FOUR-HANDED BINOCLE.
Four persons may play, each for himself, or two against two as partners, sitting opposite each other. All the cards are dealt, twelve to each player, four at a time, and the last is turned up for the trump.
Melds are not made until the player holding them has played to the first trick. The eldest hand leads and then melds; the second player plays and then melds, and so on. The card played to the first trick may still be reckoned in the melds.
Playing. The general rules of play are the same as in the three-handed game; players being obliged to follow suit and to win the trick if able to do so. The fourth player must win his partner’s trick if he can, and any player who cannot follow suit to a trick that is already trumped must under-trump if he is unable to over-trump.
Scoring. There are three ways to score: In the first, each player must individually win a trick in order to score his melds. In the second, when either partner wins a trick, the melds in both hands may be scored. In both these the melds are kept separate. In the third, when a player wins a trick he may combine his melds with those of his partner to form fresh combinations, and the scores are made as if the melds of the two partners were in one hand; but cards previously played to the tricks cannot be used in these fresh combinations. The cards must still be on the table, unplayed. For this reason, in this style of game the melds are not taken up until one of the partners wins a trick.