The various types of Partnership Pitch are most popular in the mid-west and are family or social games played to a score. I have the impression that Cutthroat Pitch is more often played on the coasts, and usually for money. Whereas card game books tend to concentrate on Cutthroat Pitch, most of the e-mail I get is about Partnership Pitch, and this preference is reflected in the balance of information on this page. There are two main types of Pitch game: Partnership Pitch (played with partners, obviously) and Cutthroat Pitch (in which everyone plays for themselves).
Some of the newer versions of Pitch include other features such as extra points and an opportunity to improve one's hand by taking extra cards and discarding. Pitch is a North American game, derived from the old English game of All Fours (which was also known in America as Seven Up or Old Sledge). There is also a set of very similar games known as Smear, which are described on a separate page. Pitch is also known as Setback or High-Low-Jack.
