_=STAKES.=_ The remarks already made on this subject in connection with whist and dummy, apply equally to double dummy, except that there is no double payment; but each player wins from or loses to his living adversary the unit agreed upon. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ This so closely resembles dummy as to need no further description. Neither dummy can revoke, and there are no such things as exposed cards, or cards played in error. It is very common for one player to claim that he will win a certain number of tricks, and for his adversary to admit it, and allow him to score them, without playing the hand out. _=LEADING OUT OF TURN.=_ Should either of the dummies or the players lead out of turn, the adversary may call a suit from the one that ought to have led; but if it was the turn of neither, there is no penalty. If all four have played to the trick, the error cannot be corrected, and no penalty remains. The methods of _=Taking Tricks=_; _=Scoring=_; _=Claiming and Counting Honours=_; _=Marking Rubber Points=_, etc.
9. Should a player pocket the cue ball twice in succession without striking any object bail, he shall forfeit the game. 10. Should a player while upon his carroms pocket any ball, the hand is out, and he loses any points he may have made on that run. 11. Whenever, except on the final stroke, the cue ball is pocketed or forced off the table, the hand is out, the points scored on that run are lost, and the cue ball is in hand for the following player, who must play on a ball outside the string line, or else on some point of the cushion outside the line. 12. Should the spot on which any pocketed ball belongs be occupied, said ball shall be left off the table until the spot is free and the balls are at rest, with this exception--that should the 1 ball be pocketed, and its spot occupied, any player who is exactly 100, and whose turn it is to play, may demand that all the object balls be spotted and he shall play with ball in hand. 13. It is a foul if the player touch any ball with his person or clothing.
It is better to keep sequences open at both ends than those open in the middle. With two Sevens and two Eights, either a Six or a Nine will make your hand worth 24; but with two Eights and two Sixes, nothing but a Seven will improve your hand more than 4 points. Sequences are the best to keep, especially those of three cards with a duplicate. After them pairs royal are valuable, and next to them cards which will make a number of fives in various combinations, such as two Threes and two deuces. _=Leading.=_ There are two systems of playing, known as _=playing off=_, and _=playing on=_, and they are selected according to the player’s position in the score. Long experience has shown that in six-card Cribbage the average expectation of the non-dealer for his hand and play is 12 points; and for the dealer, in hand, crib, and play, is 17. This being so, each player having had a deal, their scores should be about 29. If a player is 29 or more, he is said to be _=at home=_; and if he is seven or more points ahead of his adversary on even deals, he is said to be _=safe at home=_. When a player is safe at home, he should play off; that is, take no chances of scoring himself that might give his adversary a chance to make a still better score.
Ante, a bet made before playing, but after seeing the hand. Antepenultimate, the lowest but two of a suit. Après, the announcement of a refait at Rouge et Noir. Arroser, F., to be compelled to play a trump which will not win the trick. Ask for Trumps, playing an unnecessarily high card, when no attempt is made to win the trick. Auf die Dörfer gehen, to run for home; to make all your aces and kings, instead of leading trumps. A. Y. B.
Bad A rude kind of Cricket, played with a bat and a ball, usually with wall toppings for wickets. Bad seems to be the pronunciation or variation of Bat. Halliwell says it was a rude game, formerly common in Yorkshire, and probably resembling the game of Cat. There is such a game played now, but it is called Pig. --Easther s _Almondbury Glossary_. Baddin The game of Hockey in Cheshire.--Holland s _Glossary_. Badger the Bear A rough game, sometimes seen in the country. The boy who personates the Bear performs his part on his hands and knees, and is prevented from getting away by a string. It is the part of another boy, his Keeper, to defend him from the attacks of the others.
_=SARATOGA.=_ This varies from Newmarket only in the method of making up the pool. Instead of leaving the players to distribute their stakes at pleasure, each is compelled to place an agreed amount on each of the pool cards, as at Pope Joan. POCHEN. This is a round game for any number of players from three to six, with a thirty-two-card pack. The layout has a centre division for pools and seven other divisions round it, marked, respectively, A, K, Q, J, 10, Marriage, Sequence. Each player dresses the layout by placing a counter in each of the eight divisions. The dealer then gives cards three and then two at a time, as far as they will go equally, turning up the next for the trump. The holders of the five highest trumps show them and take the corresponding pools, Ace of trumps the A pool, etc. If any player holds both K and Q of trumps, he takes the pool for marriage.
If he straddles, he may be straddled again, and so on. In Bouillotte the straddle practically buys from the dealer the privileges of the age. If it goes round until the dealer buys it back himself, the straddling must then be stopped. _=Dealing.=_ As in all French games, the cards are cut by the player on the dealer’s left, and are dealt from right to left. Three cards are given to each player, one at a time, face down, and the thirteenth is then turned face up on the pack. This card is called the _=retourne=_. _=Misdeals.=_ If any card is exposed during the deal, either in the pack or in giving it to a player, it is a misdeal; but the distribution of the cards is continued until each player has received three cards, the exposed card being given out in its regular order. If any player can show triplets, he receives one white counter from each of the other players, and the hands are then abandoned.
Any able-bodied person, with ordinary nerve and a good eye, can become quite expert with little practice. Don’t let an alley owner use pins that are worn out. Don’t think you can sandpaper a ball without injuring it. It takes an expert mechanic to true up a lignum-vitæ ball. Don’t lay a lignum-vitæ ball away DRY, if you don’t want it to crack. GENERAL LAWS, FOR ALL CARD GAMES. Very few games have their own code of laws, and only one or two of these have the stamp of any recognised authority. In minor games, questions are continually arising which could be easily settled if the players were familiar with a few general principles which are common to the laws of all games, and which might be considered as the basis of a general code of card laws. The most important of these principles are as follows:-- _=Players.=_ It is generally taken for granted that those first in the room have the preference, but if more than the necessary number assemble, the selection must be made by cutting.
The players following the one who renounces to the suit led do not play to the trick at all; but wait for him to lead for the next trick. Should any player fail to follow suit on the next trick, or on any subsequent trick, he gathers the cards already played, takes them into his hand and leads for the next trick. The play is continued in this manner until some player gets rid of all his cards, and so wins the game. Enflé is usually played for a pool, to which each player contributes an equal amount before play begins. The game requires considerable skill and memory to play it well, it being very important to remember the cards taken in hand by certain players, and those which are in the tricks turned down. THE LAWS OF HEARTS. 1. Formation of table. Those first in the room have the preference. If more than the necessary number assemble, the choice shall be determined by cutting, those cutting the lowest cards having the right to play.
To win _=Seven Tricks=_. To win one trick, neither more nor less, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown, there being no trump suit; _=Piccolissimo=_. To win _=Eight Tricks=_. To lose every trick, no trump suit, _=Grand Misère=_. To win _=Nine Tricks=_. To lose 12 tricks, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown; the single player’s remaining twelve cards being exposed face up on the table, but not liable to be called; _=Little Spread=_. To win _=Ten Tricks=_. To lose every trick, no trump suit, the single player’s cards being exposed on the table, but not liable to be called; _=Grand Spread=_. To win _=Eleven Tricks=_. To win _=Twelve Tricks=_.
The pairs _=a=_ and _=d=_ now give way to _=b=_ and _c_, and the _=b=_ _=c=_ _=e=_ _=f=_ pairs play two hands and exchange them; then change adversaries for two more hands; _=a=_ and _=d=_ remaining idle all the time. All the pairs have now been matched but _=a=_ and _=d=_, and they take seats E & W at two tables, the N & S positions being filled up by any of the other players in the match. any any a 1 a d 2 d any any No notice is taken of the scores made by the N & S hands in the last set; as it is simply a match between the a and _d_ pairs. _=Scoring.=_ Each pair against each is considered a match, and the winner of the most matches wins, tricks deciding ties. _=Compass Whist.=_ When we come to handle large numbers, the changes of position become too complicated, and the simplest plan is to arrange them at as many tables as they will fill, and to place on each table an equal number of trays. At the Knickerbocker Whist Club, New York, which is still famous for its compass games, they play a minimum of 24 trays, or get as near that number as possible. If there are 14 tables, they play two deals at each. If there are only 10 tables, they play 30 trays.
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On the right Blue s gun engages Red s and kills one man. All this the reader will see clearly in figure 9, and he will also note a second batch of Red prisoners--this time they are infantry, going rearward. Figure 9 is the last picture that is needed to tell the story of the battle. Red s position is altogether hopeless. He has four men left alive by his rightmost gun, and their only chance is to attempt to save that by retreating with it. If they fire it, one or other will certainly be killed at its tail in Blue s subsequent move, and then the gun will be neither movable nor fireable. Red s left gun, with four men only, is also in extreme peril, and will be immovable and helpless if it loses another man. Very properly Red decided upon retreat. His second gun had to be abandoned after one move, but two of the men with it escaped over his back line. Five of the infantry behind the church escaped, and his third gun and its four cavalry got away on the extreme left-hand corner of Red s position.
This is usually called giving them a “free ride.” _=The Kitty=_ is now an almost universal adjunct to the pool. In clubs, it pays for the cards, and for an occasional round of refreshments; in small poker parties it defrays the expense of the weekly supper. When the amount is excessive, or accumulates too rapidly, it is often used to give the players a “free ride” by paying all their antes in a “kitty jack pot.” The kitty is usually kept by the banker, who takes a white counter out of every pool in which triplets or better are shown to the board, and a red counter out of every jack pot. These counters must be kept apart from the other chips, and must be accounted for at the end of the game by paying the kitty so much in cash, just as if it was one of the players. Gambling houses and poker rooms are supposed to derive their entire revenue from this source, and those of the lowest class invent endless excuses for taking out for the kitty. In many houses there is a sliding scale for various hands; one counter being taken for two pairs; two counters for triplets; three for straights or flushes; and a red for fours, jack pots, and misdeals. It is not uncommon for the proprietors of such games to find thirty or forty dollars in the kitty after a night’s play with five-cent chips. _=TABLE STAKES.
Every trick possible should be made sure of at once, before the calling players get any chance to discard. Weak suits should be protected, as they are in Whist when opposed to strong hands. If an adversary has the first lead, it is usually best for him to make what winning cards he has at once, unless he is pretty sure that the proposal will be defeated. It is very seldom right for the adversaries to lead trumps. Some exceptions will naturally present themselves, such as an eldest hand leading to his partner’s turned-up King. In the middle or end game, it may be advantageous to bring down the caller’s trumps together, or to draw two for one. If an adversary finds himself with a pretty strong hand, he should utterly disregard his partner, and play as false as he can; for if the callers have eight probable tricks between them, it is impossible for the fourth player to have anything, unless there has been some mistake in the call. _=In General.=_ There are one or two exceptions to the methods of playing sequences at Whist, dependent on the position of the players holding them. For instance: If first or second hand holds any sequence of high cards, he should play the highest if his partner sits next him on the left, and the adversaries are to play after him; otherwise the partner might think the higher cards of the sequence were against the leader.
| -- | -- | -- | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.| -- | -- | -- | | 7.| -- | -- | -- | | 8.| -- |Fairest young lady | -- | | | |ever seen. | | | 9.| -- | -- |All pretty fair maids | | | | |are fit to be seen. | |10.|Flowers all faded, | -- | -- | | |none to be seen. | | | |11.
In this form of the game the players cut for seats and deal. The cards are dealt by twos and threes until each has ten, two cards remaining for the talon. The dealer may lay out any two cards in exchange for these, but no other player is allowed to touch them, nor to see the discards. The elder hand makes the first declarations. He makes repic and counts 90 if he can reach 20 without playing a card; and he makes pic, 60, if he can reach 20 in hand and play, under the same conditions as in the game for two players. The majority of tricks counts 10; if it is a tie, each counts 5. Capot counts 40 if all the tricks are taken by one player; but if two take them all between them, they count 20 each. The game may be played for a pool, first man out to take all; or it may be agreed that after one has retired the others shall decide it between them by playing it out at the ordinary two-handed game. PIQUET VOLEUR, FOR FOUR PLAYERS. The players cut for partners, the two lowest pairing against the two highest, and the lowest cut taking the first deal.
For instance: One player bids _=Nap=_, and another holds what he considers a certainty for five tricks. In order not to lose such an opportunity the latter bids _=Wellington=_, which binds him to pay ten counters to each player if he fails. Another may outbid this again by bidding _=Blucher=_, which binds him to pay twenty to each if he loses, but to receive only ten if he wins. In England, the bidder, if successful, receives double or treble stakes for a Wellington or a Blucher, which is simply another way of allowing any person with a nap hand to increase the stakes at pleasure, for a player with a certain five tricks would of course bid a Blucher at once, trebling his gains and shutting off all competition at the same time. This variation is not to be recommended, and benefits no one but the gambler. _=Pools.=_ Napoleon is sometimes played with a pool, each player contributing a certain amount, usually two counters, on the first deal. Each dealer in turn adds two more; revokes pay five, and leads out of turn three. The player who first succeeds in winning five tricks on a nap bid takes the pool, and a fresh one is formed. If a player bids nap and fails, he is usually called upon to double the amount then in the pool, besides paying his adversaries.
Last Turn, the three cards left in the box at the end of the deal at Faro, the order of which may be bet upon. Lead, to play the first card in any trick. Levée, F., a trick. (Tric, is the odd trick.) Liées, F., to play rubbers. Limit, the amount by which one player may increase his bet over that of another. Long Cards, the dregs of a suit which has been led several times, and exhausted in the hands of the other players. Long Suits, those containing four or more cards, at Whist.
_=23. Exposed Cards.=_ In dealing for the draw, should any card be found faced in the pack, or should any card be exposed by the dealer in giving out the cards, or be blown over by the wind before the player has touched it, such cards must be placed on the table with the discards. The player whose card has been exposed does not receive another in its place until all the other players, including the dealer, have been helped. _=24. Incorrect Draws.=_ Should any player ask for an incorrect number of cards, he must take them; unless he discovers the error before the next player has been helped. If too many have been asked for, he must discard before seeing them. If too few, and he lifts any of them, he holds a foul hand. No player is allowed to take back into his hand any card that has once been discarded.
The French know nothing about Euchre in any form. Auction Euchre is exactly the same as the ordinary four or six-handed game, except that the trump is not turned up, the players bidding in turn for the privilege of naming the trump suit. The bidder names the number of tricks he proposes to take. There is no second bid, and the player who has made the highest bid names the trump suit. No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand leads for the first trick. The number of points won or lost on the deal are the number of points bid, even if the bidder accomplishes more. If a player has bid 3, and he and his partner take 4 or 5 tricks, they count 3 only. If they are euchred, failing to make the number of tricks bid, the adversaries count the number of points bid. Fifteen points is usually the game. This is probably the root of the much better games of five and seven-handed Euchre, which will be described further on.
Title: The Game of Rat and Dragon Author: Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger Release date: August 5, 2009 [eBook #29614] Language: English Credits: Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAME OF RAT AND DRAGON *** Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Adam Buchbinder, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber s Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed. The Game of Rat and Dragon By CORDWAINER SMITH _Only partners could fight this deadliest of wars--and the one way to dissolve the partnership was to be personally dissolved!_ Illustrated by HUNTER * * * * * THE TABLE [Illustration] Pinlighting is a hell of a way to earn a living. Underhill was furious as he closed the door behind himself.
_ Jack, Jack, the Bread s a-burning Jack, Jack, the bread s a-burning, All to a cinder; If you don t come and fetch it out We ll throw it through the winder. These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. One places his back against a wall, tree, &c., grasping another, whose back is toward him, round the waist; the second grasps a third, and so on. The player called Jack walks apart until the conclusion of the lines. Then he goes to the others and pokes at or pats them, saying, I don t think you re done yet, and walks away again. The chant is repeated, and when he is satisfied that the bread is done he endeavours to pull the foremost from the grasp of the others, &c.--Warwickshire (Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, p. 390). See Mother Mop.