If the player holds one trump, the odds against the dealer’s holding two or more are 44,574 to 21,206; or a little more than 2 to 1. If the player holds two trumps, the odds against the dealer’s holding two or more are 50,274 to 15,506; or more than 3 to 1. It is therefore evident that any hand which is certain to win three tricks if the dealer has not two trumps, has odds of two to one in its favour, and all such hands are called jeux de règle. The natural inference from this is that such hands should always be played without proposing, unless they contain the King of trumps. The exception in case of holding the King is made because there is no danger of the dealer’s getting the King, no matter how many cards he draws, and if the player’s cards are not strong enough to make it probable that he can win the vole, it is better for him to ask for cards, in hope of improving his chances. If he is refused, he stands an excellent chance to make two points by winning the odd trick. While it is the rule for the player to stand when the odds are two to one in his favour for making the odd trick, and to ask for cards when the odds are less, there are exceptions. The chances of improving by taking in cards must not be forgotten, and it must be remembered that the player who proposes runs no risk of penalty. He has also the advantage of scoring two for the vole if he can get cards enough to win every trick, whereas the dealer gets no more for the vole than for the odd trick if the player does not propose. Some beginners have a bad habit of asking for cards if they are pretty certain of the point.
in which Y holds up the ♢ King to keep A from getting in and leading another round of hearts. In the same hand Z tries hard to make the pool a Jack by holding up the ♣ Q. Had not A been entirely safe in diamonds the stratagem would have succeeded. In following suit it is important to keep count of the cards played, in order to avoid the unwitting lead of a suit of which the other players have none. The suits that need close watching are those in which you have nothing smaller than a six or eight. You should be careful to note which player appears to have the smaller cards, after the suit has been led once or twice, and be on the watch to take the lead away from him in other suits if you can, or he may load you by leading the small cards of your dangerous suit, in which he is safe. When this danger is apparent, it is best to retain, until the second round, such high cards as Kings and Queens of the suits led. Even if you have four of the suit, you run only a 2 to 1 risk in winning the second round instead of the first, as against a certainty that you will be out of the pool at once if the dangerous player gets the lead. For an example of this, see B’s play in Illustrative Hand No. 2.
When three play, the twenty-eighth card is the trump. _=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The play is to win tricks with cards of pip value in them, especially aces and tens, called game points, and also to meld certain combinations of cards that are found in the player’s hand. When three play, the dealer may exchange his nine cards for the nine that are left on the table, but he must surrender the turned up trump among those nine cards to any player that holds the six. If the dealer does not wish to exchange, each player in turn to the left may do so. In making the exchange, no card of the nine originally dealt to the player may be kept, not even the six of trumps. The pip value of the cards won in tricks count for the player at the end of the hand. The following values are for the melds: Four jacks are worth 200 Four aces, kings, queens, or tens 100 Five cards of any suit in sequence 100 Four cards of any suit in sequence 50 Three cards of any suit in sequence 20 King and queen of trumps 20 The melds are made after the player has played his card to the first trick, whether he wins that trick or not, but the melds are not credited to him on the slate unless he wins at least one trick during the play of the hand. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ When four play it is sometimes permissible for one to pass out, each in turn to the left having the right.
One may rush, two may rush; Come, my girls, walk under the bush. --Halliwell s _Nursery Rhymes_, Games, cclxxxviii. (_b_) The Berrington version of this game is played as follows:--Two girls face each other, holding each other by both hands. Two others face each other, holding both hands across the other two. They see-saw backwards and forwards, singing the lines (fig. 1). One girl gets inside the enclosing hands (fig. 2), and they repeat till all four have popped under (fig. 3), when they jog up and down till they fall on the floor! (fig. 4).
As he receives from each adversary, a player who underbid his hand in this manner would lose 60 counters by his timidity. It sometimes happens that no one will make a proposal of any sort. It is very unusual to pass the deal. The trump is generally turned down, and a _=Grand=_ is played, without any trump suit. This is sometimes called a _=Misère Partout=_, or “all-round poverty”; and the object of each player is to take as few tricks as possible. _=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly as at Whist. The tricks should be carefully stacked, so that they can be readily counted by any player without calling attention to them. The laws provide a severe penalty for drawing attention to the score in this manner. Suppose a player has called eight tricks.
--Jamieson. Click Two Homes opposite each other are selected, and a boy either volunteers to go Click, or the last one in a race between the Homes does so. The others then proceed to one of the Homes, and the boy takes up his position between them. The players then attempt to run between the Homes, and if the one in the middle holds any of them while he says One, two, three, I catch thee; help me catch another, they have to stay and help him to collar the rest until only one is left. If this one succeeds in getting between the Homes three times after all the others have been caught, he is allowed to choose the one to go Click in the next game; if he fails, he has to go himself.--Marlborough, Wilts (H. S. May). See Cock. Click, Clock, Cluck A man called Click came west from Ireland, A man called Click came west from Ireland, A man called Click came west from Ireland, Courting my Aunt Judy.