Each dealer sits at the long end of the table, the two dealers being partners. On each side of one sits a pair of adversaries so that the initial arrangement, if pair A had the deal, would be this:-- [Illustration: B C +-----+-----+ | 5 | 6 | | | | A |1 | 4| A | | | | 2 | 3 | +-----+-----+ B C ] Numbers are placed on the tables to indicate the positions to which the players shall move after each deal. The player at 6 goes to 5; 4 to 3; 3 to 2; 2 to 1, and 1 to 6. Each pair of partners, as they fall into the end seats, have the deal. If the dealer at either end will not declare on his own cards, he passes it, and the Dummy hand opposite him must be handed to the dealer that sits at the other end of the long table, who must declare for his partner. The usual four hands are dealt and played at each table, and scored as usual. Three scores must be kept, because there are three separate rubbers going on at once,--that between A and B; between A and C, and between B and C. If one pair wins its rubber against one of the others, three players will be idle at one end of the table for one deal, but then all will come into play again, for the next deal. Some persons think this is better than four playing a rubber while two look on. _=DOUBLE DUMMY BRIDGE.
The truckle bed and footman s bed probably refers to the small bed under a large one, which was only pulled out at night for use, and pushed under during the day. Illustrations of these beds and the children s bed are given in old tales. The proximity of the pig-sty to the house is manifest. The mention of washing-tubs calls to mind the large wooden tubs formerly always used for the family wash. Before the era of laundresses washing-tubs must have constituted an important part of the family plenishing. Washing in the rivers and streams was also a thing of frequent occurrence, hot water for the purpose of cleansing clothes not being considered necessary, or in many cases desirable. Chambers gives a version of the game (_Popular Rhymes_, p. 36) and also Newell (_Games_, p. 166). Another version from Buckingham is given by Thomas Baker in the _Midland Garner_, 1st ser.
[The rest is the same as in the last version, p. 393.] --Dorsetshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 221-222). VI. Mother, mother, may I (or we) go out to play? No, child! no, child! not for the day. Why, mother? why, mother? I won t stay long. Make three pretty courtesies, and away begone. One for mammy, one for daddy, one for Uncle John. Where, child! where, child! have you been all the day? Up to granny s.
Angel and Devil One child is called the Angel, another child the Devil, and a third child the Minder. The children are given the names of colours by the Minder. Then the Angel comes over and knocks, when the following dialogue takes place. Minder: Who s there? Answer: Angel. Minder: What do you want? Angel: Ribbons. Minder: What colour? Angel: Red. Minder retorts, if no child is so named, Go and learn your A B C. If the guess is right the child is led away. The Devil then knocks, and the dialogue and action are repeated.--Deptford, Kent (Miss Chase).
Don’t get discouraged, you can learn. Any able-bodied person, with ordinary nerve and a good eye, can become quite expert with little practice. Don’t let an alley owner use pins that are worn out. Don’t think you can sandpaper a ball without injuring it. It takes an expert mechanic to true up a lignum-vitæ ball. Don’t lay a lignum-vitæ ball away DRY, if you don’t want it to crack. GENERAL LAWS, FOR ALL CARD GAMES. Very few games have their own code of laws, and only one or two of these have the stamp of any recognised authority. In minor games, questions are continually arising which could be easily settled if the players were familiar with a few general principles which are common to the laws of all games, and which might be considered as the basis of a general code of card laws. The most important of these principles are as follows:-- _=Players.
(_b_) Mr. S. O. Addy says the following lines are said or sung in a game called T Bull s i t Barn, but he does not know how it is played:-- As I was going o er misty moor I spied three cats at a mill-door; One was white and one was black, And one was like my granny s cat. I hopped o er t style and broke my heel, I flew to Ireland very weel, Spied an old woman sat by t fire, Sowing silk, jinking keys; Cat s i t cream-pot up to t knees, Hen s i t hurdle crowing for day, Cock s i t barn threshing corn, I ne er saw the like sin I was born. Bulliheisle A play amongst boys, in which, all having joined hands in a line, a boy at one of the ends stands still, and the rest all wind round him. The sport especially consists in an attempt to heeze or throw the whole mass on the ground.--Jamieson. See Eller Tree, Wind up Jack, Wind up the Bush Faggot. Bummers A play of children.
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Gomme). Chacke-Blyndman Scotch name for Blindman s Buff. --Jamieson. Chance Bone In Langley s abridgment of _Polydore Vergile_, f. 1., we have a description of this game: There is a game also that is played with the posterne bone in the hinder foote of a sheepe, oxe, gote, fallow, or redde dere, whiche in Latin is called _talus_. It hath foure chaunces: the ace point, that is named Canis, or Canicula, was one of the sides; he that cast it leyed doune a peny, or so muche as the gamers were agreed on; the other side was called Venus, that signifieth seven. He that cast the chaunce wan sixe and all that was layd doune for the castyng of Canis. The two other sides were called Chius and Senio. He that did throwe Chius wan three.
On the next deal, the adversary must sort his Dummy’s hand and must lead from it, before looking at his own. If the declaration is passed, Dummy must make it on the lines laid down for passed makes in Bridge for Three, which has already been described. There is no penalty for a revoke made by either Dummy; but otherwise the laws of bridge govern. _=DRAW BRIDGE.=_ This is double Dummy; but instead of laying Dummy’s cards face up on the table, each player is provided with a holder in which he places his partner’s cards in such a manner that his adversary cannot see them. As it comes to Dummy’s turn to play to each trick, a card is drawn from the holder. All four hands are responsible for revokes. _=KING’S BRIDGE.=_ This is sometimes called _=Four Hand Bridge=_, each player being for himself. The movements of the players are the same as those described in Pivot Bridge, one player sitting still all the time, while each of the others in turn becomes his partner for four deals.
The detention of the fiery cross through neglect or other impediment was regarded with much dread by the inhabitants of the place in which it should occur. This subject is discussed in _Gomme s Primitive Folkmoots_, p. 279 _et seq._ Jack, Jack, the Bread s a-burning Jack, Jack, the bread s a-burning, All to a cinder; If you don t come and fetch it out We ll throw it through the winder. These lines are chanted by players that stand thus. One places his back against a wall, tree, &c., grasping another, whose back is toward him, round the waist; the second grasps a third, and so on. The player called Jack walks apart until the conclusion of the lines. Then he goes to the others and pokes at or pats them, saying, I don t think you re done yet, and walks away again. The chant is repeated, and when he is satisfied that the bread is done he endeavours to pull the foremost from the grasp of the others, &c.
The opposite sides of the die always equal seven, and if the die is placed upon the table with the ace uppermost and the deuce nearest you, the four will be on the left and the three on the right. The positions of the three and four are sometimes reversed to enable sharpers to distinguish fair dice from those which have been doctored. At the beginning of any dice game, it is quite unnecessary to examine the dice to be used, because they are always fair. Crooked dice are _=rung in=_ during the game, and the player should make it a point to examine the dice frequently if he has any suspicions. First see that each die has all six figures upon it, for some dice are _=dispatchers=_, made with double numbers, so as to secure higher throws than the natural average. Double fives are great favourites with backgammon sharps. The next thing is to place the dice together in pairs, to be sure that they are exactly the same height each way. If dice are not square they can be made to roll over and over on the same faces. The faces should then be tested to see that they are not convex, even in the slightest degree. Shaped dice are usually flat on the ace and six faces, especially in crap shooting.
If the player demanding a card has been given a 10, the banker should stand, even at 3 or 4. If he has been given an ace, the banker should stand at 4; if a 2 or 3, the banker should stand at 5; if the player is given a 4, the banker should draw, even if he has 5. If a player has drawn a 5, 6 or 7, the banker should draw, even if he has 5 or 6. If the player draws an 8 or 9, the banker should stand at 4 or 5, sometimes even with 3. It must be remembered that the banker should have a sharp eye to the relative amounts staked on each side of the table, which will often decide which player he should try to beat. For example: The banker has 5, and the player on his right has drawn a 10, the one on his left a 7. The banker has an excellent chance to win all the bets on the right, and should have a certainty of standing off with them, and unless those on the left very much exceeded them, the banker would be very foolish to risk losing everything by drawing to 5, simply to beat the player on his left. _=BACCARA CHEMIN DE FER.=_ In this variation, each player in turn on the left becomes the banker, taking the deal as soon as the first banker loses a coup. The banker gives cards only to the player on his right, and to himself.
Follow my Leader This is a boys game. Any number can take part in it. It requires a good extent of country to play it well. The boy who is the swiftest runner and the best jumper is chosen as Leader. He sets out at a good speed over the fields, tries to jump as many ditches or burns, jumping such from one side to the other again and again, to scramble over dykes, through hedges, over palings, and run up braes. The others have to follow him as they can. This steeplechase continues till the followers are all tired out.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor).
In the lives of some men the tide of fortune appears to be a long steady flood, without a ripple on the surface. In others it rises and falls in waves of greater or lesser length; while in others it is irregular in the extreme; splashing choppy seas to-day; a storm to-morrow that smashes everything; and then calm enough to make ducks and drakes with the pebbles on the shore. In the lives of all the tide of fortune is uncertain; for the man has never lived who could be sure of the weather a week ahead. In the nature of things this must be so, for if there were no ups and downs in life, there would be no such things as chance and luck, and the laws of probability would not exist. The greatest fallacy in connection with luck is the belief that certain men _are_ lucky, whereas the truth is simply that they _have been_ lucky up to that time. They have succeeded so far, but that is no guarantee that they will succeed again in any matter of pure chance. This is demonstrated by the laws governing _=the probability of successive events=_. Suppose two men sit down to play a game which is one of pure chance; poker dice, for instance. You are backing Mr. Smith, and want to know the probability of his winning the first game.
A player to whom any one of these braggers is dealt may call it anything he pleases. If he has a pair of nines and a bragger, or a nine and two braggers, he may call them three nines, and bet on them as such. In this respect braggers resemble mistigris, already described in connection with Draw Poker; but in Brag a natural pair or triplet outranks one made with the aid of a bragger. Three eights will beat an eight and two braggers. The dealer must put up an ante before the cards are cut. This ante may be any amount he pleases within the betting limit. No player can straddle or raise this ante until the cards are dealt. Beginning on his left the dealer distributes the cards face down, and one at a time, until each player has received three. Beginning with the age, [eldest hand,] each player in turn must put up an amount equal to the dealer’s ante, or abandon his hand. He may, if he chooses, raise the ante any further amount within the betting limit.
The revoking players cannot score more, nor their adversaries less than the average on the deal in which the revoke occurs; except that in no case shall the infliction of the revoke penalty deprive the revoking players of any tricks won by them before their first revoke occurs. In Pair Matches the score shall be recorded as made, independently of the revoke penalty, which shall be separately indicated as plus or minus revoke (“-R” for the revoking side, and “+R” for their adversaries). In such matches, the penalty for a revoke shall not increase the score of the opponents of the revoking players above the maximum, as made at the other tables, on the deal in which the revoke occurs; provided, however, that if the opponents win more tricks than such maximum, independently of the revoke penalty, their score shall stand as made. Nor shall the score of the revoking players be reduced, by the infliction of the revoke penalty, below the minimum so made at the other tables until the averages for the match and the relative scores of the other players have been determined; the score of the revoking players shall then, if necessary, be further reduced, so that in all cases they shall suffer the full penalty as provided in the first paragraph of this section. SEC. 5. A revoke cannot be claimed if the claimant or his partner has played to the following deal, or if both have left the table at which the revoke occurred. If the revoke is discovered in season, the penalty must be enforced and cannot be waived. SEC. 6.
We all conceive of it differently. With me a real strain is like shining a bright beam of light on the spot you re lifting. Be glad, Wally Bupp, I had time to tell myself. Be glad for a mechanical mind. Where do you lift four thousand pounds of car aimed right at you? Well, there is a small valve, can t weigh half an ounce, lightly spring-loaded, that is in the power-steering mechanism. I seared a lift at it. You know what happened. The feedback of the power-steering wrenched the wheel from the driver s hand--it was ten times as strong as he was, dragging its power as it did from a four-hundred horsepower shaft turning 30,000 rpm. The car careened and skidded across the curb. It took out a small marble rail around the fountain pool and dived in, still screaming rubber.
It is for this reason that every good player first considers the advisability of making it “no-trump,” and if he thinks that injudicious, hearts or diamonds, leaving the black suits as a last resort. It is the custom invariably to make it no-trump with three Aces, unless the hand is strong enough for a heart make, or holds great honour value in red. In estimating the probabilities of trick-taking, it is usual to count the partner for three tricks on the average. Conservative players do not depend on him for more than two. Generally speaking, the maker of the trump should have four pretty certain tricks in his own hand. The dealer should seldom announce a black trump unless he has a certainty of the game in his own hand, without any assistance from his partner, or unless he has such a poor hand that he must make it a “defensive spade.” If he cannot safely make it no-trump or red, he should pass, and allow his partner the chance. With such a hand as seven clubs, including four honours, and absolutely worthless cards otherwise, the dealer should make it clubs, except when the adversaries have won the first game, and are about 20 points in the second. This makes it not unlikely that they will win the rubber on the next hand with their deal. Under such circumstances the dealer must invariably leave it to his partner, in the hope that he can save the rubber by making it no-trump.
All not first chosen are gone over in this way. Those left unchosen take their stand beside the Namer. There is then a tug-of-war, with the Namer and Foolie as the leaders.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). In Hants the children stand _vis-à-vis_, as in a country dance. One of the number is sent out of earshot, and the others decide with the Captain as to the name of the bird each wishes to personate. The Captain then calls to the child who is out, Tom Fool, Tom Fool, come home from school, and pick me out a blackbird, cuckoo, or other bird. If Tom Fool is wrong in his guessing after three trials, he is condemned to run the gauntlet, being pelted with gloves or handkerchiefs not too mercifully.
In the nature of things this must be so, for if there were no ups and downs in life, there would be no such things as chance and luck, and the laws of probability would not exist. The greatest fallacy in connection with luck is the belief that certain men _are_ lucky, whereas the truth is simply that they _have been_ lucky up to that time. They have succeeded so far, but that is no guarantee that they will succeed again in any matter of pure chance. This is demonstrated by the laws governing _=the probability of successive events=_. Suppose two men sit down to play a game which is one of pure chance; poker dice, for instance. You are backing Mr. Smith, and want to know the probability of his winning the first game. There are only two possible events, to win or lose, and both are equally probable, so 2 is the denominator of our fraction. The number of favourable events is 1, which is our numerator, and the fraction is therefore ½, which always represents equality. Now for the successive events.
=_ It is a foul against the striker if any ball be disturbed, hastened, or hindered by an opponent or any one but himself, whether the ball or balls are at rest while he is aiming or striking, in motion after he has struck, or at rest again after he has struck, and pending his again taking aim. _=10.=_ Should a ball that has once come to a standstill move without apparent cause, while the player is preparing to strike, it shall be replaced. Should it move before he can check his stroke, it, and all other balls set in motion by that stroke, shall be replaced, and the player shall repeat his shot, inasmuch as but for the moving of the ball, he might have counted where he missed, or missed where he counted. _=11.=_ It is a foul if the striker plays directly at any ball with which his own is in fixed contact, and the striker must in this instance play from balls spotted, as in the opening stroke of the game. _=12.=_ It is a foul to place marks of any kind upon the cloth or cushions as a guide to play; also foul to practise the banking shot for the lead-off upon the plea of testing the balls. _=13.=_ It is a foul against the non-striker, and the striker cannot make a count on the ensuing shot, if a ball in play is lifted from the table, except it be unavoidable in those cases in which it is provided that, because of foul or irregular strokes, the balls shall be transposed or replaced.
If partner leads you a suit of which he knows, or should know, you have not the best, he must have a good finesse in the suit which he does not lead, and you should take the first opportunity to lead that suit to him. In returning partner’s suits, some modification may be suggested by the condition of Dummy’s hand. For instance: With K x x; Dummy having A Q J x; if you win, third hand, on Dummy’s finesse, you may be sure your partner’s lead was a weak suit. If Dummy is weak in the two other plain suits, your partner may have a good finesse in one or both of them. When your partner wins the first round of an adverse suit, and immediately returns it, he is inviting a force. _=Dummy on the Left.=_ When the player is third hand with Dummy on his left, his chief care will be to divine his partner’s object in leading certain cards up to Dummy. The general principles of inference are the same as in the preceding case, and cards may often be inferred in the same manner from the evident intention of partner. For instance: You hold K x x; partner leads J, declarer covering with Queen. A glance at Dummy’s cards shows him to have 10 x x; so your partner may be credited with A 9.
At last I went down the ersatz wooden steps into the neon-gashed night and started across the nearly deserted main drag toward the motel where I had registered. A powerful turbine howled as a car pulled away from the curb, perhaps a hundred yards up the way. His lights came on and snapped up to bright. I had a perfect flash of PC--I _do_ have moments of it, no matter what the Lodge thinks. The car was going to take a dive into the fountain pool in front of my motel. But it sure didn t act like it. I froze in the middle of the road, hearing rubber scream as the driver floored the throttle and hurled the automobile right at me. He might as well have been on tracks. There was no place to go--I was in the middle of a six-lane boulevard, and could never make either curb before he ran me down. This is when it pays to be a perceptive.