As there are nine unknown cards, and the Ace may be any one of them, it is obvious that the Queen may be any one of the remaining eight, which gives us 9 × 8 = 72 different ways for the two cards to lie. To find how many of these 72 will give us both cards in partner’s hand we must begin with the ace, which may be any one of his three cards. The Queen may be either of the other two, which gives us the numerator, 3 × 2 = 6; and the fraction of probability, 6/72, = 1/12; or 11 to 1 against both Ace and Queen. If we wished to find the probability of his having the Ace, but not the Queen, our denominator would remain the same; but the numerator would be the three possible positions of the Ace, multiplied by the six possible positions of the Queen among the six other unknown cards, in the other hands, giving us the fraction 18/72. The same would be true of the Queen but not the Ace. To prove both these, we must find the probability that he has neither Ace nor Queen. There being six cards apart from his three, the Ace may be any one of them, and the Queen may be any one of the remaining five. This gives us 6 × 5 = 30, and the fraction 30/72. If we now add these four numerators together, we have:--for both cards in partner’s hand, 6; for Ace alone, 18; for Queen alone, 18; and for neither, 30; a total of 72, or unity, proving all the calculations correct. In some of the problems connected with Whist, it is important to know the probability of the suits being distributed in various ways among the four players at the table; or, what is the same thing, the probable distribution of the four suits in any one hand.
I m all through tipping dice. You may not find it practical, he said, getting up to leave. Well, I hadn t. Three snakes inside my head had made me a sucker for the real one on my arm. Maragon had made his point. I might have reached the thirty-third degree, but I wasn t quite as big a shot as I thought I was. I could feel that rattler on my arm all the way to Lake Tahoe. * * * * * Like any gambling house, the Sky Hi Club was a trap. Peno had tried to kid the public with a classy _decor_. It was a darned good copy of a nineteenth century ranch house.
Those who have less than the dealer lose their stake; those that have more than the dealer, but still not more than 21, he must pay. When the result is a tie, it is called _=paying in cards=_. _=The Banker.=_ The banker for the next deal may be decided upon in various ways. The old rule was for one player to continue to act as banker and to deal the cards until one of his adversaries held a natural, the dealer having none to offset it. When this occurred, the player who held the natural took the bank and the deal until some one else held a natural. Another way was to agree upon a certain number of rounds for a banker, after which the privilege was drawn for again. Another was for one player to remain the banker until he had lost or won a certain amount, when the privilege was drawn for again. The modern practice is for each player to be the banker in turn, the deal passing in regular rotation to the left. When this is done there must be a penalty for dealing twice in succession, and it is usually fixed at having to pay ties, if the error is not discovered until one player has drawn cards.
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_=MATADORE GAME.=_ This is another variety of the Block Game. Each player takes seven bones, and the highest double or the heaviest domino sets. The object is not to follow suit to the ends, but to play a number which will make the end and the number played to it equal _=seven=_. If the end is a 3, a 4 must be played; a 2 must be played to a 5, and an ace to a 6. Four dominoes in the set are trumps, or Matadores. These are the double blank, and the three dominoes that have seven on their faces; 6-1, 5-2, and 4-3. Any of these trumps may be played at any time on either of the ends, in order to prevent a block; but the following player, if he does not play a trump also, must play the complement of seven to whichever end of the matadore is left exposed. Doublets are not placed crosswise, and count only for the suit to which they belong; a double three cannot be played to an ace, because it counts as three only. The trumps are usually placed at right angles to the line.
_ 3[1] honours held between partners equal value of 2 tricks. 4 ” ” ” ” ” ” 4 ” 5 ” ” ” ” ” ” 5 ” 4 ” ” in 1 hand ” ” 8 ” 4 ” ” ” 1 ” { 5th in } ” ” 9 ” 5 ” ” ” 1 ” {partner’s} ” ” 10 ” _When No Trump is Declared._ 3 aces held between partners count 30 4 ” ” ” ” ” 40 4 ” ” in one hand ” 100 7. Slam is made when partners take thirteen tricks.[2] It counts 40 points in the honour score. 8. Little slam is made when partners take twelve tricks.[3] It counts 20 points in the honour score. 9. The value of honours, slam, or little slam, is not affected by doubling or redoubling.
We then began to humanise that wild and fearful fowl, the gun. We decided that a gun could not be fired if there were not six--afterwards we reduced the number to four--men within six inches of it. And we ruled that a gun could not both fire and move in the same general move: it could either be fired or moved (or left alone). If there were less than six men within six inches of a gun, then we tried letting it fire as many shots as there were men, and we permitted a single man to move a gun, and move with it as far as he could go by the rules--a foot, that is, if he was an infantry-man, and two feet if he was a cavalry-man. We abolished altogether that magical freedom of an unassisted gun to move two feet. And on such rules as these we fought a number of battles. They were interesting, but not entirely satisfactory. We took no prisoners--a feature at once barbaric and unconvincing. The battles lingered on a long time, because we shot with extreme care and deliberation, and they were hard to bring to a decisive finish. The guns were altogether too predominant.
=_ A player calling attention in any manner to the trick or to the score, may be called upon to play his highest or lowest of the suit led; or to trump or not to trump the trick during the play of which the remark was made. ÉCARTÉ. Écarté is usually described as a very simple game, but unfortunately the rules governing it are very complicated, and as no authoritative code of law exists, disputes about trifling irregularities are very common. In the following directions the author has selected what appears to be the best French usage. The code of laws adopted by some of the English clubs is unfortunately very defective, and in many respects quite out of touch with the true spirit of the French game. The English are very fond of penalties; the French try to establish the status quo. _=CARDS.=_ Écarté is played with a pack of thirty-two cards, which rank, K Q J A 10 9 8 7. When two packs are used, the adversary shuffles one while the other is dealt. _=MARKERS.