The only hope for the man who is behind is that he can pick up some of his opponent’s men, setting them back, and in order to do this he must keep behind his adversary, so as to meet as many of his men as possible. This enables us to formulate the great principle of the American game, which is that when a player is ahead he should go ahead as fast as he can; and when he is behind, he should stay behind as long as he can. In the first place he is playing a forward, and in the second place a backward game. _=The Forward Game.=_ The great point in this game, after having obtained the advantage of several good throws in the opening, is to get home as rapidly as possible without unnecessarily exposing your men by leaving blots. Do not take up your adversary’s men if you can help it, because by so doing you place obstacles in your own path, and assist him by allowing him to stay behind, which is just his game. Get past all his men if possible, especially if he has moved his two men out of your home table. _=The Backward Game.=_ Exactly the opposite tactics are of course the best for the player who is behind. He should keep two or three men in his adversary’s home table, preferably on the ace and deuce points, in the hope of catching some of the enemy, and setting them back.
| R| ♡J turned. | I| --------------------------------+ C+-------------------------------- A Y B Z | K| A Y B Z +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 6♢ | J♢ | _A♢_ | 9♢ | 1| K♠ | 4♠ | 3♠ | _A♠_ | | _♡3_ | 3♢ | 2♢ | 10♢ | 2| ♡3 | ♡9 | _♡Q_ | ♡2 | | ♣9 | ♣K | _♣A_ | ♣3 | 3| 2♠ | 7♠ | 5♠ | _♡4_ | | _♡6_ | 4♢ | 5♢ | ♣4 | 4| ♣2 | _♣K_ | ♣6 | ♣3 | | _♣Q_ | ♣8 | ♣2 | ♣7 | 5| ♡5 | ♡7 | ♡8 | _♡J_ | | ♣6 | ♡4 | _♡9_ | ♣10 | 6| ♡10 | ♣5 | ♡K | _♡A_ | | _♡10_ | 7♢ | 8♢ | ♣J | 7| ♣8 | _♣J_ | 3♢ | ♣4 | | ♣5 | ♡K | _♡A_ | 7♠ | 8| 5♢ | J♢ | _A♢_ | 2♢ | | 4♠ | Q♢ | _♡Q_ | ♡5 | 9| 10♠ | 9♠ | 8♠ | _♡6_ | | 2♠ | 5♠ | _♡J_ | ♡7 |10| ♣Q | ♣7 | 4♢ | _♣A_ | | _A♠_ | 6♠ | Q♠ | K♠ |11| Q♠ | J♠ | 6♠ | _♣10_ | | _J♠_ | 9♠ | 3♠ | 10♠ |12| 10♢ | 7♢ | 6♢ | _♣9_ | | _8♠_ | K♢ | ♡2 | _♡8_ |13| Q♢ | 8♢ | 9♢ | K♢ | +-------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+-------+-------+-------+ _=No. 1.=_ This is a fine example of the _=Long-suit Game=_. The leader begins with one of the high cards of his long suit. Missing the 2, he knows some one is signalling for trumps, and as it is very unlikely that the adversaries would signal while he was in the lead, he assumes it is his partner, and leads his best trump. His partner does not return the trump, because he holds major tenace over the king, which must be in Y’s hand. At trick 5 B still holds major tenace in trumps, and leads a small card of his long suit to try to get A into the lead again. If A leads trumps again, his only possible card of re-entry for his club suit is gone. At trick 7, if B draws Y’s king, he kills A’s card of re-entry at the same time.
VIII. I sent a letter to my love, I carried water in my glove, I dript it, I dropped it, and by the way I lost it. --Hersham, Surrey (_Folk-lore Record_, v. 87). IX. I have a pigeon in my pocket, If I have not lost it; Peeps in, peeps out, By the way I ve lost it; Drip, drop, By the way I ve lost it. --Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). X. I have a pigeon in my pocket, It peeps out and in, And every time that I go round I give it a drop of gin.
Be glad for a mechanical mind. Where do you lift four thousand pounds of car aimed right at you? Well, there is a small valve, can t weigh half an ounce, lightly spring-loaded, that is in the power-steering mechanism. I seared a lift at it. You know what happened. The feedback of the power-steering wrenched the wheel from the driver s hand--it was ten times as strong as he was, dragging its power as it did from a four-hundred horsepower shaft turning 30,000 rpm. The car careened and skidded across the curb. It took out a small marble rail around the fountain pool and dived in, still screaming rubber. The fountain went over with a crash and then the racket dwindled off in the shriek of twisted buckets. The turbine had gotten what for in the collision. I didn t hang around to see what had happened to the driver.
The players retain their seats until they have played an agreed number of hands, which are laid aside one by one in trays. No trump is turned in Memory Duplicate; one suit being declared trumps for the entire sitting. Instead of the players changing positions for the overplay, the trays are reversed. If the indicators pointed N & S on the original deals, they must lie E & W for the overplay. [Illustration: A A +---------+ +---------+ | ^ | | | | | | | | B| | |B B| DE --- |B | | | AL | | DEALER| | ER | +---------+ +---------+ A A ORIGINAL POSITION OF TRAYS. POSITION FOR OVERPLAY. ] _=Scoring.=_ The E & W hands only are scored, the card being laid aside after the original play is completed, and a new card used for the overplay. The difference in the totals of these two sets of score-cards will show which pair gained the most tricks. _=Four Pairs.
No matter how strong or well established a plain suit may be, it is of uncertain value as long as the adversaries have any trumps with which to stop it. A suit is established when you can probably take every trick in it. If a player with a good established suit is sufficiently strong to make it probable that he can, with his partner’s assistance, exhaust the adverse trumps, he should do so by leading trumps. If they are probably stronger than he, he must _=force=_ them, by leading the established suit which they will be compelled to trump, weakening their hands and gradually reducing their trump strength until it is possible to exhaust what remains by leading. It being to the advantage of the player with a good suit to exhaust the trumps, it must be desirable to his adversaries to keep theirs, if possible, for the purpose of ruffing this good suit. Trumps are also useful as cards of re-entry, when a player has an established suit, but has not the lead; their most important use, however, is in defending or stopping established suits. _=Rules for Leading Trumps.=_ With five or more trumps, the beginner should always begin by leading them, regardless of the rest of his hand. With three or less he should never lead them, unless he has very strong cards in _=all=_ the plain suits. With four trumps exactly, he should lead them if he has an established suit and a card of re-entry in another suit.
The odds against being hit by a given number, either on one or on both dice, are given in the margin. The throws given in the second column cannot be made without counting both dice, and a player is therefore safer when it takes “double dice” to hit him. +------------------+-------------------+ |_Single Die._ |_Double Dice._ | | 25 to 11 ag’st 1 | 30 to 6 ag’st 7 | | 24 to 12 ag’st 2 | 30 to 6 ag’st 8 | | 22 to 14 ag’st 3 | 31 to 5 ag’st 9 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 4 | 33 to 3 ag’st 10 | | 21 to 15 ag’st 5 | 34 to 2 ag’st 11 | | 19 to 17 ag’st 6 | 35 to 1 ag’st 12 | +------------------+-------------------+ LAWS. _=1.=_ If the men are wrongly set up, the mistake may be remedied if the player in error has not moved a man, otherwise they must stand as set up. _=2.=_ If a player begins with less than the proper number of men, the error cannot be rectified after the player has made a throw for his move. _=3.
Players are allowed several bids, each raising in turn if he is raised. The highest bid possible is sixty-three, and these may be made as follows: High, low, Jack, and ten of trumps count 1 each; pedros, 5 each; King of trumps, 25; trey of trumps, 15; nine of trumps, 9. Game is 150 points. _=Widow Cinch.=_ Six players cut for partners, two on a side. Each player has two adversaries between himself and his partner. The dealer gives each player eight cards, four at a time, and four are dealt to the table after the first round to the players. These four cards are the widow. The successful bidder can take the widow before he names the trump, and then all the players discard down to six cards. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.
He does not even know whether or not he will be dealt a foul hand, or whether it will be a misdeal. He has not even seen the cards cut. 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.
The affair of Hook s Farm was one of those brisk little things that did so much to build up my early reputation. I did remarkably well, though perhaps it is not my function to say so. The enemy was slightly stronger, both in cavalry and infantry, than myself [Footnote: A slight but pardonable error on the part of the gallant gentleman. The forces were exactly equal.]; he had the choice of position, and opened the ball. Nevertheless I routed him. I had with me a compact little force of 3 guns, 48 infantry, and 25 horse. My instructions were to clear up the country to the east of Firely Church. We came very speedily into touch. I discovered the enemy advancing upon Hook s Farm and Firely Church, evidently with the intention of holding those two positions and giving me a warm welcome.