Here are the rules to an Italian card game I played most nights on a Sailboat docked in Sardinia (And once floating around the Mediterranean).  I jotted this down while playing but I think I am pretty close. They call it Pinale but some googling for the rules came up empty.

Pinale:

Players

Play with two to four players. (When playing with 4, teams are an option – players across from each other form one joint board on whichever of the team players put the first meld down.

Deck

Use 2 standard 52-card decks plus the Jokers. Remove the red 2’s.

Goal

The goal is to be the first to play all of your cards and discarding your last card.

Setup

Choose the dealer who then shuffles the deck. It’s a thick deck so we split it in 2 and both shuffled. The dealer will deal cards 13 cards to each player.

Cards that are not dealt are placed face down in the middle of the table to form the draw pile. Turn the top card from the draw pile face up and set it next to the draw pile; this card begins the discard pile. There are two options when the draw pile becomes exhausted (all cards are taken), shuffle all of the cards in the discard pile except for the one on top to form a new draw pile. Or end the hand and each player gets the score of the cards they laid down. Decide at the beginning of the game.

Gameplay

On each turn, players must follow this sequence:

1. Draw one card, either from the top of the draw pile or the top of the discard pile.
2. The player may (but does not have to) lay down a group or sequence of cards called a meld in American Rummy. I don’t know what it’s called in Italian so Meld it is going to be called. Described below
3. The player must discard one card, adding it (face up) to the top of the discard pile.

NOTE: If a player chose to draw the top card from the discard pile in step one, that card must be laid down as part of a group or sequence in that turn.

1. Once a meld is laid down, it can not be joined with another meld. Cards can be added but two melds can not be joined.

Meld of Cards

A meld of cards can be played if it meets one of two conditions

• Groups (or Books): Three or four of a kind
• Sequences (or Runs): four or more consecutive cards of the same suit
• 2’s are not part of a run other than to replace a card that a player doesn’t have.

• • • i.e A-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Jack Queen King A or

Note: Aces are either at the beginning and/or end of a run. Never in the middle.

More about 2’s and Jokers as wild cards:

• The suit of a wild card must be called when it is used to replace a missing card. Once called, it stays that suit for the entire game.
• Once a 2 is laid down, it can only be used by the player that laid it down. The player can only replace it with the card that it represents. When a joker is laid down, any player can replace it with the card of the same value and suit when it is there turn. As long as they can lay down the wild card as a part of a run or 3 or 4 of a kind.

Laying Off

A player may only play a card or cards from his hand that fits a meld that he has already played. Note: Contrasted with American Rummy, where a player can lay down cards to play off another player’s meld. called “laying off.”

Going Out

A player must lay down a full group of 4 of a kind or a sequence of 6 card of the same suit. Only with at least one of these and one remaining card for discarding can a player “go out”.

Scoring

When a player goes out, the round is scored. The cards remaining in other players’ hands are subtracted from the total value of the cards they laid down.

• 3 to 6 = 5pts
• 7 to King = 10 pts
• 2 = 20 pts
• Ace = 15 pts
• Joker = 25 pts
• 4 jokers as a 4 of a kind = 500 pts
• Full run =1500 pts i.e. A-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A
  All 4 of a kind (group) or at least six 6 of the same suit (sequence) get double value of the cards in the meld.
• To count for double points, the six in a row can not include a wild card. Double values only extend to a wild card if used beyond the 6 required. On either side of the wild card, cards values are not doubled. i.e 3-Jkr-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-Jkr-Q would have a value of 3 + 25 + 10 +10 + 10 + 20 +20 + 20 + 20 + 25 + 10 = 173 points.

Pinale Strategy

There are 2 schools of thought when playing.

• Go out as soon as possible limiting your point count but loading up the other players with negative points’
• Get as many points as possible to offset the negative points you may have in your hand when another player goes out.

Winning Pinale

The first player to reach a predetermined number of points (such as 2500), or to have the most points after a predetermined number of hands are played, is the winner!!!!

 

It seems complicated but even I picked up the basics after a couple of hands and even won a few.