If there are 5, 7, 9 or 11 tables in play, the movement of the trays must be 2, 3, 4 or 5 tables at a time; but the movement of the players remains the same; one table at a time, in the direction opposite to the trays. _=Gilman’s System.=_ Another method, recommended by Charles F. Gilman, of Boston, which prevents any possibility of players giving hints to their friends as they pass the trays, is to have each team play at its own table first, so as to get an individual score. The E & W players then move to the next table but one, in either direction, going from 11 to 9; from 9 to 7, etc., the N & S players sitting still. This movement is continued until the E & W players have gone _twice_ round. The trays move in the _same direction as the players_, but only one table at a time; going from 11 to 10, 9 to 8, etc. This brings about the same result as the Howell’s system. _=Even Numbers of Teams.
If the seller has only two to go, and a player is able to bid three or four, he loses nothing by bidding one only, for no one can overbid him, and he is entitled to count all he makes. The only risk he runs is that the seller can afford to refuse one, and will go out on his own pitch. To remedy this it is the custom in some clubs to allow a player to bid the full value of his hand. If the seller accepts, he scores to within one of game; but if he refuses, he must make as many as bid, even if he does not actually want them. It is one of the fine points of the game for the seller to refuse when the number of points offered would put the bidder out if he was successful. There is no penalty for bidding out of turn. If a player chooses to expose to a preceding player what he is prepared to bid, that is usually to his own disadvantage. _=Bidding to the Board.=_ Modern players usually adopt the practice of bidding to the board, eldest hand having the first bid. In this form of the game the points bid count to no one, and anyone can bid up to four, no matter what the scores are.
A player may announce a _=Gucki Nullo=_, in which he takes both the skat cards into his hand and lays out any two cards he pleases. This loses double if it is not successful. _=Revolution=_ is seldom played. It is a Nullo in which the adversaries put their twenty cards together as one hand to see if they can make the player take a trick. _=Uno=_ and _=Duo=_ are Grands, in which the single player engages to take one trick in Uno, or two in Duo, neither more nor less. _=GAME VALUES.=_ Each of the foregoing games has what is called a unit of value, which is afterward multiplied several times according to the number of Matadores, and whether the game was schneider or schwarz. These unit values are as follows, beginning with the lowest: ---------------+------------------+------------------------- Suits Trumps:--| Jacks Trumps:-- | No Trumps:-- ----+----+-----+------------------+------------------------- |Turn| Solo| Turned Grand 12 | Gucki Nullo 15 ♢ | 5 | 9 | Gucki Grand 16 | ” if played open 30 ♡ | 6 | 10 | Solo Grand 20 | Solo Nullo 20 ♠ | 7 | 11 | Open Grand 24 | ” if played open 40 ♣ | 8 | 12 | Ramsch 20 | Revolution 60 ----+----+-----+------------------+------------------------- When one player takes no trick in a Ramsch, the player with the greater number of points loses 30. If two players take no trick, the loss is 50 points. _=All Guckis lose double if they fail=_, so that if a player announces a Gucki Nullo and loses it, he will lose 30; but if he won it he would get 15 only.
Only two cards may be used to form a 10. The K Q J 10 of each suit must be lifted together, none of these cards being touched until all four of the same suit are on the table together. When no cards can be lifted, the game is lost. The object in most patience games is to arrange the cards in sequences. An ascending sequence is one in which the cards run from A 2 3 up to the King; and a descending sequence is one in which they run down to the ace. Sequences may be formed of one suit or of mixed suits, according to the rules of the game. _=THE CARPET.=_ Shuffle and cut the pack. Deal out twenty cards in four rows of five cards each, face up. This is the carpet.