Part 56
_=Coronets.=_ A sequence of three or more cards in any suit, trumps or plain, held by an individual player, is a coronet. Three or four Aces in one hand is also a coronet. When there is a trump suit, three Aces, or three of a plain suit in sequence, are worth 500 in the honour column. Each additional card is worth 500 points more. A sequence of K Q J 10 9 would be worth 1,500. In the trump suit, and in all the suits when there are no trumps, these coronets are worth double, and each additional card is therefore worth 1,000 more.
_=Rubbers.=_ As soon as one side wins two games, that ends the first rubber. The partners then change, without cutting, in such a manner that at the end of three rubbers each player shall have had each of the others for a partner. At the end of the third rubber, the losses and gains are ascertained for each individual, and settled for.
_=Laws.=_ The laws that govern the game are almost identical with those for Bridge.
PREFERENCE.
This is a simplified form of Vint, for three players, with a thirty-two-card pack. The cards rank: A K Q J 10 9 8 7, and the suits rank: Hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Hearts are always _=preference=_. There are no hands played without a trump suit.
If four persons play, the dealer takes no cards. The three active players make up a pool, each putting in an equal amount at first, and the bidder putting into it as many as he bids for the privilege of naming the trump suit.
Any one may deal the first hand, after which the deal passes to the left. Three cards are given to each player the first round, then two are laid off for a widow, then four to each player, and then three to each. Beginning on the dealer’s left, each player in turn may name the trump if he thinks he can take at least six of the ten tricks to be played for. Bids outrank one another in the order of the suits, hearts being preference always. The number of tricks is not mentioned. In case there are no bids, each in turn has a second chance to bid for the widow. These bids are made in counters, to be put into the pool. The highest bidder takes the widow, lays out two cards, and then names the trump suit.
The players agree upon a value for the tricks won, and payments are made from the pool accordingly. These payments may vary according to the rank of the trump suit.
ODD GAMES.
There are quite a number of odd games of cards, which come and go as favourites from time to time, and pass round the world from one country to another under many different names. The origin of most of these games is lost in the weedy undergrowth of variations, but the chief family trait in some of them can be traced back to the alpha of cards.
Among the oldest of games was Ombre, immortalised by Pope, the only survivor of which is a variation played by the older Germans, under the name of Solo; a game which still faintly resists the exterminating influence of Skat. The ancient and honourable games of Comète, Hoc, and Nain Jaune survive to the present day in a large and prosperous family, ranging from Commit to Fan Tan, the latter being to-day quite a favourite among those who like simple and amusing games, free from mental effort. Fan Tan is unfortunately named, as many persons confuse it with the Chinese banking game, and it would be much better under its older name, Play or Pay.
Among the many games of which everyone has heard, and which many thousands have been advised to play, is one which, strange to say, is not to be found described in any work on card games, and that is Old Maid. There was a time when the result of this game was supposed to be final and conclusive, and parties of young men have been known to substitute a Jack or King for the discarded Queen, in order to learn what the future had in store for them. Under such circumstances the game became Old Bachelor, of course.
For those who believe in the verdict of the cards, there are other sources of information. Fortune telling, whether for the purpose of amusement or self-deception, has undoubtedly interested many persons in all stations of life ever since Eittella first explained the art, away back in the sixteenth century. The meanings attached to the cards individually, and the manner of their arrangement, is all that can be given in a work of this kind. The qualifications for success in foretelling the future do not depend so much on the cards as on good judgment of human nature, unlimited assurance, a glib tongue, and a certain amount of ingenuity in making a connected story out of the disjointed sentences formed by the chance arrangement of certain cards, to which an arbitrary or fanciful meaning is attached.
Speculation is considered by some persons an excellent training school for the commercial instincts of the younger members of a family, teaching them to form correct estimates as to the value of certain articles offered for sale in a fluctuating market. Authors is a very good game for the family circle, and does not require special cards, the ordinary pack being easily adapted to the distinctions of the game.
Patience, or Solitaire, has probably claimed the attention of every card-player at some time or other, and one cannot fail to be impressed by the number and ingenuity of the patience games which have been invented. One of the most expensive works on cards ever published is devoted exclusively to Solitaire.
Among all these odd games one should be able to find something to amuse all sorts and conditions of card-players. The only apparatus required in any of them is a pack of cards and a few counters, and for the latter corn or coffee-beans will form an excellent substitute.
SOLO.
Under the name of Solo, the Germans play a great many variations of card games, of which the following is the best known.
_=Cards.=_ Solo is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7. One suit is always first preference, or _=colour=_, and the suit usually selected is clubs. Any suit may be made the trump, but whatever the suit, the club Queen, _=Spadilla=_, is always the best trump; the Seven of the trump suit, _=Manilla=_, is always the second-best trump; and the spade Queen, _=Basta=_, is always the third-best trump.
_=Players.=_ Solo is played by four persons, who throw round the cards for the first club turned up to deal eight cards to each player; 3-2-3 at a time.
_=Objects.=_ The object of the game is to secure the privilege of naming the trump suit, and of playing, either alone or with a partner, to make five tricks, _=solo=_, or eight tricks, _=tout=_. If a partner is required, he is selected by the player asking for a certain ace, but the holder of the ace remains unknown until the ace falls, although from the first he must assist the player who has asked for it. If a player asks for an ace while holding it himself, he of course plays without a partner, unknown to the others however, until he plays the ace asked for.
_=Bidding.=_ The players bid against one another for the privilege of naming the trump suit, eldest hand having the first say. When no one will bid any higher, the player who has made the best offer names the game he wishes to play, with or without a partner.
_=Games.=_ The rank of the various games, the amounts bid on them, and the payments made for them, are as follows:--
Simple in suit, 2; in colour, 4. Forcée or Solo in suit, 4; in colour, 8. Tout in Suit, 16; in colour, 32.
_=Simple Game=_ is to play for five tricks with a partner holding a designated ace. If the trump is clubs, (in colour,) it is worth double, 4 counters.
_=Solo=_ is five tricks without a partner. With clubs trumps it pays double, 8 counters.
_=Tout=_ is eight tricks, with or without a partner. If alone, the single player wins or loses all; if with a partner he must share his gains or losses.
_=Forcée=_ is when no bid is made, and any player holds both Spadilla and Basta. He must play a Solo, or call for an ace. If he calls, the player holding the ace names the trump suit; but the suit so named must not be the suit of the called ace. Forcée in clubs is worth double, 8 counters.
_=Playing.=_ The trump named, the eldest hand leads any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The hands are abandoned as soon as the bidder takes five tricks, if he is playing anything but a tout. If he goes on he must win all eight tricks, or lose the value of a tout.
_=Payments.=_ A solo player wins from or loses to each of his adversaries individually the amount of the game in counters. Two partners pay or receive each from one adversary.
_=HEART SOLO=_ is a game for three players, in which the pack is reduced to twenty-four cards by deleting the Eight of hearts, and all the diamonds but the Seven. Diamonds are always colour, and there are only three trumps in that suit; Spadilla, Manilla, and Basta. The only play is for the Solo, and if no one will make a bid, the hands are played in colour, and the winner of the last trick loses the value of a Solo.
AUTHORS.
This game was originally played with cards bearing the names of various authors, and other famous personages, arranged in groups, but the game is much simpler when played with an ordinary pack of fifty-two cards.
Any number of persons can play. The cards are shuffled and spread, and the person drawing the lowest card deals the first hand. The ace is low. Each player then deposits a counter in the pool, and the cards are distributed one at a time until the pack is exhausted. If some players have a card more than others it makes no difference.
The _=object=_ of the game is to secure tricks consisting of four cards of the same denomination; such as four 6’s or four K’s, and the player having the most tricks of this kind wins the pool. Ties divide it.
The player on the left of the dealer begins by _=asking=_ for a certain card, which must be of the same denomination as one already in his hand. For instance: He holds the spade Ten. He may ask any one at the table for either of the three other Tens; but he must designate the suit, and must ask a particular player for the card wanted. If the player asked has the card, he must immediately surrender it, and the player to whom it is given can then ask again--any player for any card, always provided that the asker has one of the same denomination in his own hand.
If the person asked has not the card demanded, the privilege of asking is transferred to him, and he may ask any person at the table for any card of the same denomination as one already in his own hand. If he has just been asked for a Ten, for instance, and has a Ten, but not of the suit asked for, he might turn upon his questioner and get a Ten from him, if he could guess the right suit.
As soon as any player gets together four cards of the same denomination, he lays them face down upon the table in front of him, and they form a trick.
A good memory is necessary to play this game well, as it is very important to recall who has asked for certain cards, and which players were unable to supply them. It is a legitimate artifice in the game to ask for a card you already have in your own hand, although you know it will lose your guess, because it may be the only way to prevent another player from drawing several valuable cards from you. For instance: You hold the Fives of diamonds and spades, and have asked for and received the Five of clubs. If you ask for the heart Five, and miss it, the player with that card may draw all yours; but if you ask for the spade Five, and he gets into the ask, he will at once betray the fact that he holds the fourth Five by asking you for the club Five; but he will never think of asking you for the spade Five, because you asked for it yourself. If you can get into the ask again you can immediately make a trick in Fives.
SPECULATION.
Any number of persons less than ten can play, each contributing an agreed number of counters to the pool, the dealer paying double. The full pack of fifty-two cards is used, and the cards rank from the A K Q down to the 2.
In _=dealing=_, the cards are distributed from left to right, one at a time, until each player has received three. The next card on the top of the pack is turned up, and the suit to which it belongs is the trump, and forms the basis of speculation for that deal. If the turn-up card is an ace, the dealer takes the pool immediately, and the deal passes to the left. If the turn-up is a K Q or J, the dealer offers it for sale, before a card is looked at, and he may accept or refuse the amount offered. Whether the card is sold or not, all the cards that have been dealt out are turned face up, and the highest card of the turn-up suit wins the pool. If the card is not an honour, the dealer proceeds to sell it before any player is allowed to look at any of the cards dealt. If any one buys the dealer’s turn-up card, the purchaser places it on his own cards, leaving it face up. Whether it is sold or not, the elder hand proceeds to turn up the top card of his three. If this is not a trump, the next player on his left turns up his top card, and so on until a trump is turned that is better than the one already exposed. The player who possesses the original turn-up, does not expose any more of his cards until a better trump is shown. As soon as a better trump appears it is offered for sale, and after it is sold or refused, the cards are turned up again until a better trump appears, or all the cards have been exposed. The holder of the best trump at the end takes the pool.
OLD MAID.
Strange to say, this oft-quoted and continually derided game is not mentioned in any work on cards, a singular omission which we hasten to supply.
Any number of young ladies may play, and a pack of fifty-one cards is used, the Queen of hearts having been deleted. Any player can deal the cards, which are distributed one at a time until the pack is exhausted; if every player has not the same number it does not matter. Beginning with the eldest hand, each player sorts her cards into pairs of the same denomination; such as two Fives, two Jacks, etc., and all pairs so formed are laid upon the table face down, without showing them to the other players. All the cards laid out in this manner are left in front of the player, in order to discover errors, if any. Three of a kind cannot be discarded, but four of a kind may be considered as two pairs.
The discarding of pairs complete, the dealer begins by spreading her remaining cards like a fan, and presenting them, face downward, to her left-hand neighbour, who must draw one card at random. The card so drawn is examined, and if it completes a pair, the two cards are discarded. Whether it forms a pair or not, the player’s cards are spread and presented to the next player on the left, to be drawn from in the same manner.
This process of drawing, forming pairs, and discarding is continued until it is found that one player remains with one card. This card is of course the odd Queen, and the unfortunate holder of it is the Old Maid; but only for that deal.
LIFT SMOKE.
The number of players must be limited to six, each of whom deposits a counter in the pool. A full pack of fifty-two cards is used. The cards rank from the ace down to the deuce, as at Whist. If there are four players, six cards are dealt to each, one at a time; if five play, five cards to each, and if six play, four cards to each. The last card that falls to the dealer is turned up for the trump, and the remainder of the pack is placed in the centre of the table as a stock to draw from.
The eldest hand leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of each trick draws the top card from the talon, and leads again. When any player’s cards are exhausted he withdraws from the game, and the others continue. The player who remains to the end, having a card when his adversary has none, wins the pool. If two players remain with a card each, the winner of the trick draws from the stock, and the card so drawn wins the game, his adversary having none.
EARL OF COVENTRY.
This game is sometimes called Snip Snap Snorem, by those who are not of a poetical turn of mind. Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of cards is dealt out, one at a time. If some players have a card more than others, it does not matter. The eldest hand lays upon the table any card he pleases, and each player in turn pairs or matches it, if he can, with another of the same denomination, accompanying the action with a rhyme. Suppose the first card played is a King; the person playing it would say: “There’s as good as King can be.” The first player to lay down another King would say: “There is one as good as he.” The player holding the third King would say: “There’s the best of all the three,” and the holder of the fourth would then triumphantly exclaim: “And there’s the Earl of Coventry.”
The fortunate holder of the Earl of Coventry in each round has the privilege of leading a card for the next trick, and the first player to get rid of all his cards wins one counter from the others for every card they hold. The words, “Snip, Snap, Snorem,” may be substituted for the foregoing rhymes if time is short.
_=Jig=_ is a variation of Earl of Coventry in which the next higher in sequence and suit must be played, if the player has it, until four cards are shown. The one who lays down the last of the sequence of four cards starts a fresh sequence, and the winner is the one who can first get rid of all the cards originally dealt him. All the others then pay him a counter for each card they have left.
COMMIT.
The etymology of this word has been quite overlooked by those who have described the game. The word is from the French, cométe, a comet; but instead of being an equivalent in English, it is simply a phonetic equivalent; Commit, instead of Comet. Tenac informs us that the game was invented during the appearance of Halley’s comet; and the idea of the game is that of a string of cards forming a tail to the one first played, a feature which is common to quite a number of the older games of cards.
Commit is played by any number of persons, with a pack of fifty-one cards, the Eight of diamonds having been deleted. The players draw for positions at the table and for the first deal, and make up a pool. The cards have no value except the order of their sequence in the various suits. The ace is not in sequence with the King, but below the 2. The dealer distributes the cards, one at a time to each player in rotation, as far as they will go, leaving any odd cards on the table face downward, to form what are known as _=stops=_. As it is desirable to have a number of these stops, it is usual to give only nine cards to each when there are five players.
The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases which he lays face upward in the centre of the table. If he holds any other cards in sequence above it, he must play them, and when he can no longer continue the series, he says aloud: “Without the Jack,” or whatever the card may be that he fails on. The player on his left must then continue the sequence in the same suit, if he can; or he must say: “Without the Jack.” When the sequence reaches the King, it is stopped, and the player who held the King receives a counter from each player at the table. The same player then begins another sequence with any card he pleases. If a sequence is opened with an ace, a counter may be demanded from each player at the table.
If a sequence is stopped, which it will be if the card necessary to continue it is in the stock, or if the diamonds are run up to the Seven, the person who plays the last card before the stop is entitled to begin another sequence. Should any player who is unable to continue a sequence in his proper turn, hold the Nine of diamonds, he may play that card, and the player following him is then at liberty to continue the original sequence or to play the Ten of diamonds, following up that sequence. When the Nine of diamonds is played, the holder receives two counters from each player at the table; but if it is not got rid of in play, the holder of it must pay two counters to each of the other players.
The first player to get rid of all his cards wins the pool, and the cards remaining in the other hands are then exposed. Any player holding a King must pay a counter for it to each of the other players.
MATRIMONY.
Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of fifty-two cards is used. Each player should be provided with an equal number of counters, to which a trifling value may be attached. A strip of paper is placed in the centre of the table, marked as follows:--
+------------+-----------+--------------+-------+-------+ | Matrimony. | Intrigue. | Confederacy. | Pair. | Best. | +------------+-----------+--------------+-------+-------+
Any King and Queen is _=Matrimony=_; any Queen and Jack is _=Intrigue=_; any King and Jack is _=Confederacy=_; any two cards of the same denomination form a _=Pair=_, and the diamond ace is always _=Best=_.
The players draw, and the lowest card deals: ace is low. The dealer then takes any number of counters he chooses, and distributes them as he pleases on the various divisions of the layout. Each player then takes a number of counters one less than the dealer’s, and distributes them according to his fancy.
The cards are then cut, and the dealer gives one to each player, face down; and then another, face up. If any of the latter should be the diamond ace, the player to whom it is dealt takes everything on the layout, and the cards are gathered and shuffled again, the deal passing to the left, the new dealer beginning a fresh pool. If the diamond ace is not turned up, each player in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, exposes his down card. The first player to discover Matrimony in his two cards, takes all that has been staked on that division of the layout. The first to discover Intrigue or Confederacy, takes all on that, and the first player to expose a Pair takes that pool. The ace of diamonds is of no value except as one of a pair, if it is one of the cards that were dealt to the players face down. The pool for it remains until the card is dealt to some player face up. Any of the pools which are not won must remain until the following deal, and may be added to.
POPE JOAN.
This game is a combination of the layout in Matrimony, and the manner of playing in Commit. There are a great many ways of dividing the layout, but the following is the simplest. Five cards are taken from an old pack, and are laid out in the centre of the table, or their names are written on a sheet of paper.
The cards are thrown round for the deal, and the first Jack deals. The cards are distributed one at a time, the full pack of fifty-two cards being used. The following table will show the number of cards to be given to each player, and that left in the stock to form stops.
3 Players, 15 cards each 7 in the stock. 4 ” 12 ” 4 ” 5 ” 9 ” 7 ” 6 ” 8 ” 4 ” 7 ” 7 ” 3 ” 8 ” 6 ” 4 ”
Before the deal, the dealer must dress the layout, by putting one counter upon the Ten, two upon the Jack, three upon the Queen, four upon the King, and five on the Pope, which is the Seven (or the Nine) of diamonds.