’s rules: The WHITE BALL is spotted. RED BALL plays upon WHITE. YELLOW ” RED. GREEN ” YELLOW. BROWN ” GREEN. BLUE ” BROWN. PINK ” BLUE. SPOT-WHITE ” PINK. SPOT-RED ” SPOT-WHITE. SPOT-YELLOW ” SPOT-RED.
An arch is then formed by placing the left hand on the ground, and the four stones are again thrown down, the marble tossed, and the four stones put separately into the arch, the marble being caught after it has rebounded each time; or the four stones are separately put between the fingers of the left hand in as straight a row as possible. Then the left hand is taken away, and the four stones caught up in one sweep of the hand. Then all four stones are thrown down, and one is picked up before the marble is caught. This is retained in the hand, and when the second stone is picked up the first one is laid down before the marble is caught; the third is picked up and the second laid down, the fourth picked up and the third laid down, then the fourth laid down, the marble being tossed and caught again each time. The stones have different names or marks (which follow in rotation), and in picking them up they must be taken in their proper order, or it is counted as a mistake. The game is played throughout by the right hand, the left hand only being used when arches is made. The marble should be thrown up about the same height each toss, and there should be little or no interval between the different figures.--Annie Dicker. I saw this game played in Endell Street, London, W.C.
The Spot Stroke, by Joseph Bennet. CHANCE AND PROBABILITY. In calculating the probability of any event, the difficulty is not, as many persons imagine, in the process, but in the statement of the proposition, and the great trouble with many of those who dispute on questions of chance is that they are unable to think clearly. The chance is either for or against the event; the probability is always for it. The chances are expressed by the fraction of this probability, the denominator being the total number of events possible, and the numerator the number of events favourable. For instance: The probability of throwing an ace with one cast of a single die is expressed by the fraction ⅙; because six different numbers may be thrown, and they are all equally probable, but only one of them would be an ace. Odds are found by deducting the favourable events from the total, or the numerator from the denominator. In the example, the odds against throwing an ace are therefore 5 to 1. The greater the odds against any event the more _=improbable=_ it is said to be, and the more _=hazardous=_ it is to risk anything upon it. When an event happens which is very improbable, the person to whom it happens is considered _=lucky=_, and the greater the improbability, the greater his luck.
The ace may be used as the top of a sequence Q K A, or the bottom of A 2 3, but not as part of a round-the-corner, K A 2. _=DEALING.=_ Ten cards are always given to each player, no matter how many are in the game. If there are more than three at the table, the double pack must be used, so as to leave cards enough for the stock. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four, five, or six of a kind is in order. The cards in hand that do not fit any combination of three or more are deadwood, and the object is to reduce this deadwood to less than fifteen. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ Each player in turn to the left of the dealer draws a card from the stock or the discard pile and discards one in its place, face up.
One of the other stick-men eased himself in, holding the door only wide enough to squeeze past the jamb. Don t give the suckers a peek at the seamy side. They might just take their money to the next clip joint down the street. He didn t look like the others, somehow. He was older, for one thing. Perhaps it was his nearly bald scalp, perhaps the thick, bookish glasses in heavy brown frames. What s that? he asked mildly, poking a finger at the dealer kneeling in the sawdust on the floor. My Blackout victim was reaching out, trying to find something he could use to raise himself to his feet. His face was frozen in a fierce, unseeing stare as he mentally screamed at his eyes to see, see, see! Blackout! one of the bouncers told the second stick-man in a muffled voice. Sharp eyes fired a quick, surprised look at me.
If you have a choice between two discards, one being from the K Q J 2 of hearts, and the other from the K Q J of a plain suit, select the plain suit. You can improve your chances little or none in the hearts, while you not only bring the odds to your side in the plain suit, but secure a chance of discarding on the third round of it. Following the same principle, it is evidently good play to discard from a suit which has been led once or twice, if you have a dangerous card or cards in it. Even if you have a safe tenace in a suit, such as 4 and 2, the 5 and 3 being still out somewhere, it is better to discard from it if there is the slightest danger of your getting the lead. Tenaces are only safe when led up to. In _=Howell’s settling=_, the object is not so much to load the others as to escape yourself. It is never advisable to attempt to take all thirteen hearts, because there are no Jacks; but there are many cases in which it is better deliberately to take three or four, in order to avoid the chance of taking six or eight. For an example of these tactics adopted by two players, see Illustrative Hand, No. 3. On the same principle, there are often cases in which it is advisable to take a trick with one heart in it, in order to get rid of a dangerous card, which might bring you in several hearts later on.
Very few are able to give a Queen, or even a Rook, but a _=Knight=_ is quite common, and one who can concede a Knight to the weakest players in a club is usually spoken of as, “a Knight player.” The most common odds between nearly equal players is _=Pawn and Move=_; and with a player not strong enough to give a Knight, _=Pawn and Two Moves=_. The Pawn removed in each instance is Black’s K B P, and the Knight is usually the Q Kt. Here are a few examples of the openings in games at odds:-- Pawn and Move:-- P-K4 P-Q4 Q-R5 ch Q-K5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K3 P-Q4 P-KKt3 Kt-KB3 P-K4 P-Q4 Kt-QB3 P-Q5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-Q3 Kt-KB3 Kt-B3 Kt-K4 P-K4 P-Q4 P-K5 B-QKt5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- Kt-QB3 P-Q4 B-B4 Q-Q2 P-K4 P-Q4 PxP P-KB4 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- Kt-QB3 P-Q4 KtxP Kt-B2 Pawn and Two Moves:-- P-K4 P-Q4 B-Q3 P-Q5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K3 P-B4 P-Q3 P-K4 P-Q4 P-QB4 P-Q5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K3 P-B4 P-Q3 P-K4 P-Q4 P-KB4 B-Q3 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-Q3 P-K3 Kt-K2 P-K4 P-Q4 P-Q5 P-KB4 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- Kt-QB3 Kt-K4 Kt-B2 Odds of Queen’s Knight:-- P-K4 Kt-B3 PxP Kt-K5 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K4 P-Q4 P-K5 QxP P-K4 P-KB4 PxQP Kt-B3 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K4 P-Q4 QxP P-K5 Odds of King’s Knight:-- P-K4 B-B4 Kt-B3 P-Q4 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K4 P-QB3 Kt-B3 P-Q4 P-K4 B-B2 P-Q2 0-0 1 ------ 2 ------ 3 ------- 4 ------- P-K4 Kt-KB3 B-B4 0-0 In order to give the student an idea of the value and popularity of the various openings, the following table of the results of 1500 games may be useful. It is from the chess columns of the New York _Sun_:-- ---------------------+----------------+--------+---------+--------- | FIRST | TOTAL |PER CENT.|PER CENT. OPENINGS. | PLAYER. | PLAYED.| WON BY | TOTAL +----+-----+-----+ | FIRST | GAMES |WON.
In plain-suit sequences there are no “equals,” the elder hand counting ties as an offset to the advantages of the deal. _=Playing.=_ The elder hand leads a card, and the dealer then declares and marks any impérials he may have that are good; after which he plays a card. No impérials can be claimed or scored after the holder has played a card. The second player in each trick must win the trick if he can, either with a higher card or with a trump. For each honour in trumps in the tricks won the player marks a white counter at the end of the hand. The winner of the odd trick scores as many white counters as he has tricks in excess of his adversary. If either player makes capot, (all twelve tricks,) he scores two red counters. _=Scoring.=_ When one player reaches six white counters and changes them for a red, his adversary must take down any white counters he may have scored.