There were more than twenty gamblers of both sexes pressed up against the green baize of the crap layout. Three stick-men in black aprons that marked them for dealers were working on the other side or the table. We had at least one dealer too many for the crowd. That screamed out loud the table was having trouble. Big gambling layouts know within minutes if a table is not making its vigorish. A Nevada crap layout, with moderately heavy play, should make six per cent of the amount gambled on every roll. That s its vigorish--its percentage. If the take falls below that, the suspicion is that the table is being taken to the cleaners by a crooked gambler, or cross-roader. The table I had picked was the only one in the Sky Hi Club s casino with more than one stick-man working it. The girl sniffled, and her long skinny arm reached around behind me to snag a couple sandwiches the size of postage stamps from a waiter s tray.
A wins the difference in the scores, 38 + 100 = 138 altogether. TEXT BOOKS. Jeux de Cartes, by Jean Boussac. Académie des Jeux, by Van Tenac. Académie des Jeux, by Richard. Règles de tous les Jeux, by Dreyfous. Bohn’s Handbook of Games. Piquet, and Rubicon Piquet, by Berkeley. Laws of Piquet, by “Cavendish.” _Westminster Papers_, Vols.
And also in Clerk s _Advice to Luvaris_: Sum festnit is and ma not flé, Sum led is lyk the belly blynd With luve, war bettir lat it be. [Illustration] It is probable, says Jamieson, that the term is the same as Billy Blynde, said to be the name of a familiar spirit or good genius somewhat similar to the brownie. Professor Child identifies it with Odin, the blind deity. Another name in Scotland is also Blind Harie, which is not the common Christian name Harry, because this was not a name familiar in Scotland. Blind Harie may therefore, Jamieson thinks, arise from the rough or hairy attire worn by the principal actor. Auld Harie is one of the names given to the devil, and also to the spirit Brownie, who is represented as a hairy being. Under Coolin, a curious Highland custom is described by Jamieson, which is singularly like the game of Belly Blind, and assists in the conclusion that the game has descended from a rite where animal gods were represented. Sporting with animals before sacrificing them was a general feature at these rites. It is known that the Church opposed the people imitating beasts, and in this connection it is curious to note that in South Germany the game is called _blind bock_, i. e.
” FOUL STROKES AND PENALTIES. 15. Foul strokes are made or penalties incurred by (1) “Pushing” instead of striking the ball, or striking the ball more than once; (2) Playing out of turn; (3) Playing with both feet off the floor; (4) Playing before all the balls have become stationary, when off the table, or wrongly spotted; (5) Playing with the wrong ball; (6) Touching or moving any ball, except in the legitimate manner set forth in these rules; (7) Forcing any ball off the table; (8) Wilfully interfering with an opponent, or the run of the balls, and refusing to obey the referee’s decision; (9) Missing, running a coup, striking the wrong ball, or pocketing the white ball; (10) Playing at or pocketing any ball except in the proper rotation; (11) Striking two balls, other than two red balls, simultaneously; (12) Giving an intentional miss; (13) Pocketing more than one ball--other than red balls--by one stroke. 16. If the striker “push” his ball or strike it more than once, he cannot score, but is subject to any other penalty that he may incur by the stroke. 17. If a player play out of turn, he shall forfeit his next turn, otherwise the sequence of turns shall not be altered. If the error be discovered during his break, he cannot score from the last stroke made, and the balls shall be replaced by the marker as nearly as possible in the positions they occupied before the stroke objected to. The striker shall be credited with any previous scores, but is subject to any other penalty he may incur. 18.
Very well, ladies, ladies, ladies, Very well, ladies, and gentlemen too. I come in my blue dress, blue dress, blue dress, I come in my blue dress, and how will that do? Blue is for sailors, sailors, sailors, Blue is for sailors, and that won t do. [Then follow verses as before, beginning-- Very well, ladies. I come in my red dress. Red is for soldiers, Very well, ladies. Then--] I come in my black dress, black dress, black dress, I come in my black dress, and how will that do? Black is for funeral, And that will do To carry poor Jenny to the grave. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). XI. We re come to see Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Jenny Jones, Come to see Jenny Jones, how is she now? Jenny is a-washing, a-washing, a-washing, Jenny is a-washing, you can t see her now. Very well, ladies, very well, ladies, Very well, ladies, we can t see her now.
--Sheffield (S. O. Addy). V. Mother, come buy me two milking-pails, Two milking-pails, two milking-pails, Mother, come buy me two milking-pails, O sweet mother o mine. [Then verses beginning with the following lines--] Where shall I get my money from, O sweet daughter o mine? Sell my father s feather beds. Where shall your father sleep? Sleep in the servant s bed. Where shall the servant sleep? Sleep in the washing-tub. Where shall I wash the clothes? Wash them in the river. Suppose the clothes float away? Take a boat and go after them.
Nettles. New Squat. Nine Holes. Nine Men s Morris. Nip-srat-and-bite. Nitch, Notch, No-Notch. Not. Noughts and Crosses. Nur and Spel. Nuts in May.
_, Ho! spy! is raised by them. The Spy then sets out to find them. The moment he detects one he turns and runs with all his might to the Parley, pursued by the one he has discovered. If he is overtaken, he must carry on his back the pursuer to the Parley. The same thing is gone through till all the players are discovered.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). Jamieson says, Hy Spy, a game resembling Hide and Seek, but played in a different manner. The station, which in England is called Home, is here the Den, and those who keep it are the Seekers, and are called the Ins.
With these, and armed with sticks, men, women, and children repaired to the sands below the old town and indiscriminately commenced a contest. The following graphic account of Welsh customs was printed in the _Oswestry Observer_ of March 2, 1887: In South Cardiganshire it seems that about eighty years ago the population, rich and poor, male and female, of opposing parishes, turned out on Christmas Day and indulged in the game of Football with such vigour that it became little short of a serious fight. The parishioners of Cellan and Pencarreg were particularly bitter in their conflicts; men threw off their coats and waistcoats and women their gowns, and sometimes their petticoats. At Llanwenog, an extensive parish below Lampeter, the inhabitants for football purposes were divided into the Bros and the Blaenaus. A man over eighty, an inmate of Lampeter Workhouse, gives the following particulars:--In North Wales the ball was called the Bêl Troed, and was made with a bladder covered with a Cwd Tarw. In South Wales it was called Bél Ddu, and was usually made by the shoe-maker of the parish, who appeared on the ground on Christmas Day with the ball under his arm. The Bros, it should be stated, occupied the high ground of the parish. They were nicknamed Paddy Bros, from a tradition that they were descendants from Irish people who settled on the hills in days long gone by. The Blaenaus occupied the lowlands, and, it may be presumed, were pure-bred Brythons. The more devout of the Bros and Blaenaus joined in the service at the parish church on Christmas morning.
The game begins anew with another boy as Tod.--Keith (Rev. W. Gregor). See Bull in the Park, Frog in the Middle. Fox in the Hole All the players are armed with handkerchiefs. One of the players is chosen for Fox, who has his den marked out. The Fox hops out on one leg, with his handkerchief ready to strike. The players gather round him and attack him. If he can strike one of his assailants without putting his foot to the ground from his hopping position, the player so struck is chased by the others into the den, and he then becomes the Fox for another round of the game.
At that time, bridge was unknown in America except to the members of The Whist Club of New York and their friends. In the short space of ten years it has become the card game of the world; but in spite of its present popularity it has its defects, and it would not be surprising to see its place usurped by another game, not a member of the whist family, which has been steadily gaining ground among those who have the intellectual capacity for card games of the highest class, and that is skat. The first text-book on bridge was a little leaflet printed in England in 1886, which gave the rules for “Biritch, or Russian Whist.” “Boax” came out with a little “Pocket Guide” in 1894, followed by “The Laws of Bridge” in 1895. The Whist Club of N.Y. published the American laws of bridge in 1897, and “Badsworth” came out with the English laws in 1898. In the following year, 1899, Archibald Dunn, Jr., gave us “Bridge and How to Play It,” and John Doe published “Bridge Conventions,” A.G.
=_ If no player will open, the cards are reshuffled, cut, and dealt, usually by the same dealer, and each player adds one counter to the pool. _=41. Coming In.=_ If any player opens the pot for a certain amount, each player in turn, on his left, can come in by putting up a similar amount, regardless of the value of his hand. Any player on the right of the opener who passed on the first round may now come in. Any player declining to put up the amount for which the pot is opened must abandon his hand, and all his interest in the pool. _=42. Raising the Opener.=_ Any player coming into the pool has the privilege of raising the original opener any amount within the betting limit, and he may in turn be raised again, just as in the ordinary pools. Should the opener decline to meet such a raise, he must show his entire hand before abandoning it.
All the Fishes in the Sea A Suffolk game, not described.--Moor s _Suffolk Glossary_. See Fool, fool, come to School, Little Dog, I call you. All the Soldiers in the Town [Music] All the soldiers in the town, They all bop down. --Sporle, Norfolk (Miss Matthews). The children form into a ring and sing the above words. They bop down at the close of the verse. To bop means in the Suffolk dialect to stoop or bow the head. --Moor. Allicomgreenzie A little amusing game played by young girls at country schools.