As no official code exists, and as each gambling club makes its own house rules, it is not necessary to give them here, the directions contained in the foregoing description being sufficient for any honest game. _=Text Books.=_ The following will be found useful:-- Théorie Mathematique du Baccara, by Dormoy. Baccara Experimental, by Billard. Traité Théorique et Pratique Baccara, by Laun. _Westminster Papers_, Vols. X. and XI. BLIND HOOKEY. This game is sometimes called Dutch Bank.
A tierce counts 3 only, and a quatrième 4 only; but a quinte is worth 15, a sixième 16, and so on. _=Fours, and Triplets.=_ Any four cards of the same denomination, higher than a Nine, is called a Quatorze; three of any kind higher than the Nine is called a Trio, or sometimes a Brelan. As a trio is seldom mentioned without naming the denomination, it is usual to say; “Three Kings,” or “Three Jacks,” as the case may be. The 7 8 and 9 have no value except in point and sequence. The player holding the quatorze of the highest rank may score any inferior ones that he may hold, and also any trios. Should his adversary hold any intermediate ones, they are of no value. In the absence of any quatorze, the best trio decides which player shall count all the trios he may have in his hand, his adversary counting none. For instance: One player holds four Tens and three Jacks, his adversary holding triplets of Aces, Kings, and Queens. None of the latter would be of any value, as the lowest quatorze is better than the highest trio, and the player with the four Tens could count his three Jacks also.
In the plan (fig. 8) the players first lay the stone on the back of the hand, and _walk_ through the plan, stepping into each division, throw it up and catch it. Then the stone is _thrown_ back from No. 7 outside No. 1. Now it is placed on the toe, and the child walks through again, throwing up the foot when out, to catch the stone in the hand. Another way, done on the same plan, is for the player to place the stone in No. 1, leave it there, and hop into each division and back, then place it in No. 2, and repeat the hopping, and so on through all the figures. There is no _kicking_ of the stone, as is usual in London.
Should he disturb a ball after having played successfully, he loses his count on that shot; his hand is out, and the ball so disturbed is placed back as nearly as possible in the position which it formerly occupied on the table, the other balls remaining where they stop. _=7.=_ Should a player touch his own ball with the cue or otherwise previous to playing, it is foul, the player loses one, and cannot play for safety. It sometimes happens that the player after having touched his ball gives a second stroke, then the balls remain where they stop, or are replaced as nearly as possible in their former position at the option of his opponent. _=8.=_ When the cue-ball is very near another, the player shall not play without warning his adversary that they do not touch, and giving him sufficient time to satisfy himself on that point. _=9.=_ When the cue-ball is in contact with another, the balls are spotted and the player plays with his ball in hand. _=10.=_ Playing with the wrong ball is foul.
Should no player take the widow until it comes to the dealer’s turn, he must either take it, or turn it face upward on the table. Even if the dealer knocks, he must turn up the widow, and allow each player an opportunity to draw from it, or to exchange his entire hand for it. When a player knocks, he signifies that no matter what the players following him may do, when it comes to his turn again the hands must be shown. A player cannot draw and knock at the same time; but a player can refuse to draw or exchange after another player has knocked, not before. In some localities it is the rule to turn the widow face up at once if any player knocks before it is taken; allowing all those after the knock an opportunity to draw or exchange; but this is not the usual custom. Suppose five play. E deals, and A passes; B takes the widow; C and D draw from B’s abandoned hand, and E knocks; without drawing, of course. A, who passed the first time, now has an opportunity to draw or exchange. So have each of the others in turn, up to D; but after D draws or exchanges, the hands must be shown, because the next player, E, has knocked. 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.
I. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when we parted I left you broken-hearted, And on a green mountain, There stands a young man. Could you love him? Could you love him? Could you love him? Farewell! Choose one, love, Choose one, love, Choose one, love, Farewell! Take a walk, love, Take a walk, love, Take a walk, love, Farewell! In the ring, love, In the ring, love, In the ring, love, Farewell! Put the ring on, Put the ring on, Put the ring on, Farewell! Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Take a kiss, love, Farewell! Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Shake hands, love, Farewell! --Enborne, Newbury (M. Kimber). II. Isabella, Isabella, Isabella, Farewell! Last night when I departed I left her broken-hearted; Upon the steep mountain There stands a young man. Who ll you choose, love? Who ll you choose, love? Who ll you choose, love? Farewell! Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Go to church, love, Farewell! Say your prayers, love, Say your prayers, love, Say your prayers, love, Farewell! Put your ring on, Put your ring on, Put your ring on, Farewell! Come back, love, Come back, love, Come back, love, Farewell! Roast beef and plum pudding, Roast beef and plum pudding, Roast beef and plum pudding, For our dinner to-day. Kiss together, love, Kiss together, love, Kiss together, love, Farewell! --Ogbourne, Wilts (H. S. May).
He was braced for the quick vinegar thrill of planoforming, but he caught her report of it before his own nerves could register what happened. Earth had fallen so far away that he groped for several milliseconds before he found the Sun in the upper rear right-hand corner of his telepathic mind. That was a good jump, he thought. This way we ll get there in four or five skips. A few hundred miles outside the ship, the Lady May thought back at him, O warm, O generous, O gigantic man! O brave, O friendly, O tender and huge Partner! O wonderful with you, with you so good, good, good, warm, warm, now to fight, now to go, good with you.... He knew that she was not thinking words, that his mind took the clear amiable babble of her cat intellect and translated it into images which his own thinking could record and understand. Neither one of them was absorbed in the game of mutual greetings.
=_ If the dealer takes up, or is ordered up, he must _=discard=_ a card from his own hand, placing it under the remainder of the pack. Having quitted such discard, it cannot be taken back. If the dealer has not discarded until he has played to the first trick, he and his partner cannot score any points for that hand. _=18.=_ If the eldest hand leads before the dealer has quitted his discard, the dealer may amend his discard, but the eldest hand cannot take back the card led. _=19.=_ If the dealer takes up the trump to play alone, he must pass his discard across the table to his partner. If he fails to do so, the adversaries may insist that his partner play with him, preventing the lone hand. _=20.=_ _=MAKING THE TRUMP.
The penalty cannot be divided; but if two or more revokes are made by the same side, the penalty for each may be enforced in a different manner. For instance: If the score is 3 to 2 in favor of the adversaries, Vivant may take three points from their score for one revoke, and add three to his own score for the other. It is not permissible to reduce the revoking player’s _=tricks=_ to nothing. At least one must be left in order to prevent slams being made through revoke penalties. _=Cards Played in Error.=_ Vivant is not liable to any penalty for dropping his cards face up on the table; but if he or Mort plays two cards at once to a trick, the adversaries may select which they will allow to be played. The adversaries are subject to the same penalties as in whist for all cards played in error. _=Leading Out of Turn.=_ If Vivant or Mort lead out of turn, the adversaries may let the lead stand, or demand it be taken back. If it was the turn of neither, no penalty can be enforced, and if all have played to the trick, the error cannot be corrected.
FORTUNE TELLING. Whatever the arrangement employed for laying out the tableau in fortune telling, the result of the reading will always be dependent on the person’s ability to string together in a connected story the meanings which are attached to the various cards. According to Eittella, the father of all fortune telling, only 32 cards should be used, and it is essential that they should be single heads, because a court card standing firmly on its feet is a very different thing from one standing on its head. If single-head cards are not at hand, the lower part of the double-head cards must be cancelled in some manner. The following are the interpretations of the various cards, the initial _=R=_ meaning that the card is reversed, or standing on its head. _=HEARTS.=_ Ace. The house, or home. King. A benefactor.
A, who passed the first time, now has an opportunity to draw or exchange. So have each of the others in turn, up to D; but after D draws or exchanges, the hands must be shown, because the next player, E, has knocked. 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.
The caller should never play single honours second hand, unless he has only one small card of the suit, or the honour is the Ace. With A Q x, second or third hand, the Q must be finessed if the caller has counted on both A and Q for tricks. If he can probably win without the finesse, he should play Ace. If he has tricks enough to win without either A or Q, he should play neither of them. A solo player should be very sure of his call before finessing for over-tricks. _=Adversaries’ Play.=_ The player to the left of the caller should not lead trumps; but if the solo player has had a lead, and has not led trumps himself, the player on his right should take the first opportunity to lead them through him. The player to the left of the caller should not lead from suits headed only by the King; nor from those containing major or minor tenaces. The best leads are from suits headed by Q J or 10, even if short. With such high-card combinations as can be used to force the command in one round, such as K Q, or K Q J, the regular whist leads should be used.
If he has several cards of equal trick-taking value, such as A K Q, or K Q J, he should win the trick as cheaply as possible. The only _=finesse=_ permitted to the Third Hand in his partner’s suit, is the play of the Queen, when he holds A Q and others; the odds being against Fourth Hand having the King. _=Foster’s Eleven Rule.=_ By deducting from eleven the number of pips on any low card led, the Third Hand may ascertain how far his partner’s suit is from being established. For instance: if the card led is the Seven, Second Hand playing the Eight, and Third Hand holding A J 6 3, from which he plays Ace, Fourth Hand playing the Five; the only card against the leader must be the King or Queen; he cannot have both, or he would have led one. If the Second Hand has not the missing card, he has no more of the suit. The number of inferences which may be made in this manner by observant players is astonishing. A great many examples and exercises in them are given in _=Foster’s Whist Manual=_. _=Third Hand having None of the Suit=_, should trump anything but an Ace or a King on the first round. On the second round, if there is only one card against the leader, his partner should pass with four trumps, and allow the suit to be established.
Even if this card is no better than the one discarded, the lone player cannot refuse it. If the dealer plays alone, he has two discards; the first in exchange for his partner’s best card, and then another, in exchange for the trump card, after seeing what his partner can give him. In this second discard he may get rid of the card passed to him by his partner. If the dealer’s partner plays alone, the dealer may pass him the turn-up trump, or any better card he may have in his hand. Any person having announced to play alone, either of his adversaries may play alone against him; discarding and taking partner’s best card in the same manner. Should the lone player who makes the trump be euchred by the lone player opposing him, the euchre counts four points. It is considered imperative for a player holding the Joker, or the right bower guarded, to play alone against the lone hand, taking his partner’s best; for as it is evident that the lone hand cannot succeed, there is a better chance to euchre it with all the strength in one hand than divided. If any player, in his proper turn, announces to play alone, and asks for his partner’s best, the partner cannot refuse; neither can he propose to play alone instead. _=Scoring.=_ With the exception of the four points for euchreing a lone hand, the scoring is exactly the same as in the ordinary four-handed game; but there are one or two variations which are sometimes agreed upon beforehand in order to make points still more rapidly.
He is provided with a large bowlful of beans, counters, buttons, small coins, or some objects of which a large number of similar size and shape can be easily obtained. An oblong card is placed in the centre of the table, and the players stake their money upon its corners or upon its edges. These corners are supposed to be numbered in rotation from 1 to 4, the figure 1 being on the right of the banker. A bet placed on any of the corners takes in the number it is placed upon and the next higher also; so that a bet upon the corner 1 would be upon the numbers 1 and 2; upon 2 it would be upon 2 and 3; and upon 4 it would be upon 4 and 1. [Illustration: +---------------+X |3 2| | | |4 1| +---------------+ ] In the illustration the bet would be upon 2 and 3. If the bet is placed upon the edge of the card, it takes in the next higher number only. [Illustration: +---------------+ |3 2| | |X |4 1| +---------------+ ] In the illustration the bet is upon the number 2, and no other. After all the bets have been placed, the banker takes a large handful of the beans or counters from the bowl, and places them on the table, counting them off rapidly into fours. The number of odd counters remaining decides which number wins; if none remain, 4 wins. If there were 2 or 3 counters over, the banker would pay all bets on the corners 1 and 2, even money.