The recreation is also called Buckstick, Spell, and Ore, the buckstick with which the ore is struck being broad at one end like the butt of a gun (_North Country Words_). In Yorkshire it is Spell and Nurr, or Knur, the ore or wooden ball having been, perhaps, originally the knurl or knot of a tree. The _Whitby Glossary_ also gives this as Spell and Knor, and says it is known in the South as Dab and Stick. The author adds, May not tribbit, or trevit, be a corruption of three feet, the required length of the stick for pliable adaptation? Robinson (_Mid-Yorkshire Glossary_), under Spell and Nur, says: A game played with a wooden ball and a stick fitted at the striking end with a club-shaped piece of wood. The spell made to receive and spring the ball for the blow at a touch, is a simple contrivance of wood an inch or so in breadth and a few inches long. . . . The players, who usually go in and out by turns each time, after a preliminary series of tippings of the spell with the stick in one hand, and catches of the ball with the other, in the process of calculating the momentum necessary for reach of hand, are also allowed two trial rises in a striking attitude, and distance is reckoned by scores of yards. The long pliable stick, with a loose club end, used in the game, is called the tribit or trivit stick.
The first time this is played it looks like a pretty severe game for a player who takes in a large number of hearts on one deal; but it will be found that he rapidly recovers. During a sitting of any length the player who takes in the smallest number of hearts must be the winner. In the case mentioned in connection with Sweepstake Hearts, in which one player lost 46 counters while another won 46, in 60 deals, the result at Howell’s Settling would have been that the player who took in only 58 hearts would be 548 counters ahead instead of losing 46; while the one who took in 500 hearts would lose 1220 counters, instead of winning 46. _=METHODS OF CHEATING.=_ Under the rule for dealing the cards one at a time, the greek must be very skilful to secure any advantage at Hearts. But when it is the practice to deal the cards three at a time, and four on the last round, it is an easy matter to get four small hearts together on the bottom of the pack. Any person who is observed to hold three or four small hearts every time he deals, should be carefully watched, and it will usually be found that he gathers the small hearts from the hands of the other players while the pool is being divided. Marked cards are of little use to the greek at hearts, because so much depends on what a player holds, and so little on his play. VARIETIES OF HEARTS. Before proceeding to suggestions for good play, it will be better to describe some of the variations of the game in common use, because what would be good play in one variation would not be in another.
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| | | | | | | +------+ +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ ] The players first take up hands Nos. 1 and 2; a card is led from No. 1, the dealer follows suit from No. 2, or trumps, or discards, and the play continues until these two hands are exhausted. The second set are then taken up and played in the same manner; the player who won the last trick in one set having the first lead in the next. Finally, the third set are played in the same manner; all the cards taken by each side being gathered into one pile by the player who has won them. The trump card must remain on the table until the dealer takes up the last hand. When three play, the set of hands first dealt must be first played, and then the second set taken up. The rules for cards played in error, leading out of turn, etc., are the same as at Whist.
If he says he is “_=heart and weak=_,” he will lead the top heart; but he will discard his weak suit. If he says he is “_=weak and weak=_,” he means that he will lead the shortest or weakest suit in his hand, if you double no-trumps, that being the almost universal custom in England. All the situations which have been covered in the play of the second, third and fourth hands at auction can be studied with advantage by the bridge player, as the manner of securing the best results from certain distributions of the cards is the same in both games. The chief difference lies in the value of the tricks, because at bridge the opponents of the declaration can score toward game, and it is therefore frequently advisable to take a finesse or make a play that would be quite unjustifiable at auction, if there is any chance that such a play may win a game that would be otherwise impossible. Close attention to the score is an important factor in bridge which does not operate in auction, because in that game any previous score toward game is seldom of any use, eighteen out of every twenty deals being game hands or nothing, and the dealer having no more advantage in the selection of the trump than any other player. In bridge, one always calculates that the dealer will go out if he is 18 or 20 up on the score, as almost any suit will do. This prompts the side that has the deal, or a chance to go game, to lose no opportunity to win at once, before the other side gets a chance at it. ILLUSTRATIVE BRIDGE HANDS. The dealer is Z in both instances. In the first example, he makes it no-trump.
They rode beside them in their six-pound craft ready to attack. The tiny ships of the Partners were swift. Each carried a dozen pinlights, bombs no bigger than thimbles. The pinlighters threw the Partners--quite literally threw--by means of mind-to-firing relays direct at the Dragons. What seemed to be Dragons to the human mind appeared in the form of gigantic Rats in the minds of the Partners. Out in the pitiless nothingness of space, the Partners minds responded to an instinct as old as life. The Partners attacked, striking with a speed faster than Man s, going from attack to attack until the Rats or themselves were destroyed. Almost all the time, it was the Partners who won. With the safety of the inter-stellar skip, skip, skip of the ships, commerce increased immensely, the population of all the colonies went up, and the demand for trained Partners increased. Underhill and Woodley were a part of the third generation of pinlighters and yet, to them, it seemed as though their craft had endured forever.
=_ If the single player finds he has overbid himself, or sees that he cannot make as good a game as bid, he may abandon his hand to save himself from being made schneider or schwarz, provided he does so before he plays to the second trick. A Solo cannot be abandoned in this manner, as the rule is made only to allow a player to get off cheaply who has been unlucky in finding nothing in the Skat to suit his hand. For instance: A player has risked a Tourné with a missing suit, and turns up that suit. He can abandon his hand at once, losing his bid or the next higher game, but escaping schneider. _=Irregularities in the Hands.=_ If, during the play of a hand, any person is found to have too many or too few cards, the others having their right number, it is evident that there has been no misdeal if the pack is perfect and there are two cards in the Skat. If the player in error has too few cards, probably from having dropped one on the floor, or having played two cards to the same trick, he loses in any case, but the adversary may demand to have the hand played out in order to try for schneider or schwarz, and the last trick, with the missing card, must be considered as having been won by the side not in fault. If the player in fault is opposed to the single player, his partner suffers with him. If the player discovers his loss, he is not allowed to pick the card from the floor and replace it in his hand if he has in the meantime played to a trick with a wrong number of cards. _=Playing Out of Turn.
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.
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If six belong to the table, there will be no further cutting out, as those who are out for one rubber re-enter for the next, taking the places of those who have played two consecutive rubbers. If five belong to the table, the three who remained in for the second rubber must cut to allow the fifth player to re-enter. At the end of the third rubber, the two cut that have not yet been out; and at the end of the fourth rubber the one who has played every rubber goes out without cutting. Partners and deal are cut for at the beginning of each new rubber. _=METHODS OF CHEATING.=_ All the Euchre family of games, especially Écarté and Napoleon, offer numerous opportunities to the greek. So well is this known in Europe that it is considered extremely foolish for any person to play Écarté in mixed companies. The small number of cards in the pack, and the custom of dealing two and three at a time, gives the dealer an opportunity to bunch four valuable cards, of which he can give himself three, and turn up the fourth. False shuffles, shifted cuts, and marked cards are formidable weapons. The telegraph between partners, and the variation in tone or words in passing are frequently used by card-sharpers.
The colours follow one another just as in English pool, until all the balls have come upon the table. After that, any ball on the table may be played at, and if it is pocketed, the player has the option of playing at the black ball. If he pockets it, each player pays him the amount of a life, so that the player whose ball was first pocketed would have to pay two, one for his own ball and one for the black. If a ball is pocketed before the balls are all on the table, the player may play on the black; but the following players must play on their colours until the first round is complete. No one is ever dead, and the game may be continued indefinitely, although half an hour is the usual limit. The players share the expense of the table, as at Shell-out. ENGLISH BILLIARDS. This game is played with three balls, one red and two white. Every winning hazard off the red counts 3; hazards off the white count 2, and all carroms count 2. If a player makes a carrom and a losing hazard on the same stroke, it counts 5 if the red was the object ball; 4 if the white was the object ball.
There are two methods of playing Commerce; with and without a widow. We shall take the older form first. _=Without a Widow.=_ The counters have a money value, and each player deposits one in the pool. The dealer then distributes the cards one at a time, face down, until each has three. The players then examine their cards, and each in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, may exchange one card. If he trades _=for ready money=_, he gives his card and one white counter to the dealer, and receives another card, face down, from the top of the pack. The discard is left on the table, and the counter is the dealer’s perquisite. If he trades _=for barter=_, he passes his discard to the player on his left, who must give one of his own in exchange before looking at the one he is to receive. If the player will not exchange, he must _=knock=_ on the table, to signify that he will stand by the cards he has.
Second, to save himself, if he is weak; or the game, if it is in danger. As a general proposition, it may be said that his decision will be indicated by the colour of the trump he names. If it is red, he is strong, and plays to win; if it is black, he is taking to the woods. A further element may enter into his calculations, the state of the score. If he feels sure of the few points necessary to win the game or the rubber with a black trump, there is no necessity to risk making it red. This is a part of the subject which we shall go into further when we come to the suggestions for good play. The dealer has the first say in making the trump. If he does not feel himself strong enough to make it no trump, or red, although his hand may be black enough to promise a good score in clubs or spades, he should transfer to his partner the privilege of making the trump by saying: “I leave it to you, partner.” Guided by this indication, his partner must fix on some suit for the trump or go no-trumps, and must announce it. Either the dealer or his partner may elect to play without a trump, if he has sufficient strength in all the suits to do so.
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