is usually best to play your highest card, unless you are safe in the
suit, or have so many that there is danger of getting a heart, even on
the first round. As fourth player, you should always play your highest
card, unless there is already a heart in the trick, or some decided
disadvantage in the lead. The risks you run in playing high cards
while following suit must be judged by the same probabilities that we
examined in considering the original lead. The fact that one or more
players have already followed suit, and perhaps the cards they have
played, may enable you to arrive at a still closer estimate of your
chances. It is generally conceded, that the odds against a player who
holds up on the first round are about 1 to 11. That is to say, in 12
pools, he will sacrifice his chances of one simply by holding up.
After one or two tricks have been played, the conditions may be such
that it becomes necessary to hold up, in order to win the second
round. This is especially the case after you have been loaded, and
are anxious to keep a certain player out of the lead. For an example
see Illustrative Hand No. 4. 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.
Where you have a certain safe card, and others of another suit not
absolutely safe, it is better to keep the safe card, in order to be
sure of getting rid of the lead if you are put in on your dangerous
suit.
In following suit, the most annoying hand that one can hold is one
containing at least three cards of each suit, none of them below a
6. There is no hope of a discard, unless two players make a fight in
some one suit, which they lead four or five times in order to load
each other, regardless of the escape of the other players. This very
seldom occurs, and never among good players. With such a hand escape is
almost impossible, and it is usually best to make the losses as small
as possible. Many good players, with such a hand, will deliberately
take in hearts on the plain suits, hoping to escape with only one or
two in each trick, instead of having to carry the whole load by getting
into the lead at the end. It should never be forgotten that when you
must inevitably take some hearts it is cheaper to take them in on plain
suits than to win heart tricks.
_=CONTROL OF THE LEAD.=_ One of the strongest points in good heart play
is the proper control of the lead at certain times. A player whose hand
contains no commanding cards, and who is unable to do anything but
follow suit on the first two or three rounds, will often find himself
compelled to win one of the later rounds with a small card, taking in
one or two hearts with it; and this misfortune usually overtakes him
because a certain player gets into the lead at a critical period of the
hand. If he sees the impending danger, and has K, Q or J of a suit led,
he will not give up his high card, even if the ace is played to the
trick; but will retain it in order to prevent the possibility of the
dangerous player getting into the lead on the second round of the suit.
In doing this, he of course decreases the odds against his getting
hearts, by deliberately winning the second round. 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.
When a player is attempting to take all thirteen hearts, the control of
the lead, especially in the end game, is very important; because the
design of each of the other players will be to get the lead into some
other hand, in the hope that they may load the player having it, and so
at least divide the pool.
_=THE DISCARD.=_ One of the most important elements in heart play
is the discard. The beginner is too apt to discard hearts at every
opportunity; but a little experience will teach him that even a 3 in a
plain suit may be a better card to part with.
The most important thing in discarding is to reduce the odds against
your winning the pool. Let us suppose that you have the A K Q of a
plain suit. It is 5⅛ to 1 that you get a heart if this suit is led a
third time. If you can get a discard, the odds are at once reduced to 2
to 1 in your favour, that being the probability that you will escape,
even if you have to win two rounds. This is a very large percentage,
and should never be lost sight of. If you have a choice between two
discards, one being from the K Q J 2 of hearts, and the other from the
K Q J of a plain suit, select the plain suit. You can improve your
chances little or none in the hearts, while you not only bring the odds
to your side in the plain suit, but secure a chance of discarding on
the third round of it.
Following the same principle, it is evidently good play to discard from
a suit which has been led once or twice, if you have a dangerous card
or cards in it. Even if you have a safe tenace in a suit, such as 4 and
2, the 5 and 3 being still out somewhere, it is better to discard from
it if there is the slightest danger of your getting the lead. 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. A player who has no high cards for the end
game, unless he is quite safe, is almost certain to be loaded in the
last few tricks.
_=TWO-HANDED HEARTS.=_ Before opening the hand, the player should
carefully consider what suits are safe and what are dangerous. It is
usually best to preserve the safe suits and to lead the dangerous
ones, which you should clear your hand of, if possible. It is a great
advantage to have a missing suit, and equally disadvantageous to have a
number of a suit of which your adversary is probably clear. If a card
of a missing suit is drawn, it is usually best to lead it at once, so
as to keep the suit clear; but in so doing, be careful first to place
the card among the others in the hand, or your adversary will detect
that it is a missing suit.
The lead is a disadvantage if you have safe hearts; but toward the end
of the stock, from which cards are drawn, it is an advantage to have
commanding cards, with which you can assume the lead if necessary.
There is some finesse in determining whether or not to change the suit
often in the leads. If you have a better memory than your adversary, it
may be well to change often; but if not, it may assist you to keep at
one suit until afraid to lead it again.
In Two-Handed Hearts, keeping count of the cards is the most important
matter, because the real play comes after the stock is exhausted, and
the moment that occurs you should know every card in your adversary’s
hand. The exact number of each suit should be a certainty, if not the
exact rank of the cards. Until you can depend on yourself for this, you
are not a good player. The last thirteen tricks are usually a problem
in double-dummy; but the advantage will always be found to be with the
player who has carefully prepared himself for the final struggle by
preserving certain safe suits, and getting rid of those in which it
became evident that his adversary had the small and safe cards.
Some very pretty positions arise in the end game, it being often
possible to foresee that four or five tricks must be played in a
certain manner in order to ensure the lead being properly placed at the
end, so that the odd hearts may be avoided.
_=AUCTION HEARTS.=_ The cards having been cut and dealt, the player to
the left of the dealer, whom we shall call A, examines his hand, and
determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. Let us
suppose his hand to consist of the ♡ A K 8; ♣ J 6 5 4 3 2; ♢ K 4; and
the ♠ 7 3. If the suit remains hearts, he is almost certain to take in
a number; but if it is changed to clubs, he is almost as certain of
getting clear. The hand is not absolutely safe, as hearts might be led
two or three times before the clubs in the other hands were exhausted
by the original leader, whose game would be to lead small clubs. As
the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, he can afford
to bid in proportion to his chances of winning it for the privilege of
making clubs the suit to be avoided, instead of hearts.
It might be assumed, if the odds were 10 to 1 that the player would get
clear if the suit were clubs, that therefore he could afford to bid ten
times the amount of the pool, or 130, for his chance. Theoretically
this is correct, but if he should lose one such pool, he would have
to win ten others to get back his bid alone, to say nothing of the
amounts he would lose by paying his share in pools won by others. Let
us suppose him to win his share, one-fourth of all the pools. While he
is winning the ten pools necessary to repair his single loss, he has to
stand his share of the losses in the thirty others, which would average
about 128 counters. This must show us that even if a player has a 10
to 1 chance in his favour, he must calculate not only on losing that
chance once in eleven times, but must make provision for the amounts
he will lose in other pools. Experience shows that a bid of 25 would
be about the amount a good player would make on such a hand as we are
considering, if the pool were not a Jack, and he had first say.
The next player, Y, now examines his hand. Let us suppose that he finds
♡ 6 4 3; ♣ A K 10; ♢ 8 7 5 3; ♠ 6 5 4. If the first bidder is offering
on clubs, it is evident that he will lead them, as the successful
bidder has the original lead in Auction Hearts; and it is equally
evident that if he does so, a player with A K 10 will have to pay for
most of the pool. If any of the other suits is the one bid on, B has
as good a chance for the pool as any one, at least to divide it. With
two men still to bid, a good player would probably make himself safe by
shutting out A’s bid, probably offering 26.
Let us suppose B then to examine his hand, finding ♡ J 10; ♣ Q 9 8
7; ♢ A 10 9; ♠ 10 9 8 2. Being unsafe in everything, he passes, and
practically submits to his fate, his only hope being that the pool
will result in a Jack. Z then examines his hand, finding ♡ Q 9 7 5 2;
♣ none; ♢ Q J 6 2; ♠ A K Q J. He sees at once that on spades he would
lose everything, and on diamonds he would have a very poor chance. On
clubs the result would depend on how often spades were led. In hearts,
he has a very good hand, especially as he has a missing suit to discard
in. As he is the last bidder he can make sure of the choice for 27,
which he bids, and pays into the pool. The result of the play is given
in Illustrative Hand No. 4. (As the cards happen to lie, had A been the
successful bidder and made it clubs, Z would have won the pool.)
ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS.
_=No. 1.=_ Sweepstake Hearts. | T| _=No. 2.=_ Sweepstake Hearts.
A leads for first trick. | R| A leads for first trick.
| I|
------+-------+-------+-------+ C+-------+------+------+--------
A Y B Z | K| A Y B Z
------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+------+------+--------
10♠ | Q♠ | 8♠ | _K♠_ | 1| _♣A_ | ♣K | ♣10 | ♣Q
♣J | _♣A_ | ♣4 | ♣K | 2| ♣5 | ♣2 | ♣9 | _♣J_
6♢ | _A♢_ | J♢ | Q♢ | 3| 10♢ | J♢ | 9♢ | _A♢_
5♢ | _K♢_ | 10♢ | 9♢ | 4| Q♢ | 8♢ | _K♢_ | 4♢
4♢ | 3♢ | 2♢ | _8♢_ | 5| 2♠ | J♠ | _A♠_ | 9♠
♣9 | ♣7 | ♣3 | _♣Q_ | 6| Q♠ | 10♠ | _K♠_ | 8♠
♣6 | ♣5 | ♣2 | _♣10_ | 7| ♡A | _7♢_ | 3♢ | ♡Q
3♠ | 6♠ | 4♠ | _J♠_ | 8| _♡10_ | ♡4 | ♡3 | ♡5
2♠ | 5♠ | ♡K | 9♠ | 9| ♣4 | ♡K | ♣6 | _♣7_
_♡A_ | ♡Q | ♡10 | ♡5 |10| ♡9 | _7♠_ | ♡J | 5♠
♡7 | _♡J_ | ♡9 | 7♠ |11| ♡7 | ♡2 | ♣8 | _♡8_
♡6 | _♡8_ | ♡4 | ♣8 |12| ♡6 | _6♠_ | 6♢ | 4♠
A♠ | ♡2 | _♡3_ | 7♢ |13| ♣3 | _5♢_ | 2♢ | 3♠
------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+------+------+--------
A 4 Y 6 B 2 Z 1 A 4 Y 5 B 0 Z 4
Making it a Jack. B wins the Pool.
_=No. 1. 2nd Trick.=_ Z sees that with such a hand escape is
impossible. As his chief danger is in being loaded with hearts at the
end, he clears his hand as rapidly as possible. _=9th Trick.=_ The ♠A
being held up, it looks as if A were safe in that suit with A 5 2. If
Z now leads the ♡ 5, and A gets into the lead, returning the spade, Z
must take every other trick. _=10th Trick.=_ If Z now leads ♠ 7, he
loads A; but if his ♡ 5 should win the next trick he will take all
the rest of the hearts, Y and B dividing the pool. If he leads the ♡
5 first he cannot get more than four hearts, and the other players
will inevitably make a Jack of it. _=11th Trick.=_ Y sees that if
he underplays the 7 led, B will win the pool, as he has nothing but
hearts, A having only one more. He keeps A out of the lead by winning
two rounds, so as to be sure of loading B, making it a Jack. The ending
is very well played.
_=No. 2.=_ A has an even chance to escape, and it is better for him to
be third or fourth player in hearts than to lead them. _=3rd Trick.=_
B sees from the fall of the clubs that Y has no more, and that A is
safe in them and will lead them again; so he holds up ♢ K to keep A
out of the lead. _=7th Trick.=_ As A’s hand can now be counted to
contain either the 7 4 3 of clubs and four dangerous hearts, or the 4
3 of clubs and five hearts, B’s game is clearly to lead diamonds, in
order to load Y and Z. His only dangerous card, the ♡ J, will go on the
next round of spades, which must be led again in the next two or three
tricks.
_=No. 3.=_ Howell’s Settling. | T | _=No. 4.=_ Auction Hearts.
Z dealt, and A leads for | R | A, the successful
first trick. | I | bidder, names Hearts.
--------------------------------+ C +--------------------------------
A Y B Z | K | A Y B Z
--------+-------+-------+-------+---+-------+-------+-------+--------
10♢ | J♢ | 9♢ | _K♢_ | 1| ♡5 | ♡8 | ♡6 | _♡J_
7♢ | 6♢ | 8♢ | _Q♢_ | 2| Q♢ | 4♢ | 8♢ | _A♢_
♣4 | ♣9 | ♣J | _♣A_ | 3| J♢ | _K♢_ | 7♢ | 10♢
♣2 | ♣8 | ♣5 | _♣K_ | 4| _A♠_ | 7♠ | 6♠ | 10♠
J♠ | 8♠ | K♠ | _A♠_ | 5| ♡7 | _♡A_ | ♡4 | ♡10
5♠ | 7♠ | _Q♠_ | 10♠ | 6| _K♠_ | 3♠ | 5♠ | 9♠
4♠ | _6♠_ | 3♠ | 2♠ | 7| ♡Q | _♡K_ | ♡3 | ♣9
♡5 | ♡3 | _♡8_ | ♡4 | 8| ♡9 | ♣J | ♣10 | _♣Q_
_♡A_ | ♡J | ♡7 | 5♢ | 9| _Q♠_ | ♣6 | 4♠ | 8♠
♡9 | ♡2 | _♡K_ | ♣Q | 10| _J♠_ | ♣5 | ♣A | 2♠
A♢ | _♡10_ | ♡6 | 9♠ | 11| 6♢ | ♣4 | 5♢ | _9♢_
4♢ | ♣3 | ♡Q | _♣10_ | 12| 2♢ | ♣3 | _♣K_ | ♣8
2♢ | _♣7_ | 3♢ | ♣6 | 13| ♡2 | ♣2 | _3♢_ | ♣7
--------+-------+-------+-------+---+-------+-------+-------+--------
A 3 Y 2 B 7 Z 1 A 0 Y 7 B 1 Z 5
Z wins 9; Y 5; A 1; B loses 15. A wins the pool.
_=No. 3.=_ A begins with the intermediate cards of his safe suit.
_=8th Trick.=_ Y is afraid to lead away from his club tenace, because
it might be at once led back to him. _=9th Trick.=_ Z seizes this
opportunity to get rid of the very dangerous ♢5. If A does not play
the ♡A now, it is quite possible that he will take every trick, except
one in diamonds. _=10th Trick.=_ If A leads the ♢2, and hearts are led
again, he must take all the remaining hearts. By taking three at once
he can escape the rest. 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. Z keeps ♢9 and ♣Q in order to be sure of getting a lead, as he is
the only player who can load A by putting him in on spades at the end
making him take in his own hearts. _=8th Trick.=_ B cannot risk playing
the high clubs while there is any chance for him to win the pool. He
can count A to be safe in diamonds, with two hearts and two spades.
_=10th Trick.=_ A clears his hand of the very dangerous spade before
leading his tenace in diamonds. _=12th Trick.=_ A will not give up the
heart until he is sure that B has not the ♣7.
* * * * *
_=Text Books.=_ There are at present only two text-books on the game;
_Foster on Hearts_, and _Hearts and Heartsette_.
SLOBBERHANNES.
_=Cards.=_ Slobberhannes is played with a Euchre pack, thirty-two
cards, all below the Seven being deleted. The cards rank: A K Q J 10 9
8 7, the ace being the highest both in cutting and in play. There is no
trump suit.
_=Counters.=_ Each player is provided with ten counters, and points
are marked by placing these counters in the pool. The player who first
loses his ten counters also loses the game. If stakes are played for,
counters of a different colour must be provided, and the player losing
the game must pay as many counters to each of the others as they have
points still in front of them. One player is usually the banker, and
sells and redeems all money counters. The others are redistributed at
the end of each game.
_=Players.=_ Any number from four to seven may play; but the two black
Sevens must be deleted if there are more than four players. When seven
play, the dealer takes no cards. All the preliminaries of seats, cards
and deal are settled as at Hearts.
_=Dealing.=_ The entire pack is distributed, the dealer giving each
player in rotation two or three cards in each round. No trump is
turned. All irregularities in the deal are governed by the same
laws as at Hearts; but a misdeal does not lose the deal under any
circumstances. The same dealer must deal again.
_=Objects of the Game.=_ The object in Slobberhannes is to avoid taking
either the first or the last trick, or any trick containing the Queen
of clubs. The player who wins any of these loses one point, and if he
wins all three of them, he loses an extra point, or four altogether.
The penalty for a revoke is also the loss of a point.
_=Method of Playing.=_ The eldest hand begins by leading any card he
pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card
played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and the winner takes it in
and leads for the next trick. The player winning the first trick must
pay for it immediately, to avoid disputes. The tricks which are neither
the first nor the last have no value, unless they contain the club
Queen, which must be paid for as soon as it is taken in.
There is a good deal of play in manœuvring to get rid of cards which
might win the last trick, or which would take in the club Queen. The
Ace and King of clubs are of course dangerous cards, and unless the
player holding them has small cards enough to make him safe in that
suit, he should be on the alert for opportunities to discard.
POLIGNAC. QUATRE-VALETS, OR FOUR JACKS.
_=Cards and Players.=_ When Polignac is played by four persons, a
Piquet pack is used, and eight cards are dealt to each player, 3-2-3 at
a time. When five play, the two black Sevens are deleted, and six cards
are given to each player. When six play, each receives five cards. 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. The eldest hand begins by leading any card he
pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card
played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and the winner leads for
the next trick. If a player has none of the suit led he may discard
anything he pleases.
The game is sometimes varied by adding a _=general=_, or _=capot=_. Any
player who thinks he can win all the tricks announces capot before the
first card is led. If he is successful he loses nothing; but each of
the others must pay five counters into the pool, one for each Jack, and
one extra for Polignac. If the capot player fails to win every trick,
each player pays for whatever jacks he has taken in.
ENFLÉ, OR SCHWELLEN.
When Enflé is played by four persons, the Piquet pack of thirty-two
cards is used. If there are more than four players, sufficient cards
are added to give eight to each person. The rank of the cards and all
other preliminaries are the same as at Hearts. There is no trump suit.