Having once started a suit, it should not be changed, except for one of the reasons already given for the guidance of the First Hand. _=When the Adversaries Lead Trumps=_, and the Second Hand has a chance either to establish a suit against them or to force his partner, he should stop the trump lead if he can. If his partner has led trumps, the Second Hand should generally play his winning cards on his right hand opponent’s plain-suit leads, to stop them; and continue the trumps. These are about all the conventionalities necessary for the beginner. After at least a year’s practice with them, he will either discover that he has no aptitude for the game, or will be ready to go into further details. A beginner who attempts to handle the weapons of the expert simply plays with edged tools, which will probably cut no one but himself and his partner. * * * * * _=THE SIGNAL GAME.=_ Having become thoroughly familiar with the elementary conventionalities of the game, so that they can be used without the slightest hesitation at the whist table, the player may proceed to acquaint himself with the details of what is commonly known as the Signal Game, which comprises all the various methods of signalling up hands between partners, according to certain arbitrary and pre-arranged systems of play. Many players object to these methods as unfair; but they are now too deeply rooted to yield to protest; and the best thing for a player to do is to familiarise himself with his adversaries’ weapons. _=The Trump Signal.
I won t rise, I won t rise, From off my knees, To see my poor father lie Down at yonder trees. [The verses are then repeated for mother, sister, brother, and sweetheart. When this is said the girl sings--] I will rise, I will rise, From off my knees, To see my sweetheart lie Down at yonder trees. --Hurstmonceux, Sussex (Miss Chase). V. Here we all stand round the ring, And now we shut poor Mary in; Rise up, rise up, poor Mary Brown, And see your poor mother go through the town. [Then follow verses the same as in the Barnes version, No. 1, and then--] Rise up, rise up, poor Mary Brown, To see the poor beggars go through the town. I will not stand up upon my feet To see the poor beggars go through the street. [Two other verses are sometimes added, introducing gentleman and ladies.
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. If four play, the dealer takes no cards.
| -- | -- | -- | |26.| -- |We ll set a man to |Set a man to watch all| | | |watch all night. |night. | |27.|Suppose the man should|If the man should fall| -- | | |fall asleep. |asleep. | | |28.| -- | -- | -- | |29.| -- | -- |What has this poor | | | | |prisoner done? | |30.| -- | -- |Stole my watch and | | | | |broke my chain.
It is usually very difficult to convince the beginner that the weaker he is himself, the more reason he has for forcing the adversaries to trump his good cards. He is constantly falling into the error of changing from a good suit, which the adversaries cannot stop without trumping, to a weak suit, which allows them to get into the lead without any waste of trump strength. If an adversary refuses to trump a suit, it is imperative to keep on with it until he does; for it is always good play to force an adversary to do what he does not wish to do. Any person may convince himself of the soundness of this theory of forcing, by giving himself the six highest cards in any suit, three small cards in the others, and four trumps; giving another player the four best trumps, and nine of the highest cards in two suits. If the first player forces the second with his good suit, and continues every time he gets the lead, he must win six tricks; if he does not, the second player makes a slam. A deliberate force from a partner should always be accepted, if he is a good player. We may now turn our attention to the conventionalities used by players who are opposed to the establishment of suits in the hands of the leader and his partner. These are divided between the Second and the Fourth Hand, the former being the more important. Generally speaking, they are the tactics of defence. _=SECOND HAND PLAY.
Sykes). VII. O what has this poor prisoner done, Poor prisoner done, poor prisoner done? O what has this poor prisoner done, So early in the morning? She stole my watch and lost my key, Lost my key, lost my key, She stole my watch and lost my key, So early in the morning. How many pounds to set her free, Set her free, set her free? How many pounds to set her free, So early in the morning? Five hundred pounds to set her free, Set her free, set her free, Five hundred pounds to set her free, So early in the morning. Five hundred pounds we have not got, Have not got, have not got, Five hundred pounds we have not got, So early in the morning. So off to prison she must go, She must go, she must go, So off to prison she must go, So early in the morning. If she go then I ll go too, I ll go too, I ll go too, If she go then I ll go too, So early in the morning. So round the meadows we must go, We must go, we must go, So round the meadows we must go, So early in the morning. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). (_b_) In the Deptford version two girls join hands, holding them up as an arch for the other players to tramp through.
Beginning on his left, the dealer distributes the cards face down one at a time in rotation until each player has received five cards. The deal passes to the left, and each player deals in turn. _=IRREGULARITIES IN THE DEAL.=_ The following rules regarding the deal should be strictly observed:-- If any card is found faced in the pack the dealer must deal again. Should the dealer, or the wind, turn over any card, the player to whom it is dealt must take it; but the same player cannot be compelled to take two exposed cards. Should such a combination occur, there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. If the player exposes his cards himself, he has no remedy. Should any player receive more or less than his correct number of cards, and discover the error before he looks at any card in his hand, or lifts it from the table, he may demand a fresh deal if no bet has been made; or he may ask the dealer to give him another from the pack if he has too few; or to draw a card if he has too many. Cards so drawn must not be exposed, but should be placed on the bottom of the pack. If the number of the hands dealt does not agree with the number of players, there must be a new deal.
It must be remembered that the banker should have a sharp eye to the relative amounts staked on each side of the table, which will often decide which player he should try to beat. For example: The banker has 5, and the player on his right has drawn a 10, the one on his left a 7. The banker has an excellent chance to win all the bets on the right, and should have a certainty of standing off with them, and unless those on the left very much exceeded them, the banker would be very foolish to risk losing everything by drawing to 5, simply to beat the player on his left. _=BACCARA CHEMIN DE FER.=_ In this variation, each player in turn on the left becomes the banker, taking the deal as soon as the first banker loses a coup. The banker gives cards only to the player on his right, and to himself. If this player will not go banco, each of the others in order beyond him may do so. 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.
[Illustration: 🃑 🃁 🃒 🂳 🃓 ] If the duplicates are of two different cards, no matter which, it will be found that four different sequences of three cards each can be formed by changing the Aces and Threes alternately. Such combinations are therefore always worth 16 points: four runs of three, worth 12, and 4 points for the two separate pairs. [Illustration: 🂡 🂢 🂳 🃔 🃄 ] If the five cards contain one sequence of four, and one duplicate, the combination will always be worth 10 points; 8 for the double run of four, and 2 for the pair. The foregoing should be thoroughly familiar to every player, so that he may know the exact value of the combination the moment he sees the length of the sequence and the number of duplicates. _=Two-card Fifteens.=_ Any combination of two or more cards, the total face value of which is exactly 15, is called _=fifteen-two=_, because each fifteen so formed is worth two points in the pegging. There are only three combinations of two cards which will form fifteen; a Five with any court card or Ten; a Nine and a Six; an Eight and a Seven. The manner of counting duplicates is the same as that employed for the pairs and sequences, and the player should be equally familiar with each variety of combination. The fifteens formed by _=two cards=_ only are the simplest, and should be studied first. [Illustration: 🂮 🂻 🂥 ] It is obvious that if there is in the hand or the starter a duplicate of either of the cards forming the fifteen, no matter which, another fifteen can be formed, and the combination will therefore always be worth 6 points; 4 for the two fifteens, and 2 for the pair.
| +---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+---+-.-+ ] In order to ascertain if you have the move when it is your turn to play, add together all the men, both black and white, in one of the systems, taking no notice of those in the other system, and if the number is _=odd=_, you have the move. In Diagram No. 10, for instance, if you have the black men, and it is your turn to play, you will find three men on your own system, and therefore you have the move, and must win by playing 10-15. When White moves, there will again be an odd number of men on your system, and you will still have the move, and he must sacrifice both his men. [Illustration: No. 10.
_=FLAT POKER.=_ In this variety of the game, before the cards are dealt, the age puts up, for a blind, any amount he pleases within the limit. Those who are willing to bet a similar amount on the possibilities of their hands put up a similar amount. Those who decline are not given any cards. There are no straddles, raises, or antes. Immediately after the deal each player who is in the pool draws cards, the age first. There are then two ways to play: The hands are shown and the best wins; or, beginning with the age, each player may say if he will back his hand against the field; _i.e._, all the others in the pool. If he will, he must put up as much as their combined stakes.
Or this. Six.] When counters are not used, one of the standard forms of whist-marker is employed, the most legible and convenient being the “Foster Whist Marker,” in which the counting keys are always level with the surface and can be seen equally well from any position at the table. [Illustration: The Foster Whist Marker.] The four large keys on one side are used to count single points, the single large key on the opposite side being reckoned as five. The three small keys are used for counting rubber points, or games. In ten point games, the scoring to four points is the same; but beyond four, a single counter placed _=below=_ two or more others, is reckoned as three; and _=above=_ two or more others, as five. [Illustration: Five. Six. Seven.
When the plain-suit cards are high or dangerous, but the hearts are reasonably safe, it is usually better to lead the hearts, and to continue leading them every time you get in. By following these tactics it is quite possible for you to take almost every trick in the plain suits, and yet to win the pool by rapidly exhausting the hearts. If you lead the ♡ 4, the only chance for it to win is that one player has no hearts, and that the 2 and 3 are divided. The odds against this combination of circumstances will vary with the number of hearts you hold with the 4, but may be generally stated on the average as about 50 to 1. It is usually considered a safer lead than a high card of a plain suit, even if you have only three of the suit. If your only heart is the 5, and you propose to lead it, the chances that the 2, 3, and 4 are not each in separate hands are about 19 in 25, or 19 to 6 against it, which is about 3 to 1. If you lead the 5, the odds against your winning the trick decrease as the number of hearts you hold with the 5 increases. If you have four hearts, the 5 being the lowest, the odds against its winning the trick, if you lead it, are about 29 to 11. If you have eight hearts, the 5 being the lowest, it is about an even chance. If your only heart is the 6, it is about an even chance that it will win the trick; but the odds against you increase rapidly with the number of additional hearts that you hold.
sc. 2. Miss Baker (_Northamptonshire Glossary_), in describing Merell or Morris, says:-- On the inclosing of open fields this game was transferred to a board, and continues a fireside recreation of the agricultural labourer. It is often called by the name of Mill or Shepherd s Mill. She says the mode of playing now observed is this. Each of the players has nine pieces, or men, differing in colour, or material, from his adversary, for distinction s sake; which they lay down on the spots alternately, one by one, each endeavouring to prevent his opponent from placing three of his pieces in a line, as whichever does so is entitled to take off any one of his antagonist s men where he pleases, without breaking a row of three, which must not be done whilst there is another man on the board. After all the pieces are placed on the board, they are moved alternately backwards and forwards along the lines; and as often as either of the players succeeds in accomplishing a row of three, he claims one of his antagonist s men, which is placed in the pound (the centre), and he who takes the most pieces wins the game. It is played on a board whereon are marked three squares, one being denominated the pound. It is sometimes played with pegs, bits of paper, or wood, or stone. It is called Peg Morris by Clare, the Northamptonshire poet.
This is called _=taking the pot=_, and the cards are gathered, shuffled, and dealt again, the deal passing to the player who was the age. _=DRAWING CARDS.=_ All those who have made the ante good have the privilege of discarding, face downward, as many cards as they please, in the place of which they may draw others. The age has the first draw, and can take any number of cards from one to five, or he may _=stand pat=_, refusing to draw any. A player cannot receive from the dealer more or less cards than he discards; so that if a person is allowed to play with a short hand, of four cards only, he will still have only four cards after the draw. If his hand was foul, it will remain so after the draw. In drawing, a player may keep or discard what cards he pleases. There is no rule to prevent his throwing away a pair of aces and keeping three clubs if he is so inclined; but the general practice is for the player to retain whatever pairs or triplets he may have, and to draw to them. Four cards of a straight or a flush may be drawn to in the same way, and some make a practice of drawing to one or two high cards, such as an ace and a king, when they have no other chance. Some hands offer opportunities to vary the draw.
] (_b_) The children form in two lines of equal length, facing one another, with sufficient space between the lines to admit of their walking in line backwards and forwards towards and away from each other, as each line sings the verses allotted to it (fig. 1). The first line sings the first, third, and fifth verses, and the opposite line the second and fourth. At the end of the fifth verse a handkerchief or other mark is laid on the ground, and the two children (whose names have been mentioned, and who are as evenly matched as possible), take each other s right hand and endeavour to pull each other over the handkerchief to their own side (fig. 2). The child who is pulled over the handkerchief becomes the captured nut, and joins the side of her capturers. Then the game begins again by the second line singing the first, third, and fifth verses, while advancing to gather or capture the nuts, the first line responding with the second and fourth verses, and the same finish as before. Then the first line begins the game, and so on until all the children are in this way matched one against the other. (_c_) Other versions have been sent me, with slight variations: NUTS IN MAY, with the verses ending, On a fine summer morning, from Lincoln and Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peacock); So early in the morning, Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews); Six o clock in the morning, Nottingham (Miss Wenfield); On a cold and frosty morning, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire (Miss K.
It is played by three boys in the following way:--One stands with his back to a wall; the second stoops down with his head against the stomach of the first boy, forming a back; the third jumps on it, and holds up his hand with the fingers distended, saying-- Buck shee, buck shee buck, How many fingers do I hold up? Should the stooper guess correctly, they all change places, and the jumper forms the back. Another and not such a rough way of playing this game is for the guesser to stand with his face towards a wall, keeping his eyes shut.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 59). In Nairn, Scotland, the game is called Post and Rider. One boy, the Post, takes his stand beside a wall. Another boy stoops down with his head touching the Post s breast. Several other boys stoop down in the same way behind the first boy, all in line. The Rider then leaps on the back of the boy at the end of the row of stooping boys, and from his back to that of the one in front, and so on from back to back till he reaches the boy next the Post. He then holds up so many fingers, and says-- Buck, buck, how many fingers do I hold up? The boy makes a guess.
Gomme (see fig. 7). Mr. Emslie has sent me figs. 9 and 10, also from London streets. Newell (_Games_, p. 188) speaks of it as a well-known game in America. Mr. Elworthy (_West Somerset Words_) says, Several of these (diagrams marked on the ground) are still to be seen, scratched on the ancient pavement of the Roman Forum. Mr.
Bubble-justice. Buck, Buck. Buck i t Neucks. Buckerels. Buckey-how. Buff. Buk-hid. Bull in the Park. Bulliheisle. Bummers.
, a trick. (Tric, is the odd trick.) Liées, F., to play rubbers. Limit, the amount by which one player may increase his bet over that of another. Long Cards, the dregs of a suit which has been led several times, and exhausted in the hands of the other players. Long Suits, those containing four or more cards, at Whist. Lose Out, a card that loses four times in one deal, at Faro. Losing Cards, those that would lose tricks if they were led. Losing _Hazard_, pocketing the cue ball.
, are more fully described in connection with the very similar game of Baccara. MACAO. In this variety of Vingt-et-un only one card is dealt to each player; court cards and tens count nothing, and the Ace is always worth one. The number to be reached is 9, instead of 21, and if a player has a 9 natural, he receives from the banker three times his stake; if an 8 natural, he receives double, and for a 7 natural, he is paid. If the banker has an equal number of points natural, it is a tie; and if the banker has a 7, 8, or 9 natural he receives from each of the others once, twice, or three times the amount of their stakes. If none of these naturals are shown, the players draw in turn, as at Vingt-et-un, and the dealer receives from those who have less points than he, or who are créve, and pays those who have more, but have not passed 9. FARMER. Any number of persons may play. All the 8’s and all the 6’s but the ♡6 are discarded from a pack of fifty-two cards. All court cards count for 10, the ace for 1, and all others at their face value.
317). Blind Bucky-Davy In Somersetshire the game of Blind Man s Buff. Also in Cornwall (see Couch s _Polperro_, p. 173). Pulman says this means Blind buck and have ye (Elworthy s _Dialect_). Blind Harie A name for Blind Man s Buff. --Jamieson. Blind Hob The Suffolk name for Blind Man s Buff. --Halliwell s _Dictionary_; Moor s _Suffolk Glossary_. Blind Man s Buff I.
If the 10 is not led the adversary may turn up an honour, and will then have major tenace over the 10 and 8. The end game always offers some interesting problems for solution by the expert in tenace position, and in placing the lead. WHIST FAMILY LAWS. While the code of laws drawn up by the American Whist League, and finally approved and adopted at the Third Congress, [in Chicago, June 20th to 24th, 1893,] refers exclusively to the parent game of Whist, its general provisions equally apply to all members of the whist family of games. The author believes it will save much repetition and confusion to interlineate the exceptions which are necessary in order to cover the special features of such important variations as Boston, Cayenne, and Solo Whist. Where no exceptions are made, the law applies equally to these games and to Whist. The unnumbered paragraphs show the inserted laws. It is a common practice for the framers of laws to insert rules which are simply descriptive of the manner of play. The author believes in adhering to the proper definition of a law, which is a rule carrying with it some penalty for its infraction, or defining the rights of individual players. Such a statement as that the Dummy player may not overlook his adversary’s hand is not a law, because there is no penalty if he does so.
A complete table consists of six; the four having the preference play. Partners are determined by cutting; the highest two play against the lowest two; the lowest deals and has the choice of seats and cards. In _=Boston=_ and in _=Solo Whist=_, a table is complete with four players. In cutting for positions at the table, the lowest has the choice of seats and cards, and the two highest sit opposite each other. 3. If two players cut intermediate cards of equal value, they cut again; the lower of the new cut plays with the original lowest. 4. If three players cut cards of equal value, they cut again. If the fourth has cut the highest card, the two lowest of the new cut are partners, and the lowest deals. If the fourth has cut the lowest card, he deals, and the two highest of the new cut are partners.
=_ Should a player fail to follow suit when able to do so, it is a revoke. Dummy cannot revoke under any circumstances; but the penalty for any other player is the loss of three tricks for each revoke made, which are taken from the side in error at the end of the hand. In England, the penalty may be exacted in any of three ways; three tricks, or the value of three tricks in points, or the addition of a like amount to opponent’s score. A slam cannot be scored if the tricks necessary to make it were taken for the revoke penalty. The side making a revoke cannot win the game that hand, no matter what they score; but they may play the hand out, and count all they make to within two points of game, or 28. Players cannot score a slam in a hand in which they have revoked. _=Exposed Cards.=_ If the dealer or his partner exposes a card before the declaration has been made, either adversary may claim a new deal. If any player exposes a card before the first card is led, his partner forfeits the right to double or redouble. If the pone exposes a card in this manner, the dealer may call it an exposed card, or he may require the eldest hand not to lead that suit.