| Origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Alternative names | Double Pedro, high five |
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Family | All fours |
| Players | 2×2 or 2–6 |
| Cards | 52 |
| Deck | French |
| Rank (high→low) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Related games | |
| Auction Pitch • Pedro | |
Cinch, also known as Double Pedro or High Five, is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family derived from Auction Pitch via Pedro.[1] Developed in Denver, Colorado in the 1880s,[2] it was soon regarded as the most important member of the all fours family in the USA, but went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge.[3] The game is primarily played by 4 players in fixed partnerships,[3][4] but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.[1][5]
The game uses a regular pack of 52 cards. As in Pedro, all points are awarded to the winners of the tricks containing certain cards rather than to the players who originally held them. This includes the Game point, which goes to the winner of the trump Ten. Five points each go the winner of the Right Pedro (Five of trumps) and Left Pedro (Off-Five), respectively. The game is played for, for example, 42 or 51 points,[1][5] of which up to 14 can be won in a single deal.
The name Cinch comes from a Mexican word that is applied to the practice of securing the tricks that contain a Left or Right Pedro, but it was once also common to refer to the Left Pedro as the Cinch.[1][5]