Part 50

36. The survivor of the bidding shall be known as the Player, and shall have the privilege of naming the game to be played; the two other active players being his adversaries.

37. If no bid is made, and Vorhand will not undertake to play any game against the two others, they must play Ramsch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS.

38. The player, if he does not use the skat cards, may announce any suit for the trump, or he may play a Grand or Nullo.

39. If he wishes to announce schneider or schwarz, he must do so when he names the game to be played, and before a card is led. All Open Grands are compulsory “schwarz announced.”

40. The manner of taking up the skat cards, when the player uses them, is sufficient announcement for a Tournée, Passt-mir-nicht, or Guckser; but a Gucki Nullo must be announced before the skat cards are touched, and open Gucki Nullo must be announced before the skat cards are seen.

41. The player is not allowed to announce either schneider or schwarz in any game in which he uses the skat cards.

42. The adversaries cannot announce schneider or schwarz under any circumstances.

43. No player but Vorhand can announce Ramsch, and then only when no bid has been made.

PLAYING.

44. In Tournée, but not in Solo, Grand, or Nullo, the player may, in order to avoid the possibility of being made schneider, abandon his game as lost before playing to the second trick. The adversaries are then bound to score it as a “game” lost, even if they could have made the player schneider.

45. No matter who is the single player, Vorhand shall always lead for the first trick. The winner of one trick leads for the next, and so on, and each player in turn must follow suit if he can.

46. If, during the play of the hand, any player is found to have a wrong number of cards, the others having their right number, only those who have their right number can win the game. If it is the player who has a wrong number, his game is lost. If it is one of his adversaries, the player’s game is won.

47. If the single player leads out of turn, the cards must be taken back if the trick is not complete and the adversary who has not played demands it. If both adversaries have played to the false lead, the trick stands. If an adversary has played to his false lead, the player cannot take it back unless the other adversary permit it.

48. If an adversary of the player leads out of turn, and the player calls attention to it, the player may immediately claim his game as won and abandon the hand; or he may insist that the play proceed with a view to making the adversaries schneider or schwarz. Whether he proceeds or not his game is won, and he may either let the false lead stand, or insist on a lead from the proper hand.

49. If, during the progress of the hand, the player lays his cards on the table, face up, and announces that he has won his game by reaching 61 or 91, whichever may be necessary to make good his bid, and it is proved that he is mistaken, he loses his game, even if he could have taken up his cards again and won it.

50. If an adversary lays his cards on the table, face up, and claims to have already defeated the player’s game, all that adversary’s cards shall be taken by the player and counted with the tricks already taken in by the player. If the adversary be found to be in error, the player shall score his game as won, even if he would have lost it had it been continued.

51. If the single player gives up his game as lost, and lays his cards on the table, the adversaries shall take all such cards and add them to their own, and count their cards to see if they have also made the player schneider.

THE REVOKE.

52. Should the single player revoke, and not discover the error before the trick is turned and quitted, he loses his game. If he discovers the error and corrects it in time, there is no penalty; but any adversary who plays after him may amend his play.

53. If either adversary of the player revokes, the player may claim his game as won; but he may insist on playing the hand out to see if he can make schneider or schwarz. Even if the single player has overbid his hand, he wins his game if either adversary revokes.

LOOKING BACK.

54. Any active player may see the last trick turned and quitted, provided no card has been led for the next trick. Should a player look back at any other trick, or count his cards, he loses the game; but either of the others may insist on playing on to see if they can make schneider.

55. If an adversary of the player tell his partner how many points they have taken in, or ask him to fatten a trick which is his, or call attention in any way to the fact that the partner’s play should be thus or so, the single player may at once claim his game as won, and abandon his hand.

SCORING.

56. The single player wins his game if he reaches 61 points. He wins schneider if he makes 91. He wins schwarz if he gets every trick.

57. If the adversaries reach 30, they are out of schneider. If they reach 60, they defeat the player. If they get to 90, they make him schneider; and if they win every trick they make him schwarz.

58. The value of the game having been calculated according to Law No. 2, the amount won or lost shall be entered on the score pad under the name of the individual player, and each following item shall be added to or deducted from the previous total, so that the last entry shall at all times show the exact state of the player’s score.

59. At the end of the sitting each player wins from or loses to each of the others at the table the full amount of his score.

60. In every case in which a player loses his game, he loses what he would have won if he had been successful, regardless of the amount he may have bid; but,

61. If the player fails to win a game equal to the amount he has bid, he loses the value of the next higher game which would have made his bid good; because in no case can a player lose less than he bid, and in every case must he lose some multiple of the game which he declared to play.

FROG.

This is a very popular game in Mexico, and seems to be an elementary form of Skat, which it resembles in many ways. Even the name may be a corruption of the simple game in Skat, which is called “frage.” The chief differences are that there are four cards added to the pack for frog, and that the players win or lose according to the number of points they get above or below 61, instead of computing the value of the game by matadores.

_=Players.=_ Three, four, or five can play; but only three are active in each deal. If four play, the dealer takes no cards. If five play, he gives cards to the two on his left and one on his right.

_=Cards.=_ There are thirty-six cards in the pack, which rank: A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 6. Each Ace is worth 11, Tens are worth 10, Kings 4, Queens 3, and Jacks 2. This gives us 120 points in the pack, and the object is to get 61 or more.

_=Dealing.=_ Any one can deal the first hand, after which the deal passes to the left. Three cards are given to each player the first round, then three for the widow, and then two rounds of four cards each to the players, so that there are three hands of eleven cards each, and three in the widow.

_=THE GAMES.=_ Each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, can offer to play one of three games, and the highest offer must be accepted. A player cannot increase his own bid unless he is overbid. The highest bidder becomes the single player, opposed to the two others.

_=Frog.=_ In this, hearts must be trumps. The single player turns the widow face up to show what it contained, and then takes the three cards into his hand. He must then discard to reduce his playing hand to eleven cards again. Any points in the cards he lays away will count for him at the end of the play.

The player on the dealer’s left always leads for the first trick, any card he pleases. The others must follow suit if they can, but they are not obliged to head the trick. If a player cannot follow suit, he must trump, and if the third player cannot follow suit either, he must play a trump, but he is not obliged to over-trump unless he likes.

The eleven tricks played, each side turns over the cards taken in and counts the points. For every point the single player gets over 60 he must be paid a counter by each of the others who held cards. But if he does not get 60, he must pay each of the others at the table, including those who held no cards, if any, a counter for every point his adversaries get over 60.

_=Chico=_ outbids Frog. The player offering this game can name any suit for the trump except hearts, but he must not touch the widow, although the points in it will count for him at the end. Each point under or over 60 is worth two counters in Chico.

_=Grand=_ outbids Chico, and is the highest bid possible. Hearts must be trumps, and the player offering this game must not touch the widow until the play is finished. Every point under or over 60 in a Grand is worth four counters.

The bidder must play the game he names. He cannot bid Frog and play Chico, or bid Chico and play Grand. The settling up of the scores at the end, if the payments are not made at once in counters, is the same as in Skat.

CRIBBAGE.

Cribbage is not only one of the oldest of the games upon the cards, but enjoys the distinction of being quite unlike any other game, both in the manner of playing it, and in the system of reckoning the points. It is also peculiar from the fact that it is one of the very few really good games which require no effort of the memory; judgment and finesse being the qualities chiefly requisite for success.

There are two principal varieties of the game; _=Five=_ and _=Six-card=_ Cribbage; and these again are divided according to the number of players. The old writers agree in speaking of the five-card game as the more scientific; but the modern verdict is in favour of the six-card game, which is certainly the more common and popular. The skill in Five-card Cribbage is limited to laying out for the crib and securing the “go”; but in Six-card Cribbage, while the scientific principles applicable to the crib remain the same as in the five-card game, there is abundant room for the display of skill all through, the hand being as important as the crib, and the play sometimes more important than either. The six-card game will be first described.

_=CARDS.=_ Cribbage is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which have no rank except the order of their sequence; K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A, the Ace being always the lowest, either in cutting or in play. The cards have also a counting or pip value, the three court cards, K Q J, and the 10 being worth ten points each. All other cards, including the Ace, retain their face value. There are no trumps, and the four suits are therefore equal in value at all times.

_=MARKERS.=_ The game is 61 points, and is scored or “pegged” on a cribbage board, which has a double row of 30 holes on each side, and a game-hole at each end. The players are each provided with two pegs, and they score the points as they accrue by advancing their pegs from left to right according to the number of points they make. For instance: One player makes 6 for his first count. He places one of his pegs in the sixth hole from the left-hand end of the board. Then he makes 4, and places the second peg four holes in advance of the first, which will show that his total score is ten points. The third time he makes 2, which he scores by lifting out the back peg and putting it two holes in advance of the first one. This system of pegging not only shows the total number of points made by either player, but enables the adversary to check the count, as a glance at the distance between the two pegs will show the number of points pegged last time.

When a player reaches the extreme right of the board, 30 points, he crosses over to the inner row of holes, and goes down from right to left. On reaching the end of the second row he has still one more to go to get into the game-hole, which is in the middle of the board.

When one player reaches his game-hole before the other turns the corner, it is called a _=lurch=_, and counts two games.

The pegs are so often lose or mislaid that it is much more convenient to use a _=pull-up=_ cribbage board, in which every hole is provided with its own peg, which may be raised to indicate the count. The back pegs can be either left standing or pushed down again.

The board is always placed midway between the players.

If three persons play, a triangular board is necessary. This is provided with three sets of holes and three game holes.

When a cribbage board is not at hand, the game may be kept by ruling a sheet of paper into ten divisions, and marking them with the figures 1 to 0 on each side:

+---------------------------------------+ | 0 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | +---------------------------------------+ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | +---------------------------------------+

Each player being provided with two coins, one silver and one copper, (or different sizes,) the copper coin can be advanced from point to point to count units, and the silver coin will mark the tens.

_=PLAYERS.=_ Cribbage is distinctly a game for two players, although three may play, each for himself, or four, two being partners against the other two. When two play, one is known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the non-dealer, or the _=pone=_.

_=CUTTING.=_ The players cut for the choice of seats, and for the first deal. The lowest cut has the choice, and deals the first hand. The Ace is low. If a player exposes more than one card he must cut again. Ties are also decided by cutting again.

_=STAKES.=_ Cribbage is played for so much a game, lurches counting double. Players may either settle at the end of each game, or score on a sheet of paper. In the pull-up cribbage boards there are nine extra pegs for counting games won. These are placed in a line with the player’s game hole at each end.

_=DEALING.=_ The cards are shuffled and presented to the pone to be cut, and he must leave at least six cards in each packet. Six cards are dealt to each player, one at a time in rotation, beginning with the player on the dealer’s left if there are more than two. No trump is turned, and the remainder of the pack is placed face downward at the end of the cribbage board on the dealer’s left.

_=Irregularities.=_ It is a misdeal if any card is found faced in the pack, or if the pack is found to be imperfect, and there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. Any previous cuts or scores made with the imperfect pack stand good. A player dealing out of turn may be stopped before the non-dealer lifts his cards from the table. The penalty for dealing out of turn is two points, if the error is detected in time; otherwise the deal stands good.

If the dealer neglects to have the pack cut, exposes a card in dealing, gives too many or too few cards to any player, deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy the error before dealing another, or exposes one of his adversary’s cards, the non-dealer scores two points by way of penalty. He also has the option of demanding a fresh deal by the same dealer, or of letting the deal stand. If the error is simply an irregularity in the manner of dealing, or an exposed card, the pone must decide without looking at his cards. If either player has too many or too few cards, the pone may look at the hand dealt him before deciding whether or not to have a fresh deal; but if it is the pone himself that has too many or too few cards, he must discover and announce the error before lifting his cards from the table, or he will not be entitled to the option of letting the deal stand. If the pone has too many cards he may return the surplus to the top of the pack, without showing or naming them. If the dealer has too many, the pone may draw from his hand face downward, returning the surplus to the top of the pack; but the pone may not look at the cards so drawn unless the dealer has seen them. If there are too few cards, and the pone elects to have the deal stand, the deficiency must be supplied from the top of the pack.

_=THE CRIB.=_ The cards dealt, each player takes up his six cards and examines them with a view to laying out two cards, face downward, for the crib; leaving himself four cards with which to play. The four cards which form the crib, two from each hand, always belong to the dealer, and it is usual for each player, in discarding for the crib, to slip his two cards under the end of the cribbage board opposite to that occupied by the remainder of the pack.

Cards once laid out for the crib, and the hand removed from them, cannot be taken up again. A penalty of two points may be scored by the adversary for each card so taken up again, whether it is returned to the player’s hand or not. If either player confuses his cards in any manner with those of the crib, his adversary scores two points, and may also claim a fresh deal.

If it is not discovered until he comes to lay out for the crib, that a player has too many cards, the same rules apply that are given for misdealing; but if he has too few cards there is no remedy, as he has lifted his hand. He must lay out two cards for the crib and play with what remain, his adversary scoring two points penalty at the same time.

_=THE STARTER.=_ Both players having discarded for the crib, the non-dealer cuts the remainder of the pack, and the dealer lifts the top card from the portion left on the table, turning it face up. The two portions being again united, the turned card is placed face up on the pack, and is known as the starter, because it forms the starting-point in the count for every hand and crib. At least four cards must be left in each packet in cutting for the starter. If the starter is found face up, there must be a new deal.

If the starter is a Jack, the dealer immediately pegs two points _=for his heels=_. If he does not peg these two holes before he plays a card the score is lost. If the Jack of the same suit as the starter is found in the hand or crib of any player, it is called _=his nobs=_, and when the hand is reckoned up after the play is over, one point may be scored for it.

If the dealer exposes more than one card after the pack has been properly cut, his adversary may choose which of the exposed cards shall be the starter.

In order to understand the motives which govern the players in discarding, and the influences which the starter has upon the value of the hands and crib, it will be necessary to describe the objects of the game, before giving the method of play.

_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The chief object in Cribbage is to form and to preserve various counting combinations. As these combinations occur in the course of play, or are shown in the hand or crib after the play is over, their value in points is pegged on the cribbage board, and the player who first pegs a sufficient number of these combinations to reach a total of 61 points, wins the game.

There are five principal varieties of these counting combinations: Pairs, Triplets, Fours, Sequences, and Fifteens; besides some minor counts which will be spoken of in their proper place.

The various counting combinations in Cribbage may arise in two ways. They may be formed by combining the cards played by one person with those played by his adversary; or they may be found in the individual hand or crib after the play is over. In the latter case the starter is considered as part of each hand and crib, increasing each of them to five available counting cards.

_=Pairs.=_ A pair is any two cards of the same denomination, such as two Fives or two Queens, and its counting value is always the same, 2 points. _=Triplets=_, usually called Pairs Royal, Proils, or Prials, are any three cards of the same denomination, such as three Nines. Their value is the number of separate pairs that can be formed with the three cards, which is three, and the combination is therefore always worth 6 points. The different pairs that can be formed with three Nines, for instance, would be as follows:--

_=Fours=_, sometimes called Double Pairs Royal, or Deproils, are any four cards of the same denomination, such as four Fours, and their counting value is the number of separate pairs that can be formed with the four cards, which is six. The combination is therefore always worth 12 points. The different combinations of four cards, arranged in pairs, is as follows:--

Whether the foregoing combinations are formed during the play of the hand, or found in the hand or crib after the play is over, their counting value is exactly the same.

_=Sequences.=_ Any three or more cards, following one another in numerical order, will form a sequence. A sequence may also run into the court cards, such as 9 10 J, 10 J Q, or J Q K; but Q K A is not a sequence in Cribbage. The counting value of a sequence is one point for each card in it. Sequences formed in the course of play must always be single, although the cards forming them need not fall in regular order. Those found in the hand or crib may be double, and those formed with the aid of the starter may be treble or quadruple.

The method of computing the value of double and treble sequences should be thoroughly understood, in order that such combinations may be counted at sight. A few examples will show that each combination belongs to a certain class, to which the same counting value is always attached. These classes are distinguished by the number of duplicates of the sequence cards.

If you hold three cards which form a sequence, and have also a duplicate of any one of them, no matter which, it is evident that by substituting the card of equal value you can form another sequence. Such combinations are therefore always worth 8 points, 6 for the _=double run=_, as it is called, and 2 for the pair, no matter what the cards are that form the combination.

If the five cards in the hand and starter together contain a run of three with two duplicates, it is evident that three separate sequences can be formed by using each of the duplicates alternately. Such combinations are always worth 15 points; 9 for the triple run of three, and 6 for the pair royal.

If the duplicates are of two different cards, no matter which, it will be found that four different sequences of three cards each can be formed by changing the Aces and Threes alternately. Such combinations are therefore always worth 16 points: four runs of three, worth 12, and 4 points for the two separate pairs.

If the five cards contain one sequence of four, and one duplicate, the combination will always be worth 10 points; 8 for the double run of four, and 2 for the pair.

The foregoing should be thoroughly familiar to every player, so that he may know the exact value of the combination the moment he sees the length of the sequence and the number of duplicates.

_=Two-card Fifteens.=_ Any combination of two or more cards, the total face value of which is exactly 15, is called _=fifteen-two=_, because each fifteen so formed is worth two points in the pegging. There are only three combinations of two cards which will form fifteen; a Five with any court card or Ten; a Nine and a Six; an Eight and a Seven. The manner of counting duplicates is the same as that employed for the pairs and sequences, and the player should be equally familiar with each variety of combination. The fifteens formed by _=two cards=_ only are the simplest, and should be studied first.