Pedro (card game)

Pedro is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family based on auction pitch. Its most popular variant is known as cinch, double Pedro or high five which was developed in Denver, Colorado, around 1885^[1] and soon regarded as the most important American member of the all fours family. Although it went out of fashion with the rise of auction bridge,^[2] it is still widely played on the western coast of the United States and in its southern states, being the dominant game in South Louisiana. Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Niobe NY, Italy, and Finland.^[3] The game is primarily played by four players in fixed partnerships,^[3] but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.^[4][5]

Pedro uses a regular pack of 52 cards, but some variants add a joker called the Dom, hence the name Dom Pedro. The game is much simpler than pitch, in that all points are awarded to the winners of the tricks containing certain specific cards. This includes the game point, which goes to the winner of the trump ten. The winner of the Pedro (five of trumps) receives 5 points. In cinch or Double Pedro the same holds for the Left Pedro (off-five), which counts as a trump. The practice of making sure to win a trick that contains a high-scoring card is referred to as cinching.