Should he refuse to straddle, no other player can do so; but if he straddles, the player on his left can straddle him again by doubling the amount he puts up, which will be four times the amount of the blind. This will open the privilege to the next player on the left again, and so on until the limit of straddling is reached; but if one player refuses to straddle, no other following him can do so. Good players seldom or never straddle, as the only effect of it is to increase the amount of the ante. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The cards dealt, the players take up and examine their hands. The careful poker player always “spreads” his cards before taking them up, to be sure that he has neither more nor less than five, and he lifts them in such a way that the palm and fingers of his right hand conceal the face of the first card, while the thumb of the left hand separates the others just sufficiently to allow him to read the index or “squeezer” marks on the edges. [Illustration: Spreading. Squeezing.] The object of this examination is to ascertain the value of the hand dealt to him, and to see whether or not it is worth while trying to improve it by discarding certain cards and drawing others in their place. The player should not only be thoroughly familiar with the relative value of the various combinations which may be held at Poker, but should have some idea of the chances for and against better combinations being held by other players, and should also know the odds against improving any given combination by drawing to it.
But in Triomphe the dealer turned up another card, and if that was of the trump suit the holder of the ace could rob that also, and so on until he turned a card of a different suit. This did not alter the trump, but merely stopped the robbing process. Whether or not Triomphe borrowed this feature from Spoil Five or Maw, it is now impossible to say. Whatever its origin, Euchre has always been the most respectable member of the family, and the game of all others that has best served the card-playing interest in social life. Spoil Five probably comes next in point of respectability; but Écarté has often fallen into evil hands, and the very name is in some places regarded as synonymous for gambling. The same is true of Napoleon, but in less degree. Euchre, unlike the other members of the family, is not essentially a gambling game, but belongs rather to the intellectual group of card games; a position which we hope it may long maintain. EUCHRE. _=CARDS.=_ Euchre is played with what is commonly known as the piquet pack, 32 cards, all below the 7 being deleted.
_ _I miss d the swains, and seiz d on Blouzelind._ And another reference is quoted by Brand (ii. 398)-- Sometyme the one would goe, sometyme the other, Sometymes all thre at once, and sometyme neither; Thus they with him play at boyes blynde-man-bluffe. --_The Newe Metamorphosis_, 1600, MS. Other names for this game are Belly Mantie, Billy Blind, Blind Bucky Davy, Blind Harie, Blind Hob, Blind Nerry Mopsey, Blind Palmie, Blind Sim, Buck Hid, Chacke Blynd Man, Hoodle-cum-blind, Hoodman Blind, Hooper s Hide, Jockie Blind Man. (_d_) There is some reason for believing that this game can be traced up to very ancient rites connected with prehistoric worship. The name Billy Blind denoted the person who was blindfolded in the game, as may be seen by an old poem by Lyndsay, quoted by Jamieson: War I ane King I sould richt sone mak reformatioun Farlyeand thairof your grace sould richt sone finde That Preistis sall leid yow lyke are bellye blinde. And also in Clerk s _Advice to Luvaris_: Sum festnit is and ma not flé, Sum led is lyk the belly blynd With luve, war bettir lat it be. [Illustration] It is probable, says Jamieson, that the term is the same as Billy Blynde, said to be the name of a familiar spirit or good genius somewhat similar to the brownie. Professor Child identifies it with Odin, the blind deity.
XI. Here we come looping, looping [louping?], Looping all the night; I put my right foot in, I put my right foot out, I shake it a little, a little, And I turn myself about. --Hexham (Miss J. Barker). XII. Christian was a soldier, A soldier, a soldier, Christian was a soldier, and a brave one too. Right hand in, right hand out, Shake it in the middle, and turn yourself about. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XIII. Friskee, friskee, I was and I was A-drinking of small beer.
For instance: A has 113 scored, and B 80. A wins 113 + 80 + 100 = 293 altogether. Again; A has 88, B has 84. A wins 88 + 84 + 100 = 272 altogether. Again; A has 180, B has 142. A wins the difference in the scores, 38 + 100 = 138 altogether. TEXT BOOKS. Jeux de Cartes, by Jean Boussac. Académie des Jeux, by Van Tenac. Académie des Jeux, by Richard.
Success in love. Eight. Great anticipations. Seven. Trifling love affairs. _=R.=_ They will get you into trouble. _=DIAMONDS.=_ Ace. A letter, or a written notice.
When two packs are used, the player next but one on the dealer’s left must collect and shuffle the cards for the next deal, placing them on his right. The dealer has the privilege of shuffling last. 5. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand adversary to be cut. Not less than four cards shall constitute a cut. 6. In case of any confusion or exposure of the cards in cutting, or in reuniting them after cutting, the pack must be shuffled and cut again. 7. If the dealer reshuffles the cards after they have been properly cut, or looks at the bottom card, he loses his deal. 8.
3. When commencing a game the fifteen red balls shall be placed as in the game of Pyramids. For each of these balls pocketed, according to rule, the striker shall score one point. The pool balls to be used are the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black, which shall be spotted as follows at the commencement of the game, and have the appended values when pocketed according to rule: The Yellow ball shall be placed on the right hand spot of the baulk line and count two points; The Green ball shall be placed on the left hand spot of the baulk line and count three points; The Brown ball shall be placed on the middle spot of the baulk line and count four points; The Blue ball shall be placed on the spot between the two middle pockets and count five points; The Pink ball shall be placed at the apex of the pyramid and count six points; The Black ball shall be placed on the billiard spot and count seven points. The White ball shall be used in rotation by the various players taking part in the game solely as the striker’s ball, and shall be played from the “D” at the start of a game by the first player, and at any other period of the game, after it has been off the table from any cause whatever. 4. The ball shall be struck with the point of the cue and not “pushed.” If, after the striker’s ball has been forced against an object ball, the point of his cue remain or come in contact with his ball, the stroke is foul. There is no difference between the act of striking and the act of aiming. 5.
=_ No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly as in Whist. Tricks should be carefully stacked, there being the same penalties as in Boston for calling attention to the score. The methods of playing misères and spreads have already been described in connection with Boston. When piccolissimo is played, the moment the single player takes more than one trick the hands are thrown up, and the stakes paid. _=REVOKES.=_ The rules governing these and cards played in error, are the same as at Boston. In piccolissimo, the penalties are the same as in misère. _=PAYMENTS.=_ If the caller succeeds in winning the proposed number of tricks, he is paid by each of his adversaries according to the value of his bid, as shown in Table No. 1.
=_ The pegging in play is usually small; 2 for the dealer, and an average of 1½ for the non-dealer, hence the importance of the go. The average hand is a little less than 5, and the crib about 5. The player is at home if he has pegged 17 in two deals, his own and his adversary’s. He is safe at home if he is 7 ahead, or his adversary is 7 behind. In Five-card Cribbage, more than any other game, it is true that a game is never won until it is lost. Take the following example, in which the pone is 56 up, and the dealer has pegged only 5 holes altogether. The separated cards show those laid out for the crib, and the odd card is the starter. [Illustration: Pone;-- 🃗 🂧 🃆 🃔 🂳 🂣 Dealer;-- 🃖 🂶 🂦 🃒 🃓 ] The pone leads a Seven, and afterwards pairs the dealer’s Six, pegging to 58. The dealer pegs 6 for the pair royal, and is told to go. This enables the dealer to make a double pair royal and 31, pegging fourteen holes more.
| -- | -- |Dusty, dusty day. | | 5.| -- | -- | -- | | 6.|Please may we have a |Come all ye fair |Come all ye pretty | | |pretty lass. |maids. |maids. | | 7.|To come and play with |And walk along with |Come and with us play.| | |us. |us.
Some judgment of character must be used in playing on a caller’s own lead. An adventurous player will sometimes call a misère on a hand which contains a singleton 5 or 6, and will lead it at once; trusting that second hand will imagine it to be safe, and cover it. Players should be aware of this trap, and never cover a misère player’s own lead if they can help it, unless the card led is below a 4. _=ABUNDANCE.=_ Very few persons will risk calling an abundance which they are not pretty certain of; but a player may be forced to the call on a doubtful hand, especially if he is over-called on his original proposal to play a solo. The lead is a great advantage, because trumps can be exhausted immediately, and the suits protected. If the caller has not the lead he must calculate in advance for trumping in, and if his plain suits are not quite established, he will require more trumps than would otherwise be necessary. The greatest danger to an abundance player who has not the original lead, is that his best suit will be led through him, and trumped, either on the first or second round. The caller is often trapped into unnecessarily high trumping when suits are led through him a second or third time. _=The Adversaries=_ have little chance to defeat an abundance unless they can over-trump the caller, or ruff his good cards before he can exhaust the trumps.
530), says, Children wave a burning stick in the air, saying-- A girdle o gold, a saddle o silk, A horse for me as white as milk, an evident relic of divinations or incantations practised with bonfires. Halliwell (_Nursery Rhymes_, p. 213) gives the rhyme as-- Jack s alive, and in very good health, If he dies in your hand you must look to yourself; the game being played in the same way as the Sheffield version (see also Halliwell s _Dictionary_ and Moor s _Suffolk Words_). (_b_) This is a very significant game, and its similarity in miniature to the old tribal custom of carrying the fiery cross to rouse the clans at once suggests the possible origin of it. 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.
After the hand is played, those who have taken in any cards of the suit announced to be avoided, pay one counter to the pool for each of them. If any one player gets clear, each of the others having at least one of the tabooed suit, he takes the entire pool. If two get clear, they divide the pool, leaving any odd counter to form the basis of a Jack, as at Sweepstakes. If one player takes all thirteen, it is a Jack; but instead of the next choice being sold to the highest bidder, the one who named the suit on the hand that made the pool a Jack has the choice of suits again for the next deal, and he must select some suit without paying anything further for it, until some player wins what he paid for the choice in the first place. That is, the pool must be won before the choice can be sold again. The general principle of the game is for the players to combine against the successful bidder, and to spare no effort to prevent him from winning the pool. _=SPOT HEARTS.=_ In this variation, when the hearts are announced at the end of the hand, the spots on them are the units of value, the Jack being worth 11, the Queen 12, the King 13, and the Ace 14. This adds nothing to the interest or skill of the game; but rather tends to create confusion and delay, owing to the numerous disputes as to the correctness of the count. The total to be accounted for in each deal is 104.
If the player actually holding cards is not the one nearest the banker, he is still the first one to be paid, and then those beyond him in order. For instance: The third player holds cards; after him the fourth and fifth are paid, and then the first and second, each alternately with a player on the other side of the table. _=Banco.=_ Each player in turn, beginning with the one to whom cards will be dealt first, has the right to go banco; that is, to challenge the banker to play for his entire capital at a single coup. Such a proposition takes precedence of all others. If the bank loses such a coup, it must be put up to the highest bidder again, or offered to the next player on the list. If it wins, the same player, or any other player, may make a similar offer for the next coup, which will now be for double the first amount, of course; but no player is allowed to offer banco more than twice in succession. _=Dealing.=_ The cards cut, the banker takes a convenient number of them in his hand, or better, spreads them face downward on the table, and slips off the top card, giving it to the player next him on the right, face down. The next card he gives to the player on his left, and the next to himself.
|Come and play with us.| | 8.| -- | | 9.| -- | | 10.| -- | | 11.| -- | | 12.| -- | | 13.|We will give you pots | | |and pans. | | 14.|.
In the first case Black will run to 15 and 11, and either get round or double back to 18. In the second case Black will get round by way of 7, or get through. CHECKER LAWS. _=1.=_ The Standard board must be of light and dark squares, not less than fourteen inches nor more than fifteen inches across said squares. _=2.=_ The board shall be so placed that the bottom corner square, on the left hand, shall be black. _=3.=_ The Standard men, technically described as White and Black, must be light and dark (say white and red, or yellow and black), turned, and round, not less than one inch, nor more than 1⅛ inches in diameter. _=4.
If five persons play, the Jack of each suit is added; if only three play, the Queens are discarded, reducing the pack to sixteen cards. Two packs are generally used alternately. _=Counters=_ or chips are used, as in Poker, instead of money. Any player may be the banker. _=Players.=_ Three, four, or five persons may play; but four is the proper number, and all descriptions of the game suppose it to be four-handed. _=Cutting.=_ To decide the positions of the players, a sequence of cards is sorted out, equal in number with the number of players. These cards are then shuffled, face downward, and each player draws one. The highest of the sequence has the choice of positions, and so on down until all are seated.
In the baulk-line nurse there are three principal positions, and two turns, as shown in the diagram. In No. 3 the red ball must be driven to the rail and back with great accuracy, leaving the balls in position No. 1 again. The turns are very difficult. CUSHION CARROMS. This is a variety of the three-ball game in which a cushion must be touched by the cue ball before the carrom is completed. The cushion may be struck first, and the object ball afterward, or the object ball first, and then the cushion. In the _=Three-cushion Carrom Game=_, three cushions must be touched by the cue ball before completing the count. In the _=Bank-shot Game=_, the cue ball must strike at least one cushion before touching the object ball.
CACHE-POLE. Caiche. Call-the-Guse. Camp. Canlie. Capie-Hole. Carrick. Carry my Lady to London. Carrying the Queen a Letter. Cashhornie.
Such points count for neither side; but any points found among the discards may be counted by the side making the trump, as in the ordinary game. Owing to the uncertainty as to the number of points actually in play, the result is controlled more largely by luck than skill. In some places the _=first lead=_ from the successful bidder must be a _=trump=_. This makes the game too much like Auction Pitch, and spoils some of the finer points in leading. _=Low=_ is sometimes counted for the person to whom it is dealt. Such a rule causes endless confusion and disputes. The old method of _=scoring=_ has already been mentioned. Another variation is that if the bidder’s side do not make at least 8 points they cannot score anything, no matter what they bid. If both sides score 7, neither having bid more than 7, neither scores. If one side bids 6, and makes 8, it scores 8; but the adversaries score the 6 they make.
[Illustration: +-----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+------+ |Teams| a | b | c | d | e ||Matches|Tricks| +-----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+------+ | a | \ | +5 | -1 | +1 | +4 || 3 | +9 | +-----+----+----+----+----|----++-------+------+ | b | -5 | \ | 0 | -1 | +2 || 1½ | -4 | +-----+----+----+----+----|----++-------+------+ | c | +1 | 0 | \ | -2 | 0 || 2 | -1 | +-----+----+----+----+----|----++-------+------+ | d | -1 | +1 | +2 | \ | -2 || 2 | 0 | +-----+----+----+----+----|----++-------+------+ | e | -4 | -2 | 0 | +2 | \ || 1½ | -4 | +-----+----+----+----+----+----++-------+------+ ] _=PAIR AGAINST PAIR.=_ This is the most interesting form of competition, especially for domestic parties, as the arrangement of the players will allow of great latitude in the number engaged, table after table being added as long as players offer to fill them. _=Two Pairs.=_ When only four players are engaged at a single table, the game is called Memory Duplicate; which is forbidden in all first-class clubs. The players retain their seats until they have played an agreed number of hands, which are laid aside one by one in trays. No trump is turned in Memory Duplicate; one suit being declared trumps for the entire sitting. Instead of the players changing positions for the overplay, the trays are reversed. If the indicators pointed N & S on the original deals, they must lie E & W for the overplay. [Illustration: A A +---------+ +---------+ | ^ | | | | | | | | B| | |B B| DE --- |B | | | AL | | DEALER| | ER | +---------+ +---------+ A A ORIGINAL POSITION OF TRAYS. POSITION FOR OVERPLAY.
=_ If the pone doubles before his partner has asked him “Shall I play?” the maker of the trump shall say whether or not the double shall stand. If he allows it to stand it may be redoubled. Should a player redouble out of turn, the one whom he redoubles shall have the right to say whether or not the redouble shall stand. Any consultation between partners as to doubling or redoubling will entitle their adversaries to insist on a new deal. If the eldest hand leads without asking his partner’s permission to play, the pone cannot double without the consent of the maker of the trump. Should the pone ask the eldest hand, “Shall I play?” that does not deprive the eldest hand of the right to double. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The trump suit and the value of the tricks settled, the player on the dealer’s left begins by leading any card he pleases. After he has played, the second player, Y, lays his hand face up on the table, and takes no further part in the play beyond availing himself of the privilege of asking his partner if he has none of a suit to which he renounces. From the moment that Y’s cards are exposed the game becomes Dummy, the dealer, Z, playing Y’s cards for him.
Strutt describes the game (_Sports_, p. 319). See Nine Men s Morris, Noughts and Crosses. Fox in the Fold The Tod (Fox) i the Faul (Fold). This game is commonly played by boys. Any number of boys join hands and stand in a circle to form the Faul. The boy that represents the Tod is placed within the circle. His aim is to escape. To effect this he rushes with all his force, increased by a run, against the joint hands of any two of the players. If the rush does not unloose the grasp, he hangs on the two arms with all his weight, pressing and wriggling.
Mactaggart calls it Preest Cat, and says that it is an ingleside game. A piece of stick is made red in the fire; one hands it to another, saying-- About wi that, about wi that, Keep alive the preest cat. Then round is handed the stick, and whomsoever s hand it goes out in, that one is in a wad, and must kiss the crook, the cleps, and what not, ere he gets out of it. Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo, Sticks and stanes lie at thy weary banes If thou fa , for a I blaw, Lilly cuckoo, lilly cuckoo. This rhyme is common in the Preest Cat sport toward the border. Anciently, when the priest s cat departed this life, wailing began in the country side, as it was thought it became some supernatural being--a witch, perhaps, of hideous form--so to keep it alive was a great matter.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_. He also refers to a game called Robin-a-Ree, much like Preest Cat, only in passing the burnt stick round the ring the following rhyme is said-- Robin-a-Ree, ye ll no dee wi me, Tho I birl ye roun three times and three; O Robin-a-Ree, O Robin-a-Ree, O dinna let Robin-a-Reerie dee. Robin-a-Ree occurs in an old song.--Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_.
| Liphook. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.| -- | -- | -- | | 2.| -- | -- | -- | | 3.| -- | -- | -- | | 4.| -- | -- | -- | | 5.|L. B. is broken down. |L.
| Confederacy. | Pair. | Best. | +------------+-----------+--------------+-------+-------+ Any King and Queen is _=Matrimony=_; any Queen and Jack is _=Intrigue=_; any King and Jack is _=Confederacy=_; any two cards of the same denomination form a _=Pair=_, and the diamond ace is always _=Best=_. The players draw, and the lowest card deals: ace is low. The dealer then takes any number of counters he chooses, and distributes them as he pleases on the various divisions of the layout. Each player then takes a number of counters one less than the dealer’s, and distributes them according to his fancy. The cards are then cut, and the dealer gives one to each player, face down; and then another, face up. If any of the latter should be the diamond ace, the player to whom it is dealt takes everything on the layout, and the cards are gathered and shuffled again, the deal passing to the left, the new dealer beginning a fresh pool. If the diamond ace is not turned up, each player in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, exposes his down card.
_=2.=_ The player who makes the opening stroke must play from within the string from the head of the table and must strike the pyramid of object-balls with such force as to make at least two of the object-balls strike a cushion, or at least one object-ball go into a pocket. Should he fail to do either he forfeits three points and the next player plays. All balls pocketed on the opening stroke count for the player, and it is not necessary for him to call the numbers of the balls he intends pocketing before making the opening stroke. _=3.=_ Before making any other stroke except the opening stroke the player must _distinctly_ call the number of the ball he intends to pocket, but he need not designate the particular pocket into which he intends to put it. Unless he calls the ball pocketed it does not count for him, and must be placed on the deep-red spot, or if that be occupied, as nearly below it as possible. The player loses his hand but does not forfeit any points, and the next player plays. Should he call more than one ball he must pocket all the balls he calls, otherwise none of them can be counted for him. _=4.