There are several varieties of the game, but the most common form is Three-card Limited Loo, which will be first described. _=CARDS.=_ Loo is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being the highest. _=COUNTERS.=_ Loo being a pool game, counters are necessary. They should be of two colours, white and red, one red banker, to sell and redeem all counters. Each player should begin with 18 red and 6 white, which is equal to 20 reds. _=PLAYERS.=_ Any number of persons from three to seventeen may play, but eight is the usual limit, and five or six makes the best game. The players take their seats at random.
How shall we build it up again? Dance o er my lady lee, How shall we build it up again? With a gay lady. Silver and gold will be stole away, Dance o er my lady lee, Silver and gold will be stole away, With a gay lady. Build it up with iron and steel, Dance o er my lady lee, Build it up with iron and steel, With a gay lady. Iron and steel will bend and bow, Dance o er my lady lee, Iron and steel will bend and bow, With a gay lady. Build it up with wood and clay, Dance o er my lady lee, Build it up with wood and clay, With a gay lady. Wood and clay will wash away, Dance o er my lady lee, Wood and clay will wash away, With a gay lady. Build it up with stone so strong, Dance o er my lady lee, Huzza! twill last for ages long, With a gay lady. --[London][5] (Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, clii.). III.
The reason for this is that the declarer gains nothing by the information, for he knows from the first what cards are out against him; but the information may be valuable to your partner, the second hand. If it is not the intention to return the suit at once, the lowest of the sequence should be played. _=PLAYING TO THE SCORE.=_ This is a most important element, and there is no surer indication of a careless or weak player than his inattention to the score. One cannot be too early impressed with the importance of saving the game before trying to win it; although great risks may be taken to win a game that cannot be lost that hand. Never risk a sure contract in the hope of making more; unless the two will win the game, and the odd trick will not win it. Never risk a trick that will save the game in the hope of winning more, and always set a contract while you can. _=DISCARDING.=_ This is one of the still unsettled questions of bridge tactics, some believing in discarding the weak suit always; others the strong suit always, and others one or the other according to the declaration. Against a trump declaration almost every one agrees that it is best to discard the best suit, so that if your partner gets in before you do, he may have something to guide him as to what your best chance is for any more tricks.
_=Apparatus.=_ A sufficient number of tables to accommodate the assembled players are arranged in order, and numbered consecutively; No. 1 being called _=the head table=_, and the lowest of the series _=the booby table=_. Each player is provided with a blank card, to which the various coloured stars may be attached as they accrue in the course of play. These stars are usually of three colours; red, green, and gold. The head table is provided with a bell, and each table is supplied with one pack of cards only. It is usual to sort out the thirty-two cards used in play, and the four small cards for markers, before the arrival of the guests. _=Drawing for Positions.=_ Two packs of differently coloured cards are used, and from the two black suits in each a sequence of cards is sorted out, equal in length to the number of tables in play. For instance: If there are sixteen ladies and sixteen gentlemen, or thirty-two players in all, they will fill eight tables, and all the clubs and spades from the ace to the eight inclusive should be sorted out.
Some parties play a very liberal game, and the players bet high on medium hands, and give every one a good fight. It is best to have liberal or lucky players on your right; because if they sit behind you, they will continually raise you, and you will be forced either to overbid your hand on the same liberal scale that they adopt, or lose what you have already put up. If a liberal player sits on your right you will often be able to make large winnings on moderate hands. In a close game, when the players bet in a niggardly manner, the liberal player is at a great disadvantage; for he can win little or nothing on his good hands, but will lose large amounts when he runs up the betting on a good hand which is opposed to one that is better. When a liberal player finds a close player following him freely, he may be sure there is a very strong hand against him. _=VARIETY.=_ Above all things a player should avoid regularity in his play, because observant adversaries will soon learn his methods. The best players usually play two pairs pat, without drawing, about half the time. This gives them the reputation of betting on pat hands which are not genuine, and when they get one that is real, they will often succeed in getting a good bet, or even a raise, from those holding triplets or two large pairs, who have noticed them play two pairs pat. In the same way it is advisable to hold up an odd card occasionally, without raising the ante; so that when you do hold triplets, and draw two cards, you will not frighten every one at the table.
This is all nonsense; for no player knows when he goes into a pool how much it will cost him to get out, and the value of his individual hand is an unknown quantity at the best, because it cannot be compared to the others. One thing only is certain, and that is that in the long run the player who goes in with the strongest hand will still have the strongest hand after the draw. This is an important thing to remember in jack pots, in which the value of at least one hand is known. If you draw to a pair smaller than Jacks, you do so with the full knowledge that the pair itself is not strong enough to win. Now what are the odds against your winning the pool? Suppose you hold tens, and draw three cards. Your chance of improving your hand is a little better than one in five. The opener of the jack pot has exactly the same chance, and if both of you draw cards a hundred times under those circumstances, he will beat you in the long run, to say nothing of the other players who may come in and beat both of you. It is therefore evident that in backing tens against openers, it is four to one against your beating the openers to begin with, and if you do beat them the odds are still against your winning the pot. If there were five players, and the jack pots were all equal in amount, you would have to win one pot out of five to make your investment pay. Can you make this average when your original pair will not beat openers? There are three principles with regard to the draw that should never be lost sight of: (1) An average go-in hand is a hand which will win its proportion of the pools, according to the number playing, taking all improvements and opposition into account.
If no one goes banco, each player in turn to the right makes what bets he pleases, within the limit of the bank’s capital. If the banker wins the coup, he deals again, and so on until he loses, when the deal passes to the player on his left. The banker, after winning a coup, may pass the deal to the player on his right, if he chooses to do so, provided that player will put up an amount equal to that then in the bank. When this player loses a coup, the bank must go to the player to whom it would have gone in regular order; that is, the one on the left of the player who transferred his privilege. Six packs of cards are generally used in Chemin de Fer, and the cards are placed in a wooden box, from which each dealer takes as many as he wants. _=CHEATING.=_ Baccara is honeycombed with trickery. Dishonest players, in collusion with the banker, have certain means of informing him of their point, so that he may win all the money staked upon that side of the table by the other players. This may be done in many ways. The player may ask the one sitting next him whether or not he should draw, which shows that he has 5.
(b). Includes Centre and Counter Centre Gambits. _=THE MIDDLE GAME.=_ After a little experience with openings, the player will usually select one or two which he feels that he can handle better than others, and will make a specialty of them. Having mastered a number of variations, and learned the object of them in forming his pieces for attack or defence, he will naturally be led to the study of the middle game. In this there are a few general principles which should be steadily kept in view. For attack, the player should secure command of a wide range of the board; but for defence he should concentrate his forces as much as possible. He should be careful not to get his pieces in one another’s way, and not to leave pieces where they can be attacked and driven back by inferior pieces, because that entails a loss of valuable time. A player should never exchange a man in active service for one that is doing nothing. If several lines of play are open, the one offering the most numerous good continuations should be selected.
Boyce | | 2 Lewis 4 Izard | | 2 E. Wilson 4 H. Jones | +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ |E-W|Gain|Trump|HAND|N-S|Check| | |E-W|Gain|Trump|HAND|N-S|Check| | +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ | 5 | 1 | CJ | 1 | 9 | ✓ | | | 4 | | CJ | 1 | 8 | ✓ | | | 8 | | S3 | 2 | 5 | ✓ |1&2| | 8 | | S3 | 2 | 5 | ✓ |3&4| | 5 | 2 | CA | 3 |10 | ✓ | | | 3 | | CA | 3 | 8 | ✓ | | | 7 | | HQ | 4 | 6 | ✓ |---| | 7 | | HQ | 4 | 6 | ✓ |---| |10 | 3 | D4 | 5 | 6 | ✓ | | | 7 | | D4 | 5 | 3 | ✓ | | |10 | | D7 | 6 | 2 | ✓ |1&3| |11 | 1 | D7 | 6 | 3 | ✓ |2&4| | 4 | | C6 | 7 | 7 | ✓ | | | 6 | 2 | C6 | 7 | 9 | ✓ | | | 5 | | S4 | 8 | 7 | ✓ |---| | 6 | 1 | S4 | 8 | 8 | ✓ |---| | 1 | | C7 | 9 |11 | ✓ | | | 2 | 1 | C7 | 9 |12 | ✓ | | | 8 | | S4 | 10 | 2 | ✓ |1&4| |11 | 3 | S4 | 10 | 5 | ✓ |1&4| | 9 | | D3 | 11 | 4 | ✓ | | | 9 | | D3 | 11 | 4 | ✓ | | | 4 | | DQ | 12 | 8 | ✓ |---| | 5 | 1 | D2 | 12 | 9 | ✓ |---| | |--- | | 13 | | | | | |--- | | 13 | | | | | | +6 | | 14 | | | | | | +9 | | 14 | | | | | | | | &c | | | | | | | | &c | | | | +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ +---+----+-----+----+---+-----+---+ ] The names of the N & S and the E & W members of each team should first be entered on the score-cards; then all the N & S players move to the next table East; those at table 5 going to table 1; and each table dealing and playing four hands, afterwards putting them away in trays. e | a | b | c | d a 1 a | b 2 b | c 3 c | d 4 d | e 5 e e | a | b | c | d | | | | Hands:--1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 | 13 to 16 | 17 to 20 The peculiarity of this system is in the movement of the trays; those at the middle table always going to the extreme West of the line, the others moving up as many tables at a time as may be necessary to follow them. In this instance the trays at table 3 go to 1, all others moving up two tables. At the same time the N & S players all move one table further East, bringing about this position:-- 2nd set. d | e | a | b | c a 1 a | b 2 b | c 3 c | d 4 d | e 5 e d | e | a | b | c | | | | Hands:--9 to 12 | 13 to 16 | 17 to 20 | 1 to 4 | 5 to 8 This movement of the trays and players is continued for two more sets, which completes the round:-- 3rd set. c | d | e | a | b a 1 a | b 2 b | c 3 c | d 4 d | e 5 e c | d | e | a | b | | | | Hands:--17 to 20| 1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 | 13 to 16 4th set. b | c | d | e | a a 1 a | b 2 b | c 3 c | d 4 d | e 5 e b | c | d | e | a | | | | Hands:--5 to 8 | 9 to 12 | 13 to 16 | 17 to 20 | 1 to 4 If we now take any two of the teams engaged, _=a=_ and _=d=_ for instance, we shall find that the E & W _=a=_ and the N & S _=d=_ pairs of those teams have played hands 9 to 12 at table 1, in the 2nd set; and that N & S _=a=_ and E & W _=d=_ pairs have overplayed the same hands at table 4, in the 3rd set; so that we have really been carrying out a number of matches simultaneously, between five teams of four players each. If there are 5, 7, 9 or 11 tables in play, the movement of the trays must be 2, 3, 4 or 5 tables at a time; but the movement of the players remains the same; one table at a time, in the direction opposite to the trays.
I TK d the one-two up. Little Joe from Kokomo, one of the stick-men called. They raked losing bets and paid winners with the speed of prestidigitators. Roller keeps the dice, the stick-man told my neighbor. The gambler cursed and threw the dice to the roller on his left. He spat blame at Sniffles for not riding with him. He was one big clot of crushed misery. After all, hadn t he _wanted_ to lose? They all do. I couldn t get very upset over his curses. So far he had lost one buck, net.
One of the most common errors is to cover a Jack led with a Queen, when holding A Q and others. The Ace should be put on invariably. To play the Queen in such a position is called _=finessing against yourself=_. _=Singly Guarded Honours.=_ Many players put on the King Second Hand, if they hold only one small card with it, and a small card is led. This will win the trick as often as it will lose it; but it betrays the hand to the adversary, and enables him to finesse deeply if the suit is returned. It may be done in order to get the lead, and in trumps the practice is very common, and generally right. With Queen and only one small card, it can be demonstrated that it is useless to play the Queen Second Hand, except as an experiment, or to get the lead in desperate cases. With any combination weaker than J 10 x, it is useless to attempt to win the trick Second Hand, and only makes it difficult for the partner to place the cards correctly. _=The Fourchette.
It can be played under any of the Duplicate Whist schedules by playing them through twice--the second time with the North and South hands given to the East and West players, and vice versa. As each deal is played twice by each pair, double the time is required to play the same number of deals, as at Duplicate Whist. Allowance must be made for this in fixing the number of deals to be played. The Snow System of movement, where practicable, is preferable. Where the Howell pair system of movement is used, the scores do not require “equating”, as they are equalised on the replay. Under other systems, only the North and South scores need be kept, as the comparison can be made quite as readily as by direct comparison of these scores. DUMMY. There are three forms of Dummy: The English game, for three players; the French game, for three or four: and the game now generally known as Bridge, or Bridge Whist. Dummy is not recognized in any form by the American Whist League, and there are no American Laws governing it. We shall describe each variety of the game in its turn; beginning with the English.
1. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | ⛂ | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] _=Huffing.=_ If a player who can capture a piece neglects to do so, his adversary has the choice of three things:--To compel the player to take back his move and capture the piece; to huff (remove from the board,) the man that should have captured the piece; or to let the move stand, and go on with his own move. A huff does not constitute a move; the piece is simply removed from the board as a penalty, but the penalty must be enforced before the player exacting it makes his own move. _=Kings.=_ When a man arrives at any of the four squares on the edge of the board farthest from the side on which he started, he becomes a King, and is _=crowned=_ by putting another man of the same colour on the top of him. In diagrams, kings are distinguished by putting a ring round the single man. ⦾ ⦿. Kings can move either backward or forward, but only one square at a time. If a man arrives at the king-row by capturing an adverse piece, that ends the move, and the newly made king cannot move again, even to capture another piece, until his adversary has moved.
If any player, in his proper turn, announces to play alone, and asks for his partner’s best, the partner cannot refuse; neither can he propose to play alone instead. _=Scoring.=_ With the exception of the four points for euchreing a lone hand, the scoring is exactly the same as in the ordinary four-handed game; but there are one or two variations which are sometimes agreed upon beforehand in order to make points still more rapidly. _=Laps.=_ If a player makes more points than are necessary to win the game, the additional points are counted on the next game, so that there is always an inducement to play lone hands, even with 4 points up. _=Slams.=_ If one side reaches five points before the other has scored, it is a slam, and counts _=two games=_. When laps and slams are played, it is sometimes agreed that if a person plays alone without taking his partner’s best card, or the dealer plays alone without taking up the trump or asking for his partners best, and such a player succeeds in winning all five tricks with a pat hand, it counts _=five=_ points. If he fails to win all five tricks, the adversaries count _=one=_. If he is euchred, they count _=three=_; but they are not permitted to play alone against him.
The prisoner is asked in a whisper, so as not to disclose the secret name, which of the two is to be chosen. The one so captured takes his (or her) stand behind the one chosen. The same process is gone through till all the players are taken captive, and have stationed themselves behind the one or the other of the two forming the gate. The last one of the line goes through three times. The first time the word breakfast is pronounced; the second time dinner; and the third time supper. The player then chooses a side. The two sides have then a tug of war. The game ends at this point with girls. With boys the conquered have to run the gauntlet. The victors range themselves in two lines, each boy with his cap or handkerchief tightly plaited in his hand, and pelt with all their might the vanquished as they run between the lines.
Hoodle-cum-blind Name for Blind Man s Buff. --Baker s _Northamptonshire Glossary_. Hoodman Blind Name for Blind Man s Buff. Mentioned in _Hamlet_, iii. 4; _Merry Devil of Edmonton_; and _Wise Women of Hogsden_. Hooper s Hide Name for Blind Man s Buff. --Nares _Glossary_. Hop-crease The game of Hop-scotch. --Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Hop-frog The players bend as though about to sit on a _very low_ stool, then spring about with their hands resting on their knees.
His husky voice cut in on the laughter. Where does that bag fit? he demanded. No idea, I said truthfully. A random factor. I don t think she fits. _Something_ has to fit! he yelled in his oversized whisper. How about the way our losses follow Curley Smythe around from table to table? This was something. The table you watch is the one that gets hit? I asked Smythe. He blushed, clear to the top of his bald head. A subtle, nasty operator, he said gruffly.
The difference between _=Limited Loo=_, and _=Unlimited Loo=_, is in the amounts paid into the pool. In Limited Loo the penalty is always three or six red counters. In Unlimited Loo, it is the same for irregularities, and for infraction of the rules; but any player failing in his undertaking must put up for the next pool an amount equal to that in the current pool. When two or more fail on successive deals the pool increases with surprising rapidity. A player at twenty-five cent Loo has been known to lose $320 in three consecutive deals. _=DEALING.=_ The pack having been properly shuffled and cut, the dealer gives three cards to each player, one at a time in rotation, beginning on his left. The first deal, and every deal in which the pool contains only the three red counters put up by the dealer, is known as a _=simple=_, and no trump card is turned up until one or two tricks have been played to. If there are more than three red counters in the pool, it is known as a _=double=_, and an extra hand must be dealt for the _=widow=_, and after all have been helped, the next card in the pack is turned up for a trump. The dealer gives cards to the widow just before helping himself in each round.
The cards rank from the A K Q down to the deuce. Any player may shuffle, the dealer last. The pack is then cut, and the reunited parts are placed in the centre of the table. The players then cut it into several packets, none less than four cards, all of which remain on the table face down. Some player then pushes one of the packets toward the dealer, and bets are then made on the others. Any player, except the dealer, can bet what he pleases on any packet. After all the bets are made all the packets, including the dealer’s, are turned face up, exposing the bottom card of each. Any packet disclosing a card lower than the dealer’s loses all bets placed upon it. Any packet showing a card better than the dealer’s wins from him. The dealer takes all ties.
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_=Irregularities in the Hands.=_ In all games in which the player need not follow suit unless he chooses, such as Seven-up, there should be no penalty if the player has not his full complement of cards, because he cannot possibly gain anything by playing with a short hand. But in all such games as Whist, where the absence of a card in plain suits might enable a player to trump, a penalty must be enforced for playing with less than the proper number of cards. In all such games as Poker, it is only to the player’s own disadvantage to play with too few cards, provided he is not allowed to call four cards a flush or a straight, and there should be no objection to his playing with a short hand. Many good players “squeeze” their cards, and if they find a good pair in the first two, they put up the ante without looking further. It is manifestly unfair to bar them out of the pool because the dealer has given them only four cards, which gives them no possible advantage, but rather the reverse. This is in accordance with common sense, and is the law in Cribbage and Piquet. _=Discrimination.=_ No person should be allowed any advantage over another which is not compensated for in some way. In Seven-up, for instance, the non-dealer counts game if it is a tie; an advantage which is offset by the dealer’s counting Jack if he turns it.
Formerly, when cash was much more rare than now it is amongst boys, these formed their current coin. The game about 1820 seems to have been chiefly one of tossing, and was played with buttons, then common enough. Now, metal buttons being rare, it is played with pieces of brass or copper of any shape. The expression, I haven t a cot, is sometimes used to signify that a person is without money.--Easther s _Almondbury and Huddersfield Glossary_. See Banger, Buttons. Course o Park The game of Course of the Park has not been described, but is referred to in the following verse:-- Buff s a fine sport, And so s Course o Park. --_The Slighted Maid_, 1663, p. 50. Crab-sowl, Crab-sow A game played with a bung or ball struck with sticks (Brogden s _Provincial Words, Lincolnshire_).
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. In the Scottish version a ring is formed as above. One sings, and the rest join, to the tune of Lillibullero, the first line. As soon as this is concluded each claps his hand and wheels grotesquely, singing the second line. They then sing the third line, suiting the action to the word, still beating the time; then the second again, wheeling round and clapping hands. When they say A feet in, and nae feet out, they all sit down with their feet stretched into the centre of the ring. (_c_) The other variants which follow the Halliwell version are limited to the first verse only, as the remainder of the lines are practically the same as those given in Miss Fowler s version which is written at length, and three or four of these apparently retain only the verse given.
The only works previous to Hoyle touching upon whist were the “Compleat Gamester” of Cotton, which first appeared in 1674, and the “Court Gamester,” of Richard Seymour, 1719. One of Hoyle’s great points was his calculation of the probabilities at various stages of the rubber. This seems to have been looked upon as most important in guiding persons in their play, for we find that Abraham de Moivre, a famous mathematician, used to frequent the coffee houses, and for a small fee give decisions on questions of the odds at whist. Bath seems to have been the great rallying-point for the whist-players of the last century; but the passion for the game soon spread all over Europe. In 1767 Benjamin Franklin went to Paris, and it is generally believed that he introduced the American variety of the game known as Boston, which became the rage in Paris some time after the war of independence. So popular did whist become in Italy that we find the boxes at the opera in Florence provided with card tables in 1790. The music of the opera was considered of value chiefly as, “increasing the joy of good fortune, and soothing the affliction of bad.” A code of laws was drawn up about 1760 by the frequenters of White’s and Saunders’ in London. These seem to have remained the standard until “Cælebs” published, in 1851, the code in use at the Portland Club. In 1863 John Loraine Baldwin got together a committee at the Arlington, now the Turf Club, and they drew up the code which is still in use all over the world for English whist.
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See Corsicrown, Kit-Cat-Cannio, Nine Men s Morris. Nur and Spel A boys game in Lincolnshire, somewhat similar to Trap Ball. It is played with a kibble, a nur, and a spell. By striking the end of the spell with the kibble, the nur, of course, rises into the air, and the art of the game is to strike it with the kibble before it reaches the ground. He who drives it the greatest distance wins the game.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Strutt (_Sports and Pastimes_, p. 109) describes this game as Northern-spell, played with a trap, and the ball is stricken with a bat or bludgeon. The contest between the players is simply who shall strike the ball to the greatest distance in a given number of strokes. The length of each stroke is measured before the ball is returned, by means of a cord made fast at one end near the trap, the other being stretched into the field by a person stationed there for that purpose, who adjusts it to the ball wherever it may lie.