A man may be fortunate enough for a long time to guess right oftener than he will guess wrong, and a lucky man in good guessing form is a very dangerous customer, that no cold deck will beat; but a man with a system surrenders to a double foe; the inevitable percentage of the game, and the skill of the banker, who can beat any system if the player will only promise to stick to it. KENO, OR LOTTO. This game is played with a large number of cards, on which are printed various permutations of the numbers 1 to 90, taken five at a time; but each of the five numbers selected for one combination must be in a separate division of tens, such combinations as 2 4 8 16 18 not being allowed on any card, because the 2 4 and 8, for instance, are all in the first ten numbers of the 90. These cards have each a number, printed in large red type across the face of the other figures. The following might be a keno card, No. 325:-- [Illustration: +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | 1 | | 26 | | 45 | 53 | | 77 | | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | | 10 | 28 | =3=| =2=| =5=| 62 | 79 | 83 | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ | 4 | 12 | | 37 | | 67 | | 90 | +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ ] Some cards have more than three rows of figures on them, but none have more than five in one row. The cards are left on the tables in large numbers, and any number of persons may play. Each selects as many cards as he wishes, or thinks he can watch, and places upon them their price, usually twenty-five cents each. An assistant comes round and calls out the numbers of all the cards to be played, and they are “pegged” on a large board provided for the purpose. Ninety small ivory balls, with flattened surfaces to carry the numbers, are placed in a keno goose, which looks like a coffee urn with the spout at the bottom.
Two are laid out for the crib, and five kept for playing. There being six cards in each hand, with the starter, the counting combinations sometimes run into high figures, and it is therefore usual to play the game 121 or even 181 points up. * * * * * There are no authoritative _=LAWS=_ for Cribbage, but the foregoing descriptions contain all the regulations in force at the best clubs. TEXT BOOKS. The Cribbage Player’s Handbook, by Walker. Bézique and Cribbage, by Berkeley. Pocket Guide to Cribbage, by “Cavendish.” Bohn’s Handbook of Games. Cribbage, by Rawdon Crawley. Dick’s Handbook of Cribbage.
| Belfast. | Halliwell. | Liphook. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | -- | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.|L. B.
DEALING. 14. When four or more play at the same table, the dealer takes no cards, but gives cards to the two sitting immediately on his left and to the one next him on his right. 15. When only three play, Hinterhand shall deal the cards. 16. The deal passes in regular order to the left. 17. After being thoroughly shuffled, the pack must be presented to the pone (the player sitting on the dealer’s right) to be cut, and at least three cards must be left in each packet. Any player may demand a right to shuffle the cards before they are dealt, but the dealer shall have the last shuffle before presenting the cards to be cut.
The side that first wins two games of 500 points each adds 2,000 rubber points in the honour column. _=Slams.=_ If a little slam, 12 tricks, is made, but has not been bid, it is worth 1,000 points in honours. If a little slam, “six tricks,” has been bid and is made, it is worth 5,000 more for bidding it, or 6,000 altogether. If a grand slam, 13 tricks, is made but not bid, it is worth 2,000 honour points. If a little slam is bid and a grand slam made, it is worth 7,000 altogether. If a grand slam is bid and made, it is worth 12,000 altogether. _=Lost Games.=_ If the bidder fails to make good, his adversaries score 100 times the value of the tricks as penalty, in the honour column; the scores for the tricks actually won standing at their regular value below the line. Suppose the bid to be three in diamonds, making the tricks worth 30 each, and that the bidder’s side get the odd trick only.
11. There are thirty-two cards in the pack, the rank and value of which are as follows: Jack 2; ace 11; ten 10; king 4; queen 3; the nine, eight and seven having no counting value. 12. The suits shall always outrank one another in the same order; clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. The four jacks, or Wenzels, which are always the four best trumps, shall outrank one another in the same order. 13. In Nullo, the cards rank: A K Q J 10 9 8 7, and the suits and jacks are all of equal rank. DEALING. 14. When four or more play at the same table, the dealer takes no cards, but gives cards to the two sitting immediately on his left and to the one next him on his right.
It will be observed that the court cards in class C must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Bézique, any four court cards may be declared. The following rules govern all classes of declarations:-- The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further announcements can be made. Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld. This is a very important rule, and little understood. Suppose a player holds four Kings and four Queens. The total count for the various combinations these cards will make is 220: two plain-suit marriages, 20 each; royal marriage, 40; four Kings, 80; and four Queens, 60. As only one combination can be scored for each trick won, and as the player must lay down at least one fresh card for each successive meld, it is evident that if he begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each of them in turn, when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to sacrifice the 20 for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four Queens. He cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule about the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four Kings and four Queens are never worth 240, but only 220.
The multipliers were the same as those used in the modern game, but the player had no means of using them in his bids. It will be observed that the modern value of the various games seeks to preserve the old rank by assuming the lowest possible bid on any given game. In some parts of Germany it is still the custom to reckon Solos at the tourné values, simply adding one multiplier for “out of hand.” Thus a spade Solo with two would be reckoned; “with two, one for game, one for out of hand; four times seven, or twenty-eight.” Note that seven is tourné value for spades. _=THE SKAT CARDS.=_ The successful bidder determined, the skat cards are pushed towards him, and the manner in which he uses them limits the game he is allowed to play. While the player must win or lose a game worth as many as bid, he may attempt to win as many more as he pleases. If he has got the play on a bid of ten, that does not prevent him from playing a club Solo, with schneider announced. But if he has bid or refused eleven, and plays a tourné in diamonds, he must make schneider or play with or without two Matadores in order to bring his multipliers up to three.
For instance: If your adversary has shown one or two Kings, but no Ace, and you have three of each, you are more likely to get 100 Aces than 80 Kings. If you hold duplicate cards, especially in trumps, play the one on the table, not the one in your hand. _=Brisques.=_ Beginners often overlook the importance of brisques. Every time you allow your adversary to take in a brisque which you might have won, you make a difference of twenty points in the score. While you are hugging three Aces, waiting for a fourth, your adversary may get home all his Tens, and then turn up with your fourth Ace in his hand. _=Discarding.=_ It is usually best to settle upon one of two suits or combinations, and to discard the others, for you cannot play for everything. Having once settled on what to play for, it is generally bad policy to change unless something better turns up. Your adversary’s discards will often be a guide as to the combinations he hopes to make, and will show you that you need not keep certain cards.
That should have cut out the last distraction. But no, I could see one more bimbo working her way through the laughing, drink-flushed crowd toward me. She had hair-colored hair, which was sort of out of character for a barroom hustler. I put plenty of TK on the heel of her right slipper, and she stepped right out of it. It might as well have been nailed to the floor. Nothing was going to discourage this one, I saw. I let her pick it off the floor, squeeze it back on her skinny foot, and come toward me. This new babe leaned over toward me and stuck her nose up against mine. It was long, thin, and not a little red. Billy Joe! she said, and sniffled loudly.
Lend me your Key. Letting the Buck out. Level-coil. Libbety-lat. Limpy Coley. Little Dog, I call you. Lobber. Loggats. London. London Bridge.
She shrugged. I want you to try, I added. Not till I get a sign, she said, moving uneasily. I m to get a sign. I waved my hands in disgust and turned away from her. There had to be some fakery in it somewhere, I said. You couldn t heal a hang-nail! Not a fake! she said hotly. I _have_ healed the sick! Don t get uppity, I said. So have I. You see, I told her.
If an adverse Pawn attempts to pass this Pawn by availing itself of the privilege of moving two squares the first time, that would not prevent the passed Pawn from capturing it _=en passant=_. In the position shown in Diagram No. 3, for instance, if the black Queen’s Pawn were to advance two squares, the white Pawn could capture it en passant, lifting it from the board, and taking the position that the black Pawn would have occupied if it had moved only one square the first time; that is, the first black square in front of the Queen. A Pawn can be taken en passant only by another pawn, never by any other piece. [Illustration: _No. 3._ BLACK. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♜ | ♞ | ♝ | ♛ | ♚ | ♝ | ♞ | ♜ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ♟ | ♟ | ♟ | ♟ | | ♟ | ♟ | ♟ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | ♟ | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | ♙ | | | | ] ♜ _=The Rook=_ can be moved any number of squares at a time, forward or backward, but only in vertical or horizontal lines, never diagonally. The Rook’s movement is of course limited by pieces obstructing its path, for it cannot jump over anything. At the beginning of the game, for instance, the Rook cannot move at all.
On the same principle, there are often cases in which it is advisable to take a trick with one heart in it, in order to get rid of a dangerous card, which might bring you in several hearts later on. The general principles of leading and discarding are the same as in Sweepstake Hearts; but it is not necessary to take such desperate chances to escape entirely. _=THREE-HANDED HEARTS=_ is more difficult to play than any other form of the game, partly because there are so many rounds of each suit, and partly because the moment one player refuses, the exact cards of that suit in the two other players’ hands are known to each of them. There is usually a great deal of cross-fighting in the three-handed game, during which one player escapes by getting numerous discards. When all three have refused, each a different suit, the end game becomes a question of generalship, and the preservation of one or more commanding cards, with which to control and place the lead, is usually the key to the situation. A player who has no high cards for the end game, unless he is quite safe, is almost certain to be loaded in the last few tricks. _=TWO-HANDED HEARTS.=_ Before opening the hand, the player should carefully consider what suits are safe and what are dangerous. It is usually best to preserve the safe suits and to lead the dangerous ones, which you should clear your hand of, if possible. It is a great advantage to have a missing suit, and equally disadvantageous to have a number of a suit of which your adversary is probably clear.
A little chaffing generally goes on against Foolie. The Namer says, Come chise me oot, come chise me in, tae so and so, naming one by the assumed fancy name. Foolie makes choice of one. If the choice falls right, the one so chosen steps from the line and stands beside Foolie. If the choice falls wrong, the one named remains in the line. All the players names are called out in this way. If any stand unchosen by Foolie, the Namer then goes up to each and asks if he wants, _e.g._, an aipple, an orange, a kirk, a cottage, &c. Each one whispers what he wants.
This description is almost the same as a seventeenth century version. The dance is begun by a single person (either man or woman), who, taking a cushion in his hand, dances about the room, and at the end of the tune he stops and sings:-- This dance it will no further go. The Musician answers: I pray you, good sir, why say you so? Man: Because Joan Sanderson will not come to. Musician: She must come to, and she shall come to, And she must come whether she will or no. Then he lays down the cushion before a woman, on which she kneels, and he kisses her, singing-- Welcom, Joan Sanderson, welcom, welcom. Then he rises, takes up the cushion, and both dance, singing-- Prinkum-prankum is a fine dance, And shall we go dance it once again, Once again, and once again, And shall we go dance it once again. Then, making a stop, the wo(man) sings as before-- This dance, &c. Musician: I pray you, madam, &c. Woman: Because John Sanderson, &c. Musician: He must, &c.
I could see the fuzzy redness of a cigarette in the dark. It brightened as the smoker took a drag. Then I heard the sniffle, and knew who it was. She stood there, apparently leaning against the wall behind her, silently, invisible but for the glow of her cigarette, and not moving her feet. Hello, I said at last. Wasn t sure you wanted to talk, she said out of the dark. It shook me up. She certainly couldn t _see_ me. How d you know I was here? I asked her. I don t know how.
Take one, take one, the fairest you can see. You shall have a duck, my dear, You shall have a drake, You shall have a young man Apprentice for your sake. If this young man shall wealthy grow And give his wife a feather, The bells shall ring and birds shall sing And we ll all clap hands together. --Roxton, St. Neots (Miss Lumley). VI. Walking up the green grass, A dust, a dust, a dust! We want a pretty maiden To walk along with us. We ll take this pretty maiden, We ll take her by the hand, She shall go to Derby, And Derby is the land! She shall have a duck, my dear, She shall have a drake, She shall have a nice young man A-fighting for her sake! Suppose this young man was to die, And leave the poor girl a widow; The bells would ring and we should sing, And all clap hands together! --Berrington (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 511). VII.
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. He was just some heavy who had the job of rubbing me out. But I did seek another haven. If they knew me that well, I d never be safe where I had stashed my suitcase. There was a copter squatting at the Sky Hi s ramp. I jumped for it and had him drop me toward the outskirts of the town of Lake Tahoe, and then walked a few blocks, mostly in circles to see if I were being followed, before darting into a fairly seedy motel a couple blocks off the main drag.
=_ From any combination of cards, if you have not the best, or both the second and third-best, in your hand for the second round, lead your original fourth-best. From all the following, the proper lead on the second round would be the fourth-best, in each case the four of the suit: [Illustration: 🂡 🂭 🂧 🂤 🂢 | 🂾 🂽 🂸 🂴 🃁 🃋 🃉 🃄 🃃 | 🂮 🂭 🂧 🂤 🃑 🃙 🃘 🃔 🃓 | 🃎 🃋 🃊 🃄 ] _=Leading Trumps.=_ A trump lead is sometimes adopted when all the plain suits are bad ones to lead away from, such as A Q, or A J, or K J in each and no length. If a player holds high cards which are not in sequence, such as the major tenace, ace and queen, it is very probable that the declarer holds the king. By refusing to lead such suits, and waiting for them to come up to the tenace, the declarer’s high card may be caught and a valuable trick saved. When a good player opens his hand with a trump, right up to the declaration, his partner should lead his best supporting cards boldly up to dummy’s weak suits. _=The Pone’s Leads.=_ When the pone gets into the lead, if he does not return his partner’s suit, he should open his own suits according to the rules already given for all the high-card combinations. If he has no high-card combination, it is usually better for him to lead some card that will beat Dummy than to lead his fourth-best. Suppose he wishes to lead a diamond, in which he holds Q 10 8 4 3; Dummy having the 9 and 6 only.