=_ If there are three players, the one cutting the lowest card takes dummy for the first game; he also has the choice of seats and cards, and may deal the first hand for himself or for Mort, as he pleases; but having once made his choice, he must abide by it. The player cutting the intermediate card takes dummy for the second game; and the player cutting the highest card takes it for the third game; each in turn having the choice of seats and cards. These three games finish the rubber or tournée, each having once had the advantage or disadvantage of playing with Mort. It is obligatory to finish the tournée, no player being allowed to withdraw and substitute another without the consent of the other players. In Mort it is very unusual for one person to take dummy continuously. If there are four players, the one cutting the highest card of the four sits out, and takes no part in the first game. It is customary for him to take Mort’s seat, and to make himself useful in sorting dummy’s cards for him. He plays in the three following games, taking Mort in the fourth, or last. Four games complete the tournée for four players. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.
When the stock is exhausted, the last six cards are played as in the ordinary game of Seven-up. Seven points is game, the points being the same as in Seven-up; but everything, including Low, counts to the player winning it. _=Shasta Sam=_ is California Jack with the remainder of the pack turned face down, and is a much better game on that account. AUCTION PITCH, SELL OUT, OR COMMERCIAL PITCH. This very popular round game derives its name from the fact that the first card led or “pitched” is the trump suit, and that the privilege of pitching it belongs to the eldest hand, who may sell it out to the highest bidder. The number of _=cards=_ and their rank is the same as at Seven-up; A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the ace being the highest in cutting and in play. _=Players.=_ Any number from four to seven may play, each for himself; five is considered the best game. The players cut for choice of seats, the highest cut taking the first choice and the deal. _=Counters.
There are no honours, and the only factor in the count is the number of tricks taken. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick; and trumps, if any, win against all other suits. _=METHOD OF BIDDING.=_ The eldest hand has the first say, and after examining his cards, and estimating the number of tricks he can probably take, making the trump to suit his hand, he bids accordingly. It is not necessary for him to state which suit he wishes to make the trump; but only the number of tricks he proposes to win. If he has no proposal to make, he says distinctly; “_=I pass=_,” and the other players in turn have an opportunity to bid. If any player makes a bid, such as six tricks, and any other player thinks he can make the same number of tricks with a trump of the same colour as the turn-up, that is, Second Preference, he over-calls the first bidder by saying “_=I keep=_;” or he may repeat the number bid, saying “_=Six here=_.” This is simply bidding to win the number of tricks _=in colour=_. The original caller may hold his bid, or a third player may overbid both, by saying; “_=I keep over you=_,” or “_=Six here=_.” This means that he will undertake to win the number of tricks already bid, with the _=turn-up=_ suit for trumps.
In the Lincolnshire version the above description answers, except that when the last line is sung every one claps hands. In the Sussex version the child at the end of the line is taken over by the child who sings the verses, and they lock their little fingers together while singing the remainder. Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) says:-- Two children advance and retire on one side. When the opposite side says Yes! the two take the first child in the row and dance round with her, singing the remaining verse. This is called the wedding. The Lanarkshire version is quite a different one, and contains rather remarkable features. Mr. Black says that the game was played entirely by girls, never by boys, and generally in the months of May or June, about forty years ago. The children sang with rather mincing and refined voices, evidently making an effort in this direction. They walked, with their hands clasped behind their backs, up and down the road.
With a plain-suit sequence and four Aces, declare the Aces first. They will then be free to win tricks for the purpose of making other declarations. It is seldom right to show the bézique cards in other combinations, and four Jacks is a very bad meld, because it shows your adversary that he cannot hope for double bézique. By holding up bézique cards, even if you know they are of no use to you, you may lead your adversary to break up his hand, hoping to draw the card or cards you hold. _=Trumps.=_ Small trumps may be used to advantage in winning brisques, but you should keep at least one small trump to get the lead at critical periods of the hand, or to make an important declaration. It is bad policy to trump in to make minor declarations, unless your time is short. It is seldom right to lead the trump Ace, except at the end of the hand, or when you have duplicates, but leading high trumps to prevent an adversary from declaring further is a common stratagem, if you know from the cards in your hand, and those played, that your adversary may get the cards to meld something of importance. _=The Last Tricks.=_ Before you play to the last trick, give yourself time to note the cards your adversary has on the table, and compare them with your own, so that you may play the last tricks to advantage.
If he draws without announcing, even if he has not seen the card drawn, he cannot meld anything until he wins another trick. The melds and their values are as follows:-- CLASS A. King and Queen of any plain suit, _=Marriage=_, 20 King and Queen of Trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_, 40 The five highest trumps, _=Sequence=_, 150 CLASS B. Spade Queen and diamond Jack, _=Binocle=_, 40 Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Double Binocle=_, 80 King and Queen of spades, and diamond Jack, _=Grand Binocle=_, 80 CLASS C. Four Aces of different suits, 100 Four Kings of different suits, 80 Four Queens of different suits, 60 Four Jacks of different suits, 40 Eight Aces, 200 Eight Kings, 160 Eight Queens, 120 Eight Jacks, 80 The third meld in class B is not often played in America. The count for it is the same, 80 points, whether the marriage in spades is the trump suit or not. It will be observed that the court cards in class C must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Bézique, any four court cards may be declared. The following rules govern all classes of declarations:-- The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further announcements can be made. Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld.
If he gets sixty-six before his adversary wins a trick, which is called _=schwartz=_, he counts three. The player first making seven points in this manner wins the game. A player may reach sixty-six by winning tricks containing certain counting cards; by holding and announcing marriages, which are the King and Queen of any suit; and by winning the last trick. The various counts for these are as follows:-- For King and Queen of trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_, 40 For King and Queen of any plain suit, _=Marriage=_, 20 For the Ace of any suit, 11 For the Ten of any suit, 10 For the King of any suit, 4 For the Queen of any suit, 3 For the Jack of any suit, 2 For the last or twelfth trick, 10 The marriages count for the player holding and announcing them; all other points for the player actually winning them. The last trick does not count unless it is the twelfth; that is, not unless every card is played. _=Method of Playing.=_ The pone begins by leading any card he pleases. The second player in any trick is not obliged to follow suit, even in trumps; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the players cease to draw from the stock. If the second player follows suit, the higher card wins the trick. Trumps win all other suits.
If any player looks at his hand before his turn to declare, or the dealer does so before asking the others whether or not they will play, or if any player announces his intention out of his proper turn; the offender in each case forfeits three red counters to the current pool, and cannot win anything that deal, but he may play his hand in order to keep counters in the pool. If he plays and is looed, he must pay. _=Revokes.=_ If a player, when able to do so, fails to follow suit, or to head the trick, or to lead trumps, or to lead the ace of trumps, (or King when ace is turned,) or to trump a suit of which he is void, the hands are abandoned on discovery of the error, and the pool is divided as equally as possible among those who declared to play, with the exception of the offender. Any odd white counters must be left for the next pool. The player in fault is then held guilty of a revoke, and must pay a forfeit of six red counters to the next pool. The reason for the division of the pool is that there is no satisfactory way to determine how the play would have resulted had the revoke not occurred. It is impossible to take back the cards and replay them, because no one would have a right to judge how much a person’s play was altered by his knowledge of the cards in the other hands. If a player, having already won a trick, renders himself liable to any penalty, as for exposing a card, leading or following suit out of turn, or abandoning his hand, he is looed for three red counters, payable to the next pool, and the payment for the tricks he has won must be left in the pool in white counters. IRISH LOO.
The odd child is Mother Mop. She busies herself with a pretended mop, peel, &c., after the manner of old-fashioned bakers, making much ado in the valley between the rows of children. The oven soon gets demolished, and the last child vanquished becomes Mother Mop the next time.--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford). It seems probable that the inner rows of children should kneel or stoop down in order that Mother Mop should have as much trouble as possible with her oven. The game may have lost some of its details in other directions, as there is no apparent reason why the oven is demolished or broken down. See Jack, Jack, the Bread s a-burning. Mother, Mother, the Pot Boils over A number of girls choose one of their number to represent a witch, and another to be a mother.
=_ Suppose four players have the following caves in front of them: A, 35; B, 60; C, 120; and D, 185. D blinds five, deals, and turns the heart 9. A puts up all his 35 counters. B passes out. C raises 50, putting up 85; and D bets everything, 180 more than his blind. A demands a sight for his 35, and C puts up the remainder of his 120, and calls a sight for them. Then D withdraws his superfluous 65, and it is a call. No one has a brelan, so all the hands are shown, and the cards lie thus:-- [Illustration: 🂮 🃉 🃈 +-------+ | B | 🂡 🂭 🂩 |C A| 🃑 🃞 🃙 | D | +-------+ 🂱 🂾 🃝 🂹 ] The point is exactly even for clubs and spades, 40 in each. In case of ties, the dealer, or the player nearest him on the right wins. In this case A wins on account of his position, so clubs is the winning suit, and A has the best card of it.
Two of the players join hands, and stand face to face, with their hands in front as if forming a gate. Each of these has a secret name. The other players form themselves into a line by clasping each other round the waist from behind. They go up to the two that form the gate, and the leader asks the first question, as in version No. 2. The dialogue then proceeds to the end. The two then lift their arms as high as they can, still joined, and the line of players passes through. All at once the two bring their arms down on one and make him (or her) prisoner. The prisoner is asked in a whisper, so as not to disclose the secret name, which of the two is to be chosen. The one so captured takes his (or her) stand behind the one chosen.
When the hands are shown, there are two ways to settle: If the counters have a money value, the best poker hand wins the pool, and the deal passes to the left. If the counters have no money value, there is no pool; but the player who has the worst hand shown puts one of his counters in the middle of the table. This continues until some player has lost all five of his counters, and he is then called upon to pay for the whiskey, or whatever refreshments may be at stake upon the game. Hence the name: Whiskey Poker. THIRTY-ONE. This game is sometimes called _=Schnautz=_. A pool is made up by any number of players. The dealer takes a pack of fifty-two cards and gives three to each, face down, and three extra cards to the table, dealt face up. Each player in turn to the left can exchange one of his own cards for one of those on the table, the object being to get a flush of three cards of some suit having a pip value of thirty-one; or else to get three of a kind. The aces are worth 11, the other court cards and the ten, 10 each.