If any player objects to dividing it at the end of the game, it must be played for until some player wins it. _=PLAYERS.=_ The number of players, their arrangement at the table, etc., is precisely the same as at Boston. _=CUTTING.=_ Instead of cutting for the first deal, any one of the players takes a pack of cards, and gives thirteen to each player in succession, face up. The player to whom he gives the diamond Jack deals the first hand, and has the choice of seats and cards. The others sit as they please. _=DEALING.=_ The cards are shuffled before every deal.
Carse. ISLE OF MAN Mr. A. W. Moore. ISLE OF WIGHT-- Cowes Miss E. Smith. KENT Pegge s _Alphabet of Kenticisms_. Bexley Heath Miss Morris. Crockham Hill, Deptford Miss Chase.
(_b_) In Ross and Stead s _Holderness Glossary_ this is called Cat-gallas, and is described as three sticks placed in the form of a gallows for boys to jump over. So called in consequence of being of sufficient height to hang cats from. Also mentioned in Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_ and Elworthy s _West Somerset Words_, Brogden s _Provincial Words, Lincs._, Dickinson s _Cumberland Glossary_, Atkinson s _Cleveland Glossary_, Brockett s _North Country Words_, Evans _Leicestershire Glossary_, Baker s _Northants Glossary_, and Darlington s _South Cheshire Glossary_. On one of the stalls in Worcester Cathedral, figured in Wright s _Archæological Essays_, ii. 117, is a carving which represents three rats busily engaged in hanging a cat on a gallows of this kind. Cat i the Hole A game well known in Fife, and perhaps in other counties. If seven boys are to play, six holes are made at certain distances. Each of the six stands at a hole, with a short stick in his hand; the seventh stands at a certain distance holding a ball. When he gives the word, or makes the sign agreed upon, all the six change holes, each running to his neighbour s hole, and putting his stick in the hole which he has newly seized.
Against the hold-out or marked cards there is no protection, because the dealer does not care how much the cards in the pack are shuffled or cut; but every method of running up hands, or stocking cards, can be made ineffective if the pone will not only cut the cards, but carefully reunite the packets. If the two parts are straightened after the cut, it will be impossible for the dealer to shift the cut, and bring the cards back to their original position. The dealer will sometimes bend the top or bottom card so as to form a _=bridge=_, which will enable him to find the place where the cards were cut. This can only be overcome by shuffling the cards instead of cutting them, which every player has the right to do. If you insist on shuffling, the greek will do the same in his turn, and will run up hands to be dealt to himself. It is perfectly useless to endeavour to protect yourself against a poker sharp; the only remedy is to leave the game. Many persons have a strong prejudice against playing with a man who shuffles his chips. The mere fact of his being an expert at chip shuffling has nothing to do with the game of poker, the accomplishment usually being the result of long experience at the faro table. The reason for the prejudice is that a chip shuffler is usually cold blooded, courageous, and seldom a loser at any game that requires nerve. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.
_=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=_.
_=Scoring.=_ There are several methods of scoring. The old way was to play 11 points up, deducting the lower score from the higher at the end of each deal. If one side reached 11 before the adversary reached 6, it was a lurch, and counted as a double game. The common method is to count every hand a game, and settle for it in counters. TWENTY-ONE POINT CASSINO. This game is usually marked with counters, or pegged on a cribbage board. Nothing is scored until the end of the hand, when each side reckons and claims its points. In order to avoid disputes there should be a previous understanding as to what points go out first in a close game. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the points count out in the following order:--Cards first, then Spades, Big Cassino, Little Cassino, Aces, and Sweeps.
=_ Seven-up is played with the full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play. _=COUNTERS.=_ Each player or side should be provided with seven counters. As the points accrue, these counters are got rid of by placing them in a pool in the centre of the table. By this method a glance will show how many each side or player has “to go,” that is, how many will put him out. _=PLAYERS.=_ Two, three or four persons may play. When three play, the game resembles Cut-throat Euchre, each for himself. When four play, two are partners against the other two, and the partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer’s left, or his adversary if only two play, is always spoken of as the eldest or elder hand.