Newell (_Games_, p. 145), describes a game, The Cardinal s Hat, which is probably a variant of the original game, of which the above is only a fragment. I remember once witnessing a game in which a ball was passed from player to player, and in which the dialogue was similar. When one player was told that the ball was in his possession, the answer was, What, me, sir? Yes, you, sir. Not I, sir. 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.
[Illustration] The first great principle in billiards is that the cue ball will always travel in the _=direction=_ in which the cue is pointed. Holding the cue upward, downward or sidewise makes no difference; the line of travel will be a prolongation of the line of the cue. In the three ways of striking the cue ball shown in the diagram in the margin, the ball will go in the direction of the arrow in each instance. [Illustration] If the cue is held nearly level with the surface of the table the ball will be pushed or rolled along; but if the cue is held perpendicularly, and the ball is struck directly on the top, the ball will be _=pinched=_ to the table, as in the first figure in the margin, and will not move. If the ball is struck off the centre, as in the second figure, it will travel only a short distance, as a result of the cue’s being forced past it toward the cloth, and will then return with a very strong retrograde motion after touching the object ball. If the cue strikes too near the top, the pinch will be too strong for the cue ball to reach the object ball, and if the cue is not held perpendicularly, the ball will not return. If the cue points toward the centre of the ball, as in the third figure, the ball will be driven forward, without any tendency to return after striking the object ball. The latter shot is useful in making a “close follow,” to avoid making a foul. _=The Force Shot.=_ The beginner at billiards should strike his ball always exactly in the centre, until he learns the angles.
1889. Holloway s _Dictionary_, ed. 1838. Strutt s _Sports and Pastimes_, ed. 1831. Brand s _Popular Antiquities_, ed. 1875. Nares _Glossary_, ed. 1872. Grose s _Dictionary_, 1823.
_=Bidding.=_ After receiving his nine cards, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, announces the number of points he will undertake to win if he is allowed to name the trump suit. No player is allowed to bid more than fourteen. If he will not bid, he must say: “I pass.” A bid having been regularly made, any following player must bid higher or pass. There are no second bids. A bid once made can neither be amended nor withdrawn. _=Irregular Bids.=_ If any player bids before the eldest hand has bid or passed, both the player in error and his partner lose their right to bid; but the side not in error must bid to decide which of them shall name the trump. If the eldest hand has decided, and the pone bids without waiting for the dealer’s partner, the pone loses his bid, and the dealer may bid before his partner.
Tenaces are only safe when led up to. In _=Howell’s settling=_, the object is not so much to load the others as to escape yourself. It is never advisable to attempt to take all thirteen hearts, because there are no Jacks; but there are many cases in which it is better deliberately to take three or four, in order to avoid the chance of taking six or eight. For an example of these tactics adopted by two players, see Illustrative Hand, No. 3. On the same principle, there are often cases in which it is advisable to take a trick with one heart in it, in order to get rid of a dangerous card, which might bring you in several hearts later on. The general principles of leading and discarding are the same as in Sweepstake Hearts; but it is not necessary to take such desperate chances to escape entirely. _=THREE-HANDED HEARTS=_ is more difficult to play than any other form of the game, partly because there are so many rounds of each suit, and partly because the moment one player refuses, the exact cards of that suit in the two other players’ hands are known to each of them. There is usually a great deal of cross-fighting in the three-handed game, during which one player escapes by getting numerous discards. When all three have refused, each a different suit, the end game becomes a question of generalship, and the preservation of one or more commanding cards, with which to control and place the lead, is usually the key to the situation.
--Dekker s _Works_, iv. 434. Jamieson calls this a game generally played by young people in a corn-yard. Hence called _barla-bracks about the stacks_, S. B. (_i. e._, in the North of Scotland). One stack is fixed on as the _dule_ or goal; and one person is appointed to catch the rest of the company, who run out from the _dule_. He does not leave it till they are all out of sight.
SEC. 4. If either of the adversaries, whether with or without his partner’s consent, demands a penalty to which they are entitled, such decision is final; if the wrong adversary demands a penalty or a wrong penalty is demanded, or either adversary waives a penalty, none can be enforced except in case of a revoke. SEC. 5. If a player is lawfully called upon to play the highest or lowest of a suit, to trump or not to trump a trick, to lead a suit or to win a trick, and unnecessarily fails to comply, he is liable to the same penalty as if he had revoked. SEC. 6. If any one leads or plays a card, and then, before his partner has played to the trick, leads one or more other cards, or plays two or more cards together, all of which are better than any of his adversaries hold of the suit, his partner may be called upon by either adversary to win the first or any subsequent trick to which any of said cards are played, and the remaining cards so played are liable to be called. For the Rules of Etiquette of Duplicate Whist, see page 85.
When second hand, if there is a choice between two cards, such as the 6 and 2, an intermediate card having been led, it is often a nice point to decide whether or not to risk covering and keeping the deuce. If the deuce is played, it must be remembered that the adversaries will follow with their highest cards, leaving two cards out against the caller, both smaller than the 6. _=Discarding.=_ The misère player should never discard from his long suits. The high cards of short suits, and single intermediate cards, such as 5’s and 6’s, should be got rid of at every opportunity. _=Adversaries of the Misère.=_ In playing against a misère the chief difficulty is to prevent the caller from discarding, and to place the lead with the player who can probably do him the most harm. It is an axiom with solo-whist players that every misère can be defeated, if the weak spot in it can be found; because if the misère was absolutely safe, it would be played as a spread, which would pay the caller twice as much. This is not true, however, for it often happens that the cards are so distributed in the other hands that the call cannot be defeated, however risky it may have been. The weak point in a misère is usually a short suit with one high card in it; or a suit of intermediate length, without the deuce.
This is a popular form of Rams among German students. Three crosses are chalked on the table in front of each player, representing five points each. When a trick is won, a beer-soaked finger wipes out the centre of a cross, and reduces its value to four. Successive cancellings of the remaining arms of the cross as tricks are taken gradually reduce it to nothing, and the player who is last to wipe out his third cross pays for the beer. No player is allowed to look at his cards until the trump is turned, and the dealer gives the word of command: “Auf.” The seven of diamonds is always the second-best card of the trump suit, ranking next below the ace. If it is turned up, the dealer turns up the next card for a trump, and when it comes to his turn, he can take both cards into his hand, discarding others in their place. If the dealer passes, the eldest hand may take up the trump. If only two declare to play, a trump must be led for the first trick; if three play, trumps must be led twice; if four play, three times. If the leader has no trump, he must lead his smallest card, face downward, which calls for a trump from such of the other players as have one.
I shrugged. I had my way with the dice, Peno. I dropped nine yards as fast as I could, then won it back. The spots came up for me every single roll but two, when I had my eye on something else. He snickered. We saw her, he said. How about it, Fowler? I asked my Lodge Brother. Was a worker tipping the dice tonight? I never felt it, he said. But the table had dropped nearly forty grand during the shift, which was about over when you started to play. He s too good for me, Wally.
=_ _=Cutting Out.=_ At the end of a rubber the players cut to decide which shall give way to those awaiting their turn to play. After the second rubber, those who have played the greatest number of consecutive games give way; ties being decided by cutting. _=7.=_ _=Cutting.=_ In cutting, the ace is low, the other cards ranking, K Q J 10 9 8 7, the King being the highest. A player exposing more than one card, or cutting the Joker, must cut again. _=8.=_ _=SHUFFLING.=_ Every player has a right to shuffle the cards, the dealer last.
When the pack has been properly cut and reunited, the cards must be dealt, one at a time, face down, from the top of the pack, the first to the player at the left of the dealer, and each successive card to the player at the left of the one to whom the last preceding card has been dealt. The last, which is the trump card, must be turned and placed face up on the tray, if one is used; otherwise, at the right of the dealer. SEC. 2. There must be a new deal-- (a) If any card except the last is faced or exposed in any way in dealing; (b) If the pack is proved incorrect or imperfect; (c) If either more or less than thirteen cards are dealt to any player; (d) If, after the first trick has been turned and quitted on the original play of a deal, one or more cards are found to have been left in the tray. LAW IV.--THE TRUMP CARD. SEC. 1. The trump card and the number of the deal must be recorded, before the play begins, on a slip provided for that purpose, and must not be elsewhere recorded.
To use a common expression: “The play must be right for it, or the bluff will be wrong.” There are many cases in which a bluff of fifty cents would be much stronger than one of five dollars; the difference depending on the player’s position at the table, his treatment of the ante, and the number of cards he had drawn. As an example of the play being right for a bluff, take the following case: Five play in a jack pot. A and B have passed when C opens it for the limit. D and E pass out, but A and B both stay, and each draws one card. C takes two cards, and as it is his first bet he puts up the limit on his three aces. A drops out, but B raises C the limit in return. Now, if C is a good player he will lay down his three aces, even if he faintly suspects B is bluffing, because B’s play is sound in any case. He either could not, or pretended he could not open the jack; but he could afford to pay the limit to draw one card against openers, and he could afford to raise the limit against an opener’s evidently honest two-card draw. As a matter of fact the whole play was a bluff; for B not only had nothing, but had nothing to draw to originally.
A doctor. With antidote, I snapped. He trotted away. Darlin Billy! she said, and her heart stopped. She was dead. I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the same sawdust-strewn private dining room where I d given Barney the Blackout. I had to split the lift. The tourniquet was an absolute necessity, or more of the nerve poison would enter her system. But her heart _couldn t_ stop. The brain can only stand a few seconds of that.