pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. If all follow
suit, the highest card played wins the trick, which is turned face
down, and the cards in it are dead. The winner leads for the next
trick, and so on. But if any player is unable to follow suit, he is not
allowed to discard, but must immediately gather up the cards already
played, and take them into his own hand with the cards originally dealt
to him. The players following the one who renounces to the suit led do
not play to the trick at all; but wait for him to lead for the next
trick. Should any player fail to follow suit on the next trick, or on
any subsequent trick, he gathers the cards already played, takes them
into his hand and leads for the next trick. The play is continued in
this manner until some player gets rid of all his cards, and so wins
the game.
Enflé is usually played for a pool, to which each player contributes
an equal amount before play begins. The game requires considerable
skill and memory to play it well, it being very important to remember
the cards taken in hand by certain players, and those which are in the
tricks turned down.
THE LAWS OF HEARTS.
1. Formation of table. Those first in the room have the preference. If
more than the necessary number assemble, the choice shall be determined
by cutting, those cutting the lowest cards having the right to play.
Six persons is the largest number that can play at one table. The
player cutting the lowest card has the deal.
2. In cutting, the Ace is low. Players cutting cards of equal value,
cut again. All must cut from the same pack, and any person exposing
more than one card must cut again. Drawing cards from an outspread pack
is equivalent to cutting.
3. A complete Heart pack consists of fifty-two cards, which rank in the
following order:--A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the Ace being highest
in play. In Three-Handed Hearts, the spade deuce is thrown out. In
Five-Handed, both the black deuces are laid aside. In Six-Handed, all
four deuces are discarded. In Joker Hearts the heart deuce is replaced
by the Joker.
4. When two packs are used, the player next but one on the dealer’s
left must collect and shuffle the cards for the next deal, placing them
on his right. The dealer has the privilege of shuffling last.
5. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand adversary to be
cut. Not less than four cards shall constitute a cut.
6. In case of any confusion or exposure of the cards in cutting, or in
reuniting them after cutting, the pack must be shuffled and cut again.
7. If the dealer reshuffles the cards after they have been properly
cut, or looks at the bottom card, he loses his deal.
8. After the cards have been cut, the dealer must distribute them
one at a time to each player in rotation, beginning at his left, and
continuing until the pack is exhausted; or in Two-Handed Hearts, until
each player has thirteen.
9. The deal passes to the left.
10. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if the pack is proved
to be incorrect, either during the deal or during the play of a hand;
or if any card is faced in the pack, or is found to be so marked or
mutilated that it can be named. In the last case a new pack must be
used.
11. If a card is exposed during the deal, the player to whom it is
dealt may demand a new deal, provided he has not touched any of his
cards. If the deal stands, the exposed card cannot be called.
12. Any one dealing out of turn may be stopped before the last card is
dealt. After that the deal must stand, and the packs, if changed, must
so remain.
13. It is a misdeal: If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and the
error is discovered before the last card is dealt; or if he deals a
card incorrectly, and fails to remedy it before dealing another; or if
he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or
if it is discovered before all have played to the first trick that any
player has not his proper number of cards, the pack being perfect.
14. A misdeal loses the deal unless one of the other players has
touched his cards, or in any way interrupted the dealer.
15. If, after the first trick is played to, any two players are found
to have more or less than their correct number of cards, the pack being
perfect, the one having less shall draw from the hand of the one having
more, and each shall pay a forfeit of five counters into the pool.
16. If a player omits to play to any trick, and plays to the following
one, he shall not be allowed to correct the error; but shall be
compelled to take in the last trick, with whatever hearts it may
contain.
17. Should a player be found during or at the end of a hand to be a
card short, all the others having the right number, and all having
played to the first trick, he shall be compelled to take in the last
trick.
18. If a player leads or plays two cards to a trick, he must indicate
the one intended, and leave the other face up on the table. Any card
exposed, except in the proper course of play, or any card named by the
player holding it, must be left face up on the table.
19. A player must lead or play any exposed card when called upon to
do so by any other player, provided he can do so without revoking. He
cannot be prevented from playing an exposed card, and if he can so get
rid of it, no penalty remains.
20. If a player leads out of turn, a suit may be called from him when
it is next his proper turn to lead. This penalty can be enforced only
by the player on his right. If he has none of the suit called, or if
all have played to the false lead, no penalty can be enforced. If all
have not played to the false lead, the cards can be taken back, and are
not exposed cards.
21. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth hand may
demand that the card be taken back, and may call upon the third hand to
play the highest card he has of the suit; or may call upon him not to
discard hearts. If the fourth plays before the third, the second player
may demand the penalty.
22. The first player to any trick having led, the others must follow
suit if they can. Should a player revoke, and discover the error before
the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted, he may amend
his play, and the card played in error becomes an exposed card. Any who
have played after him may withdraw their cards and substitute others,
the cards first played not being exposed.
23. If the revoke is discovered during the play of the hand, the hand
must be played out, and at the end the revoking player must pay all
losses in that hand. Should the revoking player win the pool himself,
he must pay to the pool thirteen counters and leave them for a Jack.
Should he divide it, he must pay the other winner six counters, and
leave up seven for a Jack.
24. Should two or more players revoke in the same hand, each must
pay the entire losses in the hand, as if he were alone in error; so
that if two should revoke, and a third win the pool, he would receive
twenty-six counters, instead of thirteen. In Auction Hearts the
revoking player must pay the amount of the bid in addition.
25. The claimant of a revoke may search all the tricks at the end of a
hand. The revoke is established if the accused player mixes the cards
before the claimants have time to examine them.
26. A revoke must be claimed before the tricks have been mixed,
preparatory to shuffling for the next deal.
27. If a player is lawfully called upon to lead a certain suit, or to
play the highest of it, and unnecessarily fails to comply, he is liable
to the penalties for a revoke.
28. Any trick once turned and quitted must not again be seen until the
hand is played. Any player violating this rule is subject to the same
penalties as for a lead out of turn.
29. In settling at the end of the hand, the player having taken no
hearts, [each of the others having taken at least one,] wins the pool.
Two players having taken none, the other two having each at least one,
divide it, the odd counter remaining until the next pool. Three players
having taken none, the thirteen counters remain in the pool, forming a
Jack, which can be won only by one player taking no hearts, each of the
others having taken at least one. During the time the Jack is played
for, and until it is won, each player must add to the pool by paying
for the hearts he takes in each hand.
30. In Auction Hearts, the player to the left of the dealer has the
first bid, the dealer the last, and there is no second bid.
THE BÉZIQUE FAMILY.
This family includes three of our most popular games; Bézique itself,
Binocle, and Sixty-Six. These are all comparatively modern games, but
are descended from very old stock, the best known of the ancestors
being Marriage, Matrimony, and Cinq-Cents. The etymology of the word
Bézique is very much disputed. Some claim that it is from the Spanish
basa, afterwards basico, a little kiss; referring to the union of
the spade Queen and the diamond Jack, and the various marriages in
the game. This was afterwards Basique, transformed by the French to
Bésique, and by the English to Bézique. One English writer thinks the
word is from bésaigne, the double-headed axe.
Judging from the rank of the cards, which is peculiar to German games,
Bézique may have originated in an attempt to play Binocle with a piquet
pack, for Binocle seems to have been originally played with a full pack
of fifty-two cards. One German writer says the game is of Swiss origin,
and that they probably got it from Spain. In one writer’s opinion,
the name Binocle, is derived from _bis_, until, and _knochle_, the
knuckle, which would imply that the original meaning was, until some
one knuckled; _i.e._, stopped the game by knocking on the table with
his knuckles. This interpretation seems far-fetched, but if correct,
it would sustain the opinion that Binocle was derived from the old
game of Cinq-Cents, in which the player knocked with his knuckles to
announce that he had made enough points to win the game. In the opinion
of the author, the word “binocle” is a German mispronunciation of
the French word “binage,” which was the term used in Cinq Cents for
the combination of spade Queen and diamond Jack, as will be seen if
the description of Cinq Cents is referred to. Stopping the play is a
prominent feature in Sixty-Six, another variation of Bézique, and the
connecting link between Binocle and Skat. In Sixty-Six, the combination
known as Bézique, or binocle, is omitted; so is the sequence in trumps.
Sixty-four-card Binocle is simply Bézique, with a slight difference in
the counting value of the various combinations. Sometimes twelve cards
are given to each player.
Great confusion seems to have existed when the game of Bézique was
introduced to England, in the winter of 1868-9, owing to the fact that
so many persons rushed into print with their own private opinions of
the rules, which were first given by Dr. Pole, in 1861. No one knew
whether “the last trick” was the absolute last, or the last before
the stock was exhausted. Whether the highest or lowest cut dealt was
also a matter of dispute. “Cavendish” got both these wrong in the
first edition of his “Pocket Guide,” but corrected himself without
explanation or apology in the second edition. It was then the custom
of many players to attach no value to the trump suit until the stock
was exhausted; so that until the last eight tricks there was no such
thing as trumping a trick in order to win it. Disputes also arose as to
counting double combinations, many contending that a double marriage
should be as valuable as a double bézique. Time and experience have
finally settled all these points, and the rules of the game are now
practically uniform in all countries.
BÉZIQUE, OR SIXTY-FOUR-CARD BINOCLE.
There are two forms of Bézique in common use; the ordinary game, which
will be first described, and the variation known as Rubicon Bézique,
which is to Bézique proper what Railroad Euchre is to Euchre.
_=CARDS.=_ Bézique is played with two packs of thirty-two cards each,
all below the Seven being deleted, and the two packs being then
shuffled together and used as one. It is better to have both packs
of the same colour and pattern, but it is not absolutely necessary.
The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9 8 7; the Ace being the highest, both in
cutting and in play.
[Illustration: PULL-UP BÉZIQUE MARKER.]
_=COUNTERS.=_ Special markers are made for scoring at Bézique; but the
score may easily be kept by means of counters. Each player should be
provided with four white, four blue, and one red, together with some
special marker, such as a copper cent or a button. The button stands
for 500 points, each blue counter for 100, the red for 50, and the
white ones for 10 each. At the beginning of the game the counters are
placed on the left of the player, and are passed from left to right as
the points accrue, exchanging smaller denominations for higher when
necessary. Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a
pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 points,
and going twice round to the game hole.
_=STAKES.=_ Bézique is played for so much a game, 1,000 points up; or
for so much a point, the score of the loser being deducted from that of
the winner. When a partie of five games is agreed upon, it is usual to
have an extra stake upon the odd game, and when three games have been
won by the same player, the partie is at an end. It is usual to count
it a double game if the loser has not reached 500 points.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Bézique is played by two persons, one of whom is known as
the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for choice of
seats and deal, the player cutting the highest card having the first
choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the
cards rank as in play, and the ace is the highest. If a player exposes
more than one card, he must cut again.
_=DEALING.=_ The cards are thoroughly shuffled, and presented to the
pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The
cards are then dealt three at a time for the first round, two for
the next, and three for the last, each player receiving eight cards.
The seventeenth is then turned up for the trump. If this card is a
Seven, the dealer scores 10 points for it at once. The trump card
is laid on the table by itself, the remainder of the pack, which is
called the _=stock=_ or _=talon=_, is slightly spread, to facilitate
the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure that none of the
cards remaining in the undealt portion are exposed. In sixty-four-card
Binocle twelve cards are sometimes dealt to each player.
_=Misdealing.=_ A misdeal does not lose the deal, but in some cases a
new deal is at the option of the adversary. If the dealer exposes a
card belonging to the adversary or to the stock, the pone may demand a
new deal; but if either player exposes any of his own cards, the deal
stands good. If too many cards are given to either player, there must
be a new deal. If too few, the pone may claim a fresh deal, or allow
the dealer to supply the missing cards from the top of the stock,
without changing the trump card. If any card but the trump is found
faced in the pack, there must be a new deal. If a card faced in the
stock is not discovered until the first trick has been played to, the
exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its position.
If a pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which the error is
discovered is void, but all previous cuts or scores made with that pack
stand good.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The pone begins by leading any card he chooses,
to which his adversary may play any card he pleases. A player is not
obliged to follow suit, nor to trump; but may renounce or trump at
pleasure until the stock is exhausted, after which the method of play
undergoes a change. If a player follows suit, the higher card wins the
trick, and if identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two
Jacks of clubs, the leader wins. Trumps win plain suits. The winner of
the trick takes in the cards, turning them face down; but before he
leads for the next trick he has the privilege of announcing and scoring
any one of certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After,
or in the absence of any such announcement, and before leading for
the next trick, he draws a card from the top of the stock and places
it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His adversary draws the
next card, so that each player restores the number of cards in his
hand to eight. This method of drawing from the stock is open to many
objections, and in France the pone always draws first, no matter who
wins the trick.
All combinations announced and scored must be laid face upward on the
table; but the cards still form part of the player’s hand, and may be
led or played at any time, although they must not again be taken in
hand until the stock is exhausted.
_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The reasons for winning or not winning certain
tricks will be better understood in connection with the description
of the various combinations that count toward game, and the manner of
scoring them.
_=Brisques.=_ The aces and Tens of each suit are called brisques, and
count ten points each towards game. Except for the purpose of getting
or keeping the lead, there is no object in winning any trick which does
not contain a brisque. Every brisque taken in should be scored at once
by the player winning the trick; 10 points for an ace or Ten; 20 points
if there are two such cards in the same trick.
A player holding or drawing the _=Seven of trumps=_ has the privilege
of exchanging it for the turn-up trump, and scoring 10 points at the
same time; but he must make the exchange immediately after winning a
trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. Should the turn-up
card be a Seven, or one exchange have already been made, the exchange
can still be made and scored. He cannot score the Seven and make a
declaration at the same time.
_=DECLARATIONS.=_ The combinations which may be announced and scored
during the play of the hand are divided into three classes: Marriages
and Sequences; Béziques; and Fours of a kind. Only one combination can
be scored at a time, and it must be announced immediately after the
player holding it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from
the talon. If he draws without announcing, it is equivalent to saying
he has no declaration to make. Having drawn his card, even if he has
not looked at it, he cannot score any declaration until he wins another
trick.
The combinations and their values are as follows:--
CLASS A
King and Queen of any plain suit, _=Marriage=_ 20
King and Queen of trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_ 40
Sequence of five highest trumps, _=Sequence=_ 250
CLASS B.
Spade Queen and diamond Jack, _=Bézique=_ 40
Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Double Bézique=_ 500
CLASS C.
Any _=four Aces=_ 100
Any _=four Kings=_ 80
Any _=four Queens=_ 60
Any _=four Jacks=_ 40
The four court cards in class C may be all of different suits, or any
two of them may be of the same suit.
A great many misunderstandings arise with respect to the manner
and order of making declarations, most of which may be avoided by
remembering the following rules:
The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick,
and must make his announcement before drawing his card from the stock.
When the stock is exhausted, so that there is no card to be drawn, no
announcement can be made.
Only one declaration can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be
won for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored.
This does not prevent a player from making two or more announcements at
the same time, but he can score only one of them.
A player cannot make a lower declaration with cards which form part of
a higher one already made in the same class. For instance: Marriages
and sequences belong to the same class. If the sequence has been
declared, a player cannot take from it the King and Queen and score a
marriage; neither can he add a new Queen to the King already in the
sequence, and announce a marriage; because the higher combination was
scored first. But if the marriage is first announced, the A 10 J may be
added and the sequence scored, after winning another trick.
Cards once used in combination cannot again be used in combinations
of equal value of the same class. For instance: Four Kings have been
declared, and one of them afterward used in the course of play. The
player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and announce four
Kings again. A marriage in spades has been declared, and the King got
rid of in play. A new King of spades will not make another marriage
with the old Queen. A bézique has been scored, and the Jack got rid of
in play; a new Jack of diamonds will not make another bézique with the
old Queen.
Some judgment is necessary in making announcements, the question of
time being often important. Suppose hearts are trumps, and the winner
of the trick holds double bézique, sixty Queens, and a royal marriage:--
[Illustration:
🃋 🃋 🂭 🂭 🃍 🂽 🂾
]
He cannot lay all these cards down at once, and claim 600 points.
Neither can he lay down four Queens and two Jacks, and score 560;
nor four Queens and a King and score 100. He may announce them if he
chooses to expose his hand in that manner, but he can score only one
combination, and must win a separate trick to score each of the others.
It would be better for him to select some one of the combinations, and
declare it, waiting until he won another trick to declare the next one.
A beginner would be apt to declare the highest count first, 500 for
the double bézique; but under the rule which prevents a player from
making a declaration which forms part of a higher one of the same class
already made, he would lose the 40 points for the single bézique. It
would be better to declare the single bézique first, scoring 40 points
for it, and after winning another trick to show the other bézique,
scoring 500 points more for the double combination. A player is not
allowed to score 40 for the second bézique, and then 500 for the two
combined; because if new announcements are made in the same class,
at least one new card must be added from the player’s hand when the
announcement is made, even if it is not scored until later.
_=Double Declarations.=_ It frequently happens that a player is forced
to make two declarations at the same time, although he can score only
one of them. For instance: A player has announced and shown four Kings,
one of them being the King of spades. On winning another trick he shows
and scores bézique. One of the bézique cards forms a marriage with the
spade King, and as the combinations belong to different classes, both
may be scored, although the same card is used in each; but the player
cannot score the second combination until he wins another trick. Under
such circumstances it is usual to declare both combinations, scoring
the more valuable, and repeating the one left over until an opportunity
arises to score it. In this case the player would say: “Forty for
bézique, and twenty to score.” If he lost the next trick he would
continue to repeat at every trick: “Twenty to score,” until he won a
trick.
A player having a score in abeyance in this manner is not obliged to
score it if he has anything else to announce. A player with twenty
to score might pick up the sequence in trumps before he won another
trick, and he would be very foolish to lose the chance to score 250
for the sake of the 20 already announced. If he had time, he would
probably declare: “Royal Marriage, forty, and twenty to score.” On
winning another trick he would add the A 10 J of trumps, and announce,
“Two-fifty in trumps, and twenty to score,” still carrying on the small
score for a future opportunity.
A player may lay down and score eighty Kings, and afterward sixty
Queens, the remaining Kings forming marriages. In such a case he would
score the sixty points first, and declare the two or three marriages
remaining. In the same manner he may have announced four Kings, and
after playing away two of them, leaving two Kings of spades, he may
declare double bézique, and claim the two marriages “to score.” In all
such cases it must be remembered that the cards declared must still be
on the table when the time comes to score them. If, in the case just
given, one of the cards forming either of the marriages was got rid of
in the course of play, that marriage could not afterward be scored,
although it had been properly announced. If the stock is exhausted
before the player with a score in abeyance can win another trick, the
score is lost.
It is often very important for a player to know how much time he has to
score. When the talon is spread it is comparatively easy to judge how
many more tricks remain to be played. The English laws allow a player
to count the stock, the French do not. A trick once turned and quitted
cannot again be seen, and the players are not allowed to count the
number of tricks they have won.
The last card of the stock is taken by the player winning the trick,
and the turn-up trump goes to his adversary.