The great point in playing against Misère is to continue leading suits in which he is known to be long, so as to give your partners discards. This B does with the two long spades, the caller being marked with the ace and others on the second trick. Then Z allows B to discard his high diamonds on the clubs. SCOTCH WHIST, OR CATCH THE TEN. _=CARDS.=_ Scotch Whist is played with a pack of 36 cards, which rank in plain suits, A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6; the Ace being highest both in play and in cutting. In the trump suit the Jack is the best card, the order being, J A K Q 10 9 8 7 6. _=MARKERS.=_ There are no suitable counters for Scotch Whist, and the score is usually kept on a sheet of paper. _=PLAYERS.
=_ If a player leads when it was his partner’s turn, the partner may be called upon by his right-hand adversary to lead or not to lead a trump; but a specified plain suit cannot be called. If it was the turn of neither of the side in error to lead, the card played in error is simply exposed. If all have played to the false lead, the error cannot be rectified. If all have not followed, the cards played to the false lead may be taken back, and are not liable to be called. _=Playing Out of Turn.=_ If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth may play before the second also; either of his own volition, or by the direction of the second hand, who may say: “Play, partner.” If the fourth hand plays before the second, the third hand not having played, the trick may be claimed by the adversaries, no matter who actually wins it; but the actual winner of it must lead for the next trick. If any player abandons his hand, the cards in it may be claimed as exposed, and called by the adversaries. _=The Revoke.=_ A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected in time, or non-compliance with a performable penalty.
=_ Poker is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, ranking: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being the highest or lowest in play, according to the wish of the holder, but ranking below the deuce in cutting. In some localities a special pack of sixty cards is used, the eight extra cards being elevens and twelves in each suit, which rank above the ten, and below the Jack. It is very unusual to play Poker with two packs. [Illustration: 11♣ 12♣] _=COUNTERS, or CHIPS.=_ Although not absolutely necessary, counters are much more convenient than money. The most common are red, white, and blue circular chips, which should “stack up” accurately, so that equal numbers may be measured without counting them. The red are usually worth five whites, and the blue worth five reds, or twenty-five whites. At the beginning of the game one player should act as banker, and be responsible for all counters at the table. It is usual for each player to purchase, at the beginning of the game, the equivalent of 100 white counters in white, red, and blue. _=PLAYERS.
If he calls, he does so by placing in the pool an amount equal to that staked by the last player, and it then becomes the turn of the next player on the left to say what he will do. But if he goes better, he adds to the amount staked by the player on his right any further sum he sees fit, within the limit of two blues. Each player in turn has the same privilege, the age having the last say. Suppose five play, and that A has the age. B has straddled, and all but the dealer have made good the ante and drawn cards. There are sixteen white counters in the pool, B’s straddle having made the ante four instead of two. Suppose B bets a red counter, and C then throws down his hand. D _=sees=_ B, by putting up a red counter; and he then _=raises=_ him, by putting up two blues, increasing his bet as much as the limit will allow him. The age must now abandon his hand or put up one red and two blues to call D, without knowing what B proposes to do. Let us suppose he sees D, and raises another two blues.
On the layout, build in descending sequence, red on black, black on red, turning up the top card when any pile is left without a faced card upon it. If there is more than one card face up on any pile, they must be removed together or not at all. Spaces may be filled only with kings. The stock is run off three cards at a time, and any card showing can be used. The pack can be run through in this manner until no cards showing can be used, but there must be no shuffling or rearrangement of the cards. Sometimes it is the rule to run through the pack once only, turning up one card at a time. The object of the game is to see how many cards can be built on the ace row. A better average can usually be obtained when the pack is run off three at a time with the privilege of running through again and again as long as any card can be used. 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.