--Rev. W. Gregor. (_b_) Dr. Tylor says: It is interesting to notice the wide distribution and long permanence of these trifles in history when we read the following passage from Petronius Arbiter, written in the time of Nero:-- Trimalchio, not to seem moved by the loss, kissed the boy, and bade him get up on his back. Without delay the boy climbed on horseback on him, and slapped him on the shoulders with his hand, laughing and calling out, Bucca, bucca, quot sunt hic? --_Petron. Arbitri Satiræ_, by Buchler, p. 84 (other readings are _buccæ_ or _bucco_). --_Primitive Culture_, i. 67.
TIMES IN 1000. 8 2 2 1 2 8 3 1 1 1½ 8 3 2 0 1 8 4 1 0 ½ 8 5 0 0 0 7 2 2 2 5 7 3 2 1 19 7 3 3 0 3 7 4 1 1 4 7 4 2 0 3 7 5 1 0 1 7 6 0 0 0 6 3 2 2 57 6 3 3 1 35 6 4 2 1 47 6 4 3 0 13 6 5 1 1 7 6 5 2 0 6 6 6 1 0 1 5 3 3 2 155 5 4 2 2 106 5 4 3 1 130 5 4 4 0 12 5 5 2 1 32 5 5 3 0 9 4 3 3 3 105 4 4 3 2 215 4 4 4 1 30 _=MARTINGALES.=_ Many gamblers believe that as the science of probabilities teaches us that events will equalise themselves in time, all that is necessary is to devise some system that will keep a person from guessing, so that he may catch the pendulum as it swings; and to add to it some system of betting, so that he will have the best of it in the long run. Some content themselves with playing a “system” against banking games, which is merely a guide to the placing of the bets, the simplest example of which would be to bet always on heads if a coin was tossed a thousand times, or to bet on nothing but red at Roulette. Others depend more on martingales, which are guides to the amount of the bets themselves, irrespective of what they are placed on. The most common form of martingale is called _=doubling up=_, which proceeds upon the theory that if you lose the first time and bet double the amount the next time, and continue to double until you win, you must eventually win the original amount staked. If there was no end to your capital, and no betting limit to the game, this would be an easy way to make money; but all banking games have studied these systems, and have so arranged matters that they can extend their heartiest welcome to those who play them. In the first place, by simply doubling up you are giving the bank the best of it, because you are not getting the proper odds. If you double up five times you are betting 16 to 1; but the odds against five successive events are 31 to 1, as we have already seen, and the bank should pay you 31 instead of 16. You should not only double, but add the original amount of the stake each time, betting 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, and so on.
They came up all together, staying in a stack, and I could perceive that they hung in the air behind me, a good foot clear of the bar, and about twenty feet from the door to the casino. In a smug show of control, I dealt the cartwheels off the top of the stack, one at a time, and fired them hard. Each one snapped away from the hovering stack, like a thrown discus. My perception was of the best. Each coin knifed into the soft cedar of the door, burying itself about halfway. My best sustained lift, I suppose is about two hundred times the weight of a silver dollar. But with the lift split by the need to keep the stack together, about twenty gees was all the shove I gave the cartwheels. Still, you might figure out how fast those cartwheels were traveling after moving twenty feet across the bar at an acceleration of twenty gees. Smythe gasped. I doubted he had ever seen better, even in the controlled conditions of Lodge Meeting.
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_=CARDS.=_ The full pack of fifty-two cards is shuffled and cut. Keeping it face down in the left hand, the top card is turned up and laid upon the table. The next card is turned up and laid in such a position that it touches the first one, either on one of its four edges, or one of its four corners. The third card must touch one or other of the two already on the table in the same manner, and so on until twenty-five cards have been drawn and placed, but the twenty-five must be so arranged as to form a square of five cards each way. As no card can be moved from its original position, as soon as there are cards enough in either direction, up and down, or from left to right, to make a row of five, no more cards can be laid beyond that point, as it would transgress the limits of the square. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to place each card as it comes from the top of the pack in the most advantageous position for combining with other cards, either already there or hoped for, so that each row of five cards, up and down, or right to left, shall be a poker hand of some value. _=VALUE OF THE HANDS.=_ The various hands possible in poker are given a counting value, supposed to be in proportion to the difficulty of getting them.
Such a bid can, of course, be entertained only when it outranks any bid already made. A player is not compelled to bid the full value of his hand; but it is to his interest to go as near to it as he can with safety; because, as we shall see presently, the more he bids the more he is paid. For instance: If he can make ten tricks, but bids seven only, he will be paid for the three over-tricks, if he makes them; but the payment for seven bid and ten taken, is only 22 counters; while the payment for ten bid and ten taken is 42. As he receives from each adversary, a player who underbid his hand in this manner would lose 60 counters by his timidity. It sometimes happens that no one will make a proposal of any sort. It is very unusual to pass the deal. The trump is generally turned down, and a _=Grand=_ is played, without any trump suit. This is sometimes called a _=Misère Partout=_, or “all-round poverty”; and the object of each player is to take as few tricks as possible. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly as at Whist.
An additional incident occurs in the Liphook version, which represents her being swung to life again by two of the players. These differences may perhaps be immaterial to the meaning and origin of the game, but they are sufficiently indicative of early custom to suggest the divergence of the game in modern times towards modern custom. Thus the players divided line-by-line follow the general form for children playing singing games, and it would therefore suggest itself as the earlier form for this game. The change of the game from the line-by-line action to the mother-and-line action would indicate a corresponding change in the prevailing custom which influenced the game. This custom was the wooing by a band of suitors of girls surrounded by their fellow-villagers, which became obsolete in favour of ordinary marriage custom. The dropping out of this custom would cause the game to change from a representation of both wooing and burial to one of burial only. As burial only the mother-and-line action is sufficient, but the presence of a wooing incident in the earlier form of the game is plainly revealed by the verse which sings, Fare ye well, ladies, or, as it has become in the English variant, Very well, ladies. The difference in the wording of the versions is slight, and does not need formal analysis. Domestic occupation is shown throughout, washing and its attendants, drying, folding, starching and ironing being by far the most numerous, brewing, and baking only occurring in one. Illness, dying, and death are the usual forms for the later verses, but illness and dying are lost in several versions.
=_ If a player revokes, and he is one of the adversaries of the single player, the game is lost for the player in error; but he may count the points in his tricks up to the time the revoke occurred, in order to save schneider or schwarz. In Nullos, the game is lost the moment the revoke is discovered. _=Seeing Tricks.=_ The tricks must be kept separate as they are taken in, and any player is allowed to look at the last trick turned and quitted. Any player looking at any other trick but the last may be penalized ten points. _=Playing Ouverts.=_ The rules of the game require Ouverts to be exposed face upward on the table before a card is played. _=SCORING.=_ The score should always be kept by the player sitting on the right of the first dealer. This will mark the rounds.
But to compare _morris_ with that game, or with chess, seems absurd; as it has a very distant resemblance, if any at all, to either, in the lines, or in the rules of playing. On the ground, the men are pebbles, broken tiles, shells, or potsherds; on a table, the same as are used at draughts or backgammon. In Nares it is said to be the same as nine-holes. With us it is certainly different. Cope (_Hampshire Glossary_) says that Nine Men s Morrice is a game played with counters. He does not describe it further. Atkinson (_Glossary of Cleveland Dialect_) says under Merls, the game of Merelles, or Nine Men s Morris. Toone (_Etymological Dictionary_) describes it as a game played on the green sward, holes being cut thereon, into which stones were placed by the players. Stead s _Holderness Glossary_ calls it Merrils, and describes it as a game played on a square board with eighteen pegs, nine on each side, called in many parts Nine Men s Morrice. See also _Sussex Arch.
Strutt (_Sports_, p. 84) describes this, and says, A sport of this kind was in practice with us at the commencement of the fourteenth century. He considers it to bear more analogy to wrestling than to any other sport. He gives illustrations, one of which is here reproduced from the original MS. in the British Museum. The game is also described in the Rev. J. G. Wood s _Modern Playmate_, p. 12.
Whatever the others do, E stands pat, and looks cheerful. The author has never known this bluff to be called. Holding a strong hand, a player may often coax another to raise him, by offering to divide the pool. The successful bluffer should never show his hand. Even if he starts the game by bluffing for advertising purposes, hoping to get called on good hands later, he should not show anything or tell anything that the others do not pay to see or know. Bluffing is usually more successful when a player is in a lucky vein than when he has been unfortunate. POKER LAWS. _=1. Formation of Table.=_ A poker table is complete with seven players.
While the four aces were in the pack the probability of drawing one was 4/52. One ace having been drawn, 3 remain in 51 cards, so the probability of getting the second is 3/51, or 1/17. Before a card was drawn, the probability of getting two aces in succession was the product of these fractions; 1/13 × 1/17 = 1/221. On the same principle the odds against two players cutting cards that are a tie, such as two Fours, are not 220 to 1, unless it is specified that the first card shall be a Four. The first player having cut, the odds against the second cutting a card of equal value are only 16 to 1. _=Dice.=_ In calculating the probabilities of throws with two or more dice, we must multiply together the total number of throws possible with each die separately, and then find the number of throws that will give the result required. Suppose two dice are used. Six different throws may be made with each, therefore 6 × 6 = 36 different throws are possible with the two dice together. What are the odds against one of these dice being an ace? A person unfamiliar with the science of probabilities would say that as two numbers must come up, and there are only six numbers altogether, the probability is 2/6, or exactly 2 to 1 against an ace being thrown.
Whoever is touched takes the place of the toucher in the linked couple (_Legends of Lancashire_, p. 138). The modern name of this game is Prison Bars (_Ibid._, p. 141). There is also a description of the game in a little tract called _Barley Breake; or, A Warning for Wantons_, 1607. It is mentioned in Wilbraham s _Cheshire Glossary_ as an old Cheshire game. Barnes, in his _Dorsetshire Glossary_, says he has seen it played with one catcher on hands and knees in the small ring (Hell), and the others dancing round the ring crying Burn the wold witch, you barley breech. Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_) also mentions it as an old Cheshire game. See Boggle about the Stacks, Scots and English.
=_ If a player holds or draws the Nine of trumps, he has the privilege of exchanging it for the turn-up card, and scoring ten points for dix. The exchange must be made immediately after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. Should the turn-up be a Nine, the exchange may still be made and scored; and if one player has already exchanged a Nine for the turn-up, the second Nine may still be exchanged for the first, and scored. A player cannot score dix and any other combination at the same time. For this reason a player whose time is short will often forego the dix score altogether unless the trump card is valuable. _=Irregular Melds.=_ If a player announces a combination which he does not show, such as fours when he has three only, which he may easily do by mistaking a Jack for a King, his adversary can compel him not only to take down the score erroneously marked, but to lead or play one of the three Kings. A player may be called upon to lead or play cards from other erroneous declarations in the same manner, but if he has the right card or cards in his hand, he may amend his error, provided he has not drawn a card from the stock in the meantime. _=The Last Twelve Tricks.=_ When the stock is exhausted all announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their hands all the cards upon the table which may remain from the combinations declared in the course of play.
For instance: A player may have a hand which he feels sure is good for 8 tricks, perhaps 9. To be safe, he calls solo, and hopes to make three or four over-tricks. If he is outbid by some player over-calling him with a misère, he may be tempted to amend his call to abundance. No call is good until every player who has not already passed does so, by saying distinctly, “I pass.” _=STAKES.=_ The losses and gains of the players are in proportion to the difficulties of the tasks they set themselves. The most popular method of settling is to pay or take red counters for the various calls, and white counters for the tricks under or over the exact number proposed. If the callers succeed in their undertakings, their adversaries pay them; if they fail, they pay their adversaries. A red counter is worth five white ones. Proposal and Acceptance wins or loses 1 red counter.
Smythe was using TK to lift the bills into those false bottoms, well screened by the trays from the TV monitors. Barney was in on it, of course. And after the joint had lost enough dough that way, Rose and Simonetti would have had to sell out. Only the buyer would have been a dummy for Rose and Smythe, using money Smythe had lifted off the tables. The whole TK business was just a smoke screen to keep matters confused, I concluded. How come they dared send for a TK like you? Why weren t they scared you d catch them, just like you did? It took a little more than TK, I reminded her. TK is just a power, one more ability in life. It doesn t make you God. Once in a while it gives you a little more vigorish than the other guy has, that s all. And sometimes it s not enough.
A tierce counts 3 only, and a quatrième 4 only; but a quinte is worth 15, a sixième 16, and so on. _=Fours, and Triplets.=_ Any four cards of the same denomination, higher than a Nine, is called a Quatorze; three of any kind higher than the Nine is called a Trio, or sometimes a Brelan. As a trio is seldom mentioned without naming the denomination, it is usual to say; “Three Kings,” or “Three Jacks,” as the case may be. The 7 8 and 9 have no value except in point and sequence. The player holding the quatorze of the highest rank may score any inferior ones that he may hold, and also any trios. Should his adversary hold any intermediate ones, they are of no value. In the absence of any quatorze, the best trio decides which player shall count all the trios he may have in his hand, his adversary counting none. For instance: One player holds four Tens and three Jacks, his adversary holding triplets of Aces, Kings, and Queens. None of the latter would be of any value, as the lowest quatorze is better than the highest trio, and the player with the four Tens could count his three Jacks also.
POKER RUM. _=CARDS.=_ In this variety of the game, the A K Q J are worth ten points each, the ace eleven, and the remaining cards their face value. The ace may be used as the top of a sequence Q K A, or the bottom of A 2 3, but not as part of a round-the-corner, K A 2. _=DEALING.=_ Ten cards are always given to each player, no matter how many are in the game. If there are more than three at the table, the double pack must be used, so as to leave cards enough for the stock. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four, five, or six of a kind is in order.
The chance of getting home is increased for the boy who knocks it off.--North-West Lincolnshire (Rev. ---- Roberts and Miss Peacock). (_b_) Similar versions are from Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy), Ireland (_Folk-lore Journal_, ii. 265), Peacock (_Mauley and Corringham Glossary_). Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) gives this game with the following addition: If a duck falls short of the Duckstone, and the one whose duck is on the stone sees that he can _wand_ or _span_ with his hand the distance between the duck thus thrown and the Duckstone, he shouts out Wands, and if he can wand or span the distance he takes his duck off, and the duck thus thrown is put on. Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_), Darlington (South Cheshire), Baker (_Northants Glossary_), and Brogden (_Provincial Words, Lincolnshire_), also give this game. Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) calls it Duck, and Ducks off and Cobbs off in Dorsetshire. In London the boy repeats the words, Gully, gully, all round the hole, one duck on, while he is playing (_Strand Magazine_, November 1891). Newell (_Games_, p.
She goes to the corner, the Ghost peeps up, and she rushes back, crying out-- Mother! mother! I have seen a Ghost. M. Nonsense, child! it was only your father s nightshirt I have washed and hung out to dry. Go again. The child goes, and the same thing happens. She returns, saying-- Yes! mother! I have seen a ghost. M. Nonsense, child! we will take a candle, and all go together to search for it. The mother picks up a twig for a candle, and they set off. When they come near to the Ghost, she appears from her hiding-place, mother and children rush away in different directions, the Ghost chases them until she has caught one, who in her turn becomes Ghost.
The Witch tells her it s a barrel of pork. No, no, this is my Monday; run away home. Upon this Monday jumps up from her crouching or kneeling posture [the children were generally put by the Witch behind some chairs all close together in one corner of the room], and runs off, followed by all the others and their Mother. The Witch tries to catch one, and if successful that child becomes Witch next time.--A. B. Gomme. A probable explanation of this game is that it illustrates some of the practices and customs connected with fire-worship and the worship of the hearth, and that the pot is a magical one, and would only boil over when something wrong had occurred and the Mother s presence was necessary. The pot boils over directly a child is taken away, and appears to cease doing this when the Mother comes in. It is remarkable, too, that the Witch should want to borrow a light from the fire; the objection to the giving of fire out of the house is a well-known and widely-diffused superstition, the possession of a brand from the house-fire giving power to the possessor over the inmates of a house.