Pitch
Officially Pitch (American Auction Pitch)
American derivative of All Fours (19th century) — 4-player partnership trick-taking game with bidding for High, Low, Jack, Game points; dominates US Midwest + Appalachia recreational card play with dedicated tournament circuits.
What is Pitch?
Pitch (usually Auction Pitch, sometimes called Setback) is the dominant American descendant of English All Fours. Developed in the 19th-century US, Pitch adds a bidding phase to All Fours' 4-point trick-taking structure: players bid 1-4 points they expect to capture; highest bidder ('pitcher') leads first trick + names trump. Play 6 tricks; score is the 4 categories from All Fours (High, Low, Jack, Game). Bidder failing to make bid is 'set back' (loses bid amount) — hence 'Setback'. First team to 21 (or 11, or 7) points wins. 4-player partnership is standard; 2-3 player variants exist. Pitch is deeply embedded in US Midwest + Appalachia recreational culture — church groups, VFW halls, family reunions, and community centers host regular Pitch nights. National Pitch tournaments (Ozark Pitch Championship in Missouri, Great Lakes Pitch Tour) exist regionally. Amish + Mennonite variant 'Setback' remains popular alongside Rook.
Quick facts
Category
Card Games
Type
Individual
Players
2–4
Duration
~45 min
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇺🇸 United States
Estimated origin
Mid-19th century US (evolved from English All Fours); Auction Pitch codified late 1800s; peaked 1930s-1970s Midwest recreational play
Olympic
No
Popularity
regional
How it works
Objective
First partnership to reach target (21, 11, or 7 points) wins game.
Match structure
Deal 6 cards each → bid 1-4 → highest bidder ('pitcher') leads first trick + names trump → 6 tricks played → score 4 categories → repeat until target reached.
Rules
Basic rules
Deal 6 cards to each player
6 cards per player from standard 52-card deck.
Bidding phase (1, 2, 3, or 4 points)
Each player bids in turn: pass or bid 1-4 points expecting to capture. Highest bid wins; only 1 bidder per hand.
Pitcher leads first + names trump
Winning bidder ('pitcher') leads first trick; suit of that lead becomes trump for the hand.
6 tricks played
Standard trick-taking; must follow suit; highest trump/highest of led suit wins trick.
Score 4 categories
HIGH (highest trump played), LOW (lowest trump played, wins to team capturing it), JACK (Jack of trumps captured), GAME (highest pip count of scoring cards captured).
Meet bid = score all categories; fail = 'set back'
Bidder must capture ≥ bid amount of the 4 categories; failure = bid amount deducted from bidder team.
Advanced rules
'Smudge' bid (5 = 21 auto-win)
Some rulesets allow 5-point bid: winning all 4 + game = instant 21 pts + game win.
Partnership signaling
Bid values + trump choice signal hand strength to partner.
Setback variant scoring
Failed bid subtracts bid amount from cumulative team score (can go negative).
9-card variant (Pinochle-adjacent Pitch)
Some Northern US variants deal 9 cards per player with expanded scoring.
Rag & Bone rule (regional)
Missouri variant: special penalty for holding all trump but bidding low.
Scoring
4 categories per hand (max 4 points); meet bid to score; fail = -bid; first team to 21 wins.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| High (capture highest trump) | 1 |
| Low (winning team captures lowest trump) | 1 |
| Jack (capture Jack of trumps) | 1 |
| Game (higher pip count) | 1 |
| Bid met (all 4) | 4 pts to bidding team |
| Bid failed | -bid amount to bidding team |
| Smudge (5-bid all categories) | 5 pts (instant game win in some rulesets) |
Win condition · First partnership to reach 21 (or 11 or 7) points wins.
Equipment
Standard 52-card deck
Full deck; some variants use 32-card reduced deck (2s-6s removed).
Score pad
Track partnership scores across hands to target (21, 11, or 7).
Positions & roles
Partner (2 per team)
×2One team of 2 partners across from each other.
Officiating
Casual play self-refereed; regional tournaments have referees for disputes.
- Self-refereed (family + club + tournament)
Penalties & fouls
Penalties
Renege (failure to follow suit)
Hand loss + potential game penalty.
Cheat / misdeal
Redeal or opponent scoring bonus.
Strategies
Conservative bidding
Bid 2 pts safely (High + Jack likely) rather than aggressive 4-bid that risks setback.
Trump selection for maximum points
Trump where you have length + Jack + high cards; short trump = failed bid risk.
Play for all 4 categories
Meeting bid + winning all 4 categories = maximum 4 pt score; play for High + Low + Jack + Game together.
Partner signaling via bid + trump
Bid amount + trump suit signal hand strength; partner adjusts play accordingly.
Bidding defense
Force opponent to bid high (bluff-bid 1 pt) to make setback more likely.
Terminology
- Pitcher
- Winning bidder; leads first trick + names trump.
- Pitch
- The act of leading first trick as winning bidder.
- Trump
- Suit named by pitcher (usually suit of first-led card).
- Setback
- Failing to meet bid — bid amount deducted from team score.
- Smudge
- 5-point bid (some rulesets); instant game win if made.
- High / Low / Jack / Game
- The 4 scoring categories inherited from All Fours.
Major competitions
Ozark Pitch Championship
annual · Missouri · since 1980
Great Lakes Pitch Tour
annual · Michigan + Wisconsin + Minnesota · since 1995
Various Amish + Mennonite Pitch/Setback tournaments
annual (community) · Ohio + Indiana + Iowa + Pennsylvania Anabaptist communities · since 1950
State fair Pitch tournaments (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas)
annual (summer) · US Midwest · since 1900
Where it is played
Governing bodies
No dedicated Pitch governing body — regional community game
Founded 1850 · N/A
Ozark Pitch Championship (regional)
Founded 1980 · Missouri, USA
Famous names & records
Famous athletes
- Folk community game — no famous professional players
- Culturally dominant in US Midwest recreational play alongside Euchre + Cribbage
Records
Peak US Midwest popularity
Pitch — One of top-3 recreational card games in US Midwest 1930s-1970s alongside Euchre + Cribbage (1960)
Largest Pitch community
US Anabaptist communities (Amish + Mennonite) — Amish + Mennonite play Setback (Pitch variant) alongside Rook as primary recreational cards; hundreds of thousands of players (2024)
Learn this sport
beginner
- 1
Learn All Fours scoring first
High + Low + Jack + Game categories transfer directly to Pitch.
- 2
Play with US Midwest family or church group
Every Midwest town has active Pitch players; ask at community centers + VFW halls.
- 3
Start with conservative bids (1-2 pts)
Master low bids before attempting 3-4 pt bids that risk setback.
advanced
- 1
Compete in Ozark Pitch Championship or Great Lakes Tour
Regional tournaments provide competitive pipelines.
- 2
Learn regional variants (Setback, 9-card Pitch, Smudge)
Variant depth extends strategic options.
Frequently asked
Is Pitch the same as Setback?+
Setback is a specific variant of Auction Pitch where a failed bid subtracts from the team's cumulative score (can go negative). Standard Auction Pitch penalizes failed bid but scores can't go negative. Setback is common in Amish + Mennonite Anabaptist communities. Both are Pitch-family games with same core mechanics.
How is Pitch different from All Fours?+
Pitch is the American descendant of English All Fours (17th century). Pitch added bidding (1-4 pt contracts) whereas All Fours has no bidding (trump determined by turn-up + 'beg' option). Scoring categories are identical: High + Low + Jack + Game. Pitch dominates US Midwest + Appalachia; All Fours dominates Trinidad + Caribbean + Britain.
How popular is Pitch today?+
Very actively played across US Midwest + Appalachia + Anabaptist Christian communities (Amish + Mennonite Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania). Regional tournaments (Ozark Pitch, Great Lakes Tour) run annually. Estimated hundreds of thousands of active US players; culturally embedded alongside Euchre + Cribbage as core Midwest card games.
Sources & provenance
- Wikipedia — Pitch (card game)— Wikipedia
- Pagat.com — Pitch— Pagat