Five cards are dealt to each player, by two and three at a time, and the three remaining form the widow. The player bidding _=three=_ tricks takes one partner only. The player bidding _=four=_ or _=five=_ tricks, takes two partners. A player who intends to take the widow, but no partners, can bid _=eight=_ and one who intends to take neither widow nor partners can bid _=fifteen=_. In this form of Euchre the scores are generally known, and 100 points is game. In some clubs it is the practice for the successful bidder to select one of his partners by asking for the holder of a certain card. For instance: B has the lead, and has bid five in hearts, holding the three best trumps, the club ace, and a losing spade. Instead of selecting his partners at random, he asks for the spade ace, and the player holding that card must say, “Here”; upon which the bidder will pass him a counter, marking him as one of his partners. CALL-ACE EUCHRE. In this variety of euchre, each player is for himself so far as the final score goes.
The most important thing to impress on the beginner is that whist cannot be played by machinery. Some authorities would have us believe that certain theories alone are sound; that certain systems of play alone are good; and that if one will persevere in following certain precepts, in such matters as leading, management of trumps, etc., that the result will be more than average success at the whist table. Nothing can be further from the truth. As in all other matters largely controlled by chance, there is no system, as a system, which will win at whist. One cannot succeed by slavish adherence to either the long or the short-suit game; by the invariable giving of information, or the continual playing of false cards. The true elements of success in whist lie in the happy combination of all the resources of long and short suits, of finesse and tenace, of candour and deception, continually adjusted to varying circumstances, so as to result in the adversaries’ losing tricks. _=HOW TO STUDY WHIST.=_ Any person, anxious to become an expert whist player, may attain to considerable proficiency in a short time, if he will content himself with mastering the following general principles one at a time; putting each into practice at the whist table before proceeding to the next. The science of modern whist may be divided into two parts: 1st.
The only difference between leading from such combinations, and playing them Second Hand, is that in the latter case no attempt is made to indicate to the partner the exact nature of the combination held. The general rule is to win the trick as cheaply as possible, by playing the lowest of the high cards which form the combination from which a high card would be led. Such are the following:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂮 🂭 🂫 | 🂾 🂽 🂻 🂸 🂱 🂾 🂽 🂳 | 🃞 🃝 🃘 🃔 🃑 🃞 🃕 🃒 | 🃎 🃋 🃊 🃅 🃁 🃍 🃋 🃂 | 🂭 🂫 🂪 🂣 ] The beginner must be careful with these:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🂮 🂫 🂢 | 🃎 🃍 🃊 🃆 ] The combination which makes the first of these a high-card lead is the A K, and the King must be played Second Hand. The Jack has nothing to do with it. In the second, the Ten does not form any part of the combination, and the Queen is the card to play Second Hand. Some players will not play a high card second hand with K Q x x unless weak in trumps. An exception is generally made with these combinations, from which the proper lead is the Ace. [Illustration: 🃑 🃝 🃘 🃔 🃓 | 🂡 🂩 🂨 🂧 🂤 ] Many will not play Ace Second Hand in any case, and will play the Queen with the first combination only when they are weak in trumps. The reason for this exception is the importance of retaining command of the adverse suit as long as possible. _=On the Second Round=_, the Second Hand should follow the usual rule for playing the best of the suit if he holds it; or one of the second and third best, if he holds them.
Despatchers, dice which are not properly marked, having two faces alike, such as double fives. Devil’s bed posts, the four of clubs. Discarding, getting rid of a card in plain suits when unable to follow suit and unwilling to trump. Donne, (avoir la) to have the deal. Donne, the time occupied in playing the cards distributed during a deal, but “coup” is the term generally used. Double Pairs Royal, four cards of the same denomination. Doubleton, two cards only of a suit. Doubling Up, betting twice the amount of a lost wager. Doubtful Card, a card led by the player on your right, which your partner may be able to win. Draw Shot, any shot which makes the ball return toward the cue; in English, a “screw-back.
The affair of Hook s Farm was one of those brisk little things that did so much to build up my early reputation. I did remarkably well, though perhaps it is not my function to say so. The enemy was slightly stronger, both in cavalry and infantry, than myself [Footnote: A slight but pardonable error on the part of the gallant gentleman. The forces were exactly equal.]; he had the choice of position, and opened the ball. Nevertheless I routed him. I had with me a compact little force of 3 guns, 48 infantry, and 25 horse. My instructions were to clear up the country to the east of Firely Church. We came very speedily into touch. I discovered the enemy advancing upon Hook s Farm and Firely Church, evidently with the intention of holding those two positions and giving me a warm welcome.
--Earls Heaton (H. Hardy). One child represents an old woman, and the other players carry on the dialogue with her. At the end of the dialogue the children are chased by the old woman. See Mother, Mother, may I go out to Play, Witch. Letting the Buck out This game was played seventy years ago. A ring being formed, the Buck inside has to break out, and reach his home, crying Home! before he can be caught and surrounded. Afterwards these words were sung-- Circle: Who comes here? Buck: Poor Johnny Lingo. Circle: Don t steal none of my black sheep, Johnny Lingo, For if you do I shall put you in the pinder pin-fold. --Stixwold, Lines.
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.
_=SOLO.=_ In speaking of the players in a solo, misère, or abundance, it is usual to distinguish those opposed to the single player by calling them respectively, Left, Right, and Opposite. [Illustration: Opposite +--------+ | | Left| |Right | | +--------+ The Caller ] This arrangement does not affect the use of the letters A Y B Z, and the terms first, second, third, and fourth hand; indicating the position of the deal, and of the lead. _=Calling.=_ Those solos are easiest which are declared by the eldest hand, or by the dealer; the hardest being those called by second hand. The safest solos are those called on trump strength; but average trumps and winning cards in the plain suits are more advantageous if the caller is not eldest hand. To call a solo on plain suits alone, with only one or two trumps, is extremely dangerous; and a solo called on a single suit must have at least five or six good trumps in order to succeed. _=PLAYING.=_ When a call has been made entirely upon trump strength, it is much better to make tricks by ruffing, than by leading trumps. There is little use for a solo player to hold a tenace in trumps, hoping it will be led to him.
=_ Should the player pocket, by the same stroke, more balls than he calls, he is entitled to the balls he pockets, provided he pockets the called ball. _=6.=_ A forfeiture of three points is deducted from the player’s score for making a miss; pocketing his own ball; forcing his own ball off the table; failing to make the opening stroke, as provided in Rule 2; failing either to make an object-ball strike a cushion or go into a pocket, as provided in Rule 4; striking his own ball twice; playing out of his turn, if detected doing so before he has made more than one counting stroke. _=7.=_ A ball whose centre is on the string line must be regarded as within the line. _=8.=_ If the player pocket one or more of the object-balls, and his own ball goes into a pocket, or off the table from the stroke, he cannot score for the numbered balls, which must be placed on the spot known as the deep-red spot, or if it be occupied as nearly below it as possible on a line with that spot. AMERICAN PYRAMID POOL. The fifteen balls are numbered from one to fifteen respectively, and are usually colored red, but the numbers on the balls are used simply for convenience in calling the number of each ball which the player intends to pocket and do not in any way affect the score of the player, which is determined by the number of balls pocketed. Scratches pay one ball, which must be placed on the deep red spot.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ⛀ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛂ | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ⛂ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛁ | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ BLACK. ] [Illustration: _=Second Position.=_ Black to move and win. WHITE. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | ⛀ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | ⛀ | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛁ | | | | ⛂ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | ⛂ | | | | ⛃ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ BLACK. ] [Illustration: _=Third Position.=_ Either to move; White to win. WHITE. +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | ⛃ | | ⛁ | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | ⛁ | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ⛁ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | ⛃ | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | | | | | | | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ BLACK. ] [Illustration: _=Fourth Position.
If the side that makes the trump takes three or four tricks out of the five possible, it scores one point. If the side wins all five tricks, it scores two points for a _=march=_. If the player that makes the trump fails to win three tricks, he is _=euchred=_, and his adversaries score two points for the euchre. _=When four play=_, if the player who makes the trump declares to play _=alone=_, that is, without any assistance from his partner, who must lay down his cards, the maker of the trump scores four points if he succeeds in winning all five tricks, and one point if he wins three or four tricks. But if he fails to win three tricks, he is euchred, and the adversaries score two points. _=When three play=_, a lone hand counts three if the player wins all five tricks. _=When two play=_, five tricks is simply a march, and counts two points. _=When five or seven play=_, there are special scores for lone hands. When all five tricks are taken by one side, but not by an individual playing a lone hand, it is simply a march, and counts two points, no matter how many are playing. When two or three are playing, a march must of course be a lone hand, as there are no partnerships.
| |12.| -- | |13.| -- | |14.| -- | |15.| -- | |16.|Applause for bride. | +---+----------------------+ It appears by the analysis that all the incidents of the Hants version of this game occur in one or other of the versions, and these incidents therefore may probably be typical of the game. This view would exclude the important incidents of bride capture in the Earls Heaton version; the bride having a baby in the Belfast version, and the two minor incidents in the Deptford version (Nos. 13 and 15 in the analysis), which are obviously supplemental. Chambers, in his _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, pp.
|And dance along with |And walk along with |And dance along with | | |us. |us. |us. | | 8.|For we are going a- | -- |For we are lads a | | |roving. | |roving. | | 9.|We ll take this maid | -- |We ll take this pretty| | |by the hand. | | fair maid by the | | | | |hand. | | 10.
If he exchanges, he takes up the offered card, and then has the privilege of trading for ready money or for barter himself. The trading goes on in this way round and round, until some player knocks, when all trading is immediately stopped, and the hands are shown. The best hand wins the pool, the rank of the various combinations being as follows, beginning with the highest:-- _=Triplets.=_ Three aces being the highest, and three deuces the lowest. Pairs have no value. _=Sequence Flushes=_; the ace being allowed to rank as the top or the bottom; Q K A, or A 2 3. _=The Point=_; the greatest number of pips on two or three cards of the same suit in one hand, counting the ace for eleven, and the other court-cards for ten each. A single card of a suit does not count for the point. In case of ties, a point made with three cards will beat one made with two cards. If the number of cards is also a tie, the dealer, or the player nearest him on his left wins.
Renounce, same as renege. Rentrant, F., the player who takes the place of the loser in a previous game. Renvier, F., to raise the bet, to improve. Retourne, F., any card turned on the talon, or for a trump. Revoke, failure to follow suit when able to do so, as distinguished from a renounce or renege. Ring In, to exchange any unfair for fair gambling implements during the progress of the game. See Cold Deck.
The truth of the matter is that for a bluff to be either sound in principle or successful in practice, the player must carefully select his opportunity. The bluff must be planned from the start, and consistently played from the ante to the end. To use a common expression: “The play must be right for it, or the bluff will be wrong.” There are many cases in which a bluff of fifty cents would be much stronger than one of five dollars; the difference depending on the player’s position at the table, his treatment of the ante, and the number of cards he had drawn. As an example of the play being right for a bluff, take the following case: Five play in a jack pot. A and B have passed when C opens it for the limit. D and E pass out, but A and B both stay, and each draws one card. C takes two cards, and as it is his first bet he puts up the limit on his three aces. A drops out, but B raises C the limit in return. Now, if C is a good player he will lay down his three aces, even if he faintly suspects B is bluffing, because B’s play is sound in any case.
After it has been thoroughly shuffled and properly cut, thirteen cards are counted off, face down, and placed at the player’s left, face up. This is the stock. The fourteenth card is then turned face up and is the foundation for that deal. Let us suppose it is a seven. It is placed by itself, furthest from the player, waiting for the three other sevens to appear to form three other foundations, each in a different suit. Four cards are then dealt off from left to right, face up, for the layout. Holding the remaining thirty-four cards in the left hand, face down, the player counts off three at a time and turns them face up on the table, but so that the top card only is seen. If this card can be used, the card under it is available. If not, the three are left on the table and three more turned up in the same way. Let us suppose this is the appearance of the table: [Illustration: The Foundation:-- 🂷 The Stock:-- 🃔 The Layout:-- 🃖 🃁 🂢 🂹 The top card of the three:-- 🃅 ] The player can make several changes at once.
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When he asks the question, Will you come? one girl on the opposite side answers No! and afterwards Yes! When this is said, she goes to the opposite side, and the two dance round together while singing the next verse. The game begins again by the two singing the verses, and thus getting a third child to join them, when the game proceeds for a fourth, and so on. The Congleton and London versions are played by two lines of children of about equal numbers. In the Lincolnshire version the above description answers, except that when the last line is sung every one claps hands. In the Sussex version the child at the end of the line is taken over by the child who sings the verses, and they lock their little fingers together while singing the remainder. Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) says:-- Two children advance and retire on one side. When the opposite side says Yes! the two take the first child in the row and dance round with her, singing the remaining verse. This is called the wedding. The Lanarkshire version is quite a different one, and contains rather remarkable features. Mr.
His play would be to separate all his men in the outer table, so that no matter what White might throw he could hardly escape being caught. The black men might be placed on the points marked with small crosses, and then if the white man cannot be caught and set back long enough for Black to get home, the game cannot be saved. If Black succeeds in picking up this man, he should then complete his home table as rapidly as possible, still keeping his outside men spread, and not disturbing the two men on White’s trey point until necessary. _=Throwing Off.=_ Always throw off every man possible; never move up instead of throwing off, unless there are some adverse men in your home table. If you make a throw which will not take off a man, do not move two men, but move up and take off one man if possible. _=Chances.=_ Some players profess to attach great importance to the chances of the dice, but such matters are of little practical value except in a general way. It may be interesting to know that the odds were thirty-five to one against a certain throw, but that knowledge does not prevent your adversary from winning the game. It should always be remembered that it is more difficult for your adversary to hit a man that is very close to him or very far from him, than one that is about half way.