Of these he has one chance to win the third game, and one to lose it. No matter how far we continue a series of successive events it will always be found that having won a certain number of games, it is still exactly an even thing that he will win the next also. The odds of 1023 to 1 against his winning ten games in succession existed only before he began to play. After he has won the first game, the odds against his winning the remaining nine are only 511 to 1, and so on, until it is an even thing that he wins the tenth, even if he has won the nine preceding it. In the statistics of 4000 coups at roulette at Monte Carlo it was found that if one colour had come five times in succession, it was an exactly even bet that it would come again; for in twenty runs of five times there were ten which went on to six. In the author’s examination of 500 consecutive deals of faro, there were 815 cards that either won or lost three times in succession, and of these 412 won or lost out. In a gambling house in Little Rock a roulette wheel with three zeros on it did not come up green for 115 rolls, and several gamblers lost all they had betting on the eagle and O’s. When the game closed the banker informed them that the green had come up more than twenty times earlier in the evening. They thought the maturity of the chances would compel the green to come; whereas the chances really were that it would not come, as it had over-run its average so much earlier in the evening. The pendulum swings as far one way as the other, but no method of catching it on the turn has ever yet been discovered.
Such combinations are always worth 15 points; 9 for the triple run of three, and 6 for the pair royal. [Illustration: 🃑 🃁 🃒 🂳 🃓 ] If the duplicates are of two different cards, no matter which, it will be found that four different sequences of three cards each can be formed by changing the Aces and Threes alternately. Such combinations are therefore always worth 16 points: four runs of three, worth 12, and 4 points for the two separate pairs. [Illustration: 🂡 🂢 🂳 🃔 🃄 ] If the five cards contain one sequence of four, and one duplicate, the combination will always be worth 10 points; 8 for the double run of four, and 2 for the pair. The foregoing should be thoroughly familiar to every player, so that he may know the exact value of the combination the moment he sees the length of the sequence and the number of duplicates. _=Two-card Fifteens.=_ Any combination of two or more cards, the total face value of which is exactly 15, is called _=fifteen-two=_, because each fifteen so formed is worth two points in the pegging. There are only three combinations of two cards which will form fifteen; a Five with any court card or Ten; a Nine and a Six; an Eight and a Seven. The manner of counting duplicates is the same as that employed for the pairs and sequences, and the player should be equally familiar with each variety of combination. The fifteens formed by _=two cards=_ only are the simplest, and should be studied first.
=_ Ten cards are given to each player, one at a time, and the next card is turned up and laid beside the stock to start the discard pile. _=LAYING OUT.=_ Sequences in suit may run to any length, and any number of cards or combinations may be laid out at one time. Five, six or seven of a kind may be shown, and four of a kind may be of any suits. There is no obligation to lay out anything, but the player who lays out can do so only in his proper turn, after drawing a card. He may add as many cards as he pleases to any combinations already on the table, either of his own or other players. _=THE JOKERS.=_ These two cards have peculiar privileges. A joker may be called anything the holder pleases. If it is used as the interior of a sequence, such as _6_ joker 8 of hearts, it must remain there, but if it is placed at the end of a sequence, any player has the right to remove it to the other end, placing it crossways, to show that it has been moved, provided he can put a card in its place, or add one to the sequence below the joker.
_=Pegging.=_ Neither player is allowed to touch the other’s pegs. If the score is erroneous, the player in fault must be called upon to remedy it himself. A player whose pegs are touched by his adversary can score two holes for penalty. If a player removes his adversary’s front peg, the latter may immediately claim the game. If a player displaces his own front peg, he must place it behind the other. If both players displace their front pegs, as by accident, they may agree to replace them where they believe them to have stood; but if they cannot agree they must call the game void. _=Pegging Out.=_ In pegging during the play, the first man to reach his game hole wins, no matter what either may have in hand or crib. If neither can peg out in play, the non-dealer has the first show.
The ante, on the other hand, is a voluntary bet, and is a sort of entrance fee, which is paid before the hand is complete, but after the first part of it has been seen. The ante is always twice the amount of the blind, whatever that may be. If the blind has been increased by the process of straddling, the ante must be twice the amount of the last straddle, but must not exceed the betting limit. This is why the straddles are limited. The largest _=bet=_, or _=raise=_, which a player is allowed to make is generally known as _=the limit=_. This limit is not the greatest amount that may be bet on one hand, but is the maximum amount by which one player may increase his bet over that of another player. For instance: If no one has bet, A may bet the limit on his hand; B may then put up a similar amount, which is called _=seeing=_ him, and may then _=raise=_ him any further sum within the limit fixed for betting. If B raises the limit, it is obvious that he has placed in the pool twice the amount of the betting limit; but his _=raise=_ over A’s bet is within the betting limit. If another player should raise B again, he would be putting up three times the limit; A’s bet, B’s raise, and his own raise. In the absence of any definite arrangement, it is usual to make the betting limit fifty times the amount of the blind.
Should the total score result in a tie, sufficient innings are played to make the grand score unequal. The team having the largest score in the previous inning must bowl the first ball, so that the weaker party will have the last ball. Three balls of regulation size (27 inches in circumference) or under are allotted to each player in each inning. Each pin bowled down counts 1, including the king pin. If all the pins except the king pin are bowled down, it counts 12. The pins are set up as soon as the nine pins are knocked down, or the king pin is the only one left standing. The alleys are changed alternately. The dead wood is removed after each ball is rolled. In case of uneven teams the Dummy or Blind is filled by any substitute the captain may pick out to bowl. He can select any one of his men he chooses, without regard to rotation, or he himself can bowl, but no man can take the place of the blind twice until every member of the team has acted as the substitute.
At one o clock the ball was thrown out from near the old commercial hotel, the Queen s Head, in the centre of the town, and it has often been received by over three and four hundred people, so great was the interest taken in this ancient sport. At Asborne the struggle was between the up ards and down ards. At Dorking the divisions were between the east and west ends of the town, and there was first a perambulation of the streets by the football retinue composed of grotesquely dressed persons. At Alnwick the divisions were the parishes of St. Michael s and St. Paul s. At Kirkwall the contest was on New Year s Day, and was between up the gates and down the gates, the ball being thrown up at the Cross. At Scarborough, on the morning of Shrove Tuesday, hawkers paraded the streets with parti-coloured balls, which were purchased by all ranks of the community. With these, and armed with sticks, men, women, and children repaired to the sands below the old town and indiscriminately commenced a contest. The following graphic account of Welsh customs was printed in the _Oswestry Observer_ of March 2, 1887: In South Cardiganshire it seems that about eighty years ago the population, rich and poor, male and female, of opposing parishes, turned out on Christmas Day and indulged in the game of Football with such vigour that it became little short of a serious fight.
Any of these trumps may be played at any time on either of the ends, in order to prevent a block; but the following player, if he does not play a trump also, must play the complement of seven to whichever end of the matadore is left exposed. Doublets are not placed crosswise, and count only for the suit to which they belong; a double three cannot be played to an ace, because it counts as three only. The trumps are usually placed at right angles to the line. The game is decided and settled for as in the ordinary Block Game. _=SEBASTOPOL.=_ In this variety of the Block Game, four persons play. Each takes seven bones, and the double six sets. Nothing but sixes can be played until both sides and both ends of the first set have been played to. When these five dominoes have been set, any of the four ends may be played to. Each player in turn must play or say, “go.
The penalty for a revoke is also the loss of a point. _=Method of Playing.=_ The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and the winner takes it in and leads for the next trick. The player winning the first trick must pay for it immediately, to avoid disputes. The tricks which are neither the first nor the last have no value, unless they contain the club Queen, which must be paid for as soon as it is taken in. There is a good deal of play in manœuvring to get rid of cards which might win the last trick, or which would take in the club Queen. The Ace and King of clubs are of course dangerous cards, and unless the player holding them has small cards enough to make him safe in that suit, he should be on the alert for opportunities to discard. POLIGNAC. QUATRE-VALETS, OR FOUR JACKS.
In _=Boston=_, _=Cayenne=_, and _=Solo Whist=_, the misdealer deals again with the same cards. In Boston he forfeits a red counter to the pool for his error. THE TRUMP CARD. 18. The dealer must leave the trump card face upward on the table until it is his turn to play to the first trick; if it is left on the table until after the second trick has been turned and quitted, it is liable to be called. After it has been lawfully taken up, it must not be named, and any player naming it is liable to have his highest or his lowest trump called by either adversary. A player may, however, ask what the trump suit is. This law does not apply to Boston, or Cayenne. In _=Boston=_ and in _=Cayenne=_, no trump is turned, but a card is cut from the still pack to determine the rank of the suits. See Law 13.
They then stand till, sing the next verse, and, while singing, suit the action to the word, each child turning herself rapidly round when singing the last line. The first verse is then repeated, and the fourth sung in the same way as the second, and so on. Another way of playing is that the children do not dance round and round. They form a ring by joining hands, and they then all move in one direction, about half way round, while singing the first line, lubin; then back again in the opposite direction, while singing the second line, light, still keeping the ring form, and so on for the third and fourth lines. In each case the emphasis is laid upon the Here of each line, the movement being supposed to answer to the Here. The Dorsetshire version (Miss M. Kimber) is played by the children taking hands in pairs, forming a ring, and dancing round. At Eckington (S. O. Addy) the children first pretend to wash their hands, then their face, while singing the words; then comb their hair and brush their clothes; then they join hands and dance round in a ring singing the words which follow, again suiting their actions to the words sung.
168). Another old wedding superstition is alluded to by Longfellow:-- While the bride with roguish eyes, Sporting with them, now escapes and cries, Those who catch me, married verily this year will be. See Joggle Along. Jolly Rover [Music] --Derbyshire (Mrs. Harley). Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover, Here comes one jolly rover, jolly rover, jolly rover, A roving all day. And what do you rove for, rove for, rove for? And what do you rove for? Lily white and shining. I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure, I rove for my pleasure, my pleasure, my pleasure, Lily white and shining. And what is your pleasure, your pleasure, your pleasure? What is your pleasure? Lily white and shining. My pleasure s for to marry you, to marry you, to marry you, My pleasure s for to marry you, Lily white and shining.
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Cul levé, (jouer à) playing one after another, by taking the place of the loser. A vulgar expression. Cutting, dividing the pack when presented by the dealer; or drawing lots for choice of seats and deal. Cutting In and Out, deciding by cutting which players shall give way to fresh candidates. Curse of Scotland, the nine of diamonds. Cut Shots, very fine winning hazards. Dealing Off, the same dealer dealing again. Deck-head, an Irish name for the turned trump at Spoil Five. Deadwood, the pins that fall on the alley, in bowling. Décavé, F.
King William. King s Chair. Kirk the Gussie. Kiss in the Ring. Kit-cat. Kit-cat-cannio. Kittlie-cout. Knapsack. Knights. Knocked at the Rapper.
For instance: Suppose he originally leads a 4; second hand playing the 9; third hand the Ace; and fourth hand the 10. The third hand is marked with whatever cards of the sequence K Q J are not in the caller’s hand. Many players fall into the error of leading the highest card of a losing sequence, such as a 6 from 6 5 4 3. This accomplishes nothing, and only discloses to the adversaries the fact that the caller is safe in that suit. The three is the better lead. _=Following Suit.=_ The caller should usually play a card as little inferior as he can to the highest already on the trick. When he has cards of equal value, such as the 5 and 2, the 3 and 4 being already on the table, he should play the lower card of the fourchette; for although it may be said that the fourth player must take the trick, there is no certainty that he will follow suit. When second hand, if there is a choice between two cards, such as the 6 and 2, an intermediate card having been led, it is often a nice point to decide whether or not to risk covering and keeping the deuce. If the deuce is played, it must be remembered that the adversaries will follow with their highest cards, leaving two cards out against the caller, both smaller than the 6.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ In the six-card game the hand is more valuable than the crib, because you know what it contains, whereas the crib is largely speculative. In the five-card game, in which there are only three cards in the hand and four in the crib, it is usual to sacrifice the hand very largely for the possibilities of the crib, because of the much larger scores that can be made with five cards, the starter and four in the crib. _=Baulking.=_ In both games it is the duty of the pone to baulk the dealer’s crib as much as possible, by laying out cards which are very unlikely to be worth anything, either in making fifteens or in filling up sequences. Pairs it is impossible to provide against, and the chance of making a flush is remote, but should be avoided if there is any choice. The best baulk is a King and Nine; tenth cards and Aces are also very good cards to lay out. Cards which are at least two pips apart, called _=wide cards=_, are better than _=close cards=_, as the latter may form sequences. Fives are very bad discards, and so are any cards that form a five or a fifteen. _=The Crib.
The mention of the spitting on the hearth in the Sheffield version, and dirtying the hearth in the London version, give confirmation to the theory that the desecration of the fire or hearth is the cause of the pot boiling over, and that the spirit of the hearth or fire is offended at the sacrilege. The Witch, too, may be unable to get possession of a child until she has something belonging to the house. The journey of the Mother to the Witch s house in search of her children, the obstacles put in her path, and the mention of the spilling of blood on the threshold, are incidents which have great significance. Why the keeling or skimming of the contents of the pot should be so difficult a task for the eldest daughter that the Mother is obliged to come herself, is not so clear; the skimming is of course to prevent the pot boiling over, and the pot may be supposed to take the place of the Mother or Guardian of the hearth, and tell when misfortune or trouble is at hand. Or the boiling over (which, if continued, would extinguish the fire and sully the stone) may be an offence to the hearth spirit, who ceases then to protect the inmates of the house. Fairies are said to have power over the inmates of a house when the threshold and kitchen utensils are left dirty and uncared for. Thus on the theories accompanying the ancient house ritual, this extraordinary game assumes a rational aspect, and it is not too much to suggest that this explanation is the correct one. In the game of Witch practically the same incidents occur, and nearly the same dialogue, but the significant elements of pot-boiling and fire-protection do not appear in that game. It is not certain whether we have two independent games, or whether The Witch is this game, the incidents of pot-boiling and the fire-protection having been lost in its transmission to more modern notions. Although so closely allied, these games are not one at the present day, and are therefore treated separately.
When three persons play, the deuce of spades is thrown out of the pack; when five play, both the black deuces are laid aside, and when six play, all four deuces are discarded. It is usual to play with two packs, one being shuffled while the other is dealt. _=COUNTERS.=_ Every deal is a game in itself, and must be settled for in counters immediately. It is usual for each player to begin with fifty counters, which are purchased from some person who is agreed upon to act as banker. When only two play, the game may be scored on a pull-up cribbage board, and settled for at the end. _=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from two to six persons may play, but four is the usual number, each playing for himself against all the others. The players on the dealer’s right and left are known as the _=pone=_ and the _=eldest hand=_, respectively. _=STAKES.
The Bishops cannot be confused in this way, because they never change the colour of the square they stand upon. In some sets of chessmen the Knights are distinguished by putting a small crown on the King’s Knight, but this is never done in the regulation Staunton model. The beginner will find it very convenient, when following out the play of published games, to screw off the bottom of one white and one black Knight, and to exchange the bases. The white King’s Knight will then have a black base, and the black King’s Knight will have a white base, and they can be easily identified at any period of the game. _=GERMAN NOTATION.=_ Many of our standard chess books, and some of the best edited chess columns, are in German, and the student should be familiar with the German notation, which is much simpler than the English. The white men are always considered as the side nearer the player; the vertical columns are designated from left to right by the letters a b c d e f g h; and the horizontal rows by the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, beginning at the bottom, or white side. The pieces are designated by one capital letter only, as follows:-- K for König, or King. D for Dame, or Queen. T for Thurm, or Rook.