scored during the play of the hand are divided into three classes:
A, Marriages and Sequences; B, Béziques; and C, Fours. Only one
combination can be scored at a time, and it must be announced and
laid on the table 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 various combinations
and their values are as follows:
CLASS A.
King and Queen in any plain suit, _=Marriage=_ 20
King and Queen of trumps, _=Royal Marriage=_ 40
Five highest cards in a plain suit, _=Sequence=_ 150
Five highest cards in trumps, _=Royal Sequence=_ 250
CLASS B.
Spade Queen and Diamond Jack, _=Single Bézique=_ 40
Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Double Bézique=_ 500
Three spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Triple Bézique=_ 1500
Four spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Quadruple Bézique=_ 4500
CLASS C.
Any four Aces 100
Any four Kings 80
Any four Queens 60
Any four Jacks 40
Besides the foregoing, there is the score of fifty points for carte
blanche, which may be announced only before the first trick is played
to, and the score of fifty points for the winner of the last trick of
all.
In class A, the first marriage declared must of course count 40, as it
is the trump suit for that deal. In class C, the four court cards may
be of different suits, or any two or more of them may be of the same
suit.
The rules governing declarations are as follows:--
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 no cards remain to be drawn, no
announcements 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 rule 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 combination already shown in the same class. For
instance:--Marriages and sequences belong to the same class. If a
sequence has been declared, the player cannot take from it the King
and Queen, and score for the marriage; neither can he add a new
Queen to the King already used in the sequence, because the higher
combination was scored first. The same rule applies to lower and higher
béziques. But if the lower combination is first shown and scored--the
marriage--the A 10 J may be added afterward, on winning another trick,
and the sequence scored. This rule does not apply to cards belonging to
combinations in different classes. A Queen used in class A may be used
over again in both B and C classes.
_=Re-forming Combinations.=_ The chief peculiarity in Rubicon Bézique
is that combinations which have been laid on the table and scored may
be broken up, re-formed, and scored again indefinitely. For instance:
A player has declared royal sequence, and scored 250 points for it.
He may play away the Ace, breaking up the sequence, and upon winning
the trick lay down another Ace, re-forming the sequence, and scoring
250 points again. He might repeat the same process with the Ten, King,
Queen and Jack, and in six successive tricks he would score this royal
sequence six times, making 1500 points out of it. In actual play it is
not necessary to go through the formality of playing away a card from
the combination on the table, and then replacing it, for it amounts to
the same thing if the new card in the hand is led or played, and the
fresh combination claimed.
Marriages, béziques and fours may be broken up and re-formed in the
same way. After declaring 100 Aces, the player may lead or play
another Ace, and claim another 100 Aces, scoring them when he wins a
trick. In this way, eight Aces actually held might score 500 points.
In the bézique combinations, a new card simply re-forms the single
bézique. In order to score double, triple, or quadruple bézique, all
the cards forming the combination must be on the table at one time,
but they may be played and scored one after the other, cumulatively.
For instance: A player holding quadruple bézique and showing all
eight cards at once would score 4500 only; the minor béziques would
be lost. If he had time, and could win tricks enough, he might show
the single first, scoring 40, then the double, scoring 500, then the
triple, scoring 1500, and finally the quadruple, scoring 4500, which
would yield him a grand total of 6540 points. He might declare marriage
in hearts, and afterward play three more heart Queens, scoring each
marriage, and then three heart Kings, scoring three more marriages.
These would all be new combinations.
_=Double Declarations.=_ These are carried forward in the manner
already described for the ordinary game. Suppose a player has two spade
Kings on the table, and shows double bézique. He of course marks the
more valuable score, 500, and simply claims the marriages by saying:
“With twenty and twenty to score.” On winning another trick he is not
compelled to score the previous announcement if he has any other or
better to make. He might have two more Queens, and would announce:
“Sixty Queens, with twenty and twenty to score.” If he scores one of
the announcements held over, he still carries on the other.
When announcements are carried forward in this manner, it must be
remembered that the cards must still be on the table when the time
comes to score them. If one of them has been led or played, or the
stock is exhausted before the player wins another trick, the score held
over is lost.
_=Time.=_ On account of the great number of combinations possible at
Rubicon Bézique, it is very seldom that a player succeeds in scoring
everything he holds. He is allowed to count the cards remaining in the
talon, provided he does not disturb their order. This count is often
important toward the end of the hand. For instance: You know from the
cards you hold, and those played, that your adversary must have in
his hand the cards that will make a double bézique on the table into
a triple bézique, which would give him 1500 points. If, on counting
the stock, you find only six cards remain, and you have three certain
winning trumps to lead, you can shut out his 1500 by exhausting the
stock before he can win a trick.
_=Irregular Announcements.=_ If a player announces a combination which
he does not show; such as fours, when he has only three, which he may
easily do by mistaking a Jack for a King, _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 other erroneous declarations in the same manner;
but if he 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.
_=The Last Nine Tricks.=_ When the stock is exhausted, all
announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their hands
all the cards upon the table which may remain from the combinations
declared in the course of play. The winner of the previous trick then
leads any card he pleases, but for the last nine tricks the second
player in each must not only follow suit, but must win the trick if he
can, either with a superior card or with a trump. 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 from that point. In France he is penalised by counting
nothing from that point on, either for brisques or for the last trick.
The winner of the _=last trick=_ scores fifty points for it immediately.
_=SCORING.=_ Each deal is a complete game in itself, and the winner
is the player who has scored the most points for carte blanche,
combinations, and the last trick. The brisques are not counted, unless
they are necessary to decide a tie, or save a rubicon.
The value of the game is determined by deducting the lesser score
from the higher, and then adding 500 points to the remainder. In this
deduction all fractions of a hundred are disregarded. For instance: A’s
score is 1830; while B’s is 1260. A wins 1800, less the 1200 scored by
B, which leaves 600; to this must be added the 500 points for game,
making the total value of A’s game 1100 points.
If the scores are very nearly equal, being within one or two hundred
points of each other, the tricks taken in by each player are turned
over, and the brisques are counted, each player adding to his score ten
points for every brisque he has won. Suppose that after the last trick
had been played and scored, A’s total was 1260, and B’s 1140. This is
close enough to justify B in demanding a count of the brisques. It is
found that A has seven only, while B has twenty-five. This shows B to
be the winner of the game, with a total score of 1390 to A’s 1330.
If the difference between the final scores is less than 100 points,
after adding the brisques and throwing off the fractions, the player
with the higher score adds 100 points for bonus. In the case just
given, B’s final score is equal to A’s, after dropping the fractions
from both; so he would add 100 for bonus to the 500 for game, and win
600 points altogether.
_=Rubicons.=_ If the lower score is less than 1000, no matter what the
higher score may be, the loser is rubiconed, and all the points he
has scored are _added_ to the score of the winner, instead of being
deducted. In addition to this, the winner adds a double game, or 1000
points, for the rubicon, and 300 points for all the brisques, no matter
who actually won them. For example: A’s score is 920, and B’s 440. It
is not necessary to count the brisques to see that A wins and B is
rubiconed. A adds B’s 400 to his own 900, making his score 1300, and to
this total he adds 1300 for rubicon and brisques, making the value of
his game 2600 points altogether.
The loser is not rubiconed if he can bring his total score to 1000 by
adding his brisques. Suppose A has 1740 and B 850. The brisques are
counted, and it is found that B has eighteen, making his score 1030,
and saving his rubicon. A adds his fourteen brisques, making his total
1880, which makes the value of his game 1800, minus B’s 1000, plus 500
for the game, or 1300 altogether.
If B’s brisques did not prove sufficient to save the rubicon, A would
count them all. Suppose that in the foregoing case B had taken in only
eleven brisques, leaving his total 990. As this does not save the
rubicon the game is reckoned as if the brisques had not been counted at
all, and A wins 1800, plus B’s 800, plus 1300 for rubicon and brisques;
3900 altogether.
If the player who is rubiconed has scored less than 100 points, the
winner takes 100 for bonus, in addition to the 1300 for rubicon and
brisques.
When a series of games is played between the same individuals, it is
usual to keep the net results on a sheet of paper, setting down the
hundreds only, and to settle at the end of the sitting.
_=Suggestions for Good Play=_ will be found in Binocle.
* * * * *
_=CHINESE BÉZIQUE=_ is Rubicon Bézique with six packs of cards shuffled
together and used as one. The counts run into enormous figures, and
6000 is not an uncommon score for the winner.
In _=CHOUETTE BÉZIQUE=_, one of several players agrees to take all
bets, and has the choice of deal and seats without cutting. His
adversaries may consult together in playing against him. If the
chouette player wins, one of his opponents takes the loser’s place;
but if he loses, the same player opposes him for the next game.
The adversaries usually cut to decide which of them shall play the
first game against the chouette player, the highest card having the
privilege. If there are four players, two may play against two, each
consulting with his partner and sharing his bets.
BINOCLE.
The word Binocle is spelt in many different ways, all of which, are,
however, phonetic equivalents of the correct one. The word is probably
derived from the French word “binage,” which was the name given to
the combination known as “binocle,” and which seemed a better term
than “cinq cents” as the game was no longer 500 points up. In all
German works on card games the name is spelt as we give it; but the
pronunciation of the initial “b” in the German is so near that of “p,”
that “Pinocle” is nearer the correct spelling than any other form.
There is no authority for the introduction of the “h,” which has led
some persons to think the word a compound of “bis” and “knochle,” and
has given rise to the forms: binochle, pinochle, pinuchle, pinucle,
penucle, penuchle, penuckle and pinuckel, all of which may be found in
various works on card games.
_=CARDS.=_ Binocle is played with two packs of twenty-four cards each,
all below the Nine being deleted, and the two packs being then shuffled
together, and used as one. The cards rank A 10 K Q J 9, the Ace being
the highest, both in cutting and in play.
_=COUNTERS.=_ The game is 1000 points, and is usually scored with
counters, each player being provided with four white, worth 10 each;
four blue, worth 100 each; one red, worth 50, and a copper cent or a
button, which represents 500. These counters are placed on the left
of the player at the beginning of the game, and are moved over to his
right as the points accrue. The game is sometimes kept on a cribbage
board, each player starting at 21, and going twice round to the
game-hole, reckoning each peg as 10 points.
_=STAKES.=_ Binocle is played for so much a game of 1000 points, and
the moment either player either actually reaches or claims to have
reached that number, the game is at an end. If his claim is correct, he
wins; if it is not, his adversary takes the stakes, no matter what the
score may be.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Binocle is played by two persons, one of whom is known as
the _=dealer=_, and the other as the _=pone=_. They cut for the choice
of seats and deal, and the player cutting the higher card may deal or
not, as he pleases. It is usual for the player having the choice to
make his adversary deal. A player exposing more than one card must cut
again.
_=DEALING.=_ After the cards are thoroughly shuffled, they are
presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in
each packet. The dealer then distributes the cards four at a time for
three rounds, giving to his adversary first, and then to himself. The
twenty-fifth card is turned up for the trump. If this card is a Nine,
the dealer claims _=dix=_, and counts ten for it immediately. The trump
card is laid aside, and 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 stock are exposed. The trump is usually placed face up
under the last card of the stock.
In _=Sixty-four-card Binocle=_, the Sevens and Eights are added to
the pack. There are then two ways to play: If eight cards are dealt
to each player, the game is simply Bézique, except for some minor
details relating to the combinations and their value. These are usually
disregarded, and the regular game of Bézique is played. If twelve cards
are dealt to each player, the game is the same as the one about to be
described, but with eight cards added to the pack, and the Seven taking
the place of the Nine for dix.
_=Misdealing.=_ 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 a 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 and
cuts made with that pack stand good. In all misdeals the same dealer
deals again.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ After the trump is turned, the pone begins by
leading any card he pleases. The second 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 the second player follows suit in any trick, the higher card wins.
Trumps win plain suits. If identical cards are played to the same
trick, such as two club Jacks, the leader wins.
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
then draws the next card, so that each player restores the number of
cards in his hand to twelve. This method of playing, announcing, and
drawing from the talon is continued until the stock is exhausted. The
A 10 K Q J of each suit have certain counting values, which will be
described further on.
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.
_=Irregularities in Play.=_ If either 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 may be taken back without penalty.
If at any time it is discovered that a player has too many cards, his
adversary may either claim a fresh deal, or may compel him to play
without drawing from the talon until the number of his cards is reduced
to twelve. The player with too many cards is not allowed to make or
score 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 allow him to make good the deficiency by drawing from the stock.
Any player looking at any but the last trick turned down, forfeits his
entire score for “cards.”
_=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 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 draw the
wrong cards there is no remedy, and each must keep what he gets. 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, which his adversary
has not seen, 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.
_=OBJECTS OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of each player is to reach 1000 points
before his adversary, and the one first reaching that number, and
announcing it, wins the game. Points are scored for _=dix=_, _=melds=_,
the _=last trick=_, and for _=cards=_, which are the counting cards in
tricks won.
_=Melds.=_ The various combinations which are declared during the
play of the hand are called melds, from the German word melden, to
announce. These melds are divided into three classes: _a_, Marriages
and Sequences; _b_, Binocles; and _c_, Fours. Only one combination can
be announced at a time, and it must be melded immediately after the
player holding it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from
the stock. If he draws without announcing, even if he has not seen the
card drawn, he cannot meld anything until he wins another trick. The
melds 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
The five highest trumps, _=Sequence=_, 150
CLASS B.
Spade Queen and diamond Jack, _=Binocle=_, 40
Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, _=Double Binocle=_, 80
King and Queen of spades, and diamond Jack, _=Grand Binocle=_, 80
CLASS C.
Four Aces of different suits, 100
Four Kings of different suits, 80
Four Queens of different suits, 60
Four Jacks of different suits, 40
Eight Aces, 200
Eight Kings, 160
Eight Queens, 120
Eight Jacks, 80
The third meld in class B is not often played in America. The count
for it is the same, 80 points, whether the marriage in spades is the
trump suit or not. It will be observed that the court cards in class C
must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Bézique, any four
court cards may be declared. The following rules govern all classes of
declarations:--
The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick,
and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. When the
stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further
announcements can be made.
Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made
for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and
a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld. This
is a very important rule, and little understood. Suppose a player
holds four Kings and four Queens. The total count for the various
combinations these cards will make is 220: two plain-suit marriages, 20
each; royal marriage, 40; four Kings, 80; and four Queens, 60. As only
one combination can be scored for each trick won, and as the player
must lay down at least one fresh card for each successive meld, it is
evident that if he begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each
of them in turn, when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to
sacrifice the 20 for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four
Queens. He cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule
about the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four
Kings and four Queens are never worth 240, but only 220.
A player cannot meld cards which have already been used to form higher
combinations in the same class; but he may use cards melded in lower
combinations to form more valuable ones in the same class, provided he
adds at least one fresh card from his hand. The principle is that cards
may be _=added=_ to melds already shown, but they cannot be _=taken
away=_ to form other combinations in the same class. For example:
Royal marriage has been melded and scored. The player may _=add=_ to
this the Ace, Ten, and Jack of trumps to make the sequence, which is
a more valuable combination in the same class. But if the first meld
is the sequence, he cannot _=take away=_ from the sequence the card or
cards to form a marriage. A new Queen added to the King already in the
sequence will not make a marriage; because it is not the Queen that is
added to the sequence, but the King that is taken away.
The same rule applies to the binocles. If a player has scored double
binocle, he can not afterward take away two cards to meld a single
binocle; but if the single binocle has been melded and scored first, he
may add two more cards, and score the double binocle. He cannot score
the second single, and then claim the double, because some new card
must be added to form a new meld in the same class.
If four Kings are melded and scored, the other four may be added later;
but if the eight Kings are first melded, the score for the four Kings
is lost.