This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. .The Project Gutenberg eBook of Vigorish This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Vigorish Author: John Berryman Illustrator: Petrizzo Release date: January 21, 2008 [eBook #24382] Language: English Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VIGORISH *** Produced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.
Mary mixed a Pudding up Mary mixed a pudding up, She mixed it very sweet, She daren t stick a knife in Till John came home at neet [ = night]. Taste John, taste John, don t say nay, Perhaps to-morrow morning will be our wedding-day. The bells shall ring and we shall sing, And all clap hands together (round the ring). Up the lane and down, It s slippery as a glass, If we go to Mrs. ---- We ll find a nice young lass. Mary with the rosy cheeks, Catch her if you can; And if you cannot catch her, We ll tell you her young man. --Hanging Heaton (Herbert Hardy). A ring is formed by the children joining hands, one child in the centre. The first verse is sang. Two children from the ring go to the one in the centre and _ask_ her who is her love, or as they say here [Yorks.
N. Patterson). V. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is washing clothes, washing clothes, washing clothes, Jenny jo is washing clothes, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is ironing clothes, ironing clothes, ironing clothes, Jenny jo is ironing clothes, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is sick, my dear, sick, my dear, sick, my dear, Jenny jo is sick, my dear, You can t see her now. I ve come to see Jenny jo, Jenny jo, Jenny jo, I ve come to see Jenny jo, How is she now? Jenny jo is underboard, underboard, underboard, Jenny jo is underboard, You can t see her now. --Lismore (Miss F. Keane, collected from Miss Ward, National Schoolmistress). VI.
If an adversary exposes a card, the dealer may elect to deal again. If a new deal is not demanded, cards exposed in dealing cannot be called. The adversaries may stop a player dealing out of turn, or with the wrong pack, provided they do so before the last three cards are dealt, alter which the deal stands good. _=Misdealing.=_ A misdeal loses the deal. It is a misdeal: If the cards have not been properly cut, if the dealer does not give the same number of cards to each player on the same round; if he gives too many or too few cards to any player; if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to correct the error before dealing another. If the dealer is interrupted in any way by an adversary, he does not lose his deal. _=Bidding.=_ After receiving his nine cards, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, announces the number of points he will undertake to win if he is allowed to name the trump suit. No player is allowed to bid more than fourteen.
_=COUNTERS.=_ As each deal is a complete game in itself it must be settled for in counters, to which some value is usually attached. One player is selected for the banker, and before play begins each of the others purchases from him a certain number of counters, usually fifty. When any player’s supply is exhausted, he can purchase more, either from the banker or from another player. In many places counters are not used, and the value of the game is designated by the coins that take their place. In “penny nap,” English coppers are used in settling; sixpences in “sixpenny nap,” and so on. In America, nickel and quarter nap are the usual forms. _=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from two to six can play; but four is the best game. If five or six play it is usual for the dealer to give himself no cards.
If a player is 29 or more, he is said to be _=at home=_; and if he is seven or more points ahead of his adversary on even deals, he is said to be _=safe at home=_. When a player is safe at home, he should play off; that is, take no chances of scoring himself that might give his adversary a chance to make a still better score. This is usually found in the method of playing sequences. A player who avoids playing cards that might lead up to a run is said to play off. If he invites the run, hoping to make it longer himself, he is said to play on. When a player is behind, it is better for him to play on, and to seize every chance to score, especially with sequences. As it is considered an advantage to be ahead on the first deal, most players prefer a forward game on the opening hand. _=Playing Off.=_ In this it is best to play cards on which it is unlikely that your adversary can score. Lead Aces, Twos and Threes, which cannot be made into fifteens.
If five play, he gives cards to the two on his left and one on his right. _=Cards.=_ There are thirty-six cards in the pack, which rank: A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 6. Each Ace is worth 11, Tens are worth 10, Kings 4, Queens 3, and Jacks 2. This gives us 120 points in the pack, and the object is to get 61 or more. _=Dealing.=_ Any one can deal the first hand, after which the deal passes to the left. Three cards are given to each player the first round, then three for the widow, and then two rounds of four cards each to the players, so that there are three hands of eleven cards each, and three in the widow. _=THE GAMES.=_ Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, can offer to play one of three games, and the highest offer must be accepted.
The same game is called Frimsey-framsey in parts of the county of Antrim.--Patterson s _Antrim and Down Glossary_. Compare Cushion Dance. Frog-lope Name for Leap-frog. --Addy s _Sheffield Glossary_. Frog in the Middle One child is seated on the ground with his legs under him; the other players form a ring round. They then pull or buffet the centre child or Frog, who tries to catch one of them without rising from the floor. The child who is caught takes the place of the centre child. Another method of playing the game is similar to Bull in the Park. The child in the centre tries to break out of the ring, those forming it keeping the Frog in the ring by any means in their power, while still keeping their hands clasped.
This night I knew it was the time. I never got a dress and all before. The chilly fingers touched me again. Still, what she was saying made some weird kind of sense. What about the healing? I tried, feeling a trap slowly descending over me. She smiled at that. I guess I put that punishment on myself for what I done, she said. Then you can still heal the sick? I asked. She shrugged. I want you to try, I added.
A Nevada crap layout, with moderately heavy play, should make six per cent of the amount gambled on every roll. That s its vigorish--its percentage. If the take falls below that, the suspicion is that the table is being taken to the cleaners by a crooked gambler, or cross-roader. The table I had picked was the only one in the Sky Hi Club s casino with more than one stick-man working it. The girl sniffled, and her long skinny arm reached around behind me to snag a couple sandwiches the size of postage stamps from a waiter s tray. She wolfed them down, wiping at the end of her long nose with a wadded-up hunk of cambric. She d done it before, and plenty, for her nose was red and sore. She made cow-eyes at me. Don t say it, I told her. I m not your darlin Billy.
The points in the outer tables have no numbers, but the one next the bar on each side is called the _=bar point=_. In giving the moves of the men in a game, the names of the six points in the home tables are disregarded, and each player, Black and White, numbers the board from 1 to 24, starting from the square on which he has only two men. The notation for the black moves would be as shown in the margin; that for white being exactly opposite, of course. [Illustration: +---+---+---+---+---+---++---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛂ | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | ⛂ | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | ⛀ | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | | | | | ⛂ | | | | | | | ⛀ || | | | | | ⛂ | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 || 7 8 9 10 11 12 | |24 23 22 21 20 19 ||18 17 16 15 14 13 | | | | | | | ⛂ || | | | | | ⛀ | | | | | | | ⛂ || | | | | | ⛀ | | | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | | ⛀ | | | | | ⛂ || | ⛂ | | | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---++---+---+---+---+---+---+ ] The men on each side are always moved in the direction of their notation numbers. In all the following illustrations the black men move round the board from right to left, like the hands of a clock, while the white men go in the opposite direction; so that the two opposing forces are continually meeting and passing, like the people in the street. The _=Object of the Game=_ is for each player to move his men from point to point in order to get them all into his home table. It does not matter what part of the home table they reach, so that they get across the bar. The men are moved according to the throws of the dice, each player in turn having a throw and a move. After the men on either side are all home, they are taken off the board according to the throws of the dice, and the player who is the first to get all his men off the board in this manner wins the game. If each player has taken off some of his men, the player getting all his off first wins a _=hit=_, which counts as a single game.
In case of exchange, the discarded hand is placed on the table face down; and the other taken up and played. If a player retains the hand originally dealt him, he must not look at the others. If the dealer exchanges, he loses the turn-up card, but the trump suit remains the same. Each player deals for himself in turn, there being no deal for the dead hands. Whist laws govern the deal and its errors. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The dealer’s adversary has the first lead; the other must follow suit if he can, and the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. Trumps win all other suits. _=SCORING.=_ Each trick above six counts one point towards game.
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A and B each have two to go. B bids three, which A refuses, pitching the trump himself. A makes only two points, B scoring one, and a third player D, another. B and D score one each, but A scores nothing for the two points he made, and must take three white counters from the pool, which will make him five to go. Had the bid which A refused been two only, he would have won the game, as he made two points. In many clubs it is the custom for a player who is set back to add a red counter to the pool. _=Irregularities in Play.=_ If any adversary of the player who pitches the trump leads or plays out of turn, he may be called upon by the bidder to play his highest or lowest of the suit led; or to trump or not to trump the trick. If any player but the pitcher has followed the erroneous lead, the cards must be taken back; but if the pitcher has followed, the error cannot be rectified. In case of a _=revoke=_, the hand is played out as if the revoke had not occurred, and each player except the person in error counts whatever points he makes.
If a player exposes more than one card, he must cut again. _=DEALING.=_ The cards are thoroughly shuffled, and presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The cards are then dealt three at a time for the first round, two for the next, and three for the last, each player receiving eight cards. The seventeenth is then turned up for the trump. If this card is a Seven, the dealer scores 10 points for it at once. The trump card is laid on the table by itself, the remainder of the pack, which is called the _=stock=_ or _=talon=_, is slightly spread, to facilitate the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure that none of the cards remaining in the undealt portion are exposed. In sixty-four-card Binocle twelve cards are sometimes dealt to each player. _=Misdealing.
_=Pairs.=_ If the first card played by the pone should be a 6, and the dealer had a 6 also, the latter would probably play it, announcing: “Twelve, with a pair,” and pegging two holes. If the pone held a third six he would immediately play it, announcing: “Eighteen, with a pair royal,” and would peg six holes for the three pairs which can be formed with the three Sixes, although he did not hold all of them. If the dealer was fortunate enough to hold the fourth Six he might rejoin with: “Twenty-four, with a double-pair-royal.” This would entitle him to peg twelve more holes, although he had already pegged the single pair. _=Sequences.=_ Suppose the first card played by the pone was a 4. The dealer plays a 2, announcing: “Six.” The pone plays a 3, announcing: “Nine, with a run of three,” and pegging three holes for the sequence formed in play. The dealer plays an Ace; “Ten, with a run of four,” and pegs four holes for the sequence of four cards made in play, all of which are face upward on the table, although he held only two of them.
|Pray thee, fine lady, |Please, young lady, |Pretty my lady, pop | | |come under my bush. |creep under the |under the bush. | | | |_briar_ bush. | | |15.| -- | -- | -- | |16.| -- | -- | -- | |17.| -- | -- | -- | |18.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.|Fochabers (Scotland). | Hampshire.
x Short-Suit Whist, by Val. W. Starnes. * Short Whist, by James Clay. * Theory of Whist, by Dr. W. Pole. * Whist, or Bumblepuppy, by “Pembridge.” Whist Developments, by “Cavendish.” * Whist of To-day, by Milton C.
Without lifting or looking at any of these twenty-two cards, each player places eleven of them in two rows, face down, and then the other eleven on the top of the first, but face up. This gives each player eleven cards face up on the table, covering eleven face down under them, and a separate hand of four cards. The dealer looks at his four cards, without showing them to his adversary, and after due consideration of what he sees on the table, declares. His adversary can double if he likes, or he can simply play a card. Tricks and honours count as in the ordinary rubber. The declaration made, the non-dealer leads any card he pleases, from the four in his hand or from the eleven face up on the table, and the dealer must follow suit if he can, either from his hand or from the table. The moment a card is played from the table, the card under it must be turned face up, and becomes playable; but no card which is on the top of another card can be shifted, so that the card under it cannot be turned up until its covering card is legitimately played away. The second player having played to the trick, the original leader must play to it in his turn, and then his adversary plays the fourth card, completing the trick. The winner of the trick takes it in, turns it down, and leads for the next trick, and so on until all thirteen tricks have been played. The winner of the rubber scores 100 points extra.
LAW III.--DEALING. SEC. 1. When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, the cards must be dealt, one at a time, face down, from the top of the pack, the first to the player at the left of the dealer, and each successive card to the player at the left of the one to whom the last preceding card has been dealt. The last, which is the trump card, must be turned and placed face up on the tray, if one is used; otherwise, at the right of the dealer. SEC. 2. There must be a new deal-- (a) If any card except the last is faced or exposed in any way in dealing; (b) If the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; (c) If either more or less than thirteen cards are dealt to any player; (d) If, after the first trick has been turned and quitted on the original play of a deal, one or more cards are found to have been left in the tray. LAW IV.
Another player holds a pair of eights, and claims brelan favori. He does not pay the winning brelan, but receives one counter from its holder, and also from each of the other players. If the brelan favori wins the pool, it is paid two counters by each player. If two simple brelans are shown, the higher wins the pool; but both must be paid by each of the other two players, who did not hold brelans. _=The Point.=_ If no brelan is shown, the hands of all the players are shown, including those who passed out during the betting. This will expose thirteen cards, including the retourne. The pips in each suit are then counted, the ace reckoning for 11, court cards for 10 each, and the 9 and 8 at their face value. Whichever suit has the greatest number of pips is called _=the suit that wins=_, and the player who holds the highest card of it takes the pool; provided, of course, that he was one of those who backed his hand until the last call. If the player who holds the best card of the winning suit has dropped out during the betting, his cards count for the player who has the highest card of the suit among those who backed their hands.
Play one of two cards that form a five, such as 3 and 2; 4 and A. If he plays a tenth card to it, you can peg fifteen. In playing on, you should make all the sequences possible, taking chances of your adversary’s being able to continue the run. If you think he is leading you on, you must be guided by the state of the score as to how much you can risk. Toward the end, you must reckon pretty closely how many points you can afford to risk your adversary’s making without putting him out. If you have enough in your hand to get out on the show, you should not attempt to make a single point in play. Pair nothing, for he might come out with a pair royal; make no runs, for he might extend them. But if you have not enough to show out, you must take every chance to peg the difference, because if you cannot get out in play and first show, the dealer has not only both hand and crib against you, but the first show on the next deal. In six-card Cribbage, the usual pegging for the play is five holes for the dealer, and four or five for the non-dealer. By adding this expectation to your show, you can see how many you can hope to peg yourself, and how many the dealer will probably be on hand, crib and peg altogether.
The _=first bettor=_ has the worst position at the table and he should seldom come in on less than Queens. He should seldom raise the ante, even with two pairs, as he will only drive others out. In this position very little can be made out of good hands, because every one expects to find them there; but it offers many excellent opportunities for successful bluffing. A player in this position should never straddle. Many players endeavour to force their luck in this way, but it is a losing game, and the best players seldom or never straddle. Having to make the first bet after the draw, it is usual for the player in this position, if he has an average hand, to _=chip along=_, by simply betting a single counter, and waiting for developments. With a strong hand, it is best to bet its full value at once, on the chance that the bet may be taken for a bluff, and called. _=Other Positions.=_ As the positions go round the table from the first bettor to the age, they become more desirable, and little need be said of them beyond the consideration of the average strength necessary for a player to _=go in=_ on. _=GOING IN.
Non-compliance with a performable penalty is the same as a revoke. _=SETTLING.=_ After the last card has been played, each player turns over his tricks, counts the number of hearts he has taken in, and announces it. Players should be careful not to gather or mix the cards until all thirteen hearts have been accounted for. Each player then pays into the pool for the number of hearts he has taken in, according to the system of settlement agreed upon before play began. The pool is then taken down by the player or players winning it, and the deal passes to the left. The game is at an end any time the players wish to stop, after a hand has been settled for; but it is usual to agree upon some definite hour. There are two ways of settling at the end of the hand, each of which has its good points. _=SWEEPSTAKE HEARTS.=_ After the hand has been played, each player announces the number of hearts he has taken in, and pays into the pool one counter for each.
Several examples of this foresight will be found in the example hands. Another point of difference is, that the declarer should play false cards whenever possible. He has not a partner who, if he plays the King, might jump to the conclusion that he can trump a suit, or has not the Queen. The more thoroughly the adversaries are confused, the greater the advantage to the declarer, especially in the end game. _=With a Trump.=_ When the winning declaration is a suit for trumps, the declarer’s first consideration upon getting into the lead must be whether or not to lead trumps. As a rule, the trumps should be led at once, so as to exhaust the adversaries; but there are exceptional cases, the principal ones being:-- Do not lead trumps from the strong trump hand if it would be to your advantage to put the other hand in the lead with a plain suit, so as to let the trump lead come from the weaker hand to the stronger, as when a finesse in trumps is desirable. Do not lead trumps if you have no good plain suit, and can make more tricks by playing for a cross-ruff. Do not lead trumps if the weaker hand can trump some of your losing cards first. It often happens that a _=losing trump=_ can be used to win a trick before trumps are led.
The special feature of the rhymes is that considerable difficulty occurs in the building of the bridge by _ordinary_ means, but without exactly suggesting that extraordinary means are to be adopted, a prisoner is suddenly taken. The question is, What does this indicate? Looking to the fact of the widespread superstition of the foundation sacrifice, it would seem that we may have here a tradition of this rite. So recently as 1872, there was a scare in Calcutta when the Hooghly Bridge was being constructed. The natives then got hold of the idea that Mother Ganges, indignant at being bridged, had at last consented to submit to the insult on condition that each pier of the structure was founded on a layer of children s heads (Gomme s _Early Village Life_, p. 29). Formerly, in Siam, when a new city gate was being erected, it was customary for a number of officers to lie in wait and seize the first four or eight persons who happened to pass by, and who were then buried alive under the gate-posts to serve as guardian angels (Tylor s _Primitive Culture_, i. 97). Other instances of the same custom and belief are given in the two works from which these examples are taken; and there is a tradition about London Bridge itself, that the stones were bespattered with the blood of little children. Fitzstephen, in his well-known account of London of the twelfth century, mentions that when the Tower was built the mortar was tempered with the blood of beasts. Prisoners heads were put on the bridge after execution down to modern times, and also on city gates.
216. II. Handy dandy riddledy ro-- Which will you have, high or low? --Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 216. III. Handy pandy, Sugary candy, Which will you have-- Top or bottom? --London (A. B. Gomme). IV. Handy pandy, Jack a dandy, Which hand will you have? --Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p.
9. Bystanders should not in any manner call attention to, or give any intimation concerning the play or the state of the game, during the play of a hand. They should not look over the hand of a player without his permission; nor should they walk round the table to look at the different hands. ERRONEOUS SCORES. Any error in the trick score may be corrected before the last card has been dealt in the following deal; or if the error occurs in the last hand of a game or rubber, it may be corrected before the score is agreed to. Errors in other scores may be corrected at any time before the final score of the game or rubber is agreed to. BIDDING. In _=Boston=_, or _=Solo Whist=_, any player making a bid must stand by it, and either play or pay. Should he make a bid in error and correct himself, he must stand by the first bid unless he is over-called, when he may either amend his bid or pass. ENGLISH WHIST LAWS.