Chapter 40: Pinochle(Part-3)

Round 4

The fourth hand was dealt out as the friendly but intense rivalry between the three players continued to build. Sarah surveyed her new cards carefully, knowing she needed to start making a move to catch Jonathan's commanding lead. 

Her eyes narrowed as she identified a potentially powerful meld - the king and queen of hearts alongside the 9 of the same suit. If Hearts were selected as Trump, she could immediately score 20 points. Additionally, she had a decent spread of high card values to contest the tricks. Emboldened, Sarah opened the bidding with an aggressive "35 points."

To her left, Jonathan maintained his trademark unflappable demeanour as he took stock of his own holdings. While reasonably well-balanced, he lacked any truly substantial melds or sure trump stoppers. He decided to shadow Sarah's bid with a cautious "36 points."

It was Victor's turn to ponder his path forward. His cards held some promise - the king and queen of clubs provided a small 20-point marriage meld. But more enticingly, he also possessed the ace and 10 of spades. If they were fortunate enough to land on spades as Trump, he could potentially leapfrog into the lead entirely. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Victor declared "40 points shall be my contract."

The bidding returned to Sarah, who gave a subtle shake of her head - unwilling to be baited into an untenable overcommitment. Jonathan also passed, allowing Victor to claim the elevated final bid of 40.

Victor took a moment to unveil his melds - first the relatively modest marriage of king/queen clubs for 20 points. But he then followed by displaying the powerhouse ace and 10 of spades, bringing his total to 50 points already before play began!

Sarah grimaced, revealing her own meld of the king/queen/9 of hearts for the 20 points she'd bid on. Jonathan cycled through his remaining cards before simply shrugging and passing on declaring any melds.

With the melds scored, it was time for the all-important lead. Victor could scarcely conceal his satisfaction as he launched into the hand by playing his ace of spades from his proven trump meld. Sarah grudgingly followed suit with a low spade, while Jonathan took the trick with his king of spades.

Over the next several rounds of vicious back-and-forth combat, Victor ruthlessly cleared out his remaining high spades - overtrumping at every opportunity to claim trick after trick. Sarah tried valiantly to cling to her heart meld, eventually sloughing it off for marginal points. Even Jonathan ' typically unshakable poise was tested as he scrambled to scrounge what little he could from uncontested side suit tricks.

When at last the smoke cleared, the scores stood: Sarah 107, Jonathan 131, Victor 104. Victor's bold bid combined with his meld dominance had netted him a staggering 64 points on the round alone, vaulting him back into contention. But Jonathan still clung to a slender lead as they approached what could be the final decisive hand. 

Round 5

The atmosphere was tense but exhilarating as Victor squared up the deck for what could prove to be a pivotal fifth hand. His rallying performance in the previous round had injected new life into the proceedings, though Jonathan still held a narrow lead that both his opponents would be fighting to overcome.

The cards were dealt out methodically as each player appraised their new holdings, minds already spinning with strategies and scenarios. Sarah's brow furrowed slightly - while her hand contained some useful high cards, she lacked any truly substantial melds. Not an ideal situation against two such skilled adversaries. After some thought, she decided to open the bidding conservatively with "18 points."

Across the table, Jonathan kept his expression neutral while internally feeling more optimistic about his cards. In addition to a beneficial spread of face cards, he noted the intriguing potential of a quartet of kings - historically one of the most valuable melds in the game. However, he was not about to tip his hand prematurely. For now, he simply declared "20 points" to undercut Sarah's bid.

It was Victor's turn to ponder his options, emboldened by his recent resurgence. While his cards were reasonably well-rounded, nothing immediately jumped out as being meld-worthy. Still, his instincts suggested pushing the stakes higher in hopes of claiming more ground. "22 points," he stated crisply, raising the ante.

The bidding now came back to Sarah, whose apprehension grew at the escalating numbers. Without anything overtly special in her hand, she could ill afford to overextend herself. She waved her hand dismissively to pass.

That left the bid squarely on Jonathan to make the final call. He paused, tapping his cards on the table in front of him as he considered. Victor leaned forward slightly, attempting to parse any clues from his old friend's inscrutable poker face. Finally, Jonathan gave a subtle nod.

"24 points shall be my contract," he declared, turning over his melds - first displaying the quadruplet of king cards from all four suits, already amassing 24 hard-earned points before play began. Then, he calmly exposed his secondary meld - the jack and queen of clubs for an additional 4-point marriage meld.

Sarah's face betrayed a hint of resigned disappointment, having nothing to meld in return. Victor simply nodded, advancing a paltry 10-point meld of undercard holdings that would scarcely impact the round's outcome.

With the emphatic melds laid, it was time for the lead. Jonathan paused a moment before playing his high king of spades, signalling both his determination and skill at controlling the flow of tricks.

What followed was a calculated series of attacks and counterstrikes, as Jonathan ruthlessly cleared out his high trump cards while still maintaining enough reentries to keep Victor and Sarah from fully capitalizing on the remnants. Sarah tried valiantly to isolate her high hearts for protection, while Victor proved his mettle by capturing multiple rounds of non-trump tricks.

In the end, however, Jonathan's judicious card mastery and clutch meldings earned him 38 points above his bid - putting him at a grand total of 169 points for the game, clinching victory! The final tally was Jonathan 169, Sarah 116, Victor 109.

"Well played, sir!" Victor exclaimed with begrudging respect as he swept his hand dramatically toward Jonathan. Sarah joined in congratulating their opponent on his skilled strategizing and consistent bidding accuracy. 

As the friends began squaring away the deck in anticipation of the next round, a fresh round of drinks was silently delivered - fueling further challenges and revivals of their beloved pinochle rivalry. 

Round 6

With the decks tidied and spirits refreshed, the trio of dedicated pinochle players prepared for what they hoped would be another engrossing round of strategic gameplay.

Victor exchanged a subtle look with Jonathan as he retrieved the deck, no doubt hoping to narrow the gap created by his friend's dominant previous performance. With a practised flourish, he distributed the new hand of 16 cards to each player. 

Sarah immediately appraised her latest holdings with a discerning eye, only to feel her shoulders slump ever so slightly. While she had a few face cards sprinkled throughout the suits, she lacked anything overtly meld-worthy or potentially high-scoring. This would require some deft manoeuvring.

Across the table, Jonathan maintained his typical unflappable poise and neutral expression. However, his sharp gaze detected the beginnings of a promising two-suit run - the 8 and 9 of hearts coupled with the 8 and 9 of clubs. With some fortunate play, he may be able to meld a sizable score. For now, he simply awaited the opening bid.

Victor tugged pensively at the ends of his meticulously groomed moustache as he arranged his own cards into their suited columns. While nothing overwhelmingly jumped off the table at first, he identified several intriguing possibilities - most notably an ace/king marriage meld potential in hearts to pair with his carefully concealed king of spades. He decided to test the waters with an initial modest bid.

"14 points," Victor declared his voice level and betraying none of his underlying bravadoes.

Sarah felt her pulse quicken ever so slightly. Such a low bid in the early going signalled potential pitfalls ahead if she did not proceed cautiously. She decided to slightly bump the stake to 16 points.

The bidding arrived at Jonathan, who paused deliberately before giving a subtle shake of his head. "No games here today. I shall pass for this round."

Now it fell to Victor again with the decision to push forward or stand pat. After contemplating his options briefly, he gave a firm nod of commitment. "My bid remains at 14 points."

Sarah's frown deepened as the bidding returned to her. Even with two full rotations, the stakes remained ponderously low - surely her opponents were conspiring to back her into an untenable situation. She knew overleveraging could prove catastrophic at this stage. With great trepidation, she passed as well.

This left Victor as declarer to make good on his lowly 14-point bid. He wasted no time exposing his melds - first, the marriage of ace and king of hearts for 20 points, followed by the king of spades for a secondary 4-point meld. Already at 24 points from his melds alone against a mere 14-point bid!

Jonathan caught Sarah's eye across the table with the barest hint of a smirk, clearly anticipating Victor's coming onslaught. Sarah could only purse her lips and steel her resolve for the relentless barrage that was sure to follow.

The melds laid, Victor took great satisfaction in seizing the opening lead - playing his high ace of trump hearts to immediately establish command of the round. From there, he methodically cross-trumped with his king and lower heart holdings, demolishing any attempts by his opponents to establish scoring melds of their own.

Sarah valiantly tried to eke out what minimal points she could by establishing a temporary safe suit of clubs. But Victor systematically stripped every last remaining trump from her grasp, overscoring her melds by a staggering 56-point margin against his poultry bid!

Jonathan fared somewhat better by judiciously safeguarding his spotty mid-level card runs for a handful of hard-won tricks. But even he could do little to prevent the utter rout that saw Victor claim 70 points on the hand - a staggering turnaround!

When the dust finally settled, the scores stood at uneven: Sarah 136, Jonathan 178, Victor 179. Victor leaned back in his chair, puffing out his chest and failing to conceal a satisfied grin as he eyed his counterparts imperiously. The master had reasserted his dominance in a punishing fashion.