In straights, the highest card of the sequence wins; not necessarily the highest card in the hand, for a player may have a sequence of A 2 3 4 5, which is only five high, and would be beaten by a sequence of 2 3 4 5 6. The ace must either begin or end a sequence, for a player is not allowed to call such a combination as Q K A 2 3 a straight. It was evidently the intention of those who invented Poker that the hands most difficult to obtain should be the best, and should outrank hands that occurred more frequently. A glance at the table of odds will show that this principle has been carried out as far as the various denominations of hands go; but when we come to the members of the groups the principle is violated. In hands not containing a pair, for instance, ace high will beat Jack high, but it is much more common to hold ace high than Jack high. The exact proportion is 503 to 127. A hand of five cards only seven high but not containing a pair, is rarer than a flush; the proportion being 408 to 510. When we come to two pairs, we find the same inversion of probability and value. A player will hold “aces up,” that is, a pair of aces and another pair inferior to aces, twelve times as often as he will hold “threes up.” In the opinion of the author, in all hands that do not contain a pair, “seven high” should be the best instead of the lowest, and ace high should be the lowest.
He might as well have been on tracks. There was no place to go--I was in the middle of a six-lane boulevard, and could never make either curb before he ran me down. This is when it pays to be a perceptive. I ve talked to many TK s about how they visualize their lifts. We all conceive of it differently. With me a real strain is like shining a bright beam of light on the spot you re lifting. Be glad, Wally Bupp, I had time to tell myself. Be glad for a mechanical mind. Where do you lift four thousand pounds of car aimed right at you? Well, there is a small valve, can t weigh half an ounce, lightly spring-loaded, that is in the power-steering mechanism. I seared a lift at it.
Practical Poker, with complete laws, by R.F. Foster, 1905. Treatise on Poker, by E.P. Philpots, 1904. Poker probabilities, by Alleyne Reynolds, 1901. The Game of Draw Poker, Mathematically Illustrated, by H.T. Winterblossom, 1875.
These are dealt one at a time, and the last turned up for trump. In _=Boston=_ and in _=Cayenne=_, the cards are dealt four at a time for two rounds, and then five at a time. No trump is turned. After the cards have been dealt the player opposite the dealer presents the still pack to be cut by the player on the dealer’s left, and the top card of the portion left on the table is turned up. In _=Boston=_, _=Cayenne=_, or _=Solo Whist=_, the deal is never lost. The same dealer deals again with the same pack. 14. There must be a new deal by the same dealer:-- I. If any card except the last is faced in the pack. II.
=_ The cards dealt, the player to the left of the dealer begins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick. There is no trump suit. If a player has none of the suit led, he may discard anything he pleases. The winner of the trick takes it in and leads for the next trick, and so on until all the cards have been played. The tricks themselves have no value as such, and need not be kept separate. _=Irregularities in Play.=_ If any player omits to play to a trick, and plays to a following one, he is not allowed to correct his error, but is compelled to take the thirteenth or last trick, with whatever hearts it may contain. If a player is found, during or at the end of a hand, to be a card short, all others at the table having their right number, and all having played to the first trick, the player with the short hand is compelled to take the last trick, with whatever hearts it may contain. _=Exposed Cards.
=_ In a Frage or a Tourné, some judgment is required in discarding for the Skat. It is often necessary to lay aside the Ace and Ten of trumps if there is any danger that the adversaries may catch them. Unguarded Tens should always be laid out, and it is a good general principle to get rid of one suit entirely, so that you can trump it. It is a common practice to put in the Skat the Ace and Ten of a suit of which you hold also the King. When you lead the King, if Mittelhand has none of the suit he is sure to fatten the trick for his partner, thinking he must have Ace or Ten. With the Ten, King, and small cards of a plain suit, lay the Ten and King in the Skat. _=The Adversaries=_ should combine against the single player by getting him between them if possible. If you sit on the left of the player, lead your short suits up to him; but if you sit on his right, lead your longest suit through him. Try to force out his trumps on your plain-suit cards if you can, and avoid giving him discards of his weak suits. With a long trump suit, it is often advantageous to lead it through the player, but seldom right to lead it up to him.
_=Rubber Points.=_ At the conclusion of each game, the rubber points are scored, either with the oblong counters, or on the small keys of the whist-marker. If the winners of a game are five points to their adversaries’ nothing, they win a _=treble=_, and count three rubber points. If the adversaries have scored, but have one or two points only, the winners mark two points, for a _=double=_. If the adversaries have reached three or four, the winners mark one, for a _=single=_. The rubber points having been marked, all other scores are turned down. The side winning the rubber adds two points to its score for so doing. The value of the rubber is determined by deducting from the score of the winners any rubber points that may have been made by their adversaries. The smallest rubber possible to win is one point; the winners having scored two singles and the rubber, equal to four; from which they have to deduct a triple made by their adversaries. The largest rubber possible is eight points, called a _=bumper=_, the winners having scored two triples and the rubber, to their adversaries’ nothing.
The fountain went over with a crash and then the racket dwindled off in the shriek of twisted buckets. The turbine had gotten what for in the collision. I didn t hang around to see what had happened to the driver. He was just some heavy who had the job of rubbing me out. But I did seek another haven. If they knew me that well, I d never be safe where I had stashed my suitcase. There was a copter squatting at the Sky Hi s ramp. I jumped for it and had him drop me toward the outskirts of the town of Lake Tahoe, and then walked a few blocks, mostly in circles to see if I were being followed, before darting into a fairly seedy motel a couple blocks off the main drag. My room was on the third floor of the flea-bag. Part of the place was only two stories high.
Who then, sir? White Cap, sir; the questions and answers were again repeated for Red Cap, and Blue Cap. When it was Black Cap s turn, I think the ball was thrown by this player to some one else; whoever was hit by the ball had to chase and capture one, who became questioner; but my recollection of the game is too slight for me to be certain either of the dialogue or the way the game terminated (A. B. Gomme). A game described in _Suffolk County Folk-lore_, p. 62, is apparently a version of this. It is there described as a forfeit game. King William [Music] --Earls Heaton, Yorks. (H. Hardy).
The pocket into which the dealer’s cards go is marked “dealer,” and it is usual to provide a trump slip for each tray. When the hand is first dealt, the trump is recorded on this slip, which travels round the room with the tray. After the dealer has turned up the designated trump, he places the trump slip in the tray, face down. When the play of the hand is finished and the cards replaced in the tray, the dealer puts his trump slip on the top of his cards. The four hands can then be conveniently carried or handed to any other table to be overplayed. [Illustration: VARIOUS APPARATUS FOR DUPLICATE.] _=SCORING.=_ There should be two score-cards at each table. The various methods of putting down and comparing the scores can best be described in connection with the variety of competition to which they belong. It is a common practice to note the trump card on the score sheets.
If a player has drawn two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If he has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he draws out of turn, he must restore the card improperly drawn; and if it belongs to his adversary the player in error must show his own card. If both players draw the wrong cards there is no remedy. If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock, his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, he need not show it. If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an even number of cards remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. The winner of the trick takes the last but one, and the loser takes the trump card. _=Irregular Announcements.=_ Should a player announce four of a kind, having only three; as, for instance, laying down three Kings and a Jack, and declaring four Kings, his adversary can compel him not only to take down the score erroneously marked, but to lead or play one of the three Kings.
... brass. | -- | -- | | 15.|.....
Accroshay A cap or small article is placed on the back of a stooping boy by other boys as each in turn jumps over him. The first as he jumps says Accroshay, the second Ashotay, the third Assheflay, and the last Lament, lament, Leleeman s (or Leleena s) war. The boy who in jumping knocks off either of the things has to take the place of the stooper.--Cornwall (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58). See Leap-frog. All-hid A meere children s pastime (_A Curtaine Lecture_, 1637, p. 206). This is no doubt the game of Hide and Seek, though Cotgrave apparently makes it synonymous with Hoodman Blind. See Halliwell s _Dictionary_.
A player turning up a seven cannot announce a Nullo unless it has been previously agreed to play turned Nullos, which are worth 10 points. 32. The player who takes the skat cards must lay out two cards in their place before a card is led. Should he neglect to lay out for the skat before he plays to the first trick; or should he lay out more or less than two cards, and not discover the error until the first trick has been turned and quitted, he shall lose his game. BIDDING. 33. All bidding shall be by numbers representing the value of some possible game, and the lowest bid allowed shall be 10. 34. Mittelhand must bid to Vorhand, and Vorhand must either undertake as good a game as that offered him, or pass. If Vorhand passes, Hinterhand bids to Mittelhand, and Mittelhand must either undertake as good a game as that offered, or pass.
The Arabs seem to have learned the game, and taken it to Mecca and Medina, afterward passing it along to Syria and the Byzantines, sometime during the seventh century. Disbanded body-guards of the Byzantine emperors carried it to Scandinavia and the North, while it was gradually spreading over Europe by way of the Bosphoros and the Danube. _=Draughts=_, or _=Checkers=_, is sometimes claimed to be an older game than Chess: but it is much more probable that both are developments of some still older game, all trace of which is lost. In Egypt and Nubia there are illustrations of persons playing at draughts twenty centuries before the Christian era. During recent explorations in Egypt quite a variety of draughtmen have been found, some of which were used during the reign of Rameses III. The usual form seems to have been circular, about an inch in diameter, and surmounted by a round knob, something like a chess pawn, so that the men could be easily picked up. From the manner in which the men are shown mixed upon the board, it is evident that they could not move or take backwards, as in Polish draughts, but whether they advanced diagonally, as at the present day, there is no evidence to show. The Japanese game of draughts has lately been revived in England and America under the name of Go-Bang, but as it requires a special board of 324 squares, it has never been popular. _=Backgammon=_ cannot be traced to its origin. Several authorities have fallen into the error of ascribing the game to a certain country because the name is derived from a certain language, forgetting that in ancient times every country invented its own names for games.
=_ Five picture cards. Beat two pairs; but lose to three of a kind. [Illustration: 🂻 🃝 🃍 🃎 🂮] 3008 to 1 _=Tiger.=_ Must be seven high and deuce low; without a pair, sequence or flush. It beats a straight; but loses to a flush. [Illustration: 🃇 🂦 🂥 🂳 🃒] 636 to 1 _=Skip, or Dutch Straight.=_ Any sequence of alternate cards, of various suits. Beats two pairs and a blaze. [Illustration: 🂭 🂺 🃘 🃆 🃔] 423 to 1 _=Round-the-Corner.=_ Any straight in which the ace connects the top and bottom.
H. Busk (_Notes and Grinstead { Queries_). Ninfield Mr. C. Wise. { Northall s _Folk Rhymes_, _Notes and WARWICKSHIRE { Queries_, _Northants Notes and { Queries_, Mr. C. C. Bell. WILTSHIRE-- Marlborough, Manton, Ogbourne Mr.
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. These games are called _=Frage=_, _=Tourné=_, _=Solo=_, and _=Grand=_, and they outrank one another in the order given, Frage being the lowest. The first three: Frage, Tourné and Solo, are each again divided into four parts, according to the suit which is trumps; a Tourné in clubs being better than one in spades; a Solo in hearts being better than one in diamonds, and so on. This is in accordance with the rank of the suits already mentioned in the paragraph devoted to that subject. In a _=Frage=_, or Simple Game, the successful bidder takes both the skat cards into his hand, and then declares which suit shall be the trump; discarding two cards face downward for his schatz, or treasure, before play begins.
[6] (_e_) If the last card does not come in its regular order to the dealer. (_f_) If the dealer omit having the pack cut, deal out of turn or with the adversaries’ cards, and either adversary call attention to the fact before the end of the deal and before looking at any of his cards. 38. Should a correction of any offence mentioned in 37 _f_ not be made in time, or should an adversary who has looked at any of his cards be the first to call attention to the error, the deal stands, and the game proceeds as if the deal had been correct, the player to the left dealing the next. When the deal has been with the wrong cards, the next dealer may take whichever pack he prefers. 39. If, prior to the cut for the following deal, a pack be proved incorrect, the deal is void, but all prior scores stand.[7] The pack is not incorrect when a missing card or cards are found in the other pack, among the quitted tricks, below the table, or in any other place which makes it possible that such card or cards were part of the pack during the deal. 40. Should three players have their proper number of cards, the fourth, less, the missing card or cards, if found, belong to him, and he, unless dummy, is answerable for any established revoke or revokes he may have made just as if the missing card or cards had been continuously in his hand.
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. If two men play a game, the winner is not considered particularly lucky; but if one wanted only two points to go out and the other wanted a hundred, the latter would be a very lucky man if he won. It is a remarkable fact that luck is the only subject in the world on which we have no recognised authority, although it is a topic of the most universal interest.
Queen. A shrew or gossip. _=R.=_ She will make you tired. Jack. A bearer of bad news. _=R.=_ Worse than you expected. Ten. An unexpected journey.
Fine Points of Bridge, by Florence Irwin, 1912. Auction Bridge, by J.B. Elwell, 1912. Royal Auction Bridge, by R.F. Foster, 1912. Scientific Auction Bridge, by E.V. Shepard, 1913.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Écarté is played by two persons, who sit opposite each other. One is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone, the adversary, the elder hand, the non-dealer, the leader, or the player. _=THE GALLERY.=_ In clubs that make a feature of Écarté, and in which there is a great deal of betting on the outside by the spectators, it is not usual to allow more than one game between the same players, the loser giving place to one of those who have been backing him, and who is called a _=rentrant=_. This is known as playing the _cul-levé_. Any person in the gallery is allowed to draw attention to errors in the score, and may advise the player he is backing, or even play out the game for him, if he resigns. The player need not take the advice given him, which must be offered without discussion, and by pointing only, not naming the suit or cards. If a player will not allow the gallery to back him, taking all bets himself, no one may overlook his hand nor advise him without his permission, and he need not retire if he loses the game. _=CUTTING.
This is a good round game, any number taking part. The full pack of fifty-two cards is dealt round, one card at a time as far as it will go equally, the remainder being left in the centre of the table, face down. Any one can deal. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by taking from his hand any three cards he pleases and laying them on the table in front of him face down. He then announces, “These are three jacks,” or anything he likes to call them, there being no obligation to tell the truth about it, so the cards might actually be a six four and a deuce. Each player in turn to the left can doubt the statement that the cards are three jacks, or he can pass. If any player in his proper turn says, “I doubt it,” the three cards are at once turned face up. If the statement is not correct, the three cards are at once taken back into the player’s hand, together with all the cards lying face down in the centre of the table at the time. Should the statement turn out to be true, the player who doubted it must take the three jacks and all the cards on the table. That settled, the next player to the left lays out three cards and announces that they are three of a kind of something or other, each player to the left passing or doubting it.
If the second man cannot be so moved onward, the player is at liberty to move any man he pleases. _=11.=_ Any man touched, except for the purpose of adjusting it, must be moved if the piece is playable. A player about to adjust a man must give due notice by saying, “J’adoube.” A man having been properly played to a certain point and quitted, must remain there. _=12.=_ The numbers on both dice must be played if possible. If there are two ways to play, one of which will employ the numbers on both dice, the other only one of them, the former must be played. If either, but only one, of the two numbers thrown can be played, the larger of the two must be selected. _=13.
With K 10 x, Dummy having Jack, the suit should not be led. With such combinations as K x x x, Dummy having Q x, the suit should not be led. When you have a suit which is both long and strong, such as A K x x x, and Dummy has no honour in the suit, it is a common artifice to underplay, by beginning with the smallest, if playing against no-trumps and you have a card of re-entry. This should not be done unless you have the general strength to justify such a finesse. If you open a long suit, Dummy having only small cards, and your partner wins with Q, J, or 10, and does not return it, he has evidently a finesse in the suit and wants it led again. _=End Games.=_ In the end game there are several variations which are made possible by the fact that the cards on your right are exposed. With A J x, Dummy having Q x x, the small card should be led. With Q x, and an odd card, Dummy having K x x of the first suit; it is better to play the odd card; but if for any reason this should not be done, lead the Q, hoping to find A 10 with your partner. The state of the score must be a constant guide in all end games.