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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 London, the marble alluded to as balser was called bonsor or bouncer (J. P. Emslie). See Cockly Jock, Cogs. Cat and Dog An ancient game played in Angus and Lothian. Three play, and they are provided with clubs. These clubs are called dogs.
If the exposed card is a trump, the adversaries may prevent its being played, but the holder of it is not liable for a revoke in such cases. _=SCORING.=_ When the last card has been played, each side turns over all the tricks won, and counts the points they contain; High, Low, Jack, Game, Right and Left Pedro. Everything, including Low, counts to the side winning it. The number of points won or lost is determined by deducting the lower score from the higher, the difference being the number of points won on that deal. If it is a tie, neither side scores. If either side has incurred a penalty which prevents them from scoring any points they may have won, the adversaries have nothing to deduct, and score all they make. If the side that named the trump fails to make as many points as it bid, it scores nothing, and the number of points bid are scored by the adversaries, in addition to any points that the adversaries may have made in play. For instance: A-B are partners against Y-Z. B has bid to make 8, and named hearts for trumps.
Please will you take one in? [choose out one] Now poor ---- she is gone Without a farthing in her hand, Nothing but a gay gold ring. Good-bye! Good-bye! Good-bye, mother, good-bye! --Isle of Man (A. W. Moore) VII. Here comes a poor widow from Sandalam, With all her children at her hand; The one can bake, the other can brew, The other can make a lily-white shoe; Another can sit by the fire and spin, So pray take one of my daughters in. The fairest one that I can see Is pretty [Mary] come to me. And now poor [Mary] she is gone Without a guinea in her hand, And not so much as a farthing. Good-bye! Good-bye, my love, good-bye! --Forest of Dean, Gloucester (Miss Matthews). VIII. Here comes an old woman from Cumberland, With seven poor children in her hand; One can sing, the other can sew; One can sit up in the corner and cry, Alleluia! Choose the fairest you can see.
_=SCORING.=_ As soon as any player calls out it is too late for any other player to lay down any combinations he may hold. Each player in turn to the left shows his hand and the winner gets credit for the pip value of his cards, jacks being worth 11, queens 12, kings 13. It sometimes happens that the stock is exhausted before any player calls out. In this case the discards are turned face down without shuffling them and the pile drawn from as if it were the stock. _=SPLASHES.=_ The game is sometimes played with the condition that if any player chooses to risk holding his hand until he can lay it all down at once, or lay down all but the one which he is allowed to discard, he wins double from each of the others. This prompts a player with a good hand to hold it up for a round or two on the chance of getting down a splash, but the player who sees there is no chance for him should get rid of as many cards as he can before the splash comes, and in many cases some player will get rid of all his cards in two or three rounds, and win without a splash. POKER RUM. _=CARDS.
Like Sniffles, I thought suddenly. Well, Rose said, turning back to his partner. Let Sime and me talk it over. Maybe we should get a PC. Nuts, Simonetti told him. I ll think it over, too, I said. See you tomorrow. I turned to go. Simonetti and Smythe followed me out, each for his own reasons, I guess, leaving Rose behind in the cube of glass on the roof, looking like he was going to turn belly-up and take a bite out of the PBX on his desk. * * * * * I wasn t exactly shadowed, but I knew somebody had his eye on me as I wandered about the crowded casino, looking for Sniffles.
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. Gambler’s Point, the count for “game” at Seven-up.
Then tell him what he does not know, that you have the Queen also. Suppose you have led the King from these combinations:-- [Illustration: 🂱 🂾 🂽 🂻 | 🂡 🂮 🂭 🂢 ] Your partner knows you have the Ace, because your King wins. From the first, go on with the Jack, which is just as good as the Ace, but tells your partner you have not only the Ace but the Queen, still in your hand. From the second, go on with the Queen, the card your partner does not know, which tells him you still have the Ace, _=but not the Jack=_. If you have not the Queen, you will have to go on with the Ace, and your leading the Ace _=will deny the Queen=_. If you have not the best, lead one of the second and third-best, if you hold both:-- [Illustration: 🃞 🃝 🃛 🃚 | 🂾 🂽 🂻 🂲 ] From the first of these, having led the King, if it wins, go on with the ten, whether you have any smaller cards or not. From the second, if the King wins, go on with the Jack, which denies the ten, but tells your partner you still have the Queen. No mistake is more common among beginners than leading a low card on the second round, on the assumption that the partner must have the Ace. If you have led from King and Queen only, you must go on with the fourth-best; because you have not both the second and third-best. This fourth-best is the card that was the fourth-best originally.
Y leads to A. At trick 9, Z knows B cannot have 10 and 9 of trumps, or he would have led one of them to prevent the J and 8 both making, so Y must have one of those trumps. At trick 11, if B leads the club, he loses his call. He must again take the chance of bringing the trumps down together. In the second example A proposes, or calls Solo, and Y over-calls him with Misère. The great point in playing against Misère is to continue leading suits in which he is known to be long, so as to give your partners discards. This B does with the two long spades, the caller being marked with the ace and others on the second trick. Then Z allows B to discard his high diamonds on the clubs. SCOTCH WHIST, OR CATCH THE TEN. _=CARDS.
CASSINO. This is a very old and always popular game, which has lately been much improved by the introduction of the variations known as Royal and Spade Cassino, the latter especially being a very lively game. Like Euchre, Cassino is eminently respectable, and is one of the few games of cards that are unhesitatingly admitted to the domestic circle. _=Cards.=_ Cassino is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which have no rank in play, their pip or face value being the only element of importance. In cutting for positions at the table, or for partners in the four-handed game, the Ace is the lowest card, the others ranking upward to the King in the order of their sequence. _=Markers.=_ When a certain number of points is agreed on as a game, the score may be kept with counters, on a sheet of paper, or on a cribbage board. If each hand is a game in itself, it is settled for immediately, either in counters or in money. _=Players.
_=Opening Leads.=_ The first lead must necessarily be made in the dark, but the selection of the suit will often depend on the trump, and whether it was named by the dealer or by his partner. If the dealer has made it red, and A has the A K of any plain suit, he should play the King, so as to retain the lead until Dummy’s hand is exposed. If the dealer passes it to his partner, he is probably weak in red. If Y makes it hearts, A should lead a supporting diamond, unless he has strength in another suit. If Y has made it diamonds, A should lead a supporting heart. But in either case, if A has in his hand such cards as A K, even of a black suit, he should play the King, and wait to see the Dummy’s hand. If Y has made it black, A must be guided by his own cards, but should give a red suit the preference for his opening lead. Details as to the correct card to lead and the play after the opening lead have been fully covered in connection with auction bridge, which see. The discard is usually coupled with the system of opening against a doubled no-trumper.
=_ Many players will not lead a long weak suit unless they have sufficient strength to justify them in hoping to establish, defend, and bring it in, with _=reasonable=_ support from the partner. With a long suit, headed by a single honour, weak trumps, and no cards of re-entry, they prefer selecting a strengthening card for the original lead, hoping it may be of some assistance to partner by affording a successful finesse. It is claimed that it is better for a person, especially with a strong hand, to play with the knowledge that his partner is weak, than under the impression that he may be strong. Such an opening lead should warn the Third Hand to finesse deeply, to hold any tenaces he may have, and to let nothing pass him which might be too much for his weak partner to attend to. This is a very difficult game to play well, and is seldom resorted to except by the most expert. _=Deschapelles Coups.=_ It often happens that after the adverse trumps are exhausted, a player will find himself with the lead, but unable to give his partner a card of his established suit. In such cases the best course is to sacrifice the King or Queen of any suit of which he has not the Ace, in the hope that it may force the best of the suit, and leave partner with a card of re-entry. For instance: The leader has established the Club suit; his partner has exhausted the trumps, Hearts; and having no Clubs, leads the King of Spades from K x x x. If the holder of the Club suit has Spade Queen, and the King forces the Ace, the Club suit will be brought in.
If a player, with one stroke, knocks down the four outside pins and leaves the black one standing on its spot, it is called a Natural, or _=Ranche=_, and under any and all circumstances it wins the game. When a player gets more than 31, he is _=burst=_, and he may either play again immediately with the same ball he has in the pool rack, starting at nothing of course, or he may take a new ball. If he takes a new ball he may either keep it or keep his old one, but he cannot play again until it comes to his turn. THE LITTLE CORPORAL. This game is the regular Three-Ball Carrom Game with a small pin added, like those used in Pin Pool, which is set up in the centre of the table. The carroms and forfeits count as in the regular Three-Ball Game, but the knocking down of the pin scores five points for the striker, who plays until he fails to effect a carrom or knock down the pin. A ball must be hit by the cue-ball before the pin can be scored; playing at the pin direct is not allowed. The pin must be set up where it falls; but in case it goes off the table or lodges on the top of the cushion it must be placed upon the centre spot. The pin leaning against the cushion must be scored as down, and when the pin lodges in the corner of the table, so that it cannot be hit with the ball, it is to be set up on the centre spot. One hundred points generally constitute a game, but any number of points may be agreed upon.
Vivant, F., Dummy’s partner. Vole, F., winning all the tricks, a slam. Vorhand, G., the eldest hand, at Skat. Vorwerfen, G., to play out of turn. Weak Trumps, not enough to justify a player in passing a doubtful trick. Wedges, cards trimmed to taper toward one end, so that if certain ones are reversed they can be easily pulled out.
In addition to winning the pool, the holder of a simple brelan receives one counter from each of the other players at the table. If two are shown, neither pays the other. Should the brelan be formed by uniting the retourne with two cards in the player’s hand, it is a _=brelan favori=_, and the holder of it receives an extra counter from every player at the table, whether he wins the pool or not. For instance: The retourne is an eight; a brelan of Queens is shown, and wins the pool. Another player holds a pair of eights, and claims brelan favori. He does not pay the winning brelan, but receives one counter from its holder, and also from each of the other players. If the brelan favori wins the pool, it is paid two counters by each player. If two simple brelans are shown, the higher wins the pool; but both must be paid by each of the other two players, who did not hold brelans. _=The Point.=_ If no brelan is shown, the hands of all the players are shown, including those who passed out during the betting.
| -- | -- | -- | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ |No.| Hurstmonceux. | Shropshire. | Kent. | +---+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ | 1.|Where are these great | -- | -- | | |baa-lambs going? | | | | 2.|My fair lady. | -- | -- | | 3.|We are going to L. B.
Not very impressive work for a Twenty-fifth degree. The coins spilled over. * * * * * I used the excuse of straightening up the stack to get a touch, myself. I could have done it visually, of course, or I could have straightened them up with TK, but touch helps my grip. I took a good look at the door to the main casino, a heavy job of varnished native cedar. Just to show him, I turned my back on the bar, leaning against it with one foot on the brass rail. The lift was as clean as I ve ever managed. Anger, fear, any strong emotion, is a big help. They came up all together, staying in a stack, and I could perceive that they hung in the air behind me, a good foot clear of the bar, and about twenty feet from the door to the casino. In a smug show of control, I dealt the cartwheels off the top of the stack, one at a time, and fired them hard.
----, is ---- within? At is ---- within, the child outside the circle is named. The centre child says-- O no, she has gone into the town: Pray take the arm-chair and sit yourself down. The ring of children then sing-- O no, not until my dearest I see, And then one chair will do for we. Then all sing-- My elbow, my elbow, My pitcher, and my can: Isn t ---- ---- a nice young girl? Mentioning the supposed sweetheart. Isn t ---- ---- as nice as she? Mentioning the outside child. They shall be married when they can agree. Then the inside and outside children each choose a companion from the circle, and the rest repeat:-- My elbow, my elbow, &c. When the words have been sung a second time, the four children kiss, and the two from the circle take the places of the other, after which change the game begins again.--North Kelsey, Lincolnshire (Miss M. Peacock).
But 2 to 1 in his favour is a much better chance than the certainty, almost, that he will be loaded if a particular player is allowed the opportunity to lead a certain suit again. See B’s play in Illustrative Hand No 2, and Y’s in No 4. A player may have no desire to prevent any particular adversary from getting the lead; but may be anxious simply to carry out a certain line of play. In order to do this it may be essential that he should have some direction of the course of the hand. This is impossible if his play is confined to following suit helplessly, whatever is led. He must be able to assume the lead himself in order so to change the course of the play as to better suit his game. Let us suppose that he has a dangerous hand in plain suits, but is safe in hearts, and decides that his best chance is to lead hearts at every opportunity; or that he has a certain safe suit which it is manifestly to his advantage to have led as often as possible. The other players, being the ones who are to suffer from this line of play, will of course prevent it if possible; and in order to carry out the plan in spite of their opposition, it will be necessary for the individual player to gain the lead a certain number of times, and so force his game upon them. Again, a player may know that he can load a certain adversary if he can get in and lead a certain suit or card; or he may know that by giving one player the lead, that player can load another. In such cases commanding cards must be held or retained, in order to give the player a certain control of the lead.
Loggats, or loggets, are also small pieces or logs of wood, such as the country people throw at fruit that cannot otherwise be reached. Loggats, little logs or wooden pins, a play the same with ninepins, in which the boys, however, often made use of bones instead of wooden pins (Dean Miles MS.; Halliwell s _Dictionary_). Strutt refers to this game (_Sports_, p. 272). London A diagram (similar to Fig. 9 in Hopscotch ) is drawn on a slate, and two children play. A piece of paper or small piece of glass or china, called a chipper, is used to play with. This is placed at the bottom of the plan, and if of _paper_, is _blown_ gently towards the top; if of glass or china, it is _nicked_ with the _fingers_. The first player blows the paper, and in whichever space the paper stops makes a small round [o] with a slate pencil, to represent a man s head.
Take the following examples:-- [Illustration: 🂡 🃒 🃖 🃄 🃅 🂲 🃓 ] There is no sequence, because we encounter a duplicate deuce before we reach the Five. If the last player had a Five to play now, it would make a run of five cards, stopping at the deuce of hearts. Take the following:-- [Illustration: 🂦 🃑 🃅 🃒 🂣 🂤 🃁 🂶 ] There is no sequence; but if the pone had played his Five for his second card, the dealer would have pegged two runs; one of four, and one of six, besides the last card; the pone making one run of five and a pair, as follows:-- [Illustration: 🂦 🃅 🃒 🃑 🂣 🂤 🃁 🂶 ] It will be seen that if the dealer had not played his Ace and kept his Six at the last, the pone would have pegged eleven holes on him, instead of seven. _=Go, and Thirty-one.=_ When a person has no card which he can play without making the total pip value of all the cards played more than 31, he must say to his adversary: “Go.” That is, “Go on and play, for I cannot.” If his adversary has no cards left, the player must say “go” to himself. When a person is told to go, he must play as many cards as he can without passing 31. If he reaches 31 exactly, he scores two points; if he cannot quite reach it, he scores one point for the go. The principle is that if 31 cannot be made by either player, the one playing the card that brought the count nearest to it shall count one for it, even if he has told himself to go.
That s where the Lodge had found me, down on my knees in an alley, making the spots come up my way without even knowing I could do it. And when they d convinced me I was really a TK, and started me on the training that finally led to the Thirty-third degree, they d put me right back in those alleys, and cheap hotel rooms, watching for some other unknowing TK tipping the dice his way. Did Sniffles have it? She wasn t tipping dice, exactly, but she sure was calling the turn. She was tall, as well as skinny, and our eyes weren t far apart. Billy Joe, she whispered above the racket of the gambler in the casino, putting her mouth close to my ear. I told you, sugar. And now you lost. You lost! Her perfume was cheap, but generous, and pretty well covered up her need for a bath. There s some left, I told her. Show me how.
57); Derbyshire (_Folk-lore Journal_, i. 385); Oswestry, Ellesmere (_Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 512). Miss Peacock sends a version which obtains at Lincoln, Horncastle, Winterton, and Anderby, Lincolnshire, and in Nottinghamshire; it is identical with the Liphook version. Two versions from Sporle, Norfolk, which vary slightly from the Leicester, have been sent by Miss Matthews. The versions given from Lancashire, Yorks., Nottingham, and North Staffs. have been selected to show the process of decadence in the game. Hopper has first become upper, and then other. Of the North Staffs.
49; and see Hawkins _English Drama_, iii. 243. See Dust-Point. Bob Cherry A children s game, consisting in jumping at cherries above their heads and trying to catch them with their mouths (Halliwell s _Dictionary_). It is alluded to in Herrick s _Hesperides_ as Chop Cherry. Major Lowsley describes the game as taking the end of a cherry-stalk between the teeth, and holding the head perfectly level, trying to get the cherry into the mouth without using the hands or moving the head (_Berkshire Glossary_). It is also mentioned in Peacock s _Manley and Corringham Glossary_. Strutt gives a curious illustration of the game in his _Sports and Pastimes_, which is here reproduced from the original MS. in the British Museum. [Illustration] The Staffordshire St.
Doubling or redoubling reopens the bidding. When a declaration has been doubled or redoubled, any one of the three succeeding players, including the player whose declaration has been doubled, may, in his proper turn, make a further declaration of higher value. 56. When a player whose declaration has been doubled wins the declared number of tricks, he scores a bonus of 50 points in his honour score, and a further 50 points for each additional trick. When he or his partner has redoubled, he scores 100 points for making the contract and an additional 100 for each extra trick. 57. A double or redouble is a declaration, and a player who doubles or redoubles out of turn is subject to the penalty provided by Law 49. 58. After the final declaration has been accepted, the play begins; the player on the left of the declarer leads. DUMMY.
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=_ Ace. Profits from business or gambling. King. A just man, who has taken a fancy to you. _=R.=_ Something will interfere with his good intentions. Queen. Your best girl. _=R.=_ She is jealous.
There was a jolly farmer, And he had a jolly son, And his name was Bobby Bingo. BINGO, BINGO, BINGO, And Bingo was his name. --Liphook, Hants; Wakefield, Yorks (Miss Fowler). IV. There _was_ a farmer _had_ a dog, His name was Bobby Bingo. B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, B-i-n-g-o, His name was Bobby Bingo. --Tean, Staffs.; and North Staffs. Potteries (Miss Keary). V.
_=MAKING THE TRUMP.=_ In auction, the dealer begins by naming any one of the four suits, or no trumps, for any number of tricks he pleases. Each player in turn to the left then has the privilege of passing, bidding higher, or doubling. When three players pass a bid, it is the highest made and is known as the _=Winning Declaration=_ or _=Contract=_. In order to understand the principles that govern the players in their declarations, one should be thoroughly familiar with the values attached to the tricks when certain suits are trumps. The first six tricks taken by the side that has made the winning declaration do not count. This is the “book,” but all over the book count toward making good on the contract, according to the following table: When Spades are trumps, each trick counts 2 points. ” Clubs ” ” ” ” ” 6 ” ” Diamonds ” ” ” ” ” 7 ” ” Hearts ” ” ” ” ” 8 ” ” Royal Spades ” ” ” ” ” 9 ” ” there are no trumps, ” ” ” 10 ” The game is 30 points, which must be made by tricks alone, so that three over the book, called three “by cards,” will go game from love at no trump, or four by cards at hearts or royals. These are called the _=Major=_ or _=Winning Suits=_. As it takes five by cards to go game in clubs or diamonds, and on account of the difficulty of such an undertaking, these are called the _=Minor=_ or _=Losing Suits=_.