A player can knock without drawing at all if he wishes to prevent the others from beating his original hand. PROGRESSIVE POKER. There are several ways to play Progressive Poker, but the description of one will suffice. The simplest method of arranging the players is to take two packs of cards, one red and one blue, and to select two aces from each for the four positions at the head table; three deuces, treys, etc., for the six positions at each of the other tables until the last or booby table is reached, at which there must be only four players at starting. If there are not enough players to make exactly six at each of the intermediate tables, the numbers may be varied from four to seven, cards being selected to agree with the number required; but the head and booby tables must start with four only. The cards thus selected are then thoroughly shuffled, and presented face downward to the ladies to draw from. Each lady takes a red-backed card, the gentlemen drawing the blue cards only. The number of pips on the card drawn will indicate to each person the table at which they are to sit. Should the number of men and women not be equal, some of the men must represent women or _vice versa_.
She showed me her buck teeth in a smile. I figger first you ll have them straighten my teeth, she said. You d like a pretty wife. If it s got to be, I said weakly. That would help. I just wish there was some way to handle that hysterical sniffle of yours, that s all. But I guess that s the price you have to pay for that awful load of Psi power you have. Oh, that, she said. I ought to be over that by tomorrow. I hardly ever get a cold, darlin Billy, and when I do, I throw it off in a few days.
If the bidder leads out of turn, the card must be taken back, unless all have followed the erroneous lead, in which case the trick is good. There is no penalty if he plays out of turn. _=REVOKES.=_ When a revoke is detected and claimed, the hands are immediately abandoned, and the individual player in fault must pay all the counters depending on the result. If he is the bidder, he pays each adversary; if he is opposed to the bidder, he pays for himself and for each of his partners. In England it is the rule to take back the cards and play the hand over again, as at Écarté, the revoking player paying all the stakes according to the result. This is often very unfair to the bidder, and leads to endless disputes as to who held certain cards which have been gathered into tricks. Sometimes the difference between a seven and an eight in a certain player’s hand will change the entire result. _=PAYMENTS.=_ If the bidder succeeds in winning the specified number of tricks, each adversary pays him a counter for every trick bid.
In settling, the player with the smallest number collects from each of the others the amount they have in excess of his. If two or more players have an equal number, or none at all, they divide the amount collected from each of the others. For instance: Four play, A has 8 points, B 24, C 18, and D 54. As 8 points is the lowest, B pays A 16, C pays him 10, and D pays him 46. If A and B had 8 each, C 32, and D 56, C would pay 24, and D 48; and A-B would divide the amount between them. The chief variation in play arises from the fact that one who must win a heart trick cannot always afford to play his highest heart as in the ordinary game. _=JOKER HEARTS.=_ In this variation, the heart deuce is discarded, and the Joker takes its place. The Joker occupies a position between the Jack and the Ten in value, with the added peculiarity that it cannot be discarded on a plain suit; for if it is, it wins the trick unless there is a higher heart in the same trick. If a player has the Joker dealt to him, his only chance to get rid of it is to play it on a trick in which hearts are led, or to discard it on a plain suit on which some other player has already discarded a higher heart than the Ten.
The surgeon dropped my hand. You re the best, Wally Bupp, he said. He s too good a friend of mine to call me Lefty and remind me that I m a cripple. It was Maragon who did that. I hadn t noticed him, but somebody gave me the grip, and I looked around. He was back against the wall, short, gray and square. I gave his ear lobe a TK tug in return, harder, perhaps, than was necessary, and nodded for him to follow both of us to my office. We ll have to talk about it, Lefty, he said, as he closed the door against the smell of iodoform. No, we don t, I said. I don t care who is losing how much money at Peno Rose s Sky Hi Club.
14, if White moves 26 22, or 19 15, he loses immediately. 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.
No player shall receive from the dealer more or fewer than he discards; so that if he is playing with a short hand, such as four cards only, he will still have four cards after the draw; and if his hand was originally foul, it will so remain. _=23. Exposed Cards.=_ In dealing for the draw, should any card be found faced in the pack, or should any card be exposed by the dealer in giving out the cards, or be blown over by the wind before the player has touched it, such cards must be placed on the table with the discards. The player whose card has been exposed does not receive another in its place until all the other players, including the dealer, have been helped. _=24. Incorrect Draws.=_ Should any player ask for an incorrect number of cards, he must take them; unless he discovers the error before the next player has been helped. If too many have been asked for, he must discard before seeing them. If too few, and he lifts any of them, he holds a foul hand.
The penalty for the _=revoke=_ varies in different places, but the general rule is for the revoking player to lose his entire count for “cards.” The winner of _=the last trick=_ scores ten points for it; and the players then turn over the tricks they have taken, and count their score for “cards.” _=Cards.=_ The five highest cards in each suit count toward game for the player winning them. The Ace is worth 11 points, the Ten 10, the King 4, the Queen 3, and the Jack, 2, no matter what the suit may be, so that there are 240 points for cards to be divided between the players in each deal. It is usual for only one to count, the other checking him, and taking the difference between the total and 240. Cards are not scored as the tricks are taken in, but after the hand is over and the 10 points have been scored for the last trick. From this it might be imagined that no notice was taken of the counting value of the cards taken in during the play. Early in the game this is true; but toward the end each player must keep very careful _=mental count=_ of the value of his tricks, although he is not allowed to make any note of it, nor to score it. When either player knows, by adding his mental count to his score for melds and dix, that he has made points enough to win the game, he stops the play by knocking on the table.
=_ The players cut for the deal; the player cutting the lowest card deals for his dummy first, and has the choice of sitting to the right or left of his opponent. It is usual to select the seat on the right of the living player, because it is possible that one may forget whether or not certain cards have been played, and under such circumstances it is better to lead up to an exposed hand than to one whose contents you are not sure of. The methods of spreading, cutting, deciding ties, etc., are the same as those employed at whist. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.=_ It is not usually considered necessary to distinguish the players further than to indicate which hand had the original lead. For this purpose the whist notation is used, A being the leader, and Z the dealer. [Illustration: Y +---+ ORIGINAL LEADER, A| |B +---+ Z ] _=DEALING.=_ When two packs are used, the still pack should be shuffled by the non-dealer, and placed on the left of the player or dummy whose turn it will be to deal next. The general rules with regard to irregularities in the deal are the same as in whist.
283. (_b_) The children form long trains, standing one behind the other. They march and sing the first four lines, then the fifth line, when they stand and begin again as before. (_c_) Miss Burne suggests a connection with the old pack-horses. Mr. Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) gives the first two lines as a game. He says, The first horse in a team conveying lead to be smelted wore bells, and was called the bell-horse. I remember when a child the two first lines being used to start children a race (A. B. G.