There is no penalty if a player, during the betting, tells his adversaries exactly what he holds; nor is he likely to lose anything by it, for no one will believe him. _=JACK POTS.=_ The addition of jack pots has probably done more to injure Poker than the trump signal has injured Whist. In the early days, when poker parties were small, four players being a common number, it was frequently the case that no one had a pair strong enough to draw to, and such a deal was regarded as simply a waste of time. To remedy this, it was proposed that whenever no player came in, each should be obliged to ante an equal amount for the next deal, and just to demonstrate that there were some good hands left in the pack no one was allowed to draw cards until some one had _=Jacks or better=_ to draw to. The result of this practice was to make jack pots larger than the other pools, because every one was compelled to ante, and this seems to have prompted those who were always wanting to increase the stakes to devise excuses for increasing the number of jack pots. This has been carried so far that the whole system has become a nuisance, and has destroyed one of the finest points in the game of Poker,--the liberty of personal judgment as to every counter put into the pool, except the blind. The following excuses for making jack pots are now in common use: _=After a Misdeal=_ some parties make it a jack; but the practice should be condemned, because it puts it in the power of any individual player to make it a jack when he deals. _=The Buck=_ is some article, such as a penknife, which is placed in the pool at the beginning of the game, and is taken down with the rest of the pool by whichever player wins it. When it comes to his deal, it is a jack pot, and the buck is placed in the pool with the dealer’s ante, to be won, taken down, and make another jack in the same way.
Short-card Player, a poker player; usually a sharper also. Short Suits, those containing less than four cards. Short-stop Billiards. Short-stop players are those who are good enough to play in halls hired for the purpose, but who stop short of the championship class. Shuffling, any method of disarranging the cards so that no trace remains of their order during the previous deal or play. Sights, the diamonds on the rail of an American billiard table. Signalling for Trumps, playing a higher card before a lower in a plain suit, when no attempt is made to win the trick. Singleton, one card only of any suit. Skin Games, those in which a player cannot possibly win. Skunked, whitewashed, schwartz, beaten without having been able to score a single point.
=_ In the six-card game the hand is more valuable than the crib, because you know what it contains, whereas the crib is largely speculative. In the five-card game, in which there are only three cards in the hand and four in the crib, it is usual to sacrifice the hand very largely for the possibilities of the crib, because of the much larger scores that can be made with five cards, the starter and four in the crib. _=Baulking.=_ In both games it is the duty of the pone to baulk the dealer’s crib as much as possible, by laying out cards which are very unlikely to be worth anything, either in making fifteens or in filling up sequences. Pairs it is impossible to provide against, and the chance of making a flush is remote, but should be avoided if there is any choice. The best baulk is a King and Nine; tenth cards and Aces are also very good cards to lay out. Cards which are at least two pips apart, called _=wide cards=_, are better than _=close cards=_, as the latter may form sequences. Fives are very bad discards, and so are any cards that form a five or a fifteen. _=The Crib.=_ In laying out for his own crib, the dealer should preserve his own hand as much as possible; but other things being equal, the best cards to lay out are pairs, close cards, and cards that form fives, such as Fours and Aces.
It is in order that there may be no surprises in this respect that the elder hand is required to say distinctly: “I play,” before he leads a card. The dealer must then reply: “I mark the King,” if he has it; if not, he should say: “Play.” A player is not compelled to announce or mark the King if he does not choose to do so. If a player announces and marks the King when he does not hold it, his adversary can take down the point erroneously marked, and mark one himself, for penalty. This does not prevent him from marking an additional point for the King if he holds it himself. For instance: The pone announces King, and marks it, at the same time leading a card. Not having notified the dealer that he was about to play, the dealer cannot be deprived of his right to mark the King himself, if he holds it. The dealer marks the King, marks another point for penalty, and takes down the pone’s point, erroneously marked. If the player announcing the King without holding it, discovers his error before a card is played, he simply amends the score and apologizes, and there is no penalty. If any cards have been played after an erroneous announcement of the King, such cards can be taken back by the adversary of the player in error, and the hand played over again.