A whiff of garlic told me that Simonetti had reached the table. He d been watching on the TV monitor, of course. He knelt down beside us. A doctor, quick, I said. She s been pinked with nerve poison. She s gone, then, he said huskily. Who done it? Fowler Smythe, I said bitterly. A snake within the Lodge. You might try to stop him. But your partner, Rose, is the real crook.
The game is sometimes kept on a cribbage board, each player starting at 21, and going twice round to the game-hole, reckoning each peg as 10 points. _=STAKES.=_ Binocle is played for so much a game of 1000 points, and the moment either player either actually reaches or claims to have reached that number, the game is at an end. If his claim is correct, he wins; if it is not, his adversary takes the stakes, no matter what the score may be. _=PLAYERS.=_ Binocle is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for the choice of seats and deal, and the player cutting the higher card may deal or not, as he pleases. It is usual for the player having the choice to make his adversary deal. A player exposing more than one card must cut again. _=DEALING.
_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The side first scoring 41 points wins the game; and the chief object is to secure tricks containing cards to which a certain value is attached. These all belong to the trump suit, and are the following:-- The Jack of trumps counts 11 The Ace of trumps counts 4 The King of trumps counts 3 The Queen of trumps counts 2 The Ten of trumps counts 10 The other trumps, and the plain suit-cards, have no counting value. The Jack of trumps, being the best, must be taken in by the player to whom it is dealt; but any court card in trumps will win the Ten, so that one of the principal objects in Scotch Whist is to _=catch the ten=_. At the end of each hand the players count the number of cards they have taken in tricks, and they are entitled to score one point for each above the number originally dealt to them. For instance: If four play, nine cards were originally dealt to each, so each pair of partners held eighteen. If at the end of the hand they have taken in eight tricks, or thirty-two cards, they score 14 points toward game, in addition to any score they may have made by winning honours in trumps, or catching the Ten. If five play, beginning with seven cards each, and at the end of the hand one player has taken in fifteen, and another ten; they score 8 and 3 respectively, for cards. _=SCORING.=_ At the end of each hand, each player or side should claim all honours won, and cards taken in.
_=Declarations.=_ The winner of any trick, previous to the exhaustion of the stock, may announce and lay upon the table any one of ten different combinations, which are divided into three classes. These are as follows, with the number of points he is entitled to score for each: CLASS A. DIFFERENT SUITS. Any four of a kind, such as four Tens, 100 Any three of a kind, such as three Queens, 30 Any pair, such as two Nines, 20 CLASS B. THE SAME SUIT. Any sequence of five, containing K Q J, 250 Any sequence of four, containing K Q J, 40 Any sequence of K Q J, 30 King and Queen of any suit, 20 Queen and Jack of any suit, 20 Any flush of five cards, containing K Q J, 50 CLASS C. PENCHANTS. Any Queen and Jack of different suits, 10 The sequences and flushes in class B must all be of the same suit; penchant cards must be of different suits. If the winner of any trick has no declaration to make, he signifies it by drawing the top card from the stock.
Howell’s method is undoubtedly the best, but Sweepstakes is very common. An excellent way is for the player who takes the largest number of hearts to pay the two others as many counters as he has hearts in excess of theirs. If two have an equal number, both pay the low man. There are no Jacks. _=AUCTION HEARTS.=_ This is usually played by four persons, although five or six may form a table. After the cards have been dealt in the usual way, the player to the left of the dealer examines his cards, and determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. It may be that if the game were to get rid of clubs instead of hearts, his hand would be a very good one, whereas if the suit were to remain hearts it would be a very bad hand. As the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, he can afford to pay something for the better chance he will have to win it if he is allowed to make clubs the suit to be avoided, instead of hearts. He bids whatever amount he is willing to pay for the privilege of changing the suit, without naming the suit he prefers.
All this, I said. Because you see the future? Yes, Billy Joe. And this talk about losing your prophecy because of divorce was just that, talk? I insisted. Her mouth worked silently. I talk like trash, and sometimes I start to think like it, she confessed. I even act like it. I ve tried not to see things acomin . But, she added, drifting back into her Ozark lingo. Always I knowed I was to find you. I knowed I was to go and search in spots of sin, for there you would be.
If the dealer takes the trump into his hand, any player naming it is liable to have his highest or lowest trump called; but a player may ask and must be informed what the trump suit is. _=Cards Played in Error.=_ All cards led out of turn, played in error, or two or more played to a trick, or dropped face upward on the table, are called _=exposed cards=_, and must be left face up on the table. These must be played when called by the adversaries, unless compliance with the demand would make the player revoke; but the fact of their being exposed does not prevent their being got rid of in the course of play if the opportunity offers. Some persons imagine that the adversaries can prevent an exposed card from being played; but such is not the case in Euchre. A person playing a lone hand is not liable to any penalty for exposing his cards, nor for leading out of turn, for he has no partner to derive any benefit from the information conveyed. _=Leading Out of Turn.=_ Should any person, not playing alone, lead out of turn, the adversaries may call a suit from the player in error, or from his partner, when it is next the turn of either of them to lead. The demand must be made by the person who will be the last player on the trick in which the suit is called. If all have played to the lead before discovering the error, it cannot be rectified; but if all have not played, those who have followed the false lead must take back their cards, which are not liable to be called.
| -- | -- | -- | |11.| -- | -- | -- | |12.| -- | -- | -- | |13.|Washed her, dried her,| -- | -- | | |rolled her in silk. | | | |14.| -- |Wash you in milk, |Wash them in milk, | | | |clothe in silk. |clothe in silk. | |15.|Wrote name in glass | -- | -- | | |pen and ink. | | | |16.
=_ The chief points for the beginner to understand are. When to order up; when to assist; when to take up; when to play alone; and what to make the trump if it is turned down. His decision in each case will be governed largely by his position at the table, and by the score. The following suggestions are for four players, two being partners against the other two, and playing without the Joker; that being the most common form of the game. The general principles underlying these suggestions for the four-handed game will be found equally valuable in any form of Euchre. _=ORDERING UP.=_ Although probabilities are of little practical value in Euchre, it may be well to remember that there are nine cards in the trump suit; but as only two-thirds of the pack is dealt out, the average number of trumps among four players will be six. Of these, the dealer always has the advantage of being sure of one more than his share, and it is safe to reckon upon the dealer to hold at least two trumps. He may also be counted for a missing suit, for he will discard any losing card of an odd suit when he takes up the trump. _=The Eldest Hand=_ should not order up the trump unless he has such cards that he is reasonably certain of three tricks without any assistance from his partner, and cannot be sure of two tricks if the trump is turned down.
If they are both on the right, one of them will be played on the small card led from Dummy, and then the dealer can win it with the Ace and force out the other high card with his Jack, which will have become one of the second and third-best of the suit. _=Re-entry Cards.=_ After a suit has been _=cleared=_, or established, it will be necessary to get into the lead with it. For this purpose the dealer must be careful to preserve a re-entry card in the hand which is longer in the suit. Suppose that Dummy’s long suit is clubs, but that the Ace is against him, and that his only winning card outside is the Ace of diamonds. If diamonds are led, and the dealer has the Queen, he must let the lead come up to his hand so as to keep Dummy’s Ace of diamonds for a re-entry to bring the clubs into play after the Ace has been forced out and the suit established. Many of the prettiest plays in bridge are in the management of re-entry cards. _=Underplay.=_ When the dealer is afraid of a suit which is opened against him, and has only one winning card in it, such as the Ace, he should hold up that card until the third hand has no more of the suit to lead to his partner. The original leader will then have to get in himself, because his partner cannot help him; but if the dealer gave up the Ace on the first trick, it would not matter which partner got into the lead, they would return to the suit first opened.
At the end of the sitting each player wins from or loses to each of the others at the table the full amount of his score. 60. In every case in which a player loses his game, he loses what he would have won if he had been successful, regardless of the amount he may have bid; but, 61. If the player fails to win a game equal to the amount he has bid, he loses the value of the next higher game which would have made his bid good; because in no case can a player lose less than he bid, and in every case must he lose some multiple of the game which he declared to play. FROG. This is a very popular game in Mexico, and seems to be an elementary form of Skat, which it resembles in many ways. Even the name may be a corruption of the simple game in Skat, which is called “frage.” The chief differences are that there are four cards added to the pack for frog, and that the players win or lose according to the number of points they get above or below 61, instead of computing the value of the game by matadores. _=Players.=_ Three, four, or five can play; but only three are active in each deal.
Two or more cards played to a trick; the adversaries may elect which shall be played. 3. Any card named by the player holding it. The adversary on the right of an exposed card must call it before he plays himself. If it will be the turn of the player holding the exposed card to lead for the next trick, the card, if wanted, must be called before the current trick is turned and quitted. Should a player having the lead, and an exposed card in front of him, play before the previous trick is turned and quitted, the card so led may also be claimed as exposed. If a trump is exposed after the trump suit has been named, the adversaries may prevent the playing of such a card; but the holder of it is not liable to any penalty for a revoke under such circumstances. _=Leading Out of Turn.=_ If a player leads when it was his partner’s turn, the partner may be called upon by his right-hand adversary to lead or not to lead a trump; but a specified plain suit cannot be called. If it was the turn of neither of the side in error to lead, the card played in error is simply exposed.
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=_. To win 13 tricks; _=Slam=_. To win 13 tricks, the single player’s cards exposed face up on the table, but not liable to be called; _=Spread Slam=_. The object of the bidder, if successful in securing the privilege of playing, is to win or lose the proposed number of tricks, against the combined efforts of his adversaries.
F. Foster. * Whist, A monthly journal; pub. Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.A. DUPLICATE WHIST. Duplicate whist is not a distinct game, but is simply the name given to that manner of playing whist in which a number of hands are played over again with the same cards, but by different persons. _=CARDS.
[Illustration: N N N N +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ | 6 | | 3 | | f | | c | W|a 1 2|E W|d 2 8|E W|1 3 b|E W|4 4 h|E | g | | e | | 6 | | 5 | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ S S S S ] One hand is dealt at each table, and overplayed at each of the others. A different point of the compass should deal at each table, in order to equalise the lead. _=Scoring.=_ The score of each four hands should be added up by each individual player, and the results tabulated at the end of every four hands, in the manner described for eight individuals. The winner is the player who loses the fewest tricks. This is the only known system for deciding whether or not a man can play whist better than his wife. _=PROGRESSIVE DUPLICATE WHIST=_ is the generic name by which those systems of duplicate are known in which the purpose is to have as many as possible of the players meet one another during the progress of the match. Most of the systems we have been describing belong to this class. * * * * * There are at present only two works on Duplicate Whist; but a number of articles on the subject may be found in “_Whist_.” Duplicate Whist; by John T.
If any one person can win three tricks he takes the pool. If he can win all five tricks he not only gets the pool, but receives an extra counter from each of the other players. If he has no chance to win three tricks, he must bend all his energies to scattering the tricks among the other players, so that no one of them shall be able to get the three tricks necessary to win the pool. When this is done, the game is said to be _=spoiled=_, and as that is the object of the majority in every deal it gives the game its name. In the older forms of the game the winner of three tricks counted five points, and if he could be prevented from getting three tricks his five points were spoiled. _=JINK GAME.=_ When a player has won three tricks, he should immediately abandon his hand and claim the pool, for if he continues playing he must _=jink it=_, and get all five tricks or lose what he has already won, the game being spoiled just as if no one had won three tricks. It is sometimes a matter for nice judgment whether or not to go on, and, for the sake of an extra counter from each player, to risk a pool already won. The best trump is often held up for three rounds to coax a player to go on in this manner. _=IRREGULARITIES IN THE HANDS.
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If Dummy is weak in the two other plain suits, your partner may have a good finesse in one or both of them. When your partner wins the first round of an adverse suit, and immediately returns it, he is inviting a force. _=Dummy on the Left.=_ When the player is third hand with Dummy on his left, his chief care will be to divine his partner’s object in leading certain cards up to Dummy. The general principles of inference are the same as in the preceding case, and cards may often be inferred in the same manner from the evident intention of partner. For instance: You hold K x x; partner leads J, declarer covering with Queen. A glance at Dummy’s cards shows him to have 10 x x; so your partner may be credited with A 9. You have x x; your partner leading Q, covered by declarer with K, and Dummy having J x x. You may credit your partner with A 10. You have x x; your partner leads Q and declarer wins with Ace; Dummy holding 10 x x.
It is neither a recreation nor an intellectual exercise, but simply a means for the rapid exchange of money, well suited to persons of impatient temperament. The word “Baccara” is supposed to mean “nothing,” or “zero,” and is applied to the hands in which the total pip value of the cards ends with a cypher. There are two forms of the game in common use; Baccara a deux tableaux, and Baccara chemin de fer. The first will be first described. _=Players.=_ Baccara may be played by any number of persons from three to eleven. Those first in the room have the preference, and should immediately inscribe their names. The first eleven form the table, and the privilege of being the banker is sold to the highest bidder; that is, to the one that will put up the most money to be played for. The remaining ten persons draw for choice of seats at the table, the first choice being for the seat immediately on the right of the banker, then for the first seat on his left. Five players are arranged on each side of the banker in this manner, right and left alternately, according to the order of their choice.
Lang Larence. Leap Candle. Leap-frog. Leap the Bullock. Leaves are Green. Lend me your Key. Letting the Buck out. Level-coil. Libbety-lat. Limpy Coley.
, and appoints another girl to act as guardian over them. She then pretends to go out washing, removing to a short distance so as to be within ear-shot of the other children. As soon as the Mother has gone, the old Witch comes and says, Please, can I light my pipe? Then the children say, Yes, if you won t spit on t hearth. She pretends to light her pipe, but spits on the hearth, and runs away with the girl called Sunday. Then the Guardian, among the confusion, pretends to rush down stairs, and, failing to find Sunday, calls out, Mother, mother, t pot boils over. The Mother replies, Put your head in; the Guardian says, It s all over hairs; the Mother says, Put the dish-clout in; the Guardian says, It s greasy; the Mother says, Get a fork; the Guardian says, It s rusty; the Mother says, I ll come mysen. She comes, and begins to count the children, Monday, Tuesday, up to Saturday, and missing Sunday, asks, Where s Sunday? the Guardian says, T old Witch has fetched her. The Mother answers, Where was you? Up stairs. The Mother says, What doing? Making t beds. Why didn t you come down? Because I had no shoes.
King. Police or sheriffs. _=R.=_ Loss of a lawsuit. Queen. A gay and deceptive widow. _=R.=_ She’s fooling thee. Jack. Disagreeable young man.
If a nullo is played the adversaries score them. Honours are then claimed; but the game cannot be won by honours alone, as at Whist; those holding honours must stop at the score of 9, unless they also win the odd trick. As soon as either side reaches or passes 10 points, they win a game; but the hand must be played out, and all tricks taken must be counted. If one side goes out by cards, the other cannot score honours. Thirteen tricks taken by one side is called a _=slam=_, and it counts 6 points. Twelve tricks is a _=little slam=_, and it counts 4. Either of these must be made exclusive of revoke penalties. _=RUBBERS.=_ The rubber is won by the side that first wins four games of ten points each; and the winning side adds 8 points to its score. _=SCORING.
The dealer proceeds to discard and draw. He has of course taken one of the pone’s cards, but it is too late to remedy the error or claim a penalty, and the pone must play with eleven cards. It is evident that the dealer will have too many cards, but as he has been led into the error by his adversary, he must be allowed to discard to reduce his hand to twelve. If a player takes a card too many from the stock, he may replace it if he has not put it with the other cards in his hand. If he has seen it, he must show it to his adversary. If the superfluous card has been taken into the hand, the player must have too many cards, and can score nothing that deal. This does not prevent the adversary from scoring anything he may have in hand or play, even if it is inferior. If a player is found to have too few cards after the draw, he may still play and count all he can make, but he cannot win a capot, because he has no card for the last trick, which must be won by his adversary. _=The Stock.=_ If a player looks at one of his adversary’s cards in the stock before or during the draw, he can count nothing that hand.
Just let me know when I can go see my Partner. A new thought struck him. He looked wildly at the doctor. They didn t send her off with the ship, did they? I ll find out right away, said the doctor. He gave Underhill a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder and left the room. The nurse took a napkin off a goblet of chilled fruit juice. * * * * * Underhill tried to smile at her. There seemed to be something wrong with the girl. He wished she would go away. First she had started to be friendly and now she was distant again.
Following the same principle, it is evidently good play to discard from a suit which has been led once or twice, if you have a dangerous card or cards in it. Even if you have a safe tenace in a suit, such as 4 and 2, the 5 and 3 being still out somewhere, it is better to discard from it if there is the slightest danger of your getting the lead. Tenaces are only safe when led up to. In _=Howell’s settling=_, the object is not so much to load the others as to escape yourself. It is never advisable to attempt to take all thirteen hearts, because there are no Jacks; but there are many cases in which it is better deliberately to take three or four, in order to avoid the chance of taking six or eight. For an example of these tactics adopted by two players, see Illustrative Hand, No. 3. 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.