take back into their hands all the cards remaining of the combinations
which have been laid on the table. The winner of the previous trick
then leads any card he pleases, but his adversary must now not only
follow suit, but must win the trick if he can, either with a superior
card of the same suit, or with a trump. The same rule applies to all
the remaining tricks. Brisques still count for the winner of the trick
containing them, and should be scored as soon as made. The winner of
the last trick of all scores ten points for it immediately, in addition
to any brisques that it may contain.
_=Irregularities in Play.=_ If a player leads out of turn, and his
adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, the
trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, the
card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty.
If a player has too many cards after playing to the first trick, his
adversary may either claim a fresh deal or may compel him to play
without drawing from the talon, until the number of cards in his hand
is reduced to eight; the player with too many cards not being allowed
to make any announcements until he has his right number of cards. If a
player has too few cards, his adversary may either claim a fresh deal,
or may allow him to make good the deficiency by drawing from the stock.
After the stock is exhausted, any player failing to follow suit or to
win a trick, when able to do so, may be compelled to take back his
cards to the point where the error occurred, and to replay the hand. In
France he is penalised by counting nothing from that point on, either
for brisques or for the last trick.
_=Irregularities in Drawing.=_ If a player has forgotten to take a card
from the talon, and has played to the next trick, his adversary may
elect to call the deal void, or to allow him to draw two cards next
time.
If a player has drawn two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must
show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If he
has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he draws out
of turn, he must restore the card improperly drawn; and if it belongs
to his adversary the player in error must show his own card. If both
players draw the wrong cards there is no remedy.
If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock,
his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may
select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, he need not
show it.
If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an even number of cards
remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. The winner of the
trick takes the last but one, and the loser takes the trump card.
_=Irregular Announcements.=_ Should a player announce four of a kind,
having only three; as, for instance, laying down three Kings and a
Jack, and declaring four Kings, his adversary can compel him not only
to take down the score erroneously marked, but to lead or play one of
the three Kings. A player may be called upon to lead or play cards from
any other erroneous declarations in the same manner; but if the player
has the right card or cards in his hand, he is permitted to amend his
error, provided he has not drawn a card from the stock in the meantime.
_=SCORING.=_ It is better to score all points as soon as they are made.
The game is usually 1000 points. Some players do not count the brisques
until the last trick has been played, but the practice is not to be
recommended. Scores erroneously marked must be taken down, and the
adversary may add the points to his own score.
_=Suggestions for Good Play=_ will be found in Binocle.
FOUR-HANDED BÉZIQUE.
In this variation, four persons may play; each for himself or two
against two, partners sitting opposite each other. Four packs of
thirty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one. Triple
bézique counts 1500. When a player wins a trick, either he or his
partner may declare everything in the hand, but only one combination
can be scored at a time. The advantage of showing all the combinations
in the hand is that they may be built up by either partner. For
instance: One partner has declared bézique and royal marriage, scoring
the marriage only. His partner wins the next trick and adds A 10 J to
the marriage, scoring the sequence; or perhaps shows three Kings or
Queens, making fours.
The players usually divide after the stock is exhausted, and for the
last eight tricks each takes one of his former adversaries for a
partner, but without changing seats. The game is usually 2000 points up.
THREE-HANDED BÉZIQUE.
Three persons play, each for himself. Two packs of thirty-two cards
each and one of thirty-one cards are shuffled together. Triple bézique
counts 1500, and the game is usually 2000 points.
The deleted card from the third pack should be an Eight.
POLISH BÉZIQUE.
This differs from the ordinary game only in the value of the tricks
taken. The winner of each trick, instead of turning it down after
counting the brisques, takes from it any court cards it may contain,
and the Ten of trumps. He lays these cards face up on the table,
but apart from those declared from his own hand, and uses them to
form combinations, which may be scored in the usual way. The chief
difference is that cards so taken in tricks cannot be led or played
to subsequent tricks, nor can they be taken in hand at the end of the
stock. Combinations may be completed either by cards in the player’s
hand, or by cards won in subsequent tricks.
CINQ-CENTS.
This might be described as Bézique with one pack of cards. All the
regulations are the same as in the modern form of Bézique, but there is
an additional count, 120, for a sequence of the five highest cards in
any plain suit. Bézique is called _=Binage=_, and of course there are
no double combinations. Cards which have been used in one combination
cannot be used in any other, even of a different class.
Brisques are not scored as they are won; but after the hand is over,
and ten points have been counted for the last trick, each player turns
over his cards and counts up the value of the points they contain. In
this final count, the Ace reckons for 11, the Ten for 10, King for 4,
Queen for 3, Jack for 2, no matter what the suit may be, so that there
are 120 points to be divided between the players. It is usual for only
one to count, the other taking the difference between his total and 120.
From this it might be imagined that no notice was taken of the counting
value of the cards taken in during the progress of the play. Early in
the game this is true, but toward the end each player must keep very
careful mental count of the value of his tricks, although he is not
allowed to score them. When either player knows, by adding the mental
count of his tricks to his scored declarations, that he has made points
enough to win the game, he stops the play by knocking on the table,
either with his knuckles or his cards. He then turns over his tricks
and counts the points they contain to show his adversary that he has
won the game. Even if his adversary has also enough points to go out,
the player who knocked wins the game, provided his count is correct. If
the player who knocks is mistaken, and cannot count out, he loses, no
matter what his adversary may have.
If neither knocks, and at the end of the hand both players are found to
have points enough to put them out, neither wins the game, which must
be continued for 100 points more; that is, as 500 points is the usual
game, it must be made 600 in such a case. Should both reach 600 without
knocking, it must be continued to 700. If neither knocks, and only one
has enough points to go out he wins the game on its merits.
As the name implies, 500 points is game.
PENCHANT.
Penchant is a complicated form of Cinq-cents and Bézique, played with a
single pack of thirty-two cards, which rank as at Piquet; A K Q J 10 9
8 7, the ace being highest both in cutting and in play.
_=Cutting.=_ The higher cut has the choice of seats, and the lower cut
deals the first hand.
_=Dealing.=_ After the cards have been cut by the pone the dealer
gives one card to his adversary, then one to the stock, and then one
to himself, all face down. Two more are then given to the stock, one
to the pone, two to the stock again, and one to the dealer. This is
continued, giving two cards to the stock between the ones given to each
player, until the last round, when only one card is dealt to the stock.
This will result in each player receiving six cards, and twenty being
left in the centre of the table for the talon. No trump is turned. Very
few players trouble themselves with this method of dealing, preferring
to deal three cards to each player alternately, leaving the remaining
twenty for the stock.
_=Playing.=_ All the regulations for leading, following suit, drawing
from the talon, etc., are the same as in Bézique, but the declarations
and their values are quite different.
_=Brisques.=_ There are twelve brisque cards, the Seven of each suit
being added to the usual Aces and Tens. The brisques are not scored as
taken in, except in the last six tricks. At the end of the hand all the
brisques are counted, whether already scored in the last six tricks or
not, and the player having more than six counts ten points for each
above six. If each has six, neither scores. By this method, a player
may make and score several brisques in the last six tricks, all of
which he will reckon over again in the total count at the end.
_=Declarations.=_ The winner of any trick, previous to the exhaustion
of the stock, may announce and lay upon the table any one of ten
different combinations, which are divided into three classes. These are
as follows, with the number of points he is entitled to score for each:
CLASS A. DIFFERENT SUITS.
Any four of a kind, such as four Tens, 100
Any three of a kind, such as three Queens, 30
Any pair, such as two Nines, 20
CLASS B. THE SAME SUIT.
Any sequence of five, containing K Q J, 250
Any sequence of four, containing K Q J, 40
Any sequence of K Q J, 30
King and Queen of any suit, 20
Queen and Jack of any suit, 20
Any flush of five cards, containing K Q J, 50
CLASS C. PENCHANTS.
Any Queen and Jack of different suits, 10
The sequences and flushes in class B must all be of the same suit;
penchant cards must be of different suits.
If the winner of any trick has no declaration to make, he signifies it
by drawing the top card from the stock. His adversary, before drawing
his card from the stock, may then declare a penchant, if he has one;
but no other combination can be declared by the player who does not win
the trick. If the winner of the trick makes any declaration, the loser
cannot declare.
The Jack of the first penchant declared makes the _=trump suit=_ for
that deal, no matter which player announces it. Trumps do not increase
the value of any combination, and are only useful to win plain-suit
tricks.
All declarations are scored immediately, either on a marker or with
counters. It will be observed that with the exception of sequences of
five cards, fours, and penchants, the count is ten points for each card
in the combination. Only one declaration can be made at a time.
Any card laid upon the table for one declaration can be used again in
future declarations, provided the player making the new announcement
adds at least one fresh card from his hand. A player having a marriage
and a penchant on the table cannot afterward score for the pair of
Queens; but if he adds a Queen from his hand he can score the triplet.
Pairs, triplets and fours are divided into two classes, the major
being formed of court cards; the minor of cards below the Jack. Minor
combinations cannot be scored if the adversary has upon the table cards
which form a major combination of the same or greater value in the
same class; that is, in class A. For instance: If your adversary has
two Queens on the table, you cannot announce any pair below Jacks. His
Queens need not have been announced as a pair; they may be parts of a
marriage and a penchant. But if you have on the table a pair as good
as his, you can score minor pairs. For instance: He has two Kings on
the table, and you have two Aces. Your Aces cancel his Kings, and you
can score any minor pair; but he can not. If you have a minor triplet
to declare, such as three Eights, no major pair of his will bar it,
because your triplet counts more than his pair. No minor combination on
his side will bar you; it must be one of court cards, and it must be
better than any that you have laid on the table yourself.
_=The Last Six Tricks.=_ After the stock is exhausted, the second
player must follow suit if able, and must win the trick if he can. As
already explained, brisques won in the last six tricks are scored as
they are taken in, and after the last card is played all the brisques
are re-counted, the player holding more than six scoring ten points for
each above that number. There is no score for winning the last trick.
Four deals is a game. At the end of the fourth deal the lower score is
deducted from the higher, and the difference is the value of the game
in points. If the lesser score is not at least 400 points, the winner
doubles the difference in his favour.
The only text-book on this game introduces a great many technical terms
which have no meaning to the ordinary card-player, and which have
therefore been omitted from this description.
_=Suggestions for Good Play=_ will be found in Binocle.
RUBICON BÉZIQUE.
Rubicon Bézique bears the same relation to the ordinary game that
Railroad Euchre does to Euchre proper. In fact the game might well
be called Railroad Bézique, for its chief peculiarity is the rapid
accumulation of large scores. The game seems to have originated in
France, but is now very popular wherever Bézique is played.
_=CARDS.=_ Rubicon Bézique is played with four piquet packs of
thirty-two cards each; all below the Sevens being deleted from an
ordinary pack. The four packs, which should be of the same pattern and
colour, are shuffled together and used as one. The cards rank: A 10 K Q
J 9 8 7, the ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.
_=MARKERS.=_ The game may be kept on a bézique marker, a pull-up
cribbage board, or with counters. Markers must be made to score at
least 5000 points. When a cribbage board is used, it is usual to count
the outside row of pegs as 10 each, the inner row as 100 each, and the
game pegs in the centre as 1000 each. If counters are used, there must
be for each player; four white, to mark 10’s; one red to mark 50; nine
blue to mark 100’s; and four coppers to mark 1000 each. These counters
are moved from left to right of the player as the points accrue. In
whatever manner the count is kept, it should be distinctly visible to
both persons, as playing to the score is very important.
_=STAKES.=_ Rubicon Bézique is played for so much a hundred points,
and in settling up, all fractions of a hundred are disregarded, unless
they are necessary to decide the game. Ten cents a hundred is the usual
stake; sixpence in England. Games are seldom worth less than one or two
thousand points.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Rubicon Bézique is played by two persons, one of whom is
known as the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for
seats and deal, the player cutting the higher card having first choice,
and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank
as in play, the ace being 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 dealer then distributes the cards three at a time, first to his
adversary and then to himself, for three rounds, so that each player
receives nine cards. No trump is turned; but the first marriage
declared and scored is the trump suit for that deal. The undealt
portion of the pack, called the _=stock=_ or _=talon=_, is slightly
spread between the two players, and a little to the left of the dealer.
If in spreading the stock any card is found to be exposed, there must
be a new deal by the same dealer.
_=Misdealing.=_ A misdeal does not lose the deal, but in some cases a
new deal is at the option of the pone. If the dealer exposes a card
belonging to his 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, and the
error is discovered before the dealer plays to the first trick, there
must be a new deal. If either player has too few cards, the pone may
demand a new deal, or may allow the dealer to supply the deficiency
from the top of the stock. If any card is found exposed in the pack,
there must be a new deal. If any card faced in the stock is not
discovered until the first trick has been played to by the dealer,
the exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its
position. If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which it is
discovered is void; but all previous scores or cuts made with that pack
stand good.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The pone takes up and examines his nine cards.
If he finds himself without King, Queen or Jack of any suit, he
immediately shows his hand to the dealer, and marks fifty points for
_=carte blanche=_. Whether he has carte blanche or not, he begins the
play by leading any card he pleases. If the dealer has carte blanche,
he must show and score it before playing to the first trick. Players
are 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. Until the first marriage is declared and
scored there is no trump suit. If the second player in any trick
follows suit, the higher card wins. Trumps win plain suits. If
identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two club aces,
the leader wins.
The tricks are left face upward on the table until an ace or Ten is
played, for tricks not containing either of these cards are of no
value. When an ace or Ten is played, the winner of the trick gathers in
all the cards that have accumulated, and turns them face down in front
of him. These counting cards are called _=brisques=_, and if a player
neglects to gather the brisques he wins, his adversary may do so when
next he wins a trick, whether the trick he wins contains a brisque or
not; the fact that there is a brisque on the table is sufficient.
_=Declaring.=_ The winner of any trick, before leading for the next
trick, 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
one card from the top of the stock, and places it in his hand, without
showing or naming it. His adversary then draws the next card, so that
each restores the number of cards in his hand to nine. This method
of playing, announcing, and drawing is continued until the stock is
exhausted.
If a player who has already announced carte blanche finds that the
first card he draws from the stock is not a King, Queen or Jack, he
shows it to his adversary, and scores another fifty points for another
carte blanche. This may be continued until he draws one of those cards.
Carte blanche cannot be scored at all unless held before a card is
played; that is, it must be dealt to the player originally.
All combinations announced and scored must be left 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.
The first marriage announced and scored, no matter by which player,
makes the _=trump suit=_ for that deal; but a player with a marriage
on the table is not obliged to announce it if he does not wish to make
that suit the trump.
_=Irregularities in Play.=_ If a player leads out of turn, and his
adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, the
trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, the
card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty.
If, after playing to the first trick, one player is found to have more
than his right number of cards, the English rules say that the game is
to be immediately abandoned, and the adversary of the player in error
is to add 1300 points to his score at the time the error is discovered,
together with all the points already scored by the player in error; but
the latter amount must not exceed 900.
The same penalties are enforced if one player has too many cards and
the other too few; but in the latter case the hand is played out, the
player not in fault scoring all he can.
If both players have more than their right number of cards, the deal is
void. If either has less than his proper number, his adversary having
the right number, the deal stands good, and there is no penalty except
that the player with the right number of cards wins and scores for the
last trick. If both have less than the right number, the deal stands
good, and the actual winner of the last trick scores it.
It will be observed that these rules are quite different from the
French rules, which have been given in connection with the ordinary
game of Bézique. In France, it is always the custom to establish the
_status quo_, if possible, and to assume that the error was quite
unintentional. In England, all laws are based on the assumption that
your adversary is a rogue, and the penalties are absurdly severe, but
we have no authority to change them.
_=Irregularities in Drawing.=_ If a player has forgotten to take his
card from the talon, and has played to the next trick, the English laws
compel him to play the remainder of the hand with eight cards; the
French laws give his adversary the option of calling the deal void, or
allowing the player in error to draw two cards from the stock next time.
If a player draws two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must
show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If it
was his adversary’s card, he must show his own card also. If he has not
seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he draws out of turn,
he must restore the card improperly drawn, and if it belongs to his
adversary, the player in error must show his own card. If both players
draw the wrong cards, there is no remedy.
If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock,
his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may
select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, he need not
show it.
If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an odd number of cards
remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn.
_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ Each game is complete in one deal, and
the score of the loser is deducted from that of the winner. The
combinations which may be declared and scored are the same as
in Bézique, but owing to the use of four packs of cards double
combinations are much more frequent, and triple combinations are not
uncommon.
The chief concern of the player must be, first of all, to save himself
from a rubicon; that is, either to reach 1000 points, or to score as
few points as possible. If he does not reach 1000, his adversary will
take whatever he has scored, and add them to his own, besides 1300 in
addition for rubicon and brisques. For instance: At the end of the hand
A has scored 1200, and B has only 700. B is rubiconed, and his 700
points are added to A’s 1200, together with 1300 more for a rubicon
game and brisques; giving A a grand total of 3200 points to nothing.
Had B reached 1000, he would have saved his rubicon, and A would have
scored the difference only, or 200 points, plus 500 for the game; 700
altogether.
_=Brisques.=_ The aces and Tens of each suit are of no value unless it
is necessary to count them to decide a tie, or to save a rubicon. They
are never scored during the play of the hand.