Part 38

This very popular round game derives its name from the fact that the first card led or “pitched” is the trump suit, and that the privilege of pitching it belongs to the eldest hand, who may sell it out to the highest bidder.

The number of _=cards=_ and their rank is the same as at Seven-up; A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the ace being the highest in cutting and in play.

_=Players.=_ Any number from four to seven may play, each for himself; five is considered the best game. The players cut for choice of seats, the highest cut taking the first choice and the deal.

_=Counters.=_ Each player should be provided with seven white counters to mark the game. If stakes are played for, red counters are used to make up the pool, one player acting as the banker to sell and redeem all red counters.

_=Dealing.=_ Six cards are dealt to each player, three at a time, but no trump is turned. All the rules for irregularities in the deal are the same as in Seven-up, but a misdeal does not lose the deal under any circumstances.

_=Objects of the Game.=_ As in Seven-up, the object of each player is to get rid of his seven counters, one of which he is entitled to put in the pool for each of the following points: For holding the _=highest=_ trump in play; for holding (having dealt to him) the _=lowest=_ trump in play; for winning a trick with the _=Jack=_ of trumps in it; for making the greatest number of the pips that count for the _=game=_ point. The details of these points have already been explained in connection with Seven-up. If the count for Game is a tie, no one scores it.

_=Bidding.=_ The eldest hand sells. If he pitches without waiting for a bid he must make four points, or he will be set back that number. Each player in turn, beginning on the left of the eldest hand, bids for the privilege of pitching the trump, naming the number of points he thinks he can make. If he will not bid, he must say distinctly: “_=I pass=_.” After a bid has been made, any following player must bid higher or pass. There are no second bids. The highest number any player can bid is four, which will require him to make High, Low, Jack, and the Game against the combined efforts of all the other players. The eldest hand must either accept the number bid, or pitch the trump himself, and make as many points as the highest bidder offered him. If the eldest hand accepts, he pushes into the pool as many counters as he is bid, and the successful bidder pitches the trump. If no bid is made, the eldest hand must pitch the trump himself.

A bidder is not allowed to give the seller enough points to put him out, and should he do so by mistake, he forfeits his right to bid at all for that deal. If the seller has only two to go, and a player is able to bid three or four, he loses nothing by bidding one only, for no one can overbid him, and he is entitled to count all he makes. The only risk he runs is that the seller can afford to refuse one, and will go out on his own pitch. To remedy this it is the custom in some clubs to allow a player to bid the full value of his hand. If the seller accepts, he scores to within one of game; but if he refuses, he must make as many as bid, even if he does not actually want them. It is one of the fine points of the game for the seller to refuse when the number of points offered would put the bidder out if he was successful.

There is no penalty for bidding out of turn. If a player chooses to expose to a preceding player what he is prepared to bid, that is usually to his own disadvantage.

_=Bidding to the Board.=_ Modern players usually adopt the practice of bidding to the board, eldest hand having the first bid. In this form of the game the points bid count to no one, and anyone can bid up to four, no matter what the scores are. No one can claim the privilege of pitching the trump for as many as bid, as each in turn must bid higher or pass.

_=Playing.=_ The successful bidder has the first lead, and whatever card he plays, whether by mistake or not, is the trump suit for that deal. After that, the winner of the trick may lead any suit he pleases. A player must follow suit in trumps if he is able to do so; but in a plain suit he may trump if he chooses, although holding a card of the suit led. If he does not trump, he must follow suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led, he may trump or discard as he pleases. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits.

_=Scoring.=_ At the end of the hand the various players claim the points made, and score them by placing white counters in the pool. If the bidder makes any points in excess of the number bid, he scores them. The first player to get rid of his seven white counters wins the pool, and takes down all the red counters it contains. The white counters are then redistributed, and the players cut for the first deal of the new game.

If two players can count out on the same deal, and one of them is the bidder, he wins the pool if he has made good his bid. If neither of the ties is the bidder, the points count out in their regular order, High first, then Low, then Jack, and finally Game. For instance: Seven are playing. A sells to B, who bids two. B and C have each two to go. B pitches a trump of which C has both High and Low; but if B makes Jack and Game he wins the pool, because he bid only two points, and made them. This is generally expressed by the rule: _=bidder goes out first=_.

_=Setting Back.=_ If the player who pitches the trump fails to make the number of points bid, he is set back, and scores nothing for any points he may have made. A player who is set back, either for overbidding his hand, or for refusing to sell and failing to make the number of points offered him, must withdraw from the pool as many white counters as were bid, and add them to his own. For instance: It is A’s sell. A and B each have two to go. B bids three, which A refuses, pitching the trump himself. A makes only two points, B scoring one, and a third player D, another. B and D score one each, but A scores nothing for the two points he made, and must take three white counters from the pool, which will make him five to go. Had the bid which A refused been two only, he would have won the game, as he made two points. In many clubs it is the custom for a player who is set back to add a red counter to the pool.

_=Irregularities in Play.=_ If any adversary of the player who pitches the trump leads or plays out of turn, he may be called upon by the bidder to play his highest or lowest of the suit led; or to trump or not to trump the trick. If any player but the pitcher has followed the erroneous lead, the cards must be taken back; but if the pitcher has followed, the error cannot be rectified.

In case of a _=revoke=_, the hand is played out as if the revoke had not occurred, and each player except the person in error counts whatever points he makes. If the pitcher of the trump fails to make the number of points bid, he cannot be set back, but must be allowed to score any points he makes. The revoking player is then set back the number of points bid, and forfeits a red counter to the pool. If no bid was made, he is set back two points.

SMUDGE.

In this variation of auction pitch, any player who is not in the hole wins the game at once if he can bid four and make it.

PEDRO.

Pedro, Pedro Sancho, Dom Pedro, and Snoozer, are all varieties of Auction Pitch, in which certain counting cards are added, and secondary bids are allowed.

Everything counts to the player winning it, instead of to the one to whom it is dealt. The game point is scored by the player who wins the trick containing the Ten of trumps. If that card is not in play there is no Game.

In _=Pedro Sancho=_, the Five and Nine of trumps count their pip value in scoring, so that 18 points can be bid and made on one deal; one each for High, Low, Jack, and Game, and fourteen more for the Nine and Five of trumps. These two trumps have no special rank. The Ten will win the Nine, and the Six will take the Five. In some places all the cards in the pack are dealt out, which makes a much better game in any form of Pedro.

The eldest hand sells, as at Auction Pitch. If a player’s first bid is raised he may raise again in his proper turn.

Fifty points is game, and the players are usually provided with two varieties of counters for scoring; one worth five points, and the other worth one. The rank of the points in scoring is; High, Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Five, and Nine. The revoke penalty is to be set back the number of points bid, or ten points if there is no bid, and the player in fault cannot score anything that hand. In all other respects the rules are the same as in Auction Pitch.

In _=Dom Pedro, or Snoozer=_, the Joker is added to the pack, and the Three, Five, and Nine of trumps count their pip value in scoring. The Joker, or Snoozer, counts fifteen, so that thirty-six points can be bid and made on one deal. The Joker is the lowest trump, so that the deuce of trumps will win it, but it will win any trick in plain suits. Fifty or a hundred points is the game. In counting out, the order of precedence is: High, Low, Jack, Ten (Game), Three, Five, Nine, Snoozer.

CINCH, DOUBLE PEDRO, OR HIGH FIVE.

This is now regarded as the most important variety of All Fours, and bids fair to supplant the parent game altogether. Properly speaking, Cinch is one of the pedro variations of Auction Pitch, the difference being that no one sells, and that there is added the always popular American feature of a draw to improve the hand.

The derivation and meaning of the name, Cinch, seems to be very much misunderstood. Many persons assume it is simply a name for the Left Pedro, but such is not the case. Cinch is a Mexican word for a strong saddle-girth, and when used as a verb it refers to the manner of adjusting the girth on a bucking broncho so that no amount of kicking will get him free. The word is used in this sense to describe one of the principal tactics of the card game, which is to “cinch” certain tricks, so that the adversary cannot possibly get either of the Pedroes free.

_=CARDS.=_ Cinch is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. When the suit is trumps the 5 retains its natural position, and is known as the _=Right Pedro=_; but the 5 of the same colour as the trump suit, which is known as the _=Left Pedro=_, ranks between the 5 and 4 of the trump suit. The ace is highest in cutting and in play. Whist-players, who have taken up Cinch as a side issue, are in the habit of making the ace lowest in cutting; but such a practice is out of harmony with all other members of the Seven-up family of games.

_=COUNTERS.=_ The score is usually kept on a sheet of paper; but it is more convenient to provide each side with 8 red and 11 white counters, representing 51 points; the whites being worth 1, and the reds 5 each. A good pull-up cribbage board is still better.

_=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from two to six can play; but the regular game is for four persons, two of whom are partners against the other two. The player on the dealer’s left is the _=eldest hand=_; on the dealer’s right is the _=pone=_.

_=CUTTING.=_ The players draw from an outspread pack for partners, seats, and deal. The two lowest play against the two highest; the highest cut has the choice of seats and cards, and deals the first hand. Partners sit opposite each other.

_=DEALING.=_ Each player has the right to shuffle the pack, the dealer last. The cards are then presented to the pone to be cut, and at least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives nine cards to each player, three at a time in three separate rounds. No trump is turned, and the remainder of the pack is left on the table face downward.

_=MISDEALING.=_ If any card is found faced in the pack, the cards must be reshuffled and dealt again. If the dealer exposes a card in dealing, or turns up a trump by mistake, the adversaries may elect to have a new deal by the same dealer, or to let the deal stand. If the dealer gives too many or too few cards to any player, or fails to give the same number of cards in each round, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes to the next player on the left. Any player dealing out of turn, or with the wrong cards, may be stopped before the last three cards are dealt; but after that the deal stands good. If a misdeal is not discovered until after a bid has been made, the deal stands good if three players have their right number of cards. The deal passes in regular rotation to the left.

_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The game is fifty-one points, and the side first pegging that number, or getting rid of its fifty-one counters is the winner. Fourteen points are made on every deal, as follows:--

1 For _=High=_, the ace of trumps. 1 For _=Low=_, the deuce of trumps. 1 For the _=Jack=_ of trumps. 1 For the Ten of trumps, or _=Game=_. 5 For the Five of trumps, or _=Right Pedro=_. 5 For the Five of the same colour, or _=Left Pedro=_. -- 14 points altogether; all in the trump suit.

All these points, including Low, count to the player winning them, and not to the players to whom they are dealt. This saves endless disputes.

_=BIDDING.=_ Beginning with the eldest hand, each player in turn, after examining his nine cards, can make _=one bid=_ for the privilege of naming the trump suit. The peculiarity of this bidding is that nobody sells, the bids being made _=to the board=_, as it is called. The bidder announces the number of points he thinks he can make (with his partner’s assistance) but does not name the trump suit. If a player will not bid, he says: “_=I pass=_.” After a bid has been made in its proper turn, any following player must bid higher or pass. No one is allowed to bid more than fourteen. There are no second bids, and a bid once made cannot be amended or withdrawn. The player who has made the highest bid is called upon to name the trump suit.

_=Irregular Bids.=_ If any player bids before the eldest hand has bid or passed, both the player in error and his partner lose their right to make any bid that deal; but the side not in error must bid against each other for the privilege of naming the trump suit. If the eldest hand has decided, and the pone bids without waiting for the dealer’s partner, the pone loses his bid, and the dealer may bid before his partner, without penalty. If the dealer bids before his partner has decided, both he and his partner lose their right to bid that deal; but the pone is still at liberty to overbid the eldest hand for the privilege of naming the trump. If the dealer’s partner has bid, and the dealer bids without waiting for the pone, the dealer loses his right to bid for that deal.

If a player whose partner has not yet bid names the trump suit, his partner loses the right to bid. If no bid is made, the dealer may name any suit he pleases, without bidding. If any player exposes a card before the trump suit is named, the adversaries may elect to have a new deal by the same dealer.

_=DISCARDING AND DRAWING.=_ The trump suit named, each player discards and leaves _=face upward=_ on the table as many cards as he pleases. He must discard three, to reduce his hand to six cards. If he discards more than three he must draw from the remainder of the pack to restore the number of his cards to six; so that after the discard and draw each player at the table will have exactly six cards, although nine were originally dealt him.

The dealer, beginning on his left, gives to each player in turn as many cards from the top of the pack as may be necessary to restore the number in his hand to six. When it comes to the dealer’s turn, instead of taking cards from the top of the pack, he may search the remainder of the pack, and take from it any cards that he pleases. This is called _=robbing the deck=_. Should he find in his own hand and the remainder of the pack more than six trumps, he must discard those he does not want, showing them face up on the table with the other discards.

Should any player discard a trump, his partner has the right to call his attention to it, and if the player has not been helped to cards, or has not lifted the cards drawn, the trump erroneously discarded may be taken back; otherwise it must remain among the discards until the hand has been played, when, if it is of any counting value, it must be added to the score of the side making the trump.

Although there is no law to that effect, it is considered imperative for each player except the dealer to discard everything but trumps. This is partly because no other cards are of the slightest use, and partly because one of the points of the game is that the number of trumps held by each player before the draw should be indicated by his discard.

_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The player who has named the trump suit begins by leading any card he pleases. If a trump is led, every one must follow suit if able to do so, and it must be remembered that the Left Pedro is one of the trump suit. When a plain suit is led, any player may trump if he chooses, although holding one of the suit led; but if he does not trump, he must follow suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led he may trump or discard at pleasure. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The Five of trumps, or any higher, will win the Left Pedro; but the Left Pedro will win the Four of trumps, or any lower. The winner of the trick gathers it in, turning it face down, and leads for the next trick, and so on, until all six tricks have been played. The tricks themselves have no value, and need not be kept separate. The last trick turned and quitted may be seen, but no other.

_=Irregularities in Playing.=_ If, during the play of a hand, any person is found to have too many cards, his hand is foul, and neither he nor his partner can score any points for that deal, but they may play the hand out to prevent the adversaries from scoring everything. If he has too few cards there is no penalty.

If a player leads out of turn, and the three others follow him, the trick stands good. If all have not followed the false lead, their cards must be taken back, but only the leader’s card is liable to be called. If it was the turn of the partner of the player in error to lead, the adversary on his right may call upon him to lead or not to lead a trump; but he cannot specify the plain suit. If it was the turn of either adversary of the player in error to lead, the card led in error is simply exposed.

If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth may play before the second also. If the fourth hand plays before his partner, third hand not having played, the trick may be claimed by the adversaries, regardless of who wins it; but the player who actually wins it leads for the next trick.

If a player has a card of the suit led, and neither follows suit nor plays a trump, it is a _=revoke=_; and, if detected and claimed by the adversaries, neither the player in error nor his partner can score any points that hand; but the hand may be played out to prevent the adversaries from scoring everything. If an adversary of the bidder revokes, the bidder’s side scores all points it makes, regardless of the number bid. For instance: A has bid nine; and Y revokes. A-B make eight only, which they score, Y-Z scoring nothing. When a player renounces, his partner should ask him if he is void of the suit.

If any player abandons his hand, the cards in it may be exposed and called by the adversaries. The practice of throwing down the hand as soon as one renounces to trumps, cannot be too strongly condemned.

All _=exposed cards=_, such as cards dropped on the table; two or more played at once; cards led out of turn; or cards named by the player holding them, must be left face up on the table, and are liable to be called by the adversaries, unless they can be previously got rid of in the course of play. If the exposed card is a trump, the adversaries may prevent its being played, but the holder of it is not liable for a revoke in such cases.

_=SCORING.=_ When the last card has been played, each side turns over all the tricks won, and counts the points they contain; High, Low, Jack, Game, Right and Left Pedro. Everything, including Low, counts to the side winning it. The number of points won or lost is determined by deducting the lower score from the higher, the difference being the number of points won on that deal. If it is a tie, neither side scores. If either side has incurred a penalty which prevents them from scoring any points they may have won, the adversaries have nothing to deduct, and score all they make.

If the side that named the trump fails to make as many points as it bid, it scores nothing, and the number of points bid are scored by the adversaries, in addition to any points that the adversaries may have made in play. For instance: A-B are partners against Y-Z. B has bid to make 8, and named hearts for trumps. A-B make 10, which is 2 more than they bid, Y-Z getting the other 4; which leaves A-B 6. These are scored by placing one red and one white counter in the pool. But suppose A-B got only 5 points, Y-Z getting 9. A-B would score nothing, as they did not make good their bid; while Y-Z would score the 9 points actually won, and the 8 points bid in addition, or 17 altogether.

The old way of scoring was to _=set back=_ the side that failed to make the number bid; but that system of counting entirely destroyed the interest in the game when one side got much behind; because it could not recover in time to prevent the other side from _=sweating out=_, as it is called. Suppose A-B have been set back 18 points on two failures, Y-Z having made 16 points on those two deals, and 23 on their own bids. The score will stand: A-B 64 to go; Y-Z, 12 to go. Even if we suppose that A-B make 11 on each of the next four deals, they will still have 20 to go, while Y-Z will be out. Again: A-B want 15, Y-Z want 2. Even if A-B can bid 12 and make it, Y-Z will sweat out.

With the system of scoring here recommended, this sweating out is impossible, and it is not uncommon for a side that wants one to go, to be beaten by an adversary that wants forty-nine.

The side first pegging out on a cribbage-board, or getting rid of its fifty-one counters, wins the game. When the game is counted on a pull-up cribbage marker, it is usual to start with ten up, and peg out to the game-hole, or 61.

_=VARIATIONS.=_ There are quite a number of minor differences in the manner of playing Cinch. Sometimes, instead of discarding and drawing, after the successful bidder has been ascertained, but before he names the trump, four more cards are given to each player, including the dealer. Having seen thirteen cards, the bidder names the trump suit, and the hands are then reduced to six cards each. This method gives no clue to the number of trumps originally held, and deprives the dealer of one of the greatest advantages of his position, robbing the deck.

Another method is to discard and draw after the trump is named, but to make the dealer take his cards from the top of the pack to complete his hand, without seeing what he is to get. This often leaves counting cards in the remainder of the pack, which must remain face down, and be kept separate from the discards. 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.