text you are reading is part of the help file.

User Guide:  The contents of the help file are also included in a printable User Guide in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.  You will need the free Acrobat reader in order to read and print this User guide.

Analysis and Review: Additional facilities under the Assist and View Menus permit you to review, deduce, and/or analyze various aspects of the play and card distribution of the current round.


Starting and Resuming

When you first start Pinochle & Bezique, you start with the player name "Player" at Round 1 of Game 1, with the "Start" button showing in the status bar.   When you exit, a record is retained of the games and rounds completed.  When you next start Pinochle & Bezique you will, by default, start at the beginning of the round following the last one completed.  Thus if you exit halfway through round five, you will be at the beginning of round five when you next start Pinochle & Bezique.

There are numerous menu option and preference facilities which are available to alter this default behavior.  These include:

Player Names: If you don't want to be called "Player", select "Change Players" from the Player Menu and use the "Add" facility to add a player name of your own.   You may then switch to your new player name and, if you wish. remove the record of "Player", again via the "Change Players" menu item.  If you have more than one player name defined, see the note regarding multiple players (below).

Start Button: If you select  "AutoStart - Dealing" from the Operational Preferences, the start button will be bypassed and dealing will commence immediately.

Multiple Players: If you have defined more than one player name (perhaps for different family members), you will be asked to choose which player each time that you start Pinochle & Bezique.  however, you may bypass this by selecting "AutoResume" from the Operational Preferences.  When selected, Pinochle & Bezique will always start for the player who last exited Pinochle & Bezique.

Restore Game In Progress:  If you want to start each session from exactly where you left off the previous one (that is part way through a round), select "Autostart - Restore" from the Operational Preferences.

Replaying Games or Rounds: You may select "Replay Game" or "Replay Round" from the Game Menu.  Note that these are strict replays - the cards will be dealt as before.  If you wish to restart the current game with a fresh shuffle, select "Restart Fresh Game".


Mouse and Mousepointers

The Meggiesoft Games support both "Drag and Drop" and "Point and Click" methods of operation.  There is no preference setting required; you can use either method at any time.

With the drag-and-drop mode, the special mousepointer icons change to provide a visual reminder of where you can drop what is being dragged.  You may suppress these mousepointers and use the regular Windows mousepointer icons if you wish.  This is done via the Animation Preferences.

All point-and-click operations are effected via single mouse-clicks.  With the exception of the AutoMeld facility (see Using The Mouse), double-clicking has no effect and, even though every effort is made to ignore the second click, may in rare circumstances cause an operational error.  You will receive an advisory message if you are double-clicking frequently.

The "AutoMouse" features may be enabled via the Operational Preferences.  When selected, these move the mousepointer automatically to where you are most likely to next need it.


Realism and Sound Effects

MeggieSoft Games has invested considerable effort in developing the level of realism included in the game playing experience.  However, we are very aware that such a feature to one person is a gimmick to another, so all of these effects are selectable and deselectable as personal preferences:

Rounded Card Corners:  The majority of computer card games have rectangular cards, or moderately approximated corner rounding.  The MeggieSoft Games include proprietary "True Corners" technology which correctly displays cards with rounded corners on every background (even your own custom image files).  This preference is set via the Card Preferences.

Animated Card Movement:  This effect refers to the display of a card moving across the display as it is moved from one place to another.  It may be enabled or disabled via the Animation Preferences.  When disabled, cards merely disappear from their start position and appear at their end position.

Animated Card Turning: This effect is additional to animated card movement and refers to the additional display of a card rotating as it is moved from a face up position to a face down position (or vice versa).  It may be enabled or disabled via the Animation Preferences.  When disabled, cards instantaneously flip when they reach their end position.

Card Interleaving: This effect refers to the sliding of cards in and out of the player's hand between the adjacent cards.   For even more realistic effects, the TrueSlide Animation Preference may be selected.  Because the card interleaving effect is somewhat processor and graphics intensive, it may be disabled via the Animation Preferences.  For more information, see the Card Interleaving section.

Sound Effects:

The sounds effects, including those of shuffling and cards being placed, may be suppressed (or changed to a wav file of your choosing) via the Sound Preferences.


Visual Customization

The MeggieSoft Games provide a wide variety of customization options so that you may enjoy playing them in an environment that you find personally pleasing to the eye.

Table Effect: If you wish, you may enable/disable the use of a "wallpaper" image for the table display (the outer area).  If enabled, you may select an image effect supplied by MeggieSoft Games or select any image file (bmp, wmf, or jpg) from within your own computer files.

Mat Effect: If you wish, you may enable/disable the use of a "wallpaper" image for the mat display (the inner area).  If enabled, you may select an image effect supplied by MeggieSoft Games or select any image file (bmp, wmf, or jpg) from within your own computer files.  The table and mat effects may be enabled/disabled via Screen Preferences.

Card Back: If you wish, you may enable/disable the use of a graphic image for the card backs as an alternative to the six built-in designs.  This is achieved via the Card Back Preferences.  You may select an image effect supplied by MeggieSoft Games or select any image file (bmp, wmf, or jpg) from within your own computer files - a photograph of a loved one, perhaps.

Colors: The colors for various parts of the display, including the table and mat if wallpapering is disabled, may be changed and defined via the Color Preferences.

Font: The font used for the scoresheet and the status bar may be changed via Screen Preferences.

Game Score Position:  You may display the game totals in any one of four positions (main title bar, on the table, on the scoresheet, in the status bar) via the Screen Preferences.

Display Size: You may alter the display window size to your liking, or maximize it to fill your screen.  This is achieved either by selecting on of the preset sizes under Screen Preferences, or by dragging the bottom or side of the window (per normal Microsoft Windows practices).  If the MeggieSoft Games mousepointers are operative, you will not see the normal Windows resizing mousepointer icon, but the operation will work without problem if the mouse is positioned at the edge of the window.  If you have installed the Plus Pack, there will be three additional card sizes (one smaller and two larger) in addition to the standard size for you to select according to your window size.  These are selected via the Card Preferences.


Miscellaneous Topics

The following topics are included to help you learn more about Pinochle & Bezique, and enhance your enjoyment of the game:

Silent Startup

Automatic MAPI Email Creation

About The Opponent

Skill Levels

Online Play Protocol

How To...

Saved Information

Increasing Performance

Version 14.4 Dix Operation Changes

Troubleshooting

Diagnostic Dump Files

Technical Construction

Third Party Components


Silent Startup

If you use Pinochle & Bezique extensively, you may choose to have it startup as a background (sleeping) process when Windows starts.

To do this, you need to add a shortcut to your Windows Startup folder with the following target:

"C:\Program Files\MeggieSoft Games\Pinochle.exe" \S

(you will need to alter the path accordingly if you installed Pinochle & Bezique to a different installation filefolder than "C:\Program Files\MeggieSoft Games\".)

During Windows startup, you will then see the Pinochle & Bezique splash screen as Pinochle & Bezique loads, and then Pinochle & Bezique will sleep as an icon in your Windows taskbar tray.  When you want to play Pinochle & Bezique, you may then merely click on the tray icon.  Pinochle & Bezique will appear instantly.

If you startup using this method, you should also select the "On Exit:Sleep As Tray Icon" setting in the Operational Preferences so that Pinochle & Bezique will return to sleeping in the tray when you exit it.  (If you do not do this, Pinochle & Bezique will exit completely and will undergo a fresh start when you next run it.)


Automation MAPI Email Creation

Pinochle & Bezique includes the ability to invoke MAPI-compliant email clients automatically.

If you use such a client (popular examples include: Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, AOL version 7.0 and later), selection of the "Email MeggieSoft Games" facility under the Help menu, or the "Create Diagnostic File" facility under the Admin menu, should result in your email client's "compose" window being opened with the Meggiesoft Games email address already included.  For the "Create Diagnostic File" facility, the diagnostic file will automatically be attached.

In the case of an unexpected program failure, the email client will be invoked in a similar manner and will also include the detail of the failure as the message text.

If you do not use a MAPI-compliant email client (for example, if you manage your emailings online through your internet browser), or if the automatic MAPI link  does not work for any reason, you will need create and send the email by hand, following the alternative instructions that will be displayed.


About The Opponent

The opponent plays automatically after you have taken a card, after the opponent has taken a trick, or when it is the opponent's turn to start a round.

The opponent skill level may be set at any of six levels from the "Skill Level" option under Opponent Preferences.

When the opponent takes a new card from the stock, it will briefly highlight the stock as confirmation.

The opponent also pauses briefly (about two fifths of a second) after taking a card and between each of multiple melds so that the actions of its turn can be clearly viewed.

If desired, the highlighting features and the pause can be turned off via Opponent Preferences.


Skill Levels

Six skill levels are available, in ascending order of difficulty from Carefree to Master.  The three higher levels are the most time consuming of the skill levels, and may be frustrating on a slow processor.  However, they make for the most challenging game and are relatively hard to beat.

When rounds and games are recorded on the scoreboard, the skill level of the opponent is also saved.  If the opponent skill level is changed during a round or game, then the skill level recorded is the highest that was used during the round or game.

Note that the Carefree level very rarely wins because it never melds.


Online Play Protocol

This information is provided for users who have some knowledge of online communications protocols and who are interested to learn something about the protocol used within the MeggieSoft Games to manage online play between two computers.

The underlying transport protocol is IP managed by the "msinet.ocx" ActiveX control.

Once communication has been established, the MeggieSoft Games protocol is applied on top of the IP transport protocol, and the "Play Sequence" super protocol is applied on top of the MeggieSoft Games protocol.  The current level of the MeggieSoft Games is Level 4.  If the connecting users are using different versions of the protocol, the level employed is the lower of the two levels.  (If the level employed is lower than Level 4, many of the following features will not be applied.)

Protocol Level 4 operates as follows:

Packet Basics

•	The primary packet types are termed "data", "receipt" and "confirmation".

•	A "play" packet is a data packet which contains the details of a player's turn (card play), or which contains control data indicating readiness to receive the next play packet.

•	Outbound data packets are sequence numbered in a cycle of 1-9.

•	Each data packet received is acknowledged by the return of a corresponding receipt packet .

•	Each receipt packet received is acknowledged by the return of a corresponding confirmation packet.

Duplicate Packets

•	All duplicate packets are ignored upon receipt; only the first accepted is processed.  Prolific packet duplication is a standard feature of Protocol Level 4 in order to compensate for the receiver not receiving a packet, or ignoring the receipt of a packet if it is otherwise busy or if the packet arrives out of sequence.

Partial Packets

•	If a partial packet is received, it is not processed until the remainder arrives.  (This compensates for the possibility of packets arriving in pieces due to network pathing conditions.)

Ignored Packets

•	Receipt and confirmation packets are ignored if they do not carry the same packet number as the corresponding data packet.

•	A data packet is ignored if it does not carry the next expected packet sequence number.  (This compensates for the possibility of packets arriving out of order due to network pathing conditions.)

•	The games do not transmit or accept new data packets while awaiting a receipt or confirmation packet, or if actively operating upon the last data packet received.

•	Any data packets that are received when the game is not accepting new data are ignored.  (However, if a data packet arrives with the next packet number following that of an expected confirmation packet, it is accepted as a confirmation packet before it is ignored.  This compensates for the possibility of a lost confirmation packet.)

Packet Retransmission

•	While awaiting a receipt packet, the data packet transmitter will repeat sending the data packet until the receipt packet is received. This compensates for the packet being ignored (see above) or lost in transit.

•	While awaiting a confirmation packet, the receipt packet transmitter will repeat sending the receipt packet until the confirmation packet is received. This compensates for the receipt being ignored (see above) or lost in transit.

•	In order not to overload the recipient's capacity to accept retransmission, Protocol Level 4 continuously monitors the round-trip time (data sent - receipt accepted) of the connection and the repeat transmissions of a packet are timed accordingly.   Retransmission will occur for sixty seconds, after which time the link will be dropped as non-responsive.  (Note that this is not sixty seconds of user inactivity, but sixty seconds of not obtaining the required protocol communication feedback to a data packet or receipt packet.)

Play Sequence Super-Protocol

The super protocol protects against any possibility of a communication gridlock due to play packet collision (each sends a play packet simultaneously) or premature play transmission (one sends a second play packet before the other has fully processed the previous play packet).

•	When one side is ready to accept the other's card play (i.e., it is "waiting for opponent"), it sends a "positive" play control packet indicating that it is ready.

•	The other then sends its play detail packet when the player completes their turn.  When it receives the receipt for this packet, it temporarily suspends all further outbound data packet transmission.

•	The recipient of the play detail packet will then send a second "negative" play control packet (indicating that the recipient has started processing the play packet, and will not accept another play packet until it indicates that it is ready to do so).

•	When it receives the "negative" play  control packet, the sender of the play packet will remove its suspension on outbound transmissions.  However, it will not transmit another play packet until it receives a "positive" play control packet indicating that the other party is ready to accept a play packet ("waiting for opponent").

The testing for Protocol Level 4 is performed on a connection with a very fast round trip time (less than 2 milliseconds on average) for a non-stop series of over 500 online games without failure.  The testing procedure uses AutoPilot on each side, so that the user responses when taking a turn are significantly faster than under human player conditions.  Moreover, in test mode, each side completely ignores 7% of inbound packets in order to simulate a high-level of corruption or loss in transit.


How To ...

How to save personal preferences

All options changed via preference settings are saved when the "Save Preferences" option at the bottom of the Preferences window is checked.

How to recover a reset scoreboard

Scoreboards are only permanently saved when you select "Save Scoreboard", or when you  respond "Yes" when exiting Pinochle & Bezique or changing players.  If you have reset your scoreboard and would have preferred no to have done so, just exit Pinochle & Bezique and respond "No" to the prompt "Save updated scoreboard...?"  When you restart Pinochle & Bezique, your previous scoreboard will be active.

How to start Pinochle & Bezique for a specific player

Pinochle & Bezique versions 8.2 and later support Windows file associations.  If you know how to associate a file extension with a program, you may associate the extension "psb" (scoreboard files) with "pinochle.exe".   You may then create a shortcut for each player's psb file and have Pinochle & Bezique start automatically for that player.  You might put these shortcuts on the desktop.


Saved Information

Registration and preference information is saved between Pinochle & Bezique sessions in the Registry.

Registration

If you are a registered user, your name and encoded registration are stored.

AutoResume

When AutoResume is active, the name of the last player is maintained.  Thus AutoResume always recovers the state that it was when the previous session exited.

Personal Preferences

The preference settings for each player are saved separately.  For example, Jane's options will be saved in the section named "Jane".

Personal Scoreboards

Each player's scoreboard is saved in the Pinochle & Bezique directory as xxxxxx.psb, where xxxxxx is the player's name.  Pinochle & Bezique considers a player to be currently defined by whether a scoreboard file exists for the player, irrespective of whether options are saved for that player.  An empty scoreboard file is created for a player when their name is added via the "Add Player" menu option.  If AutoRestore is enabled, the state of the game in progress is saved as xxxxxx.psk.

To clear the scoreboard completely, use the "Reset Scoreboard" option of the Player Menu.


Increasing Performance

Pinochle & Bezique includes Preference options that are intensive of graphics processing.   You should select these if you want more realism, but deselect them if graphics performance suffers unacceptably.  These options are:

•	True Corners

•	Card Dragging

•	"Place Card" Sound Effect.

•	Animation

•	Table Effect and Mat Effect

•	Tinting of Melds

•	Staggered Hand

If the speed of the deal is the only aspect that you find frustrating, consider using the "Quick Deal" or "Quiet Deal" under Dealing Preferences.   Also, consider selecting the "Quick Display" option under Opponent Preferences if the opponent is too slow for your liking.  This will remove the 0.4 second delay between the opponent's actions.  Selecting the respective "No Highlight" options under Opponent Preferences will inhibit discard and stock highlighting and the associated 0.2 second delay.


Version 14.4 Dix Operation Changes

Changes were made in version 14.4 which alter the operation of Dix melds.  These changes were made not only to accommodate the addition of Bezique, but also because the previous versions of Pinochle by MeggieSoft Games were found to not adhere to the majority of rule sources.

The changes made in Version 14.4 are as follows:

An "Exchanged" Dix meld may not be performed in the same turn as another meld.

•	Previously: You could exchange a Dix and meld another meld in the same turn, unless the "Dix Alone" rule preference was selected.

•	Now:  You may not  exchange a Dix and meld another meld in the same turn

•	If you preferred the previous behavior: Select the new "Multi-Meld Dix" rule preference.

An non-exchanged Dix is not required to be melded.

•	Previously: the second Dix (which is not being exchanged with the upturned stock trump card) was required to be melded.

•	Now:  The ten points will be scored whenever the Dix is played to a trick in phase one.  If you should wish to declare the Dix ahead of playing it, you may do so by melding it  as a single card meld.

•	If you preferred the previous behavior: Select the new "All Dices Must Be Melded" rule preference.

The above changes establish compliance of the operation of Pinochle & Bezique in accordance with the majority of documented rule sources.


Troubleshooting

Most problems encountered are a result of one of the following:

•	Graphics driver conflict, usually manifested by the system freezing or by the display of white cards.  Check that you have the latest drivers from your graphics card manufacturer.  Otherwise configure your system to use a graphics setting with fewer colors (256 or 16), reduce the intensity of acceleration effects (via the System Control Panel), or disable Table Effect and Mat Effect, Animation, and perhaps Custom Cardback, if you have these selected.

•	Corrupt scoreboard file.  Under the "Change Players" option of the Game Menu, remove the player for whom the problem occurs and re-add.  Alternatively, exit Pinochle & Bezique and delete the corresponding xxxxxx.psb and xxxxxx.pbk files from the directory where Pinochle & Bezique resides and then re-add the player from within Pinochle & Bezique.

If all else fails, delete the directory where  Pinochle & Bezique resides, and reinstall. If the problem persists, you may need to create a diagnostic dump file for analysis by MeggieSoft Games.


Diagnostic Dump Files

Occasionally there is a fault with Pinochle & Bezique, or its interaction with a particular system configuration, which requires in-depth analysis to resolve.

If you report such a problem to MeggieSoft Games, you may be requested to provide this file, which contains all the preference and other data required to exactly replicate your playing conditions.

In order to create such a file, select the Create Diagnostic File option under the Admin menu.  The file will be created with the name "pindiag.txt" and will be found in your MeggieSoft Games filefolder (default is C:\Program Files\MeggieSoft Games).  Please then send the file as an email attachment in your reply to MeggieSoft Games.

A similar file is generally created when Pinochle & Bezique is terminated abruptly by the system (e.g., via the Windows Task Manager or a reboot)..  In this case the file name is msgdump.txt.  Again, MeggieSoft Games will need to receive this file in order to swiftly examine and resolve any problems.


Technical Construction

Pinochle & Bezique is programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic, Version 6.

Pinochle & Bezique works from a bitmap of all the card images and makes extensive use of the Windows API BitBlt function.  Because of this, Pinochle & Bezique is fast, but consumes some RAM and GDI resources.  Alternative methods of managing the user interface proved to be more processor intensive and less conducive to fluid play.  The trade-off was made for performance at the cost of resource consumption.


Third Party Components

Although Pinochle & Bezique does not use a dll for card drawing (for performance reasons), Stephen Murphy's excellent freeware "qcard.dll" was used to create the bitmaps which  Pinochle & Bezique uses.  The card back designs included in qcard.dll were created by Daniel Di Bacco.  Acknowledgments are extended to each of them.

The  Pinochle & Bezique help system was created using Firas Bushnaq's powerful "Visual Help".

Visual Help is a shareware product licensed by the author.

The "Speak-To-Me" feature uses PC WholeWare's WinSpeech technology, which has been licensed by MeggieSoft Games for use with  Pinochle & Bezique.