_=DECLARING TO PLAY.=_ Each player in turn, beginning with the eldest hand, may either play or pass. If he passes, he lays his cards face downward in front of him, and takes no further part in that deal unless a general rams is announced. If he plays, he engages himself to take at least one trick, or forfeit five counters to the pool. He may play with the hand originally dealt him, or he may risk getting a better by taking the widow in exchange. If he exchanges, his original hand is dead, and must not be seen by any player. If any player takes the widow, those following him must play the hand dealt them or pass out. In some clubs the eldest hand is obliged to play, either with his own hand or with the widow. If all pass except the pone, he must play against the dealer, either with the cards dealt him, or with the widow. If he declines to play, he must pay the dealer five counters, and the pool remains.
Centre child says, Follow me true. Here the centre child runs in and out between the others until the one who was touched catches her, when they change places, the first joining the children in the ring.--Sharleston (Miss Fowler). At Beddgelert, Wales (Mrs. Williams), this game is called Tartan Boeth. It is played in precisely the same manner as the English game, but the words used are: Tartan Boeth, Oh ma en llosgi, Boeth iawn Hot Tart. Oh, it burns! very hot! At the words, Very hot! the handkerchief is dropped. (_b_) In this game no kissing takes place, and that this is no mere accidental omission may be shown by Mr. Udal s description of the Dorsetshire game. He was assured by several persons who are interested in Dorset Children s Games that the indiscriminate kissing (that is, whether the girl pursued runs little or far, or, when overtaken, whether she objects or not) with which this game is ordinarily associated, as played now both in Dorset and in other counties, was not indigenous to this county, but was merely a pernicious after-growth or outcome of later days, which had its origin in the various excursion and holiday fêtes, which the facilities of railway travelling had instituted, by bringing large crowds from the neighbouring towns into the country.
The dealer, holding two Nines, an Eight, and a Five, plays the Five, and pegs 2 for the fifteen. The pone plays a Nine, announcing the total as twenty-four. The dealer cannot pair this Nine, because it would run the count past 31, neither can he play the Eight, so he says, “Go.” The pone pegs the go without playing, which shows that he is also unable to play, having nothing so small as a Seven. Both then turn down the cards already played, and the one whose turn it is to play begins all over again with his remaining cards or card, announcing its face value, his adversary playing after him until their cards are exhausted or they reach another 31. To continue the foregoing example, let us suppose the dealer to play one of his Nines. The pone plays a Jack, and announces “Nineteen.” The dealer plays his remaining Nine, and calls “Twenty-eight.” The pone tells him to go, and he pegs one. These three cards are turned down.
In clubs, it pays for the cards, and for an occasional round of refreshments; in small poker parties it defrays the expense of the weekly supper. When the amount is excessive, or accumulates too rapidly, it is often used to give the players a “free ride” by paying all their antes in a “kitty jack pot.” The kitty is usually kept by the banker, who takes a white counter out of every pool in which triplets or better are shown to the board, and a red counter out of every jack pot. These counters must be kept apart from the other chips, and must be accounted for at the end of the game by paying the kitty so much in cash, just as if it was one of the players. Gambling houses and poker rooms are supposed to derive their entire revenue from this source, and those of the lowest class invent endless excuses for taking out for the kitty. In many houses there is a sliding scale for various hands; one counter being taken for two pairs; two counters for triplets; three for straights or flushes; and a red for fours, jack pots, and misdeals. It is not uncommon for the proprietors of such games to find thirty or forty dollars in the kitty after a night’s play with five-cent chips. _=TABLE STAKES.=_ This is one of several variations in arranging the stakes and the betting limit. In some localities it is the custom to allow each player to purchase as many counters as he pleases; in others it is the rule to compel each to buy an equal number at the start, usually two hundred times the amount of the blind.
Barley-break is several times alluded to in Massinger s plays: see the _Dramatic Works of Philip Massinger_, 1779, i. 167. We ll run at barley-break first, and you shall be in hell (Dekker s _The Honest Whore_). Hee s at barli-break, and the last couple are now in hell (Dekker s _The Virgin Martir_). See Gifford s _Massinger_, i. 104, edit. 1813. See also Browne s _Britannia s Pastorals_, published in 1614, Book I., Song 3, p. 76.