card, however the rules of "following" are still observed. When adding counters, cards from each player's discard pile are included in totals for a total of 240 counters per round, plus one counter for winning the final trick. One variation to make it more difficult for the bid-winning player, the discard pile created by drawing cards is used by the non-bidding player to score towards tricks. Three-handed In Three-handed pinochle, each player plays for him or herself. The dealer deals 15 cards to each player and three cards to the kitty—a separate pile in the middle. All players review their cards and silently determine their bids. The player to the dealer's left initiates the bidding process. If the player has a meld, he or she is required to open the bidding; otherwise, they may pass or bid. If he or she passes, the obligation to bid passes to the next player, if meld is held. Once a player passes, he or she is out of the auction. Bidding begins at 20, or as little as 19 if dealer, and increases in multiples of 1. The highest bidder wins the auction and turns up the three-card kitty for all to see. The three widow cards are placed in the bid winner's hand. The bid winner then declares trump and lays down meld. The other two players also lay meld face-up for count. After the appropriate points have been tallied the bid winner must set aside any three cards that have not been melded. This will reduce the bid winner's hand to 15 cards. For all three players, meld is now returned to each respective player's hand, and the round is played. During the round, a player must take at least one trick to "save one's meld", even if the trick contains no points; otherwise, no meld points will be counted for that player during that round. After all tricks are taken, counters are tallied for each player. The three discards by the highest bidder count toward their counter score for the hand, so there is always a total of 25 points for the trick score among the three players. If the highest bidder fails to make their contract by adding meld points and trick points from the play, then their score is negative the amount of the bid for that hand. The meld count is cancelled. After viewing the kitty, the