There are a few general principles connected with luck which should be understood by every person who is interested in games of chance. In the first place, luck attaches to persons and not to things. It is useless for an unlucky man to change the seats or the cards, for no matter which he chooses the personal equation of good or bad luck adhering to him for the time being cannot be shaken off. In the second place, all men are lucky in some things, and not in others; and they are lucky or unlucky in those things at certain times and for certain seasons. This element of luck seems to come and go like the swell of the ocean. In the lives of some men the tide of fortune appears to be a long steady flood, without a ripple on the surface. In others it rises and falls in waves of greater or lesser length; while in others it is irregular in the extreme; splashing choppy seas to-day; a storm to-morrow that smashes everything; and then calm enough to make ducks and drakes with the pebbles on the shore. In the lives of all the tide of fortune is uncertain; for the man has never lived who could be sure of the weather a week ahead. In the nature of things this must be so, for if there were no ups and downs in life, there would be no such things as chance and luck, and the laws of probability would not exist. The greatest fallacy in connection with luck is the belief that certain men _are_ lucky, whereas the truth is simply that they _have been_ lucky up to that time.
_=Against No-Trumpers.=_ When there is no trump, the third hand uses what is called the _=Foster echo=_. This consists in playing always the _=second-best=_ of the suit, when no attempt is made to win the trick. Suppose the leader begins with the King. Third hand holds 10 8 7 4, and plays the 8. This marks him with only one card higher than the 8, and is a great exposer of false cards played by the declarer. On the second round, the rule is, always to keep the lowest card of the suit until the last. If third hand held four originally, 10 8 7 4, his play to the second round is the 7, keeping the 4. If he held 10 8 7 only, his play to the second round would be the 10, keeping the 7. This makes it clear to the leader how many and what he holds.
All the players names are called out in this way. If any stand unchosen by Foolie, the Namer then goes up to each and asks if he wants, _e.g._, an aipple, an orange, a kirk, a cottage, &c. Each one whispers what he wants. The same question is put to Foolie. If he answers, _e.g._, orange, the one so named steps out and stands beside Foolie. All not first chosen are gone over in this way.
--Cole s _Glossary_. The following letter relating to this game is extracted from the _Worcestershire Chronicle_, September 1847, in Ellis s edition of Brand:-- Before the commons were taken in, the children of the poor had ample space wherein to recreate themselves at cricket, _nurr_, or any other diversion; but now they are driven from every green spot, and in Bromsgrove here, the nailor boys, from the force of circumstances, have taken possession of the turnpike road to play the before-mentioned games, to the serious inconvenience of the passengers, one of whom, a woman, was yesterday knocked down by a _nurr_ which struck her in the head. Brockett says of this game, as played in Durham: It is called Spell and Ore, Teut. spel, a play or sport; and Germ. knorr, a knot of wood or ore. The recreation is also called Buckstick, Spell, and Ore, the buckstick with which the ore is struck being broad at one end like the butt of a gun (_North Country Words_). In Yorkshire it is Spell and Nurr, or Knur, the ore or wooden ball having been, perhaps, originally the knurl or knot of a tree. The _Whitby Glossary_ also gives this as Spell and Knor, and says it is known in the South as Dab and Stick. The author adds, May not tribbit, or trevit, be a corruption of three feet, the required length of the stick for pliable adaptation? Robinson (_Mid-Yorkshire Glossary_), under Spell and Nur, says: A game played with a wooden ball and a stick fitted at the striking end with a club-shaped piece of wood. The spell made to receive and spring the ball for the blow at a touch, is a simple contrivance of wood an inch or so in breadth and a few inches long.
Fourchette, the two cards immediately above and below the one led, such as K J in the second hand on a Q led. Four Signal, a method of showing four trumps, without asking for them; usually made by playing three small cards, such as 4 6 2, in that order. Fourth-best, the fourth card of a suit, counting from the top. The modern substitute for the terms penultimate, and antepenultimate. Front Stall, one who makes acquaintances for gamblers to fleece. Frozen, balls touching at billiards. Frozen Out, a player who has lost his original stake, and cannot continue in the game. Fuzzing, milking the cards instead of shuffling them. Gallery, the spectators who are betting on the game. Gambling, risking more than one can well afford to lose on any game of chance.
=_ After the hand has been played, each player announces the number of hearts he has taken in, and pays into the pool one counter for each. All thirteen hearts having been paid for, any player having taken no hearts wins the entire pool; two having taken none, divide it. If all the players have taken hearts, or if one player has taken all thirteen, the pool remains, and forms a _=Jack=_. This can be won only by a single player in some subsequent deal taking no hearts, all the others having taken at least one. These jack pools are of course increased thirteen counters every deal until some player wins the whole amount. Some clubs make it a Jack after two players have divided a pool, using the odd counter as a starter. It will be found that natural Jacks occur quite frequently enough without resorting to this expedient. _=HOWELL’S SETTLING.=_ The great objection to the method of settling at Sweepstake Hearts is that it makes the game almost entirely one of chance. No matter how good a player one may be, good luck alone will bring success.
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. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ As in Boston, the eldest hand has the first lead, and the others must follow suit if they can, except in the misère des quatre as. When this is played, the bidder may renounce at pleasure for the first ten tricks. _=GATHERING TRICKS.=_ When a partnership is formed, each gathers the tricks he takes. If the partnership loses, the one who has not his complement of tricks must pay the adversaries and double the pool. If the demander has not five, and the acceptor has three, the demander pays. If the proposer has five, and the acceptor has not three, the acceptor pays; but they both win if they have eight tricks between them, no matter in what proportion.
VII. Mother, will you buy me a pair of milking-cans, Milking-cans, milking-cans, Mother, will you buy me a pair of milking-cans, O gentle mother of mine? But where shall I get the money from? Sell my father s feather bed. But where, O where, will your father lie? Father can lie in the girls bed. But where, O where, shall the girls then lie? The girls can lie in the boys bed. But where, O where, shall the boys lie? The boys may lie in the pig-sty. Then where, O where, will the pigs lie? The pigs may lie in the washing-tub. Then where, O where, shall we wash our clothes? We can wash by the river side. The tide will wash the clothes away. Get the prop and follow them. --Sheffield (Miss Lucy Garnett).
Dummy and Double-dummy are simply whist with a limited number of players, necessitating the exposure of one or more hands upon the table. The French game of Mort is dummy with a better system of scoring introduced. Favourite Whist simply changes the value of the tricks in scoring, according to the trump suit. Cayenne and Bridge introduce the first changes of importance. In Cayenne, the dealer and his partner have the privilege of changing the trump from the suit turned up; in Bridge they name the trump suit without any turn-up, and play the hands as at dummy. In Boston, and Boston de Fontainebleau, in addition to making the trump suit instead of turning it up, further departures are introduced by naming the number of tricks to be played for, allowing the player to take all or none without any trump suit, and by ‘spreading’ certain hands, without allowing the adversaries to call the exposed cards. French and Russian Boston are simply varieties of Boston. Solo Whist is an attempt to simplify Boston by reducing the number of proposals and the complications of payments, and eliminating the feature of ‘spreads.’ Scotch Whist introduces a special object in addition to winning tricks--catching the ten of trumps; that card and the honours having particular values attached to them. This variety of whist may be played by any number of persons from two to eight; and its peculiarity is that when a small number play, each has several distinct hands, which must be played in regular order, as if held by different players.
O. Addy, Miss Lucy Garnett. Wakefield Miss Fowler. SCOTLAND. Chambers _Popular Rhymes_, ed. 1870. Mactaggart s _Gallovidian Encyclopædia_, ed. 1871. Jamieson s _Etymological Dictionary_, ed. 1872-1889.
In others it rises and falls in waves of greater or lesser length; while in others it is irregular in the extreme; splashing choppy seas to-day; a storm to-morrow that smashes everything; and then calm enough to make ducks and drakes with the pebbles on the shore. In the lives of all the tide of fortune is uncertain; for the man has never lived who could be sure of the weather a week ahead. In the nature of things this must be so, for if there were no ups and downs in life, there would be no such things as chance and luck, and the laws of probability would not exist. The greatest fallacy in connection with luck is the belief that certain men _are_ lucky, whereas the truth is simply that they _have been_ lucky up to that time. They have succeeded so far, but that is no guarantee that they will succeed again in any matter of pure chance. This is demonstrated by the laws governing _=the probability of successive events=_. Suppose two men sit down to play a game which is one of pure chance; poker dice, for instance. You are backing Mr. Smith, and want to know the probability of his winning the first game. There are only two possible events, to win or lose, and both are equally probable, so 2 is the denominator of our fraction.
By referring to these games it will be seen that the whole group are mimic representatives of farmyard episodes, though the animal characters are giving way to more domestic affairs, as shown in the Pins and Needles version of Hen and Chickens. It is possible that the different animals which are victims to the Fox appearing in the different games may arise from local circumstances, and that in this case a real distinction exists between the various names by which this game is known. A game called Wolf and Deer, similar to Fox and Geese, is given in _Winter Evening Amusements_, by R. Revel. The last one at the end of the tail may, if she has no other chance of escape, try and place herself before the Deer or Hen. She is then no longer to be hunted; all the others must then follow her example until the deer becomes the last of the line. The game then terminates by exacting a forfeit for each lady whom the Wolf has suffered to escape his clutches (pp. 64, 65). See Gled Wylie, Hen and Chickens, Old Dame. Fox and Geese (2) A game known by this name is played with marbles or pegs on a board on which are thirty-three holes, or on the pavement, with holes scraped out of the stones.
If you are winning, it is the bank’s money, and not yours, that they would win if they started to cheat you; and as the dealer is paid to “protect the money of the house,” as they call it, he is perfectly justified in throwing the harpoon into you for a few deals, just to get his own money back; but he is very careful not to cheat you out of any of your own money. You may lose if you like, but you cannot win; faro banks are not run that way. ROUGE ET NOIR, OR TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE. The banker and his assistant, called the croupier, sit opposite each other at the sides of a long table, on each end of which are two large diamonds, one red and the other black, separated by a square space and a triangle. Any number of persons can play against the bank, placing their bets on the colour they select, red or black. Six packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one, the dealer taking a convenient number in his hand for each deal. The players having made their bets, and cut the cards, the dealer turns one card face upward on the table in front of him, at the same time announcing the colour he deals for, which is always for _=black first=_. The dealer continues to turn up cards one by one, announcing their total pip value each time, until he reaches or passes 31. Court cards and Tens count 10 each, the ace and all others for their face value. Having reached or passed 31 for black, the _=red=_ is dealt for in the same manner, and whichever colour most closely approaches 31, wins.
They march and sing the first four lines, then the fifth line, when they stand and begin again as before. (_c_) Miss Burne suggests a connection with the old pack-horses. Mr. Addy (_Sheffield Glossary_) gives the first two lines as a game. He says, The first horse in a team conveying lead to be smelted wore bells, and was called the bell-horse. I remember when a child the two first lines being used to start children a race (A. B. G.). Chambers (_Pop.
Laws and Principles of Whist, by “Cavendish.” Modern Scientific Whist, by C.D.P. Hamilton. Philosophy of Whist, by Dr. W. Pole. * Practical Guide to Whist, by Fisher Ames. x Short-Suit Whist, by Val.
=_ Every player has the right to shuffle the cards, the dealer last. The dealer must present the pack to the pone to be cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. If a card is exposed in cutting, the pack must be reshuffled, and cut again. If the dealer reshuffles the pack after it has been properly cut, he loses his deal. Beginning on his left, the dealer must give to each player in rotation three cards at a time for three rounds. No trump is turned. The deal passes to the left. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if any card is found faced in the pack; or if the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; but any previous cutting or scores made with the imperfect pack stand good. The adversaries may demand a new deal if any card is exposed during the deal, provided they have not touched a card.
Drayson. Practical Billiards, by W. Dufton. 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.
Mort, F., the dummy hand at Whist or Bridge. Mouth Bets, those made without putting up the money. One who fails to pay mouth bets is a welcher. Muggins, to take a score which has been overlooked by an adversary, especially in Cribbage and Dominoes. Natural, anything which wins the stake immediately; 7 or 11 at Craps; 21 at Vingt-et-un; 8 or 9 at Baccara. Natural Points, those which must be made every deal, such as big and little cassino, high, low, etc. Navette, F., a cross ruff. Neben Farbe, G.
When he has seated himself on the shawl, up jumps the King and Queen, and down goes the messenger on the floor.--Bottesford and Anderly (Lincolnshire), and Nottinghamshire (Miss M. Peacock). (_b_) This is virtually the same game as Ambassador, described by Grose as played by sailors on some inexperienced fellow or landsman. Between the two chairs is placed a pail of water, into which the victim falls. Cashhornie A game played with clubs by two opposite parties of boys, the aim of each party being to drive a ball into a hole belonging to their antagonists, while the latter strain every nerve to prevent this.--Jamieson. Castles A game at marbles. Each boy makes a small pyramid of three as a base, and one on the top. The players aim at these from a distant stroke with balsers, winning such of the castles as they may in turn knock down (Lowsley s _Glossary of Berkshire Words_).
In the trump suit, tenaces are very strong, and should be preserved, especially if the tenace is over the turn-up trump. There is a familiar example of the importance of tenace when only two play, in which one person holds the major tenace in trumps, hearts, and must win three tricks, no matter which player leads. The cards in one hand are:-- [Illustration: 🂻 🂱 🂺 🂡 🂮 ] and those in the other hand are;-- [Illustration: 🃋 🂾 🂽 🂹 🃑 ] If the player with the major tenace has to lead first, all he has to do is to force his adversary with the plain suit, spades. Whatever the adversary leads, the player with the major tenace simply wins it, and forces again. If the player with the four trumps has the first lead, it does not matter what card he plays; the player with the major tenace wins it, and forces with the plain suit. As long as the major tenace in trumps is not led away from, it must win three tricks in trumps. _=Leading Trumps.=_ With strong cards in plain suits, the eldest hand may often lead trumps to advantage if the dealer’s partner has assisted, especially if the turn-up trump is small. It is seldom right to lead trumps if the dealer has taken up the trump of his own accord; but an exception is usually made when the eldest hand holds three trumps, and two aces in plain suits. The best chance for a euchre is to exhaust the trumps, so as to make the aces good for tricks.
Maybe, I agreed. But no TK can do it if Smythe can t. Have you tried a PC? Simonetti grabbed a piece of the heavens in rage. No! he yelled in his loud whisper. None of your crystal-ball witches in here! I knew how he felt. PC s give me the colly-wobbles, too. What s the matter with precognition? I asked him. If this crook has got you stuck, Rose is right. Only Psi force will get you out of this jam. If you know in advance where this operator is going to hit you, you can nail him.
This is done first with one, then with two, and so on. 6. Each check is touched in turn as the ball is thrown. 7. The checks are separately pushed out of the ring. 8. Each check in turn is taken up and knocked against the ground. 9. Each check is taken up and tapped upon another. 10.
He says, I once heard this sung three times, followed by Ha! ha! he! to the tune of the last bar. Mr. W. R. Emslie says the game is known at Beddgelert as Horses, Wild Horses, he believes, but is not quite certain. Northall (_Rhymes_, p. 401) describes a game very similar to this under Buck, in which the rhyme and method of play is the same as in that game. He continues, This is closely allied to a game called in Warwickshire Jack upon the Mopstick. But in this there is no guessing. The leaping party must maintain their position whilst their leader says-- Jack upon the mopstick, One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, Count em off again.
There are no _=Text Books=_ on Spoil Five; but descriptions and laws of the game are to be found in the “Westminster Papers,” Vol II., and in “Round Games,” by Berkeley. RAMS, OR RAMMES This game seems to be the connecting link between the more strongly marked members of the Euchre family and Division Loo. _=CARDS.=_ Rams is played with the euchre pack, thirty-two cards, which rank as at Écarté, K Q J A 10 9 8 7. It has lately become the fashion, however, to adopt the rank of the cards in the piquet pack, A K Q J 10 9 8 7. _=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from three to six may play; but when six play the dealer takes no cards. The general arrangements for the players, first deal, counters, etc., are exactly the same as at Spoil Five.
--Bitterne, Hants (Mrs. Byford). Bubble-hole A child s game, undescribed.--Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Bubble-justice The name of a game probably the same as Nine Holes. --Halliwell s _Dictionary_. Buck, Buck A boy stoops so that his arms rest on a table; another boy sits on him as he would on a horse. He then holds up (say) three fingers, and says-- Buck, buck, how many horns do I hold up? The stooping boy guesses, and if he says a wrong number the other says-- [Two] you say and three there be; Buck, buck, how many horns do I hold up? When the stooping boy guesses rightly the other says-- [Four] you say and [four] there be; Buck, buck, rise up. The boy then gets off and stoops for the other one to mount, and the game is played again.--London (J.
A set of checks consists of five cubes, each about half an inch at the edge, and a ball the size of a moderate bagatelle ball: all made of pot. They are called checkstones, and the game is played thus. You throw down the cubes all at once, then toss the ball, and during its being in the air gather up one stone in your right hand and catch the descending ball in the same. Put down the stone and repeat the operation, gathering two stones, then three, then four, till at last you have summed up all the five at once, and have succeeded in catching the ball. In case of failure you have to begin all over again. (_b_) In Nashe s _Lenten Stuff_ (1599) occurs the following: Yet towards cock-crowing she caught a little slumber, and then she dreamed that Leander and she were playing at checkstone with pearls in the bottom of the sea. A game played by children with round small pebbles (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is also mentioned in the early play of _Apollo Shroving_, 1627, p. 49. See Chucks, Fivestones.
All bets are paid in even money, there being no odds at this game. Although black is the first colour dealt for, both it and inverse are ignored in the announcement of the result, red and colour being the only ones mentioned, win or lose. If the same number is reached for both colours, it is called a _=refait=_, and is announced by the word, “Après,” which means that all bets are a stand-off for that coup. If the refait happens to be exactly 31, however, the bank wins half the money on the table, no matter how it is placed. The players may either pay this half at once, or may move their entire stake into the first prison, a little square marked out on the table, and belonging to the colour they bet upon. If they win the next coup, their stake is free; if not, they lose it all. Should a second refait of 31 occur, they would have to lose a fourth of this imprisoned stake, and the remainder would be moved into a second prison, to await the result of the next coup, which would either free it or lose it all. _=Probabilities.=_ It has been found that of the ten numbers that can be dealt, 31 to 40, the number 31 will come oftener than any other. The proportions are as follow:-- 31--13 times, 32--12 times, 33--11 times, 34--10 times, 35--9 times, 36--8 times, 37--7 times, 38--6 times, 39--5 times, 40--4 times.
If the error is not detected in time, the player who holds cards may play the coup or not as he pleases, and all bets on his side of the table are bound by his decision. If a player holds one card too many, he may refuse the coup, or retain whichever two of the three cards he pleases, throwing the third into the waste basket, not showing it. If the banker has too many cards, the players may amend their bets, and the banker’s cards are then exposed, and the one taken from him which will leave him with the smallest point, the drawn card being thrown in the waste basket. If the banker gives himself two cards while either player has been given one only, the player must be given another card, and the banker must also take another. If the players have not amended their stake before the error was corrected, the first two cards dealt to the banker are thrown in the waste basket, and the third is his point for that deal. If the banker gives the second card to either player before dealing the first to himself, he must give the second to the other player also, and then take his own. This single card must then be thrown in the waste basket, but the banker may play out the hand as if he had two cards which counted 10 or 20; that is, baccara. _=Showing.=_ If any of the three persons holding cards finds he has a point of 8 or 9, it must be shown at once, and the two other hands are then exposed. If the banker has 8 or 9, and neither of the others has so many, the bank wins everything on the table.
Keary). (_b_) In Dorsetshire a ring is formed by all the players joining hands except one. The odd player, carrying a handkerchief, commences to walk slowly round the outside of the ring, repeating the words; then, touching each one with her handkerchief as she passes, she says, Not you, not you, not you, &c., &c., till the favoured individual is reached, when it is changed to But you! and his or her shoulder lightly touched at the same time. The first player then runs round the ring as fast as he can, pursued by the other, who, if a capture is effected (as is nearly always the case), is entitled to lead the first player back into the centre of the ring and claim a kiss. The first player then takes the other s place in the ring, and in turn walks round the outside repeating the same formula.--_Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 212; Penzance (Mrs. Mabbott).
| -- | -- | -- | |29.| -- | -- | -- | |30.| -- | -- | -- | |31.| -- | -- | -- | |32.| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Madeley. | Oxfordshire. | Sheffield. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Green gravel.