The system will also drive all but the most courageous to calling your hand on every occasion, being afraid of a further and inevitable raise; and it is an old saying that a good caller is a sure loser. The theory of calling is to get an opportunity to compare your hand with your adversary’s. Now, if you think that after the comparison yours will prove the better hand, why not increase the value of the pool? If, on the contrary, you fear that his hand will beat yours, why throw good money after bad? If you don’t think at all about it, and have no means of forming an opinion as to the respective merits of your hands, you are not a poker player, and have no business in the game. _=BLUFFING.=_ There is nothing connected with Poker on which persons have such confused ideas as on the subject of bluffing. The popular impression seems to be that a stiff upper lip, and a cheerful expression of countenance, accompanied by a bet of five dollars, will make most people lay down three aces; and that this result will be brought about by the five-dollar bet, without any regard to the player’s position at the table, the number of cards he drew, his manner of seeing or raising the ante, or the play of his adversaries before the draw. The truth of the matter is that for a bluff to be either sound in principle or successful in practice, the player must carefully select his opportunity. The bluff must be planned from the start, and consistently played from the ante to the end. To use a common expression: “The play must be right for it, or the bluff will be wrong.” There are many cases in which a bluff of fifty cents would be much stronger than one of five dollars; the difference depending on the player’s position at the table, his treatment of the ante, and the number of cards he had drawn.
Rubber or game scores must be kept on a whist marker, or on a sheet of paper. _=PLAYERS.=_ Euchre may be played by any number of persons from two to seven; but in the seven-handed game the full pack of fifty-three cards is used. Whatever the number of players, they cut for positions at the table, for partners, and for the deal. _=CUTTING.=_ The cards are usually spread, face down, and each candidate for play draws a card. [Illustration: SPREADING THE PACK.] When _=two=_ or _=three=_ play, the lowest cut has the choice of seats, and takes the first deal. When _=four=_ play, they cut for partners; the two highest pairing against the two lowest. The lowest has the choice of seats, and deals the first hand.
It is usual for only one to count, the other checking him, and taking the difference between the total and 240. Cards are not scored as the tricks are taken in, but after the hand is over and the 10 points have been scored for the last trick. From this it might be imagined that no notice was taken of the counting value of the cards taken in during the play. Early in the game this is true; but toward the end each player must keep very careful _=mental count=_ of the value of his tricks, although he is not allowed to make any note of it, nor to score it. When either player knows, by adding his mental count to his score for melds and dix, that he has made points enough to win the game, he stops the play by knocking on the table. He then turns over his tricks and counts his cards, to show his adversary that he has won the game. Even if both have enough to go out, the player wins who knocks first, provided his count is correct. If the player who knocks is mistaken, and cannot count out, he loses the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be. If neither knocks, and at the end of the hand both players are found to have points enough to put them out, neither wins the game. If the game is 1000 points, it must be continued to 1250.
=_ Before the distribution of the cards, the dealer puts up a blind, usually five counters, which the player on his right has the privilege of straddling. If he straddles, he may be straddled again, and so on. In Bouillotte the straddle practically buys from the dealer the privileges of the age. If it goes round until the dealer buys it back himself, the straddling must then be stopped. _=Dealing.=_ As in all French games, the cards are cut by the player on the dealer’s left, and are dealt from right to left. Three cards are given to each player, one at a time, face down, and the thirteenth is then turned face up on the pack. This card is called the _=retourne=_. _=Misdeals.=_ If any card is exposed during the deal, either in the pack or in giving it to a player, it is a misdeal; but the distribution of the cards is continued until each player has received three cards, the exposed card being given out in its regular order.
If any of the players are caught they must go to the opposite side. In turn the opposite side chooses a trade, and imitates the actions practised.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane). This is called An Old Woman from the Wood in Dorsetshire. The children form themselves into two ranks. The first rank says: Here comes an old oman from the wood. The second party answers: What cans t thee do? First Party: Do anythin . Second Party: Work away. This the children proceed to do, some by pretending to sew, some to wash, some to dig, some to knit, without any instruments to do it with. If the opposite side guess what they are doing, they change sides.
I come in my red dress. Red is for soldiers, Very well, ladies. Then--] I come in my black dress, black dress, black dress, I come in my black dress, and how will that do? Black is for funeral, And that will do To carry poor Jenny to the grave. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XI. We re come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Come to see Jenny Jones, how is she now? Jenny is a-washing, a-washing, a-washing, Jenny is a-washing, you can t see her now. Very well, ladies, very well, ladies, Very well, ladies, we can t see her now. [Then follow the same verses for-- (1) ironing, (2) badly, (3) dead; And the singing proceeds with--] Please, will white do, white do, white do? Please, will white do, please, will it do? White s for the weddingers, the weddingers, White s for the weddingers, that won t do. Please, will blue do, blue do, blue do? Please, will blue do, please will it do? [Then follow verses as before, beginning-- Blue s for the sailors, the sailors, the sailors. Please, will red do, red do? Red s for the soldiers.
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_=MARKERS=_ are not used, counters taking their place. These are usually of the colours and values, and are distributed among the players as already described in Boston. _=STAKES.=_ As a guide in settling upon the unit value, it may be noted that the largest amount possible to win or lose on a single hand is 2,400 white counters; the smallest amount being 30. The average is about 300. _=THE POOL.=_ In addition to the counters won or lost on each hand, a pool is formed by each dealer in his turn placing five counters in a small tray provided for the purpose. This pool may be increased by penalties, etc., and the whole amount may be won under certain conditions, as at Boston. There is no limit to the amount of a single pool.
He can gather in not only the pair of Tens, but the combinations which equal a 10. _=Building.=_ A player may have in his hand two cards, the lower of which, if added to a card on the table, would build up its value to that of the higher card still in the player’s hand. For instance: A player holds a 9 and 2, and there is a 7 on the table. He may place the 2 on the 7, announcing the total value; “Nine,” which will notify other players that those two cards cannot be separated; but he cannot take them in until it again comes round to his turn to play, because he is allowed to play only one card at a time, and he has played his card in making the build. Should any other player following him hold a 9, he would be entitled to take in this build, but he could not separate the two cards forming it. A player holding either a 7 or a 2 could not touch either of the cards in the build, because they are no longer a 7 and 2, but a 9, for all practical purposes. _=Increasing Builds.=_ If any player held an Ace and a 10 in his hand, he could increase the 9 build to a 10 build, by putting his Ace on the 7 and 2, and announcing the total value, “Ten.” Any following player would then be unable to win the build with anything but a 10, and the player who originally built it a 9 would lose it unless he also held a 10 in his hand.
_=ANNOUNCEMENTS.=_ The bids rank in the following order, beginning with the lowest. The full-faced type shows the words used by the players in calling their bids:-- To win five tricks; _=Boston=_. To win _=Six Tricks=_. To win _=Seven Tricks=_. To lose twelve tricks, after having discarded a card which is not to be shown; _=Little Misère=_. To win _=Eight Tricks=_. To win _=Nine Tricks=_. To lose every trick; _=Grand Misère=_. To win _=Ten Tricks=_.
Dibbs. Dinah. Dip o the Kit. Dish-a-loof. Doddart. Doncaster Cherries. Dools. Down in the Valley. Drab and Norr. Draw a Pail of Water.
One side chooses a trade, and goes to the opposite side imitating working at the trade and giving the initial letters of it. If the opposite side guesses the name of the trade, the players run to their own den, being chased by their opponents. If any of the players are caught they must go to the opposite side. In turn the opposite side chooses a trade, and imitates the actions practised.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane). This is called An Old Woman from the Wood in Dorsetshire. The children form themselves into two ranks. The first rank says: Here comes an old oman from the wood. The second party answers: What cans t thee do? First Party: Do anythin . Second Party: Work away.
Patterson (_Antrim and Down Glossary_) mentions this as Hockey; the same as Shinney. Called in some districts, he adds, Comun and Kamman, from the Irish name for the game. Conkers The same game as Cogger. The game is more generally called playin at sneel-shells. --Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_. Conquerors or Conkers I. Cobbly co! My first blow! Put down your black hat, And let me have first smack! --Burne s _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 531. II. Obli, obli O, my first go; And when the nut is struck, Obli, obli onker, my nut will conquer.
| -- | |15.| -- | |16.|Applause for bride. | +---+----------------------+ It appears by the analysis that all the incidents of the Hants version of this game occur in one or other of the versions, and these incidents therefore may probably be typical of the game. This view would exclude the important incidents of bride capture in the Earls Heaton version; the bride having a baby in the Belfast version, and the two minor incidents in the Deptford version (Nos. 13 and 15 in the analysis), which are obviously supplemental. Chambers, in his _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, pp. 119, 137, gives two versions of a courtship dance which are not unlike the words of this game, though they do not contain the principal incidents. Northall, in his _English Folk Rhymes_, p. 363, has some verses of a similar import, but not those of the game.
[Illustration] CHILDREN S GAMES. Accroshay A cap or small article is placed on the back of a stooping boy by other boys as each in turn jumps over him. The first as he jumps says Accroshay, the second Ashotay, the third Assheflay, and the last Lament, lament, Leleeman s (or Leleena s) war. The boy who in jumping knocks off either of the things has to take the place of the stooper.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58). See Leap-frog. All-hid A meere children s pastime (_A Curtaine Lecture_, 1637, p. 206). This is no doubt the game of Hide and Seek, though Cotgrave apparently makes it synonymous with Hoodman Blind.
If a player has drawn two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If it was his adversary’s card, he must show his own card also. If he has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he draws out of turn, he must restore the card improperly drawn, and if it belongs to his adversary, the player in error must show his own card. If both draw the wrong cards there is no remedy, and each must keep what he gets. If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock, his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, which his adversary has not seen, he need not show it. If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an even number of cards remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. The winner of the trick takes the last but one, and the loser takes the trump card. _=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.
=_ Volumes might be written for the guidance of the poker player without improving his game a particle, unless he possesses at least one of four qualifications: Control over his features and actions; judgment of human nature; courage; and patience. The man whose face or manner betrays the nature of his hand, or the effect of an opponent’s bet or raise, will find everyone to beat his weak hands, and no one to call his strong ones. Unless he is a fair judge of human nature he will never be able to estimate the strength or peculiarities of the players to whom he is opposed, and will fail to distinguish a bluff from an ambuscade. Without courage he cannot reap the full benefit of his good hands; and without patience he cannot save his money in the time of adversity. Of one thing every player may rest assured, and that is that Poker cannot be played by mathematical formulas. Beyond the most elementary calculations of the chances in favour of certain events the theory of probabilities is of no assistance. It is not necessary to call in a mathematician to prove that a player who habitually discards a pair of aces to draw to three cards of a suit will lose by the operation in the long run. Nor will any amount of calculation convince some players that they are wasting their money to stay in a jack pot in order to draw to a pair of tens, although such is the fact. The various positions occupied by the player at the poker table may be briefly examined, and some general suggestions offered for his guidance in each of them. In the first place he should look out for his counters.
Bonnety This is a boys game. The players place their bonnets or caps in a pile. They then join hands and stand in a circle round it. They then pull each other, and twist and wriggle round and round and over it, till one overturns it or knocks a bonnet off it. The player who does so is hoisted on the back of another, and pelted by all the others with their bonnets.--Keith, Nairn (Rev. W. Gregor). Booman [Music] --Norfolk. Dill doule for Booman, Booman is dead and gone, Left his wife all alone, and all his children.
212). Jack lost his supper last night, And the night before; if he does again to-night, He never will no more--more--more--more. I wrote a letter to my love, And on the way I dropt it; Some of you have picked it up, And got it in your pocket--pocket--pocket--pocket. I have a little dog, it won t bite you-- It won t bite you--it won t bite you-- It _will_ bite you. --Leicestershire (Miss Ellis). The Forest of Dean version is the same as the Dorsetshire, except that the child who is unsuccessful in gaining the vacant place has to stand in the middle of the ring until the same thing happens to another child.--Miss Matthews. In Nottinghamshire the children form in a ring; one walks round outside the ring singing and carrying a handkerchief: I wrote a letter to my love, and on the way I dropt it; One of you has picked it up and put it in your pocket. It isn t you, it isn t you, &c. &c.