Part 12

43.--After the dealer has taken the trump card into his hand, it must not be asked for; a player naming it at any time during the play of that hand, is liable to have his highest or lowest trump called. Such call cannot be repeated. Any player may at any time inquire what the trump suit is.

44.--If the dealer take the trump card into his hand before it is his turn to play, he may be desired to lay it on the table; should he show a wrong card, this card may be called, as also a second, a third, &c., until the trump card be produced.

45.--If the dealer declare himself unable to recollect the trump card, his highest or lowest trump may be called at any time during that hand, and, unless it cause him to revoke, must be played; the call may be repeated, but not changed (_i.e._ from highest to lowest, or _vice versâ_) until such card is played.

THE RUBBER.

46.--The rubber is the best of three games. If the first two games be won by the same players, the third game is not played.

SCORING.

47.--A game consists of five points. Each trick, above six, counts one point.

48.--Honours, _i.e._ Ace, King, Queen, and Knave of trumps, are thus reckoned:

{175}

If a player and his partner, either separately or conjointly, hold--

I. The four honours, they score four points.

II. Any three honours, they score two points.

49.--Those players who, at the commencement of a deal, are at the score of four, cannot score honours.

50.--The penalty for a revoke[59] takes precedence of all other scores. Tricks score next. Honours last.

51.--Honours, unless claimed before the trump card of the following deal is turned up, cannot be scored.

52.--To score honours is not sufficient; they must be claimed at the end of the hand; if so claimed, they may be scored at any time during the game. If the tricks won, added to honours held, suffice to make game, it is sufficient to call game.

53.--The winners gain--

I. A treble, or game of three points, when their adversaries have not scored.

II. A double, or game of two points, when their adversaries have scored one or two.

III. A single, or game of one point, when their adversaries have scored three or four.

54.--The winners of the rubber gain two points (commonly called the rubber points) in addition to the value of their games.

55.--Should the rubber have consisted of three games, the value of the losers' game is deducted from the gross number of points gained by their opponents.

56.--If an erroneous score be proved, such mistake can be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game in which it occurred, and such game is not {176} concluded until the trump card of the following deal has been turned up.

57.--If an erroneous score, affecting the value of the rubber,[60] be proved, such mistake can be rectified at any time during the rubber.

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED.

58.--The following are exposed cards:--

I. Two or more cards played at once, face upwards.

II. Any card dropped with its face upwards, in any way on or above the table, even though snatched up so quickly that no one can name it.

III. Every card named by the player holding it.

59.--All exposed cards are liable to be called, and must be left or placed face upwards on the table. If two or more cards are played at once, the adversaries have a right to call which they please to the trick in course of play, and afterwards to call the remainder. A card is not an exposed card, under the preceding Law, when dropped on the floor, or elsewhere below the table. An adversary may not require any exposed card to be played before it is the turn of the owner of the card to play; should he do so, he loses his right to exact the penalty for that trick.

60.--If any one play to an imperfect trick the winning card on the table, and then lead without waiting for his partner to play, or lead one which is a winning card as against his adversaries, and then lead again, without waiting for his partner to play, or play several such winning cards, one after the other, without waiting for his partner to play, the latter may be called on to win, if he can, the first or any {177} other of those tricks, and the subsequent cards thus improperly played are exposed cards.

61.--If a player or players (not being all) throw his or their cards on the table face upwards, such cards are exposed, and liable to be called, each player's by the adversary; but no player who retains his hand can be forced to abandon it.

62.--If all four players throw their cards on the table face upwards, the hands are abandoned; and no one can again take up his cards. Should this general exhibition show that the game might have been saved or won by the losers, neither claim can be entertained unless a revoke be established. The revoking players are then liable to the following penalties: they cannot under any circumstances win the game by the result of that hand, and the adversaries may add three to their score, or deduct three from that of the revoking players, for each revoke.

63.--If a card be detached from the rest of the hand, which an adversary at once correctly names, such card becomes an exposed card; but should the adversary name a wrong card, he is liable to have a suit called when he or his partner next have the lead.

64.--If any player lead out of turn, his adversaries may either call the card erroneously led, or may call a suit from him or his partner when it is next the turn of either of them to lead. The penalty of calling a suit must be exacted from whichever of them next first obtains the lead. It follows that if the player who leads out of turn is the partner of the person who ought to have led, and a suit is called, it must be called at once from the right leader. If {178} he is allowed to play as he pleases, the only penalty that remains is to call the card erroneously led. The fact that the card erroneously led has been played without having been called, does not deprive the adversaries of their right to call a suit. If a suit is called, the card erroneously led may be replaced in the owner's hand.

65.--If it is one player's lead, and he and his partner lead simultaneously, the penalty of calling the highest or lowest card of the suit properly led may be exacted from the player in error, or the card simultaneously led may be treated as a card liable to be called.

66.--If any player lead out of turn, and the other three have followed him, the trick is complete, and the error cannot be rectified; but if only the second, or the second and third, have played to the false lead, their cards, on discovery of the mistake, are taken back; there is no penalty against any one, excepting the original offender, whose card may be called--or he, or his partner (whichever of them next first has the lead), may be compelled to play any suit demanded by the adversaries.

67.--In no case can a player be compelled to play a card which would oblige him to revoke.

68.--The call of a card may be repeated at every trick, until such card has been played.

69.--If a player called on to lead a suit have none of it, the penalty is paid.

IRREGULAR PLAY.

70.--If the third hand play before the second, the fourth hand may play before his partner.

71.--Should the third hand not have played, and {179} the fourth play before his partner, the latter may be called on to win or not to win the trick.

72.--If any one omit playing to a trick, and such error be not discovered until he has played to the next, the adversaries may claim a new deal; should they decide that the deal stand good, the surplus card at the end of the hand is considered to have been played to the imperfect trick, but does not constitute a revoke therein.

73.--If any one play two cards to the same trick, or mix his trump, or other card, with a trick to which it does not properly belong, and the mistake be not discovered until the hand is played out, he is answerable for all consequent revokes he may have made.[61] If, during the play of the hand, the error be detected, the tricks may be counted face downwards, in order to ascertain whether there be among them a card too many; should this be the case they may be searched, and the card restored; the player is, however, liable for all revokes which he may have meanwhile made. If no revoke has been made, the card can be treated as an exposed card.

THE REVOKE.

74.--It is a revoke when a player, holding one or more cards of the suit led, plays a card of a different suit.

75.--The penalty for a revoke--

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who, at the end of the hand, may either take three tricks from the revoking player, and add them to their own tricks, or deduct three points from his score, or add three to their own score (the adversaries may consult as to which penalty they will exact);

{180}

II. Can be claimed for as many revokes as occur during the hand, and a different penalty may be exacted for each revoke;

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in which it occurs;

IV. Cannot be divided, _i.e._ a player cannot add one or two to his own score, and deduct one or two from the revoking player;

V. Takes precedence of every other score--_e.g._, The claimants two--their opponents nothing--the former add three to their score--and thereby win a treble game, even should the latter have made thirteen tricks, and held four honours.

76.--If a player who has become liable to have the highest or lowest of a suit called, or to win or not to win a trick (when able to do so), fail to play as desired, or if a player, when called on to lead one suit, lead another, having in his hand one or more cards of that suit demanded, he incurs the penalty of a revoke.

77.--A revoke is established, if the trick in which it occur be turned and quitted, _i.e._, the hand removed from that trick after it has been turned face downwards on the table--or if either the revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, lead or play to the following trick. Throwing down the hand, or claiming game, constitute acts of play within the meaning of leading or playing to the following trick.

78.--A player may ask his partner whether he has not a card of the suit which he has renounced, or whether he has played as desired or demanded; should the question be asked before the trick is turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting by the adversaries does not establish the revoke, and the error may be corrected, unless the question be answered in the negative, or unless the revoking player or his partner have led or played to the {181} following trick; but if the revoking player or his partner has turned the trick before the question is answered, the revoke is established.

79.--At the end of a hand, the claimants of a revoke may search all the tricks.[62]

80.--If a player discover his error in time to save a revoke, the adversaries, whenever they think fit, may call the card thus played in error, or may require him to play his highest or lowest card to that trick in which he has renounced;--any player or players who have played after him may withdraw their cards and substitute others; the cards withdrawn are not liable to be called.

81.--If a revoke be claimed, and the accused player or his partner, after such claim has been made, mix the cards before they have been sufficiently examined by the adversaries, the revoke is established. Prior to such claim, the mixing of the cards renders the proof of a revoke difficult, but does not prevent the claim, and possible establishment, of the penalty.

82.--A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards have been duly cut for the following deal.

83.--The revoking player and his partner may under all circumstances, require the hand in which the revoke has been detected to be played out.

84.--If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, bets on the odd trick, or on amount of score, must be decided by the actual state of the latter, after the penalty is paid.

85.--Should the players on both sides subject themselves to the penalty of one or more revokes, neither can win the game, and the revokes cancel each other.

{182}

86.--In whatever way the penalty be enforced, under no circumstances can a player win the game by the result of the hand during which he has revoked; he cannot score more than four.

EXACTION OF PENALTIES.

87.--Where a player and his partner have an option of exacting from their adversaries one of two penalties, they must agree who is to make the election, and must not consult with one another which of the two penalties it is advisable to exact; if they do so consult, they lose their right to demand any penalty; and if either of them, with or without consent of his partner, demand a penalty to which he is entitled, such decision is final.

This rule does not apply in exacting the penalties for a revoke; partners have then a right to consult.

88.--Any player demanding a penalty which is not authorised for the offence committed, forfeits all right to exact any penalty for the offence in question.

GENERAL RULES.

89.--Any one during the play of a trick, or after the four cards are played, and before, but not after, they are touched for the purpose of gathering them together, may demand that the cards be placed before their respective players.

90.--If any one, prior to his partner playing, should call attention to the trick--either by saying that it is his, or by naming his card, or, without being required so to do, by drawing it towards him--the adversaries may require that opponent's partner {183} to play the highest or lowest of the suit then led, or to win or not to win the trick.

91.--In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, the offender is bound to give reasonable time for the decision of his adversaries.

92.--If a bystander make any remark, before the stakes have been paid, which calls the attention of a player or players to an oversight affecting the score, he is liable to be called on, by the players only, to pay the stakes and all bets on that game or rubber.

93.--A bystander, by agreement among the players, may decide any question.

94.--When a trick has been turned and quitted, it must not again be looked at until the hand has been played out, except as provided by Law 73. A violation of this Law renders the offender, or his partner, liable to have a suit called when it is the next turn of either of them to lead.

THE ETIQUETTE OF WHIST.

The following rules belong to the established Etiquette of Whist. They are not called Laws, as it is difficult, in some cases impossible, to apply any penalty to their infraction.

Any one having the lead should not draw a second card out of his hand until his partner has played to the trick, such act being a distinct intimation that the former has played a winning card.

No intimation whatever, by word or gesture, should be given by a player as to the state of his hand or of the game.

A player who desires the cards to be placed, or {184} who asks what the trump suit is, should do it for his own information only, and not in order to invite the attention of his partner.

No player should object to refer to a bystander, who professes himself uninterested in the game and able to decide, any disputed question of facts; as to who played any particular card, whether honours were claimed, though not scored, or _vice versâ_, &c. &c.

It is unfair to revoke purposely. Having made a revoke, a player is not justified in making a second in order to conceal the first.

Until the players have made such bets as they wish, bets should not be made with bystanders.

Bystanders should make no remark; neither should they, by word or gesture, give any intimation of the state of the game, nor should they walk round the table to look at the different hands.

No one should look over the hand of a player against whom he is betting.

DUMMY

Is played by three players.

One hand, called Dummy's, lies exposed on the table.

The Laws are the same as those of Whist, with the following exceptions:--

1. Dummy deals at the commencement of each rubber.

2. Dummy is not liable to the penalty for a revoke, as his adversaries see his cards. Should he revoke, and the error not be discovered until the trick is turned and quitted, it stands good. If Dummy's partner revokes, he is liable to the usual penalties. {185}

3. There is no misdeal.

4. Dummy being blind and deaf, his partner is not liable to any penalty for an error whence he can gain no advantage. Thus he may expose some or all of his cards, or declare that he has the game or trick, &c., without incurring any penalty; if, however, he lead from Dummy's hand when he should lead from his own, or _vice versâ_, a suit may be called from the hand which ought to have led.

DOUBLE DUMMY

Is played by two players, each having a Dummy or exposed hand for his partner.

The Laws of the game do not differ from those of Dummy Whist.

HOW TO LEARN WHIST, AND TO BECOME A GOOD PLAYER.

Whist is a game that has been played during so many years, and has occupied the attention of so many clear-headed men, that certain principles of play have been established from long experience, as those best suited to gain success.

The first step towards becoming a good whist-player is to learn the leads; then what to play second and third in hand. These systems of play ought to be so thoroughly known that there is never a moment's hesitation as to the card to lead, or the card to play second or third in hand.

The leads, &c., are merely what we may term {186} the mechanical portions of the game, and do not require any reasoning on the part of the player. They have already been reasoned out by long and continued investigation. Immediately other cards have been played by the adversaries and the partner, then reason and judgment come in, so as to draw inferences from the cards played by each individual.

The object of a lead is--first, to secure tricks; secondly, to give your partner as much information as is desirable of the cards which you possess in the suit you have led. You may give him a very fair idea of the numerical strength or of the actual strength in high or court cards. It is always correct to assume that a partner, if even a moderately good player, leads from his strongest suit. Then comes the question, Of what does this suit consist? By the card led, an approximate idea is conveyed. By the cards played by the other players compared with those held in one's own hand, a more accurate opinion may be formed. A second round of the same suit often indicates exactly the cards held by the original leader. Such a conclusion, however, could be formed only when the original leader is a whist-player, and is not one of those persons who lead at random, according as their fancy at the time impels them.

In considering the lead, the selection, as a general rule, should be from the strongest suit, and the strongest suit is that consisting of the greatest number of cards. Thus five spades, consisting of knave, nine, eight, four, and two, is a stronger suit than is another consisting of king, queen, and one small card.

What card to lead of the strong suit is the next question, one object being to convey to the partner as much useful information as is possible. Two {187} forms of lead now come under consideration, viz., first, when the cards led are winning cards of the suit; second, when the cards led are not winning cards. Winning cards will first be spoken of.

Suppose a player led the ace of clubs. His partner would at once be justified in concluding that the original leader did not hold the king of that suit; and if this ace were trumped by the fourth player, the partner would place the king in the hand of the original second player. If, however, the king had been led originally, and had been similarly trumped, it would be right to conclude that the ace was in the hand of the original leader.

Again, if the king of a suit were led, and won the trick, and the queen were led, and also won, the ace would be placed in the hand of the original leader. If, however, the king had been led originally, and followed by the ace, then the queen would be placed by the leader's partner in the hand of one of the adversaries.

These simple cases serve to show the general principle on which leads should be made. The first lead gives a preliminary indication; the second lead reveals the whole or nearly the whole secret.

This being the case, it is most remarkable to find that there are certain persons at the present time who claim to be reasonable, and to play scientific Whist, who yet strongly object to any extension of the principles of leads beyond those to which they have been accustomed. These objectors admit that to lead the king, with ace, king, is correct play, as the lead of the king indicates that the leader holds the ace also. They stop, however, at a certain point, and assert that to lead the penultimate from {188} a suit of five, an anti-penultimate from a suit of six, to call for trumps, or to echo to a partner's lead of trumps, is like kicking your partner under the table. Why is it not like kicking your partner under the table to lead the king, with ace, king, instead of leading the ace? The cases are exactly similar, and are based on the same principles of play.

The whist-player who wishes to hold his own with modern players _must_ learn the modern leads. These leads are based on reason, and convey, by each card, intimation to an intelligent partner as regards the number and strength of the suit from which the card was originally led.

As one among many examples of the information conveyed by a lead, the following may be given:--

My partner being a good player, I conclude he leads from his strongest suit. He is original leader, and leads the seven of spades, hearts being trumps.

In my hand there are the ace, queen, five, and two of spades.

The second player plays the three; I play the queen; fourth player plays the six.

What do these cards mean?

My right adversary is not asking for trumps, because asking for trumps is playing an unnecessarily high card (as will be fully explained further on); and the two of spades being in my own hand, the three is the next lowest card. The three may be a single card, but single cards are the exception oftener than the rule.

Having won with the queen, I return the ace of spades. The second player plays the eight, my partner plays the four, and the fourth player plays the ten. {189}

By these two rounds of spades I have obtained a considerable amount of information. My partner led the seven, and his four dropped to my ace on the second round. He therefore led the penultimate of a five suit; and he holds three more spades which I can name--that is, the king, knave, and nine. Neither of the adversaries holds another spade, because, as there are two more in my hand, three more in my partner's, and eight spades played, the thirteen of the suit are accounted for. To lead another spade, therefore, would be folly, as one adversary would make a small trump, and the other would discard a worthless card of another suit.

My partner also would know that--as the eight was played by one adversary, and the ten by the other, whilst he held king, knave, and nine--the two other spades were in my hand.

When, then, my partner obtained the lead, he would avoid playing his king of spades, unless all the trumps were out, or he wished to force out the best trump.