I searched the Internet for a site with the rules for you, but none of the several I found had Pitch in the form I was taught to play. Since it also seems that there are different versions of Pitch, I'll call the rules I was taught "10 Point Pitch".
Pitch can be played with two teams of 2 or 3. Let's first look at four-man Pitch.
Teammates will sit across the board from each other.
A 54 card deck is used, with a High and a Low joker. These jokers should be marked to show which is high and which is low.
Each player is dealt 9 cards. The player to the left of the dealer then makes a bid of how many points he thinks his team can make that hand. You may bid anywhere from 3, the lowest bid allowed, to 10, the maximum amount of points in one hand. The bidding player may also pass. A suit is NOT named by the bidder in a 4 man game.
Bidding progresses to the left, and each new bidder may overbid the player before him, or pass. Whoever dealt has the last bid in a hand. When the dealer bids, then the high bid stands.
The player that got the high bid then names the suit that will be trump for that hand. It is only in that suit that point cards will be in.
All players, except for the one with the high bid, then set aside all cards in their hand of the trump suit and discard the rest. The dealer then deals out cards to those players until they have a hand of six cards. (this includes the non-discarded trump cards)
Whatever cards are left in the deck, if any, then go to the high-bidding player. The remainder of the deck is known as the "kitty", or "bitch", if in less delicate company.
The high-bidding player, after receiving the "kitty", then constructs a hand of six cards using the kitty and his original hand. All other cards are discarded. That player may NOT discard point-cards. Also, if that player has to discard a trump-suit card, he must tell the other players.
The rank of cards and their point value, if any, are as follows:
Ace - 1 point
King - 0
Queen - 0
Jack - 1 point
Off-Jack - 1 point
High Joker - 1 point
Low Joker - 1 point
10 - 1 point
9 through 4 - 0 points
3 - 3 points
2 - 1 point
For the sake of what is "high" and what is "low", the jokers are higher then a 10 and lower then a jack.
The off-jack is in whatever suit that is the same color as the trump suit. For instance, if the trump is hearts, then the off-jack would be the jack of diamonds.
Play then begins with all players having a hand of 6. The only cards that may be played during the coarse of the hand are cards in the trump suit, the jokers and the off-jack.
The high-bidding player has the first throw, also known as the lead.
The lead player chooses one card in his hand and throws it to the center of the board (hence, the name).
Play continues to the left, with each player throwing one card. When all 4 players have tossed a card, whichever player put out the card of the highest rank takes all the point cards from that trick for his team. All other cards played during that trick are discarded. The exception is the 2, which when laid out always goes to the team that played, and can not be taken by the high card.
That same player who played the highest ranked card is now the new lead, and chooses one of his 5 remaining cards to start a new trick.
Play continues in this fashion until all players empty their hands and 6 tricks have been played. If a player no longer has any cards of the trump-suit, or the off-jack or a joker, then that player is "up", and must discard his hand when it is next his turn to throw. That player must sit out the rest of the hand.
Once all tricks have been played, then points for that hand are tallied. Each team adds the point values of the point cards they took during the hand. The total off all points for both teams will always be 10. Obviously the 3 is the most important point card to capture, since it is worth 3 points.
If the player's team who had the high bid at the beginning of the hand did NOT get at least an amount of points equal to the bid, then that team is penalized an amount equal to the bid, and that amount is deducted from the team's score. That team gets no points for the point cards they did take that hand, only the penalty.
A new hand is then dealt, with the person to the left of the first dealer becoming the dealer for that hand.
Play continues in this fashion until a team reaches 31 points in a hand that they had the bid. That team then wins the game.
Extra Bidding Rule - Shooting the Moon.
During bidding, a player may put in a bid of "shoot the moon." With this bid, the player is proclaiming that he and his team mate can and will get all 10 points for that hand. This is different then a bid of 10 though, because if they do get 10 points, then that team wins the whole game, regardless of the total scores. But, if they do not get all 10 points, then that team looses the game. A player on the other team may also "overshoot", basically saying the same thing.
6 Man Pitch
6 man play is more or less the same, with a few differences:
There are 2 teams of 3. No teammates may sit next to each other.
There is no "kitty", since all 54 cards are dealt out at once. Players play with the 9 cards they are given with no discarding.
The suit that the bidder wishes to play in is said at the time the bid is made, for instance, "4, hearts."
The game is played to 41 points.
