The eldest hand should not propose except on strong trumps, and this should be a warning to other players not to accept him on trump strength alone. Four trumps with two or three honours may be called strong; or five trumps, even without an honour. Five trumps with two or more honours is great strength. Any player other than the eldest hand should propose on general strength and the player accepting him should do so on trump strength. Some such distinction should be clearly understood, in order that there may be no such contretemps as two players proposing and accepting on trumps alone and finding themselves without a trick in the plain suits after the trumps are drawn. If the eldest hand is strong in trumps, but has not four sure tricks, he should pass, which will give him an excellent opportunity to accept a player proposing on general strength in the plain suits. If the proposal should be accepted before it comes to his turn, the eldest hand should be in a good position to defeat it. If any player, other than the eldest hand, has sufficient trump strength to justify a proposal, he will usually find that he can risk a solo; or by passing, defeat any proposal and acceptance that may be made. _=Accepting.=_ A proposal by the eldest hand should not be accepted by a player with only one strong suit.
=_ The trump suit named, each player discards and leaves _=face upward=_ on the table as many cards as he pleases. He must discard three, to reduce his hand to six cards. If he discards more than three he must draw from the remainder of the pack to restore the number of his cards to six; so that after the discard and draw each player at the table will have exactly six cards, although nine were originally dealt him. The dealer, beginning on his left, gives to each player in turn as many cards from the top of the pack as may be necessary to restore the number in his hand to six. When it comes to the dealer’s turn, instead of taking cards from the top of the pack, he may search the remainder of the pack, and take from it any cards that he pleases. This is called _=robbing the deck=_. Should he find in his own hand and the remainder of the pack more than six trumps, he must discard those he does not want, showing them face up on the table with the other discards. Should any player discard a trump, his partner has the right to call his attention to it, and if the player has not been helped to cards, or has not lifted the cards drawn, the trump erroneously discarded may be taken back; otherwise it must remain among the discards until the hand has been played, when, if it is of any counting value, it must be added to the score of the side making the trump. Although there is no law to that effect, it is considered imperative for each player except the dealer to discard everything but trumps. This is partly because no other cards are of the slightest use, and partly because one of the points of the game is that the number of trumps held by each player before the draw should be indicated by his discard.
The players throw in turn until all the counters but one have been placed in the pot. If a player has no counters, the throw passes him to the next player on his left who has counters in front of him. The last counter of all cannot be put in the pot by throwing an ace; but it must be passed along to the left when a six is thrown. The player with the last counter in front of him must throw both dice three times in succession, and if he succeeds in avoiding a six, he keeps the counter and wins the pool. If he throws a six, the player who gets the counter must throw three times, and so on, until some one throws three times without getting a six. Instead of a pool, it is sometimes agreed that the final holder of the last counter shall pay for the refreshments. MULTIPLICATION. Any number can play, and three dice are used. Each player throws in turn, and the highest die is left on the table; if two are equally high, only one remains. The two other dice are thrown again, and the higher left.
Tricks should be carefully stacked, there being the same penalties as in Boston for calling attention to the score. The methods of playing misères and spreads have already been described in connection with Boston. When piccolissimo is played, the moment the single player takes more than one trick the hands are thrown up, and the stakes paid. _=REVOKES.=_ The rules governing these and cards played in error, are the same as at Boston. In piccolissimo, the penalties are the same as in misère. _=PAYMENTS.=_ If the caller succeeds in winning the proposed number of tricks, he is paid by each of his adversaries according to the value of his bid, as shown in Table No. 1. Over-tricks if any, and honours, if played, are always paid at the uniform rate of five white counters each.
If either player has forgotten to declare anything before he plays, the count is lost. _=Sinking.=_ A player is not obliged to declare any combination unless he wishes to do so, and he may sink a card if he thinks it would be to his advantage to conceal his hand. Sinking is calling only part of a combination, as, for instance, calling 51 for his point when he really has 61; calling a quinte when he has a sixième, or a trio when he has a quatorze. Sinking is usually resorted to only when the player knows from his own hand and discards that what he declares is still better than anything his adversary can hold; but it must be remembered that the part of the declaration which is sunk in this manner is lost. _=Irregular Declarations.=_ If either player claims a combination which he does not hold, and does not remedy the error before he plays a card, he cannot count anything that deal, losing any other declarations he may have made which are correct. His adversary then counts everything in his hand, whether his combinations were inferior or not. He also counts for what he wins in the tricks. If the elder hand’s declaration is admitted by the dealer to be good, it is good, even if the dealer afterward proves to have a better point, sequence, quatorze or trio.
Musical Chairs. NACKS. Namers and Guessers. Neighbour. Neivie-nick-nack. Nettles. New Squat. Nine Holes. Nine Men s Morris. Nip-srat-and-bite.
I looked across the table and grinned at Fowler Smythe. His scowl had an awful lot of forehead to work on. What the devil! I could read his lips say over the racket. But Barney, the stick-man who d felt my Blackout, caught on a lot quicker. I was about to freeze him with a clamp on his thyroid. It s just as effective as wrapping your fingers around the throat. But Pheola upset the apple cart. She grabbed my right arm, so newly powerful. No, Billy Joe! she cried. I _don t_ want to die! Who s dying? I snapped.
As the cards come out, these buttons are pushed along, so that the player may know how many of each card are still to come, and what cards are left in for the last turn. In brace games, when the cards are pulled out two at a time to change the run of them, the case-keeper is always a confederate of the dealer, and is signalled what cards have been pulled out under the cards shown, so that he can secretly mark them up. A bet placed or left upon a card of which none are left in the box is called a _=sleeper=_, and is public property; the first man that can get his hands on it keeps it. When only one card of any denomination is in the box, it is obvious that such a card cannot be split, and that the bank has no advantage of the player. Such cards are called _=cases=_, and the betting limit on cases is only half the amount allowed on other cards. It is not considered _comme il faut_ for a player to wait for cases, and those who play regularly usually make a number of small bets during the early part of the deal, and then bet high on the cases as they come along. A player who goes upon the principle that the dealer can cheat those who bet high, and who follows and goes against the big bets with small ones, or who plays one-chip bets all over the board, hoping to strike a good spot to fish on, is called a piker; and when a game runs small this way, the dealers call it a _=piking game=_. _=Keeping Tab.=_ In addition to the case-keeper, score sheets are provided on which the players may keep a record of what cards win and lose on each turn. These tabs are printed in vertical columns, about five deals to a sheet.
338). In _Chronicles of London Bridge_, pp. 152, 153, the author says he obtained the following note from a Bristol correspondent:-- About forty years ago, one moonlight night in the streets of Bristol, my attention was attracted by a dance and chorus of boys and girls, to which the words of this ballad gave measure. The breaking down of the Bridge was announced as the dancers moved round in a circle hand in hand, and the question, How shall we build it up again? was chanted by the leader while the rest stood still. This correspondent also sent the tune the children sang, which is printed in the _Chronicles of London Bridge_. This was evidently the same game, but it would appear that the verses have also been used as a song, and it would be interesting to find out which is the more ancient of the two--the song or the game; and to do this it is necessary that we should know something of the history of the song. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ (ii. 338) speaks of it as a lullaby song well known in the southern part of Kent and in Lincolnshire. In the _Gentleman s Magazine_ (1823, Part II. p.
All balls pocketed on the opening stroke count for the player, and it is not necessary for him to call the numbers of the balls he intends pocketing before making the opening stroke. _=3.=_ Before making any other stroke except the opening stroke the player must _distinctly_ call the number of the ball he intends to pocket, but he need not designate the particular pocket into which he intends to put it. Unless he calls the ball pocketed it does not count for him, and must be placed on the deep-red spot, or if that be occupied, as nearly below it as possible. The player loses his hand but does not forfeit any points, and the next player plays. Should he call more than one ball he must pocket all the balls he calls, otherwise none of them can be counted for him. _=4.=_ After the opening stroke each player must either pocket a ball, make an _object_-ball strike a cushion, or the cue-ball strike a cushion after contact with an object-ball, under penalty of forfeiture of three points. Three forfeitures in succession loses the game for the player making them. _=5.
If no one bids for the bank, it must be offered to the first on the list of players; if he declines, the next, and so on. The amount bid for the bank is placed on the table, and none of it can be withdrawn, all winnings being added to it. If no bid is made, the banker may place on the table any amount he thinks proper, and that amount, or what remains of it after each coup, is the betting limit. When the banker loses all he has, the bank is sold to the next highest bidder, or offered to the next player on the list. If the banker wishes at any time to retire, the person taking his place should begin with an amount equal to that then in the bank. _=Counters.=_ Each of the players should be provided with a certain number of counters, all of which must be sold and redeemed by the banker or his assistant. _=Cards.=_ Three packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one. The players shuffle as much as they please, the banker last, and the banker then presents them to any player he pleases to have them cut.
If no one will call the last raise, the player making it takes the pool, and then shows his hand, and demands payment from each of the other players for whatever combination he holds. If two or more players call, by making their bets equal, they again draw cards, having the privilege of discarding any number from one to four, or of standing pat. After the draw each in turn can pass or play. If all pass, the hands are abandoned, and the pool remains; each player adding one counter for the next deal. This is to force players to bet on their hands. If a bet is made, the calling and raising proceeds as in Draw Poker. When there are not enough cards to supply the players, the discards must be gathered, shuffled, and cut. Any player with too many or too few cards must abandon his hand as foul. Any player showing his cards must abandon his hand, and forfeit four counters to the pool. The general laws of Poker governing all irregularities may be applied to Ambigu; but it must be remembered that the French are very much averse to penalties of all kinds, and if an error can be rectified without doing an injustice to any player, it is usual to set things right in the simplest manner possible.
Maybe it was one more of those tied-in hysterical Psi weaknesses. What are you doing out here? I asked her. Resting, she said wearily. I just hit town today. And tired already? I was broke, she said. Worked in a hotel laundry till dinner time to get eatin money. Hot work. But I swiped a nice dress to wear when I went looking for you, Billy Joe. Yeah, I said, hiding my snicker over the dress. Say, I wanted to thank you for handling my chips.
Buckerels A kind of play used by boys in London streets in Henry VIII. s time, now disused, and I think forgot (Blount s _Glossographia_, p. 95). Hall mentions this game, temp. Henry VIII., f. 91. Buckey-how For this the boys divide into sides. One stops at home, the other goes off to a certain distance agreed on beforehand and shouts Buckey-how. The boys at home then give chase, and when they succeed in catching an adversary, they bring him home, and there he stays until all on his side are caught, when they in turn become the chasers.
| +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | _1_ | _2_ | _3_ | _4_ | _5_ | _6_ | _7_ | +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | 11-15 | 11-15 | 10-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 11-15 | 10-15 | | 22 18 | 23 19 | 22 18 | 24 20 | 22 18 | 23 19 | 23 18 | | 15-22 | 8-11 | 15-22 | 8-11 | 15-22 | 8-11 | 12-16 | | 25 18 | 22 17 | 25 18 | 28 24 | 25 18 | 26 23 | 21 17 | | 8-11 | 3- 8 | 6-10 | 4- 8 | 8-11 | 4- 8 | 16-19 | | 29 25 |*17 14 | 29 25 | 23 19 | 29 25 | 30 26 | 17 14 | | 4- 8 | 9-18 | 10-15 |* 9-13 | 4- 8 |* 9-13 | 9-13 | | 24 20 | 21 17 |*25 22 | 20 16 | 24 20 | 19 16 | 24 20 | | 10-15 | 18-22 | 15-19 | 11-20 | 10-15 | 12-19 | 8-12 | | 25 22 | 25 18 | 23 16 | 22 17 | 25 22 | 23 16 | 25 21 | | 12-16 | 15-22 | 12-19 | 13-22 |* 9-13 | 11-20 | 12-16 | |*27 24 | 26 23 | 24 15 | 25 4 | 20 16 | 22 17 | 21 17 | | 15-19 | 5- 9 | 9-14 |W wins.| 12-19 | 13-22 | 4- 8 | | 24 15 | 17 13 | 18 9 | | 23 16 | 25 4 | 29 25 | | 16-19 | 11-15 | 11-25 | | 11-20 |W wins.| 6- 9 | | 23 16 | 23 18 |B wins.| | 18 4 | | 27 24 | | 9-14 | 1- 5 | | |W wins.| | 1- 6 | | 18 9 | 18 11 | | | | | 32 27 | | 11-25 | 7-23 | | | | | 6-10 | | 28 24 | 27 18 | | | | | 27 23 | | 5-14 | 9-14 | | | | | 8-12 | | 24 19 | 18 9| | | | | 25 21 | | 6-10 | 5-14 | | | | | 2- 6 | |B wins.|B wins.| | | | | 31 27 | | | | | | | | 3- 8 | | | | | | | | 30 25 | | | | | | | |W wins.| +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ _=LOSING GAME.=_ In this variety of Draughts, the object is to give away all your men before your adversary can give away his, or to block yourself so that you cannot move. The secret of success in Losing Game is to get your men on such squares that they cannot be made to jump to the king row.
It is hardly necessary to say that a player would be very foolish to engage himself to win six by cards if the odd trick would equally answer his purpose; nor would he undertake to win three by cards with clubs for trumps, if he had as good a chance of making two by cards with diamonds or hearts. In other words, the player should not make the trump which promises the greatest number of tricks, but should select that which will yield the largest number of points. It is for this reason that every good player first considers the advisability of making it “no-trump,” and if he thinks that injudicious, hearts or diamonds, leaving the black suits as a last resort. It is the custom invariably to make it no-trump with three Aces, unless the hand is strong enough for a heart make, or holds great honour value in red. In estimating the probabilities of trick-taking, it is usual to count the partner for three tricks on the average. Conservative players do not depend on him for more than two. Generally speaking, the maker of the trump should have four pretty certain tricks in his own hand. The dealer should seldom announce a black trump unless he has a certainty of the game in his own hand, without any assistance from his partner, or unless he has such a poor hand that he must make it a “defensive spade.” If he cannot safely make it no-trump or red, he should pass, and allow his partner the chance. With such a hand as seven clubs, including four honours, and absolutely worthless cards otherwise, the dealer should make it clubs, except when the adversaries have won the first game, and are about 20 points in the second.
Huckie-buckie down the Brae Children in Lothian have a sport in which they slide down a hill, sitting on their hunkers (Jamieson). The well-known custom at Greenwich is probably the same game, and there are examples at Tumbling Hill, a few miles from Exeter, at May Pole Hill, near Gloucester, and other places. Huckle-bones Holloway (_Dict. of Provincialisms_) says that the game is called Huckle-bones in East Sussex and Dibs in West Sussex. Parish (_Dict. of Sussex Dialect_) mentions that huckle-bones, the small bone found in the joint of the knee of a sheep, are used by children for playing the game of Dibs; also Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_. Barnes (_Dorset Glossary_) says, A game of toss and catch, played mostly by two with five dibs or huckle-bones of a leg of mutton, or round pieces of tile or slate. Halliwell s description is clearly wrong. He says it was a game formerly played by throwing up the hip-bone of some animal, on one side of which was a head of Venus and on the other that of a dog. He who turned up the former was the winner (_Dictionary_).
Sixty-one points is game, once round the board and into the game hole. DRAW CASSINO. In this variation, no more cards are dealt after the first round, but each player keeps his hand filled to four cards by drawing one from the top of the stock as soon as he plays one from his hand. The stock is left on the table, face down, slightly spread, for convenience in slipping off the top card as it is drawn. CONQUIAN. The etymology of this word is Spanish; _con quién_, “with whom,” but of the game it stands for, little or nothing is known except that it is a great favorite in Mexico, and in all the American States bordering upon it, especially Texas. It is an excellent game for two players, quite different from any other in its principles, and requiring very close attention and a good memory to play it well. In its finer points, especially in the judgment of what the adversary holds or is playing for, it ranks with our best games, and will probably grow in popularity as it becomes better known. _=Cards.=_ Conquian is played with the Spanish pack, forty cards, the 8 9 10 of each suit being deleted.
A short hand, such as four cards, cannot be claimed as either a straight or a flush. _=36. Ties.=_ In case of ties, the highest of the odd cards decides it. Ultimate ties must divide the pool. When combinations of equal rank are shown, the one containing the highest cards wins, the rank of the cards being, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; so that two pairs, K’s and 4’s, will beat two pairs, Q’s and J’s. Three 5’s and a pair of 2’s, will beat three 4’s and a pair of aces. JACK POT LAWS. _=37. The Antes.
Strutt (_Sports_, p. 387) also describes this game. Hunt the Staigie A boys game. One is chosen to be the Staigie (little stallion). The other players scatter themselves over the playground. The Staigie locks his fingers into each other. He then repeats the words-- Hunt the Staigie, Huntie, untie, staige, Ailleman, ailleman, aigie, and rushes off with his hands locked, and tries to touch one of the players. He must not unlock his hands till he has caught one. When he has captured one, the two join hands and hunt for another. When another is caught, he joins the two.