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. Strictly speaking, to be lucky simply means to be successful, the word being a derivative of _gelingen_, to succeed. 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.
At the end of twelve deals, each has played four deals with each of the others. The scores are then added up and balanced by the method described in connection with the game of Skat. _=REVERSI BRIDGE.=_ This is playing bridge to lose, and the object of the declaration is to pick out the make which is likely to win the least tricks. At the end of the hand, each side scores what the other makes; so that if the dealer declares no-trumps, and loses two by cards, and finds thirty aces against him, he scores 24 and 30 to his own credit. The adversaries can double if they wish to, and all the rules of regular bridge apply, except that if a revoke is made the usual penalty is reversed, the player in error taking three tricks instead of losing them. _=SHORT BRIDGE.=_ This is bridge without any doubling or rubbers, and is played for so much a game instead of for so much a point, the winners being the side that has the higher score for tricks and honours combined when either side reaches thirty points below the line. It is a good game for occasions upon which the players may be interrupted at any time, or have not time to finish a full rubber. THE AMERICAN LAWS OF BRIDGE.
When this is accomplished the last boy becomes the keeper.--Earls Heaton, Yorks. (Herbert Hardy). See Mount the Tin. Nine Holes Nine round holes are made in the ground, and a ball aimed at them from a certain distance; or the holes are made in a board with a number over each, through one of which the ball has to pass.--Forby s _Vocabulary_. A rural game, says Nares, played by making nine holes in the ground, in the angles and sides of a square, and placing stones and other things upon, according to certain rules. Moor (_Suffolk Words and Phrases_) says: This is, I believe, accurate as far as it goes, of our Suffolk game. A hole in the middle is necessary. In Norfolk, Holloway (_Dict.
Position of both Armies after first move.] (3) The subsequent moves after the putting down are timed. The length of time given for each move is determined by the size of the forces engaged. About a minute should be allowed for moving 30 men and a minute for each gun. Thus for a force of 110 men and 3 guns, moved by one player, seven minutes is an ample allowance. As the battle progresses and the men are killed off, the allowance is reduced as the players may agree. The player about to move stands at attention a yard behind his back line until the timekeeper says Go. He then proceeds to make his move until time is up. He must instantly stop at the cry of Time. Warning should be given by the timekeeper two minutes, one minute, and thirty seconds before time is up.
B sees that if he passes this trick A will at once lead the ♢2, and he will take all the remaining hearts; so he takes these three and throws the lead to Y, who has no chance to injure him. _11th Trick._ Z keeps two clubs, hoping that if Y gets in and leads clubs, B may discard a diamond instead of a heart, in which case Z would get clear. _=No. 4.=_ A, with his dangerous suit of spades, clears up the hearts at once. _=6th Trick.=_ The second round of spades betrays A’s dangerous suit to the other players. _=7th Trick.=_ A must risk the King and 3 being divided, for if they are in one hand nothing will save him.
[Illustration: Opposite +--------+ | | Left| |Right | | +--------+ The Caller ] This arrangement does not affect the use of the letters A Y B Z, and the terms first, second, third, and fourth hand; indicating the position of the deal, and of the lead. _=Calling.=_ Those solos are easiest which are declared by the eldest hand, or by the dealer; the hardest being those called by second hand. The safest solos are those called on trump strength; but average trumps and winning cards in the plain suits are more advantageous if the caller is not eldest hand. To call a solo on plain suits alone, with only one or two trumps, is extremely dangerous; and a solo called on a single suit must have at least five or six good trumps in order to succeed. _=PLAYING.=_ When a call has been made entirely upon trump strength, it is much better to make tricks by ruffing, than by leading trumps. There is little use for a solo player to hold a tenace in trumps, hoping it will be led to him. If he has good suits, he should make sure of two rounds of trumps by leading the Ace. When the solo player is depending on the plain suits for tricks, and has one long suit, he should make what winning cards he has in the other plain suits in preference to leading trumps, for his only danger is that his long suit will be led often enough to give his adversaries discards in the other suits.
Anderby, Botterford, Brigg, } Frodingham, Horncastle, } Miss Peacock. North Kelsey, Stixwould, } Winterton } East Kirkby Miss K. Maughan. Metheringham Mr. C. C. Bell. MIDDLESEX Miss Collyer. Hanwell Mrs. G.
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. Any aces found in it are taken out and used to form a fifth row, either at the bottom or the side. The holes made in the carpet by removing the aces are then filled up from the pack. Cards are then taken from the carpet to build upon the aces in ascending sequence, following suit, and the holes in the carpet are continually filled up with fresh cards from the top of the pack. As other aces appear they are laid aside to start the sequence in the suit to which they belong. When you are stopped, deal the cards remaining in the pack in a pile on the table by themselves, face upward.
_=The Revoke.=_ A revoke is a renounce in error, not corrected in time, or non-compliance with a performable penalty. It is a revoke if a player has one of the suit led, and neither follows suit nor trumps. A person prohibited from playing an exposed trump is not liable to any penalty if it causes him to revoke. A revoke is established when the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted; or when either the revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, has led or played to the following trick. If a revoke is claimed and proved, the revoking side cannot score any points that deal; but they may play the hand out to prevent the adversaries from making points. If an adversary of the bidder revokes, the bidder’s side scores whatever points it makes that deal, regardless of the number bid. A player may ask his partner whether or not he has a card of the suit in which he renounces and does not trump, and the player may correct his error if the question is asked before the trick is turned and quitted. But if he answers in the negative, there is no remedy. _=Drawing Cards.
, and have been arranged for any number of pairs from four to thirty-four. _=INDIVIDUALS.=_ When four play memory duplicate, one of the four, usually S, retains his seat and keeps the score, the others changing places right and left alternately, each playing with S as a partner for 8 hands. These changes successively bring about the three following positions:-- c | b | a a b | a c | c b S | S | S | | Hands:--1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 For the overplay, the trays are reversed, the hands originally dealt N & S being placed E & W; but the players continue to change right and left alternately. This brings the same partners together, but on different sides of the table. c | b | a b a | c a | c b S | S | S | | Hands:--1 to 4 | 5 to 8 | 9 to 12 _=Scoring.=_ The names of the four players should be written at the head of each score-card, and as there is no trump turned in memory duplicate, the third and seventh columns can both be used for the numbers of the players that are partners, and the sixth column for the N & S gains. When the match is finished, a tabulation of the tricks lost or won by each player will readily show which is the winner. In the illustration which we give, No. 3 finishes plus 6; No.
_=Etiquette.=_ It should be quite unnecessary to legislate against acts which annoy or do injustice to individuals, but there should be some provision in the laws of every game which will secure to each individual equal rights with others in the enjoyment of the game. Some games are especially selfish; Boston, for instance, in which the four players originally forming the table may monopolise the game for the entire evening, without offering newcomers any chance to cut in. All such games should be limited to a certain number of tournées, at the conclusion of which fresh candidates should be allowed to cut into the table. Technical Terms. G. stands for German; F. for French. Abnehmen or Abheben, G., to cut.
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. Strictly speaking, to be lucky simply means to be successful, the word being a derivative of _gelingen_, to succeed. 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.
=_ There being no shuffling at Boston, and each player having the right to cut the pack, the greek must be very skilful who can secure himself any advantage by having the last cut, unless he has the courage to use wedges. But Boston is usually played for such high stakes that it naturally attracts those possessing a high degree of skill, and the system adopted is usually that of counting down. The greek will watch for a hand in which there is little changing of suits, and will note the manner of taking up the cards. The next hand does not interest him, as he is busy studying the location of the cards in the still pack. When this comes into play on the next deal, he will follow every cut, and finally cut for himself so that the desired distribution of the suits shall come about. Even if he fails to secure an invincible hand for bidding on himself, he knows so nearly the contents of the other hands that he can bid them up, and afterwards play against them to great advantage. It is unnecessary to say that if a greek can mark the cards, the game becomes a walkover, even if he can recollect only the hand on his left. _=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Boston so closely resembles Solo Whist in such matters as bidding, and playing single-handed against three others, that the reader may be referred to that game for the outlines of the principles that should guide him in estimating the probable value of his hand, playing for tricks or for misères, and combining forces with his partners for the purpose of defeating the single player. For laws, see Whist Family Laws.
=_ Mort is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, ranking as at whist for cutting and playing. Two packs are generally used. _=MARKERS=_ are necessary to count the game points only. Four circular counters for each side, preferably of different colours, are employed, or the ordinary whist markers may be used. At the end of each game, the score of the points won or lost by each player must be transferred to a score-sheet, kept for that purpose. _=PLAYERS.=_ Mort is played by three persons; but the table is usually composed of four. If there are more than four candidates, the methods described in connection with whist are adopted for deciding which four shall play the first tournée. The table being formed, the cards are again shuffled and spread to cut for partners and deal. _=TIES=_ are decided in the same manner as at whist.
Running off to untried suits is one of the beginner’s worst faults. There are five good reasons for changing suits, and unless one of them can be applied, the suit should be continued: 1st. In order to lead trumps to defend it. 2nd. In order to avoid forcing partner. 3rd. In order to avoid forcing both adversaries. 4th. Because it is hopeless, and there is some chance in another. 5th.
Some years ago a clergyman of one of the upper counties wrote that in the pulling down of a wall in his church, built in the thirteenth century, the workmen came to a block of stone with a Marrel s pound cut on it. Merrels the game was called by a mason.--Barnes _Additional Glossary; Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 233. Nine Men s Morris, in Gloucestershire called Ninepenny Morris, was, says a correspondent in the _Midland Garner_, largely practised by boys and even older people over thirty years ago, but is now, as far as I know, entirely disused. Two persons play. Each must have twelve pegs, or twelve pieces of anything which can be distinguished. The Morris was usually marked on a board or stone with chalk, and consists of twenty-four points. The pegs are put down one at a time alternately upon any point upon the Morris, and the first person who makes a consecutive row of three impounds one of his opponent s pegs. The pegs must only be moved on the lines.
The Northants version follows the Lancashire version, but if the answers are all made correctly, the last line is sung by the circle, and the game begins again. In the Metheringham version the child in the centre is blindfolded. When the song is over the girls say, Point with your finger as we go round. The girl in the centre points accordingly, and whichever of the others happens to be opposite to her when she says Stop! is caught. If the blindfolded girl can identify her captive they exchange places, and the game goes on as before. The Forest of Dean and the Earls Heaton versions are played the same as the Lancashire. In the West Cornwall version, as seen played in 1884, a ring is formed, into the middle of which goes a child holding a stick; the others with joined hands run round in a circle, singing the verses. When they have finished singing they cease running, whilst the one in the centre, pointing with his stick, asks them in turn to spell Bingo. If they all spell it correctly they again move round singing; but should either of them make a mistake, he or she has to take the place of the middle man (_Folk-lore Journal_, v. 58).
Any pins knocked down through the dead wood remaining on the alley cannot be placed to the credit of the player. Ten innings constitute a game. The maximum is 20. HEAD PIN AND FOUR BACK. [Illustration: O O O O . . . . . O ] The pins are set up as above.
Hop, having one foot in No. 5 and the other in No. 6. Jump round. Go back as you came. Then with stone on shoe, walk through the figure, kick it up and catch at the close. Place stone on eyelid; walk through the same figure, dropping it off into hand at close. This is called jumping. In the fourth plan (fig. 4) the game is:--Throw stone into No.
219). V. Please may I go out to play? How long will you stay? Three hours in a day. Will you come when I call you? No. Will you come when I fetch you? Yes. Make then your curtseys and be off. The girls then scamper off as before, and as they run about the field keep calling out, I won t go home till seven o clock, I won t go home till seven o clock. After they have been running about for some five or ten minutes the Mother calls Alice (or whatever the name may be) to come home, when the one addressed will run all the faster, crying louder than before, I won t go home till seven o clock. Then the Mother commences to chase them until she catches them, and when she gets them to any particular place in the field where the others are playing, she says-- Where have you been? Up to grandmother s. What have you done that you have been away so long? I have cleaned the grate and dusted the room.
A Grand may be bid even without a trump, if you have the lead, and hold four aces, or three aces and four Tens. A Grand with any two Wenzels is safe if you have two good suits. A Nullo should never be bid unless the player has the Seven of his long suit. A certain amount of risk must be taken in all bids, and a player who never offers a game that is not perfectly safe is called a _=Maurer=_; one who builds on a solid foundation. The player who offers the most games will usually win the most unless he is a very poor player. _=Leading.=_ The single player should almost always begin with the trumps, in order to get them out of his way. With a sequence of Wenzels, it is a common artifice to begin with the lowest, hoping the second player may fatten the trick by discarding a Ten or Ace, under the impression that the Hinterhand can win it. This style of underplay is called _=Wimmelfinte=_, and the Mittelhand should beware of it. With only one Wenzel and the Ace and Ten, it is better to begin with a small trump.
These cut again for partners, and the choice of seats and cards. _=CUTTING.=_ The usual method of cutting for partners, etc., at auction, is to shuffle the cards thoroughly, and “spread” them face downwards on the table; each candidate drawing a card, and turning it face upwards in front of him. The four cutting the lowest cards playing the first game, or rubber. [Illustration: SPREADING THE PACK.] The four having been selected, the cards are again shuffled and spread, and partners are cut for; the two lowest pairing against the two highest; the lowest of the four is the dealer, and has the choice of cards and seats. _=TIES.=_ As between cards of equal value in cutting, the heart is the lowest, diamonds next, then clubs and then spades. _=POSITION OF THE PLAYERS.
When seven play, the dealer takes no cards. In France, the cards usually rank as in Écarté; K Q J A 10 9 8 7; but in England and America it is more usual to preserve the order in Piquet, A K Q J 10 9 8 7. There is no trump suit. All the preliminaries are settled as at Hearts or Slobberhannes. _=Counters.=_ Each player is provided with ten or twenty counters, as may be agreed upon, and the player first losing his counters loses the game, and pays to each of the others any stake that may have been previously agreed upon, usually a counter for each point they have still to go when he is decavé. _=Objects of the Game.=_ The object of the game is to avoid winning any trick containing a Jack, and especially the Jack of spades, which is called _=Polignac=_. The moment any player wins a trick containing a Jack, he pays one counter into the pool. If he takes in Polignac, he pays two counters.
All these arrangements are made after the move is over, in the interval between the moves, and the time taken for the adjustment does not count as part of the usual interval for consideration. It is extra time. The player next moving may, if he has taken prisoners, move these prisoners. Prisoners may be sent under escort to the rear or wherever the capturer directs, and one man within six inches of any number of prisoners up to seven can escort these prisoners and go with them. Prisoners are liberated by the death of any escort there may be within six inches of them, but they may not be moved by the player of their own side until the move following that in which the escort is killed. Directly prisoners are taken they are supposed to be disarmed, and if they are liberated they cannot fight until they are rearmed. In order to be rearmed they must return to the back line of their own side. An escort having conducted prisoners to the back line, and so beyond the reach of liberation, may then return into the fighting line. Prisoners once made cannot fight until they have returned to their back line. It follows, therefore, that if after the adjudication of a melee a player moves up more men into touch with the survivors of this first melee, and so constitutes a second melee, any prisoners made in the first melee will not count as combatants in the second melee.