That s the instant when every eye is on the dice, trying to read the spots. And that s when the dice jumped straight up off the baize, a good six-inch hop into the air, and came down Snake Eyes, the old signal. Wow! I d had it! TK! somebody yelled. He might as well have screamed, Fire! the way that mob of gamblers scuttled away from the table. No dice, one of the dealers said automatically. He raked the hopping cubes sadly to him with his hoe-shaped dice-stick. I made a break for it with the rest of the crowd, trying to keep my eye on Sniffles. But she had the sure-loser s touch of slipping away from any authority. She vanished into the milling mob. My last glimpse had been of a skinny arm reaching up to pluck some more free _hors d oeuvres_ from a tray as she fled.
Like a slightly painful flash of light against the eyes. Yet in that time, a forty-thousand-ton ship lifting free above Earth disappeared somehow or other into two dimensions and appeared half a light-year or fifty light-years off. At one moment, he would be sitting in the Fighting Room, the pin-set ready and the familiar Solar System ticking around inside his head. For a second or a year (he could never tell how long it really was, subjectively), the funny little flash went through him and then he was loose in the Up-and-Out, the terrible open spaces between the stars, where the stars themselves felt like pimples on his telepathic mind and the planets were too far away to be sensed or read. Somewhere in this outer space, a gruesome death awaited, death and horror of a kind which Man had never encountered until he reached out for inter-stellar space itself. Apparently the light of the suns kept the Dragons away. * * * * * Dragons. That was what people called them. To ordinary people, there was nothing, nothing except the shiver of planoforming and the hammer blow of sudden death or the dark spastic note of lunacy descending into their minds. But to the telepaths, they were Dragons.
A double, or game of two points, when their adversaries have scored less than three. III. A single, or game of one point, when their adversaries have scored three or four. 9. The winners of the rubber gain two points (commonly called the rubber points), in addition to the value of their games. 10. 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. 11. 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 concluded until the trump card of the following deal has been turned up. 12.
In all other games the successful bidder undertakes to win; but his success does not depend on the number of tricks he takes in, but on the total value of the counting cards contained in those tricks. The total value of all the counting cards is 120 points, and to be successful, the single player must win at least 61. If he succeeds in winning 61 or more points, he wins his game, whatever it may be. If he can get 91 points, he wins a double game, which is called _=schneider=_. If he can take every trick, he wins a treble game, which is called _=schwartz=_. It is not enough to win 120 points, for if the adversaries win a single trick, even if it contains no counting cards, they save the schwartz. If the single player fails to reach 61, he loses. If he fails to reach 31, he is schneider; and if he fails to take a trick he is schwartz. These various results increase the value of the game, as will presently be seen. There are four varieties of games in which the successful bidder plays to win, the difference being in the manner of using the skat cards, and making the trump.
At the end of twelve deals, each has played four deals with each of the others. The scores are then added up and balanced by the method described in connection with the game of Skat. _=REVERSI BRIDGE.=_ This is playing bridge to lose, and the object of the declaration is to pick out the make which is likely to win the least tricks. At the end of the hand, each side scores what the other makes; so that if the dealer declares no-trumps, and loses two by cards, and finds thirty aces against him, he scores 24 and 30 to his own credit. The adversaries can double if they wish to, and all the rules of regular bridge apply, except that if a revoke is made the usual penalty is reversed, the player in error taking three tricks instead of losing them. _=SHORT BRIDGE.=_ This is bridge without any doubling or rubbers, and is played for so much a game instead of for so much a point, the winners being the side that has the higher score for tricks and honours combined when either side reaches thirty points below the line. It is a good game for occasions upon which the players may be interrupted at any time, or have not time to finish a full rubber. THE AMERICAN LAWS OF BRIDGE.
If the pone has ordered up the trump, the eldest hand should lead trumps to him immediately; but the pone should not lead trumps to his partner if the eldest hand has ordered up at the bridge. If a bower is turned, the dealer’s partner should lead a small trump at the first opportunity. In playing against a lone hand the best cards in plain suits should always be led, trumps never. In playing alone, it is best to lead winning trumps as long as they last, so as to force discards, which will often leave intermediate cards in plain suits good for tricks. _=Second Hand.=_ Play the best card you have second hand, and cover everything led if you can. With King and another or Queen and another, it is usually best to put up the honour second hand, on a small card led. _=Trumping.=_ It is seldom right to trump partner’s winning cards, unless he has ordered up the trump, and you think you can lead through the dealer to advantage. In playing against a lone hand, it is sometimes good play to trump your partner’s ace with an unguarded left bower or ace of trumps, as it may prevent the dealer from getting into the lead with a small trump, and may save a King or Queen of trumps in your partner’s hand.
The pone then plays a Ten, and the dealer marks one for the last card. The hands and crib are then shown. If either player can reach exactly 31, he scores two points for it, whether he has been told to go or not. Suppose the pone begins with a Nine. The dealer plays a Six and pegs 2 for the fifteen. The pone pairs the Six, calls “Twenty-one,” and pegs 2 for the pair. The dealer with two Fives and a Four in his hand, plays the Four, and calls “Twenty-five,” hoping the pone has no small card, which will allow the dealer to make a run of three with one of his Fives if he is told to go. But the pone plays a Five, calling: “Thirty, with a run of three.” The dealer tells him to go, and he plays an Ace, pegging two holes for the 31. The cards are all turned down, and the pone having no cards, the dealer plays his two Fives, and pegs a pair and the last card.
4. The cradle inversed, or manger. 5. Soldier s bed again, or diamonds. 6. Diamonds, or cat s eyes. 7. Fish in dish. 8. Cradle as at first.
Intense light was needed, light of sunlike intensity. This could be provided only by light bombs. Pinlighting came into existence. Pinlighting consisted of the detonation of ultra-vivid miniature photonuclear bombs, which converted a few ounces of a magnesium isotope into pure visible radiance. The odds kept coming down in mankind s favor, yet ships were being lost. It became so bad that people didn t even want to find the ships because the rescuers knew what they would see. It was sad to bring back to Earth three hundred bodies ready for burial and two hundred or three hundred lunatics, damaged beyond repair, to be wakened, and fed, and cleaned, and put to sleep, wakened and fed again until their lives were ended. [Illustration] Telepaths tried to reach into the minds of the psychotics who had been damaged by the Dragons, but they found nothing there beyond vivid spouting columns of fiery terror bursting from the primordial id itself, the volcanic source of life. Then came the Partners. Man and Partner could do together what Man could not do alone.
J. The seed lay for a time gathering strength, and then began to germinate with another friend, Mr W. To Mr W. was broached the idea: I believe that if one set up a few obstacles on the floor, volumes of the British Encyclopedia and so forth, to make a Country, and moved these soldiers and guns about, one could have rather a good game, a kind of kriegspiel. ... Primitive attempts to realise the dream were interrupted by a great rustle and chattering of lady visitors. They regarded the objects upon the floor with the empty disdain of their sex for all imaginative things. But the writer had in those days a very dear friend, a man too ill for long excursions or vigorous sports (he has been dead now these six years), of a very sweet companionable disposition, a hearty jester and full of the spirit of play.
He is not allowed to play in a plain suit if he has made a simple “demand.” The only solo bids allowed are those for six, eight, or nine tricks, which outrank one another. A player cannot bid seven to over-call six; he must go to eight; and a player cannot _=bid=_ five tricks without a partner, although, as we have just seen, he may be forced to _=play=_ in that manner. When six, eight, or nine tricks are bid, the suits outrank one another for equal numbers of tricks; but as the suit called need not be the bidder’s true intention, nor the same as the card laid on the table, the proposer must be careful that his play will be as good as his bid. For instance: He intends nine tricks in spades, but proposes eight in diamonds. He cannot bid nine in diamonds, for that would be a better bid than he intends to play; but the ruse may succeed in inducing a player not to bid against him, hoping diamonds is the true suit. It is a common artifice to bid the true suit, because few will believe it to be such. If clubs are belle, and diamonds petite, and a player who “demands” is over-called by a demand in belle, or a call of six tricks, the first caller cannot advance his bid to six tricks except in the suit which he has already laid on the table; but he may accept the player over-calling him, instead of bidding against him. After a player has once accepted or passed, he cannot bid misère. If no one makes a proposition of any kind, the hands are thrown up; the next dealer contributes to the pool, and a fresh hand is dealt.
Hearts are trumps; you hold two small ones, two better being out against you, but whether in one hand or not you cannot tell. You have also two winning Spades, one smaller being still out. The game is seven-point whist. The importance of playing to the score will be evident if you consider your play in each of the following instances, your score being given first: Score 6 to 6; you have 5 tricks in front of you. Score 6 to 6; you have 4 tricks in front of you. Score 6 to 5; you have 4 tricks in front of you. Score 5 to 4; you have 5 tricks in front of you. _=INFERENCES.=_ The great strength of the expert lies in his ability to draw correct inferences from the fall of the cards, and to adapt his play to the circumstances. Inferences from the various systems of leads and returns are too obvious to require further notice; but attention may be called to some that are often overlooked, even by advanced players: If a suit led is won by Third Hand with King or Ace; and the original leader wins the second round with King or Ace, the adversaries must have the Queen.
So long as they do not balance, the banker must ask for what he wants: “Give me fourteen dollars on the outside to make the game,” etc. As soon as the amounts balance, and no more bets are offered, he says: “Roll. The game is made.” A round stick, about a foot long, is placed behind nine small ivory balls. Any person may roll. He takes his stand at one corner of the table and rolls the balls across the table to the pocket diagonally opposite him. At least one ball must go into the pocket and one must be left out, or they must be rolled over again. The number of balls left outside the pocket, odd or even, decides whether the inside or the outside bets win; and after the banker has deducted his ten per cent, the players who have backed the winning side get their money. MONTE BANK. The money staked by the banker is piled upon the table, so that all players may see what is to be won.
Make three pretty curtseys and walk away. Where is your may? I met puss, and puss met me, and puss took all my may away. Where is puss? Run up the wood. Where is the wood? Fire burnt it. Where is the fire? Water quenched it. Where is the water? Ducks have drunk it. Where are the ducks? Butcher killed them. Where is the butcher? Behind the churchyard, cracking nuts, and leaving you the shells. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). III.
Suppose the final scores were as follows: ------+------+------+------------ A | B | C | D ------+------+------+------------ +186 | +42 | +344 | +116 ------+------+------+------------ +144 | 0 | +302 | +74 = 520 +4 | 4 | 4 | 4 ------+------+------+------------ +576 | 0 |+1208 | +296 -520 | -520 | -520 | -520 ------+------+------+------------ +56 | -520 | +688 | -224 ------+------+------+------------ If B is zero, his points are to be taken from those of each of the others, as B is plus. If the low score is a minus, the points must be added to each of the others. The three totals are added, and found, in this case, to be 520, which is the total of B’s loss. We now multiply the scores by the number of players engaged, in this case four, and from the product we deduct the 520 already found. Then the scores balance. When Skat is played for the League stake, which is one-fourth of a cent a point, the results may be found in a still shorter way by adding up all the scores and taking an average, this average being the sum divided by the number of players. Take the results just given for example:-- ------+------+------+--------------------- A | B | C | D ------+------+------+--------------------- 186 | 42 | 344 | 116 = 688 ÷ 4 = 172 172 | 172 | 172 | 172 ------+------+------+--------------------- +14 | -130 | +172 | -56 ------+------+------+--------------------- The average is simply deducted from each score, and the remainder is the amount won or lost, in cents. _=CHEATING.=_ As in all games in which the cards are dealt in groups, the greek will find many opportunities in Skat. The clumsiest shuffler can usually locate some of the Wenzels at the top or the bottom of the pack, before presenting it to be cut, and if the players do not insist on the cards being dealt always in the same manner, the sharper can secure to himself two or more Wenzels, either in his hand or in the Skat.
Here we go up the green grass, The green grass, the green grass; Here we go up the green grass, So early in the morning. Fair maid, pretty maid; Give your hand to me, And you shall see a blackbird, A blackbird on the tree; All sorts of colours Lying by his side, Take me, dearest [----], For to be my bride-- Will you come? No! Naughty old maid, she won t come out, She won t come out, To help us with our dancing-- Will you come? Yes! Now we ve got the bonny lass, Now we ve got the bonny lass, To help us with our dancing. --Liphook, Hants (Miss Fowler). XIII. Trip trap over the grass, If you please, will you let one of your [eldest] daughters come, Come and dance with me? I will give you pots and pans, I will give you brass, I will give you anything For a pretty lass-- No! I will give you gold and silver, I will give you pearl, I will give you anything For a pretty girl. Take one, take one, the fairest you may see. The fairest one that I can see Is pretty [Nancy], come to me; You shall have a duck, my dear, And you shall have a drake, And you shall have a young man, Apprentice for your sake. If this young man should happen to die, And leave this poor woman a widow, The bells shall all ring and the birds shall all sing, And we ll clap hands together. --Halliwell s _Popular Nursery Rhymes_, cccxxxii. XIV.
Pole’s “Philosophy of Whist” for these calculations. As an example of the use of this table, suppose it was required to find the probability of any other player at the table holding four or more trumps if you had six. Take all the combinations in which the figure 6 appears, and add together the number of times they will probably occur. That will be your denominator, 166. The numerator will be the number of times that the combinations occur which contain a figure larger than 3, in addition to the 6. This will be found to be 74, and the probability will therefore be 74/166. DISTRIBUTIONS. TIMES IN 1000. 8 2 2 1 2 8 3 1 1 1½ 8 3 2 0 1 8 4 1 0 ½ 8 5 0 0 0 7 2 2 2 5 7 3 2 1 19 7 3 3 0 3 7 4 1 1 4 7 4 2 0 3 7 5 1 0 1 7 6 0 0 0 6 3 2 2 57 6 3 3 1 35 6 4 2 1 47 6 4 3 0 13 6 5 1 1 7 6 5 2 0 6 6 6 1 0 1 5 3 3 2 155 5 4 2 2 106 5 4 3 1 130 5 4 4 0 12 5 5 2 1 32 5 5 3 0 9 4 3 3 3 105 4 4 3 2 215 4 4 4 1 30 _=MARTINGALES.=_ Many gamblers believe that as the science of probabilities teaches us that events will equalise themselves in time, all that is necessary is to devise some system that will keep a person from guessing, so that he may catch the pendulum as it swings; and to add to it some system of betting, so that he will have the best of it in the long run.
B. Gomme). Mr. Newell, in writing of this game, says that the lamp-lighter or spill was lighted when placed in the hair of the players who made mistakes. He does not mention forfeits being exacted.--_Games_, p. 139. Ghost at the Well One of the party is chosen for Ghost (if dressed in white so much the better); she hides in a corner; the other children are a mother and daughters. The eldest daughter says:-- Mother, mother, please give me a piece of bread and butter. M.
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If he pairs your first card, you can reply with a pair royal. If he plays to make a sequence, you can sometimes hold him off until you get the score, and he will be unable to continue the run without passing 31. Play one of two cards that form a five, such as 3 and 2; 4 and A. If he plays a tenth card to it, you can peg fifteen. In playing on, you should make all the sequences possible, taking chances of your adversary’s being able to continue the run. If you think he is leading you on, you must be guided by the state of the score as to how much you can risk. Toward the end, you must reckon pretty closely how many points you can afford to risk your adversary’s making without putting him out. If you have enough in your hand to get out on the show, you should not attempt to make a single point in play. Pair nothing, for he might come out with a pair royal; make no runs, for he might extend them. But if you have not enough to show out, you must take every chance to peg the difference, because if you cannot get out in play and first show, the dealer has not only both hand and crib against you, but the first show on the next deal.
As the verse is sung and finished, Dinah goes to any one in the ring, and, if successful in guessing her name, takes her place, the other taking the place of Dinah, the game going on as before.--Earls Heaton (Herbert Hardy). Dinah was a Christy Minstrel song in the fifties. It is probable that the game, which resembles Buff, has been played to the tune of the song. Singing a chorus would soon follow. See Buff, Muffin Man. Dip o the Kit A rustic game, undescribed and marked as obsolescent.--Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_. Dish-a-loof A singular rustic amusement. One lays his hand down on a table, another clashes his upon it, a third his on that, and so on (fig.
In turn the opposite side chooses a trade, and imitates the actions practised.--Cork, Ireland (Miss Keane). This is called An Old Woman from the Wood in Dorsetshire. The children form themselves into two ranks. The first rank says: Here comes an old oman from the wood. The second party answers: What cans t thee do? First Party: Do anythin . Second Party: Work away. This the children proceed to do, some by pretending to sew, some to wash, some to dig, some to knit, without any instruments to do it with. If the opposite side guess what they are doing, they change sides. This game, Miss Summers believes, is very old, and has been played by several generations in the village of Hazelbury Bryan.
The modern name of this game is Prison Bars (_Ibid._, p. 141). There is also a description of the game in a little tract called _Barley Breake; or, A Warning for Wantons_, 1607. It is mentioned in Wilbraham s _Cheshire Glossary_ as an old Cheshire game. Barnes, in his _Dorsetshire Glossary_, says he has seen it played with one catcher on hands and knees in the small ring (Hell), and the others dancing round the ring crying Burn the wold witch, you barley breech. Holland (_Cheshire Glossary_) also mentions it as an old Cheshire game. See Boggle about the Stacks, Scots and English. Barnes (Mr.) Mr.
6. _=Bas.=_ At the bottom of any of the three vertical columns, taking in the twelve numbers. This pays 2 for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs. 7. _=Bas à cheval=_, between any two of these columns. This pays ½ for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs. 8.
The child in the centre says the second, fourth, and alternate verses, and the game is played as above, except that when the Mother has said the last verse the children call out, Good job, too, and run off, the Mother chasing them as above. The game does not appear to be sung. (_c_) This game is somewhat of a cumulative story, having for its finish the making angry and tormenting of a mother. All the versions point to this. One interesting point, that of milk-pails, is, it will be seen, gradually losing ground in the rhymes. Milk-pails were pails of wood suspended from a yoke worn on the milkmaid s shoulders, and these have been giving place to present-day milk-cans. Consequently we find in the rhymes only four versions in which milk-pails are used. In two versions even the sense of milking-can has been lost, and the South Shields version, sent me by little Miss Blair, has degenerated into male-scales, a thoroughly meaningless phrase. The Cowes version (Miss Smith) has arrived at wash-pan. The burden of the Chirbury version is a rea, a ria, a roses, and the Sheffield version is also remarkable: the I, O, OM refers, probably, to something now forgotten, or it may be the Hi, Ho, Ham! familiar in many nursery rhymes.