Part 46

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. He then turns over his tricks and counts his cards, to show his adversary that he has won the game. Even if both have enough to go out, the player wins who knocks first, provided his count is correct. If the player who knocks is mistaken, and cannot count out, he loses the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be.

If neither knocks, and at the end of the hand both players are found to have points enough to put them out, neither wins the game. If the game is 1000 points, it must be continued to 1250. Should both reach that point without knocking, it must be continued to 1500. If neither knocks, and only one has enough points to put him out, he wins the game on its merits.

_=SCORING.=_ The game is usually 1000 points. All scores for dix, melds, and the last trick, are counted as soon as made; but the players are not allowed to keep any record of the score for cards, nor to go back over their tricks to refresh their memory. Any player going back further than the last trick turned and quitted, forfeits his entire score for cards. The player first correctly announcing that he has reached 1000 points, wins the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be; but if the announcement is incorrect, he loses the game.

Should a player score more than he is entitled to; as, for instance, scoring 80 for four Queens, his adversary may take down the superfluous score, 20 points in this instance, and may add it to his own score for a penalty.

_=CHEATING.=_ Apart from the usual weapons of false shuffles, strippers cut to locate or pull out the binocle cards, and the opportunities always offered to the greek when the cards are dealt three or four at a time, the bézique family of games are particularly adapted to the use of marked cards. These will show the philosopher the exact value of both the cards in the next draw, and will enable him to vary his play accordingly. It is for this reason that in France the top card of the stock is always drawn by the same player, no matter which wins the trick. In Rubicon Bézique, a person should be very familiar with the movements peculiar to dealing seconds before he ventures to play in a public café, or he may find his adversary with the most astonishing run of repeated combinations, and will be rubiconed almost every game.

Never play with a man who cuts the pack with both hands, watches the cards closely as he deals, or looks intently at the top of the stock before he plays to the current trick. Players who have a nervous affection which makes them pass over too many counters at once will also bear watching. Colour blindness may lead them to take over a blue instead of a white in a close game.

_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ The general principles of play are much the same in all the Bézique family of games.

It is usually best to give your adversary the deal, because the first lead is often an advantage, especially if the turn-up is valuable, and you have a dix, or if you want to make the trump in Rubicon Bézique.

It is seldom right to make the trump unless you have one or two of the sequence cards with the marriage.

_=The Lead=_ is a disadvantage unless you have something to declare, or there is a brisque in the trick, or you can get home the Ten of a plain suit. The Tens are of no value in plain suits except as brisques, for they enter into no combination with other cards except in Penchant, Cinq-cents, and Rubicon. If the trick is of no value, or you have nothing important to declare, get rid of your small cards, and lead them when you do not want to retain the lead. The lead is sometimes necessary to prevent your adversary from declaring, especially toward the end of the hand. If you have led a brisque and won the trick, it is better to lead another brisque in the same suit than to change.

Aces are better leads than Kings or Queens, for the court cards can be married, and you may never get 100 Aces. Kings are better leads than Queens, especially if the Queens are spades. Jacks are better than either, but the Jack of diamonds should be kept as long as possible. If you have to decide between two combinations, one of which you must sacrifice, lead that which is of the smallest value, or the least likely to be restored. For instance: If your adversary has shown one or two Kings, but no Ace, and you have three of each, you are more likely to get 100 Aces than 80 Kings.

If you hold duplicate cards, especially in trumps, play the one on the table, not the one in your hand.

_=Brisques.=_ Beginners often overlook the importance of brisques. Every time you allow your adversary to take in a brisque which you might have won, you make a difference of twenty points in the score. While you are hugging three Aces, waiting for a fourth, your adversary may get home all his Tens, and then turn up with your fourth Ace in his hand.

_=Discarding.=_ It is usually best to settle upon one of two suits or combinations, and to discard the others, for you cannot play for everything. Having once settled on what to play for, it is generally bad policy to change unless something better turns up.

Your adversary’s discards will often be a guide as to the combinations he hopes to make, and will show you that you need not keep certain cards. For instance: If a binocle player discards or plays two heart Kings, it is unlikely that he has either of the Queens, and you may reasonably hope for 60 Queens; but it will be impossible for you to make anything out of your Kings but marriages. In Bézique, where Kings may be of the same suit in fours, you will have a slightly better chance for 80 Kings on account of your adversary’s discards, because he certainly has no more, as he would not break up three Kings.

_=Declaring.=_ It is often a nice point to decide whether or not you can afford to make minor declarations while holding higher ones in your hand. In Rubicon many players will give up the trump marriage if they have the sequence, especially with a good chance of re-forming it several times with duplicate cards. The number of cards in hand will often be the best guide. In Rubicon, if you held trump sequence and double bézique, it would be better to declare the sequence first, and to lead the card you drew. One of the trump sequence on the table would then be free to regain the lead and declare the double bézique; but if the bézique was declared first, the sequence might have to be broken into to regain the lead. With a plain-suit sequence and four Aces, declare the Aces first. They will then be free to win tricks for the purpose of making other declarations.

It is seldom right to show the bézique cards in other combinations, and four Jacks is a very bad meld, because it shows your adversary that he cannot hope for double bézique. By holding up bézique cards, even if you know they are of no use to you, you may lead your adversary to break up his hand, hoping to draw the card or cards you hold.

_=Trumps.=_ Small trumps may be used to advantage in winning brisques, but you should keep at least one small trump to get the lead at critical periods of the hand, or to make an important declaration. It is bad policy to trump in to make minor declarations, unless your time is short. It is seldom right to lead the trump Ace, except at the end of the hand, or when you have duplicates, but leading high trumps to prevent an adversary from declaring further is a common stratagem, if you know from the cards in your hand, and those played, that your adversary may get the cards to meld something of importance.

_=The Last Tricks.=_ Before you play to the last trick, give yourself time to note the cards your adversary has on the table, and compare them with your own, so that you may play the last tricks to advantage. If you wait until after playing to the last trick, he may gather up his cards so quickly that you will be unable to remember them. At Rubicon it is not always advisable to win the last trick. If your adversary is rubiconed in any case, you may add 100 points to your own score by giving him the 50 for the last trick, which may put him across the line into another hundred.

TEXT BOOKS.

Foster’s Complete Pinocle. 1906. Laws of Pinochle, by R.F. Foster. 1908. Bézique and Cribbage, by “Berkeley.” The Royal Game of Bézique, by Chas. Goodall. Pocket Guide to Bézique, by “Cavendish.” Bézique, by J.L. Baldwin. Rubicon Bézique, by “Cavendish.” Bézique, by Reynolds & Son. Bézique, by English. Règle du Bésique Japonais.

Articles in _Macmillan_, Dec., 1861; _Field_, Jan. 30, 1869; _Pall Mall Gazette_, Jan. 23, 27, 1869; _Once a Week_, Feb. 13, Mar. 20, 1869; _Daily News_, Feb. 10, 1869; _Westminster Papers_, Jan., 1869.

THREE-HANDED BINOCLE.

When three persons play, the entire pack is dealt out, giving sixteen cards to each player, four at a time, and turning up the last for the trump. There is no stock. Each plays for himself, and must keep his own score. A triangular cribbage board is very useful for this purpose.

_=Dix.=_ Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, may show the Nine of trumps if he holds it, and exchange it for the trump card. Should two Nines be shown by different players, the one on the dealer’s left takes the turn-up trump. Even if the dealer has a Nine himself, he is not allowed to keep the turn-up trump. If the same player holds both Nines he may score twenty on winning a trick. A player with 990 up is not out if he turns up the Nine. He must win a trick.

_=Melds.=_ All the combinations have the same value as in the ordinary game, but all melds are laid upon the table before a card is played. When he lays down his cards, a player may make as many combinations with them as he can, just as he would in the ordinary game if he had plenty of time. If he has the trump sequence, he may lay down the marriage first, then the A 10 J. If he has double binocle, he may lay down the single first, and then the other, claiming the count for both. Four Kings and four Queens count 220. The trump sequence counts 190.

No player is allowed to meld after he has played to the first trick. If he discovers he had more to meld, but has played a card, the unannounced score is lost. An interesting variation is sometimes introduced by allowing the other players to claim any score overlooked by the one who melds.

The total number of points claimed by each player is simply announced, but not scored. The player must win a trick before he can score anything; but the first trick he wins entitles him to score everything he has announced, including dix. It is usual to put the melds on a slate, and to rub them out if the player does not win a trick.

_=Playing.=_ The melds are all taken in hand again before play begins. The eldest hand leads for the first trick any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if able, and must win the trick if they can, either with a higher card or with a trump. If the third hand cannot win the trick, he is still obliged to follow suit if he can; but if he has none of the suit led, and the second hand has already put on a better trump than any held by third hand, the latter must under-trump if he can. The winner of one trick leads for the next, as in the ordinary game. The winner of the sixteenth or last trick counts ten points for it at once.

_=Scoring.=_ The points for dix, melds, and the last trick are all scored with the counters in the ordinary way, but the score for cards must be kept mentally. The moment any player correctly announces that he has reached 1000 points, he wins the game, no matter what the others may have scored. If his claim is not correct, he retires, and the two remaining players finish alone. If neither wins the game that deal, they play the next deal as in ordinary two-handed Binocle, with a stock, the ultimate winner taking the stakes. If it has been agreed that the lowest score pays when the first player goes out, the game is ended as soon as one retires. If two players reach 1000 points without either having claimed the game, they must both go on to 1250; but if the third player reaches and announces 1000 before either of the others reaches 1250, he wins the game.

_=The Revoke.=_ The individual player in error loses his entire score for “cards.” The bidder cannot be set back if either adversary revokes. He may demand that the hand be played out if he thinks he can get a good score.

GAIGEL.

This is sometimes called _=Short Binocle=_. It is played by two persons with the forty-eight card pack, and the melds are reduced to the following values:--

King and Queen of a plain suit 20 Double marriage in the same suit 40 King and Queen of trumps 40 Double marriage in trumps 80 Any five Nines 101

Two single marriages in the same suit cannot be melded at different times. Game is 101 points.

FOUR-HANDED BINOCLE.

Four persons may play, each for himself, or two against two as partners, sitting opposite each other. All the cards are dealt, twelve to each player, four at a time, and the last is turned up for the trump.

_=Melds=_ are not made until the player holding them has played to the first trick. The eldest hand leads and then melds; the second player plays and then melds, and so on. The card played to the first trick may still be reckoned in the melds.

_=Playing.=_ The general rules of play are the same as in the three-handed game; players being obliged to follow suit and to win the trick if able to do so. The fourth player must win his partner’s trick if he can, and any player who cannot follow suit to a trick that is already trumped must under-trump if he is unable to over-trump.

_=Scoring.=_ There are three ways to score: In the first, each player must individually win a trick in order to score his melds. In the second, when either partner wins a trick, the melds in both hands may be scored. In both these the melds are kept separate. In the third, when a player wins a trick he may combine his melds with those of his partner to form fresh combinations, and the scores are made as if the melds of the two partners were in one hand; but cards previously played to the tricks cannot be used in these fresh combinations. The cards must still be on the table, unplayed. For this reason, in this style of game the melds are not taken up until one of the partners wins a trick.

AUCTION BINOCLE.

In this variation, each of three or four players is for himself. The forty-eight cards are dealt out, four at a time, but no trump is turned. Beginning on the dealer’s left, each player in turn bids a certain number of points for the privilege of naming the trump suit and of having the lead for the first trick. There are no second bids. If all pass, the dealer must bid twenty.

As soon as the trump is named, every player at the table makes his own melds, which will be good if he wins a trick. The rules for play are the same as in the ordinary three and four hand.

If four play as partners, two against two, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, no matter who the successful bidder may be.

The bidder always has the first count at the end of the hand, and it is usual to play this game so many deals, instead of so many points. At the end of six deals, for instance, the highest score is the winner.

Sometimes this game is played with a widow, three cards when three play, four when four play. Each player is allowed three bids, and the successful bidder turns the widow face up, so that all may see what it contained. He then takes the widow into his hand and discards what he pleases, face down, to reduce his hand to the same number of cards as the other players. The trump is not named until after this discard. The bidder has the first lead and also the first count. Six deals is a game.

SIXTY-SIX.

Sixty-six is one of the simplest forms of Bézique, and is an extremely good game for two persons with one pack of cards.

_=Cards.=_ Sixty-six is played with a pack of twenty-four cards, all below the Nine being deleted. The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9; the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.

_=Markers.=_ The game may be kept with the small cards in the unused portion of the pack, or with a whist marker or counters. Anything that will score up to seven points will do.

_=Players.=_ The regular game is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. They cut for seats and deal, the highest cut having the choice.

_=Stakes.=_ Sixty-six is played for so much a game, or for so much a point, the loser’s score being deducted from the winner’s. If the loser has not scored at all, it is usually counted a double game.

_=Dealing.=_ The cards having been shuffled and presented to the pone to be cut, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three at a time, dealing first to his adversary. There are several ways of making the trump, one of which should be agreed upon before play begins. One way is for the pone to draw a card from the top, the middle, or the bottom of the talon, after the dealer has given each player his six cards. Another way is for the dealer to turn up the seventh card, after dealing the first round of three to each player. Another, and the one generally adopted in America, is for the dealer to turn up the thirteenth card for the trump, after giving six cards to each player. The trump card is left face upward on the table, and is usually placed under the remainder of the pack, which is slightly spread, face down, for the players to draw from.

The general rules for irregularities in the deal are the same as in Binocle. A misdeal does not lose the deal.

_=Objects of the Game.=_ The object of the game, as its name implies, is to count sixty-six. If a player can get sixty-six before his adversary, he counts one point toward game. If he gets sixty-six before his opponent gets thirty-three, which is called _=schneider=_, he counts two. If he gets sixty-six before his adversary wins a trick, which is called _=schwartz=_, he counts three. The player first making seven points in this manner wins the game.

A player may reach sixty-six by winning tricks containing certain counting cards; by holding and announcing marriages, which are the King and Queen of any suit; and by winning the last trick.

The various counts for these are as follows:--

For King and Queen of trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_, 40 For King and Queen of any plain suit, _=Marriage=_, 20 For the Ace of any suit, 11 For the Ten of any suit, 10 For the King of any suit, 4 For the Queen of any suit, 3 For the Jack of any suit, 2 For the last or twelfth trick, 10

The marriages count for the player holding and announcing them; all other points for the player actually winning them. The last trick does not count unless it is the twelfth; that is, not unless every card is played.

_=Method of Playing.=_ The pone begins by leading any card he pleases. The second player in any trick is not obliged to follow suit, even in trumps; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the players cease to draw from the stock. If the second player follows suit, the higher card wins the trick. Trumps win all other suits.

_=Drawing.=_ The winner of the trick takes in the cards, turning them face down; but before he leads for the next trick he draws a card from the top of the stock, and places it in his hand without showing or naming it. His adversary then draws the next card, so that each restores the number of cards in his hand to six.

_=The Trump.=_ If either player holds or draws the Nine of trumps, he may exchange it for the turn-up at any time, provided he has already won a trick. This need not be the trick immediately before exchanging, and he need not wait to get the lead before making the exchange. For instance: A player holding the Nine, and having to play to his adversary’s lead, may win the trick with the turn-up card, leaving the Nine in its place, provided he has won some previous trick. There is no count for dix, as in Bézique and Binocle, and the player is not obliged to exchange unless he wishes to do so. If the Nine is the last card in the stock, it is, of course, too late to exchange it, and the player drawing it must keep it.

_=Marriages.=_ If a player holds both King and Queen of any suit, he may count 20 points towards 66 for the marriage, or 40 for royal marriage, by leading either of the marriage cards. It is not necessary for the King or Queen so led to win the trick; but the player declaring a marriage must have the lead, and must have won a trick, or he cannot count it. The pone may declare a marriage on his first lead; but it will not count unless he wins some subsequent trick, and if his adversary gets to 66 before the pone gets a trick, the marriage is lost, and the pone is schwartz.

If the 20 or 40 claimed for the marriage is enough to carry the player’s count to 66 or beyond, the marriage need only be shown and claimed, without leading it, and the remaining cards are then abandoned, provided the count is correct. Only one marriage can be shown but not led in this manner.

In the ordinary course of play it is not necessary to show both cards of the marriage unless the adversary asks to see them. The player simply leads the King or Queen, and says: “Twenty,” or “Forty,” as the case may be. If he leads a King or Queen without claiming any count, it is evident that he has not a marriage. If he has simply forgotten to claim it, he cannot amend the error after his adversary has played to the trick, and the score is lost. To avoid disputes, careful players leave one of the marriage cards face up among their cards, as a reminder that a marriage was claimed in that suit, either by the player with the card turned, or by his adversary.

_=Counting.=_ A player is not allowed to make any record of his progress toward sixty-six, but must keep his count mentally. It is highly important to keep both your own and your adversary’s count, in order that you may always know how many each of you wants to reach 66. A player is not allowed to go back over his tricks to refresh his memory, and if he looks at any trick but the last one turned and quitted, he loses the privilege of “closing.”

All _=irregularities=_ in playing and drawing are governed by the same rules as in Binocle.

_=The Last Six Tricks.=_ After the stock is exhausted, marriages may still be led or shown, and scored; but the second player in each trick must follow suit if he can, although he is not obliged to win the trick unless he chooses to do so. If all the cards are played, the winner of the last or twelfth trick, counts 10 for it toward his 66.