if any player chooses to risk holding his hand until he can lay it
all down at once, or lay down all but the one which he is allowed to
discard, he wins double from each of the others. This prompts a player
with a good hand to hold it up for a round or two on the chance of
getting down a splash, but the player who sees there is no chance for
him should get rid of as many cards as he can before the splash comes,
and in many cases some player will get rid of all his cards in two or
three rounds, and win without a splash.
POKER RUM.
_=CARDS.=_ In this variety of the game, the A K Q J are worth ten
points each, the ace eleven, and the remaining cards their face value.
The ace may be used as the top of a sequence Q K A, or the bottom of A
2 3, but not as part of a round-the-corner, K A 2.
_=DEALING.=_ Ten cards are always given to each player, no matter how
many are in the game. If there are more than three at the table, the
double pack must be used, so as to leave cards enough for the stock.
_=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to draw cards from the
stock or discard pile until the pip value of the unmatched cards in his
hand amounts to 15 or less. Sequences may run to any length, and four,
five, or six of a kind is in order. The cards in hand that do not fit
any combination of three or more are deadwood, and the object is to
reduce this deadwood to less than fifteen.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ Each player in turn to the left of the dealer
draws a card from the stock or the discard pile and discards one in
its place, face up. No player is allowed to lay down anything until he
can show his whole hand, and then only when his deadwood is fifteen or
less, and he is not obliged to lay down even then if he prefers to wait
until he can reduce his deadwood still further.
_=THE SHOW-DOWN.=_ As soon as any player can show down his hand, the
game is at an end. He lays out his combinations and pushes them aside.
Then he announces the pip value of his deadwood, after discarding a
card in place of the one drawn. Suppose he draws the seven of hearts,
and lays down the 6 7 8 9 of that suit; J Q K of clubs; discards the
king of spades and leaves two deuces and a five for his deadwood. That
is nine points.
Each of the other players in turn to the left then lays down his hand
and pushes aside all combinations held. If the pip value of his
deadwood is more than that of the player calling for the show-down, he
pays the difference. If any player has less than the caller, then he is
the winner, and each one at the table pays him, the caller paying him
double as a penalty. In case of ties for low, they divide the losses of
the others.
POKER GIN.
This is a variety of poker rum in which the deadwood must not exceed
ten points and each player is allowed not only to put aside his own
combinations after the call for a show-down comes, but may add any of
his odd cards to the combinations laid out by the one who calls for a
show-down.
Suppose that in the example given for poker rum, the caller showing 6 7
8 9 of hearts, J Q K of clubs, and nine in his deadwood, another player
has in his ten cards the 7 8 9 of diamonds; 6 7 8 of spades, two fours
and the tens of clubs and hearts.
When the show-down is called for, he has twenty-eight points in his
deadwood; but by adding his club ten to the caller’s sequence of J Q K,
and the heart ten to the caller’s 6 7 8 9 in that suit, he reduces his
deadwood to eight points, the pair of fours, and beats the caller out
by a point.
_=PENALTIES.=_ If any player turns out to have less in his deadwood
than the caller, as in the example just given, the caller forfeits
ten points to him, in addition to having to pay for the difference.
Should a player call for a show-down when he has more than ten in his
deadwood, he loses five points to each of the others at the table and
takes up his cards again.
DOUBLE-PACK RUM.
_=CARDS.=_ This game is always played with two full packs of fifty-two
cards each and two jokers, all shuffled together and used as one. The
ace may be high or low in sequences.
_=DEALING.=_ Ten cards are given to each player, one at a time, and the
next card is turned up and laid beside the stock to start the discard
pile.
_=LAYING OUT.=_ Sequences in suit may run to any length, and any number
of cards or combinations may be laid out at one time. Five, six or
seven of a kind may be shown, and four of a kind may be of any suits.
There is no obligation to lay out anything, but the player who lays out
can do so only in his proper turn, after drawing a card. He may add
as many cards as he pleases to any combinations already on the table,
either of his own or other players.
_=THE JOKERS.=_ These two cards have peculiar privileges. A joker may
be called anything the holder pleases. If it is used as the interior of
a sequence, such as _6_ joker 8 of hearts, it must remain there, but
if it is placed at the end of a sequence, any player has the right to
remove it to the other end, placing it crossways, to show that it has
been moved, provided he can put a card in its place, or add one to the
sequence below the joker. A joker once moved cannot be moved again.
Suppose some player has laid out the 6 7 joker of clubs. The joker
stands for the 8 of clubs. Another player holding the actual 8 of clubs
could move the joker to the position of the 5 and add his 8. Or if he
had the 4 of clubs, he could move the joker to represent the 5 and add
his 4 to the sequence, or he might add both 8 and 4 if he held those
cards.
On account of the privilege of laying out as many cards at a time as
the player pleases, and adding as many as he can to other combinations,
this is a much livelier game than the ordinary single-pack rum. The
settling is the same, the winner getting the pip value of each player’s
hand. In case no one has all his cards down before the stock is
exhausted, which is very unusual, however, the discards are turned face
down and drawn from again.
CANFIELD.
This form of solitaire is often confused with Klondike, but there is a
marked difference both in the layout and the play.
The full pack of fifty-two cards is used. After it has been thoroughly
shuffled and properly cut, thirteen cards are counted off, face down,
and placed at the player’s left, face up. This is the stock. The
fourteenth card is then turned face up and is the foundation for that
deal. Let us suppose it is a seven. It is placed by itself, furthest
from the player, waiting for the three other sevens to appear to form
three other foundations, each in a different suit.
Four cards are then dealt off from left to right, face up, for the
layout. Holding the remaining thirty-four cards in the left hand, face
down, the player counts off three at a time and turns them face up on
the table, but so that the top card only is seen. If this card can be
used, the card under it is available. If not, the three are left on the
table and three more turned up in the same way.
Let us suppose this is the appearance of the table:
[Illustration:
The Foundation:-- 🂷
The Stock:-- 🃔
The Layout:-- 🃖 🃁 🂢 🂹
The top card of the three:-- 🃅
]
The player can make several changes at once. The five of diamonds will
go on the club six, the club four on the five, the ace of diamonds on
the deuce of spades, leaving a space which must be filled from the top
of the stock, using the card that was under the four of clubs. Another
card is exposed and available under the five of diamonds.
Cards built on the foundations must be in the same suit, and build
upward, nothing but eights being available on the sevens. On the
layout, sequences are built down, and must change colour each time.
Any time that there is a space in the four columns of the layout, the
top card of the stock may be used to fill the space, but the stock
itself must never be added to. If there are only two cards in any of
the four columns of the layout at any time, and the top one can be used
on another pile, it may be taken for that purpose. Suppose the nine of
hearts were built on down to a black six, the five of diamonds could be
removed to that pile to release the six of clubs.
After running through the entire pack, three cards at a time, the
cards that have not been used in the process, and which are lying on
the table face up, are taken up again and turned face down, without
shuffling them, and run through again, three at a time. As long as any
card can be used it must alter the run of the cards that will turn up
in threes after that, and the player may continue to go through the
pack in this way until he is stopped by being unable to use any card
that shows at the top of the three he turns up.
The betting is against the player getting eleven cards in his
foundation piles. If the pack is purchased for $52, he gets $5 for
every card in his foundations. It is almost impossible to get out the
whole fifty-two for $260, but it is done occasionally.
I DOUBT IT.
This is a good round game, any number taking part. The full pack of
fifty-two cards is dealt round, one card at a time as far as it will
go equally, the remainder being left in the centre of the table, face
down. Any one can deal.
The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by taking from
his hand any three cards he pleases and laying them on the table in
front of him face down. He then announces, “These are three jacks,” or
anything he likes to call them, there being no obligation to tell the
truth about it, so the cards might actually be a six four and a deuce.
Each player in turn to the left can doubt the statement that the cards
are three jacks, or he can pass. If any player in his proper turn
says, “I doubt it,” the three cards are at once turned face up. If the
statement is not correct, the three cards are at once taken back into
the player’s hand, together with all the cards lying face down in the
centre of the table at the time. Should the statement turn out to be
true, the player who doubted it must take the three jacks and all the
cards on the table.
That settled, the next player to the left lays out three cards and
announces that they are three of a kind of something or other, each
player to the left passing or doubting it. If no one questions the
correctness of a statement, no explanation is given by the player who
laid out the cards. He simply pushes them to the centre of the table
with the others, face down. If he shows them, or any one of them, as
some may do in a spirit of bravado, he must take all three back into
his hand and all on the table with them. The object of doubting is
simply to prevent a player from getting rid of three cards, but toward
the end of the game one must be careful, as triplets are gradually
gathered for that stage.
If any player has less than three cards in his hand when it comes to
his turn to lay down, he must draw from the table, face down, enough to
make three. He may look at what he draws before announcing. If there
are no cards on the table, he must pass his turn.
The first to get rid of all his cards gets a chip from each of the
others for each card they hold.
JASS.
This is popularly supposed to be the progenitor of the American game of
pinochle, and is still very popular in Switzerland.
_=CARDS.=_ Jass is played with the thirty-six card pack, the 5 4 3 2 of
each suit being thrown out. The cards rank from the A K Q down to the
6, both in cutting and in play. The cards have a pip value in scoring,
aces 11, tens 10, kings 4, queens 3 and jacks 2. In the trump suit, the
jack is the highest card, and is worth 20 points instead of 2. The nine
of trumps comes next, being worth 14 points, and is called “Nell.” The
remaining trumps rank as in plain suits.
The jack of trumps has the special privilege of being allowed to
renege, even when the holder of the jack can follow suit.
_=MARKERS.=_ The score is usually kept on a slate.
_=PLAYERS.=_ Any number from two to four can take part, but each is
always for himself. The rules for two-hand differ slightly from those
for three or four. (See Two-hand Jass.)
_=CUTTING.=_ The first deal is cut for, high wins. The cards rank as in
plain suit, and ties cut again, to decide the tie.
_=DEALING.=_ When the pack is cut, at least four cards must be left
in each packet. (In Switzerland they cut to the left and deal to the
right; but in America this is not necessary.) The cards are dealt three
at a time for three rounds, so that each player receives nine cards.
When four play, the last card must be turned up for the trump. When
three play, the twenty-eighth card is the trump.
_=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The play is to win tricks with cards of pip
value in them, especially aces and tens, called game points, and also
to meld certain combinations of cards that are found in the player’s
hand.
When three play, the dealer may exchange his nine cards for the nine
that are left on the table, but he must surrender the turned up trump
among those nine cards to any player that holds the six. If the dealer
does not wish to exchange, each player in turn to the left may do so.
In making the exchange, no card of the nine originally dealt to the
player may be kept, not even the six of trumps.
The pip value of the cards won in tricks count for the player at the
end of the hand. The following values are for the melds:
Four jacks are worth 200
Four aces, kings, queens, or tens 100
Five cards of any suit in sequence 100
Four cards of any suit in sequence 50
Three cards of any suit in sequence 20
King and queen of trumps 20
The melds are made after the player has played his card to the first
trick, whether he wins that trick or not, but the melds are not
credited to him on the slate unless he wins at least one trick during
the play of the hand.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ When four play it is sometimes permissible for
one to pass out, each in turn to the left having the right. The first
thing is for the holder of the six of trumps to exchange it for the
turned-up trump. The player to the left of the dealer then leads any
card he pleases, and each player in turn must follow suit and must head
the trick if he can; by trumping if he has none of the suit led. As
soon as a card is played, the player makes his meld, announcing its pip
value. The winner of the last trick scores five points for it.
_=SCORING.=_ Sometimes 1,000 points is a game, as in pinochle, and
the first player to call out wins if he is correct; if not he loses.
Sometimes in three or four-hand, it is agreed to play some number of
deals divisible by four, usually 12 or 16. These are indicated by cross
marks on the slate, each arm representing a deal. The two players with
the higher scores at the end of the hand each rub off a mark and the
one who is first to rub off all his marks is the winner, or the last to
wipe off is stuck, according to agreement. Any one failing to get as
many as 21 points in meld and play is set back a mark.
TWO-HAND JASS.
When only two play, the game closely resembles American pinochle,
the winner of each trick drawing a card from the top of the stock,
the loser drawing the next one. All melds are made immediately after
winning a trick and before drawing from the stock, only one meld at
a time being allowed. It is not necessary to follow suit to anything
until the stock is exhausted, after which all melds cease and the
second player to each trick must win it if he can, but the jack of
trumps still has the privilege of renouncing if a plain suit is led.
PATIENCE POKER
As its name implies, this is a form of solitaire, but it may be managed
so as to provide a pleasing competition for any number of players. Both
forms of the game will be described, the solitaire first.
_=CARDS.=_ The full pack of fifty-two cards is shuffled and cut.
Keeping it face down in the left hand, the top card is turned up and
laid upon the table. The next card is turned up and laid in such a
position that it touches the first one, either on one of its four
edges, or one of its four corners. The third card must touch one or
other of the two already on the table in the same manner, and so on
until twenty-five cards have been drawn and placed, but the twenty-five
must be so arranged as to form a square of five cards each way.
As no card can be moved from its original position, as soon as there
are cards enough in either direction, up and down, or from left to
right, to make a row of five, no more cards can be laid beyond that
point, as it would transgress the limits of the square.
_=OBJECT OF THE GAME.=_ The aim of the player is to place each card as
it comes from the top of the pack in the most advantageous position for
combining with other cards, either already there or hoped for, so that
each row of five cards, up and down, or right to left, shall be a poker
hand of some value.
_=VALUE OF THE HANDS.=_ The various hands possible in poker are given
a counting value, supposed to be in proportion to the difficulty of
getting them. There are three systems of counting in common use, the
English differing slightly from the American, both in value and in
rank. The various scoring values are here given:
One pair 2 1 1
Two pairs 5 2 3
Triplets 10 7 6
Straights 15 9 12
Flushes 20 5 5
Full hands 25 12 10
Four of a kind 50 20 16
Straight flush 75 30 30
Royal flush 100 50 30
The first column given is the American system of counting by fives,
after one pair, retaining the regular poker rank of the hands. The
second column is the American system that puts the straight next to the
full hand, and the flush between two pairs and a triplet. The third
column is the English system, which ranks the straight above the full
hand.
As no person has as yet come forward with any figures to show which
combination is easier to get in patience poker, nor the proportion of
one hand to the other, these figures are all guess work; and players
may adopt any values they please.
As soon as the tableau is complete, with five rows of five cards each,
the value of each of the ten hands the tableau contains is found and
the total put down. The object of the solitaire player usually is to
see how many tableaus he needs to reach a grand total of 500 points.
_=SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY.=_ Experience has shown that it pays to
keep certain classes of hand in one section, either left to right or up
and down. Many players put all the flushes in the vertical columns, and
build the pairs, triplets and fours from right to left. Straights are
uncertain quantities unless they are flush also and are seldom played
for.
Each card has a double value, and it may help to make up two hands of
high scoring power, if well placed. The highest possible point value
for a tableau would probably be five hands of four of a kind and five
straight flushes, four of which would be royal, like this:
[Illustration:
🂱 🃑 🃁 🂡 🃉
🂾 🃞 🃎 🂮 🃈
🂽 🃝 🃍 🂭 🃇
🂻 🃛 🃋 🂫 🃆
🂺 🃚 🃊 🂪 🃅
]
The odds against the cards coming from the stock in such order as to
make a tableau like this possible would be enormous, but there are
many sets of twenty-five cards that can be rearranged so as to make a
much higher count than that actually arrived at in the solitaire. The
player’s skill consists in anticipating the possibilities that certain
cards will be drawn and in so arranging his table that if the hoped for
card comes out, the most advantageous place will be found open for it.
_=TWO OR MORE PLAYERS.=_ Any number can play this game, the only
limitation being the number of packs available and space enough on the
table for each one to lay out his own tableau. One player is selected
as the “caller” and he shuffles his pack and presents it to be cut.
In the meantime each of the others sorts his individual pack into
sequence and suit, so as to be able to pick out any named card without
unnecessary delay.
_=METHOD OF PLAYING.=_ The caller starts by taking off his top card and
placing it face up on the table, at the same time announcing aloud its
suit and rank, as “Seven of clubs.” This makes it unnecessary for the
others to watch the cards the caller draws.
Each player picks out his seven of clubs and places it on the table in
front of him, face up, as a starter for his tableau. Suppose the next
card called is the ten of diamonds. As each player can place that card
in any one of eight different positions with regard to the seven of
clubs, and the next card after that in any one of a dozen positions, it
must be evident that although the twenty-five cards called will be the
same for every tableau, the resulting poker combinations may be vastly
different.
_=SCORING.=_ Each player is credited with the value of his tableau, and
then the duty of being caller passes to the left. The game is at an end
when an agreed number of deals have been played, or at the expiration
of a specified time, the highest total score being the winner.
SOLITAIRE CRIBBAGE.
This game may be played by one person or by several, two to four making
an interesting game, either as partners or each for himself.
The individual player takes a full pack of fifty-two cards, shuffles
and cuts, and deals off three for himself, two for his crib, and then
three more for himself. Taking up the six, he sorts them and discards
for the crib, just as if the two cards already there had been laid off
by an opponent. The pack is then cut for the starter.
There is no play, and the hand is turned up and counted, scoring it
on a regular cribbage board. The crib is then counted and scored.
Leaving the starter still face up on the top of the pack, the eight
cards in hand and crib are thrown aside. For the next deal, the player
gives himself three cards from the top of the pack, one of which was
the starter on the last deal, then two for the crib and three more
for himself, discarding for the crib, cutting a starter, counting and
scoring hand and crib as before.
This is continued until only four cards are left, one of them being the
starter for the last deal. Turn up these four cards and count them as a
hand.
The game is usually 91 points, and the object of the solitaire player
is to see if he can reach the game hole without going through the pack
more than once. If he does not reach with six hands and cribs, each
with a starter, and one hand of four cards without a starter, he has
failed to get the solitaire.
_=WHEN TWO OR MORE PLAY.=_ The object is now to see which player or
partnership can get the greatest number of points in going through the
pack once, each playing his own solitaire with his individual pack, but
keeping level with his opponents in the matter of hands and deals.
It is usual for each to cut the starter for the other and then to
verify the count of the other’s hands and cribs. If one reaches 91
before the other gets round past 60, it is reckoned as a double game.
If neither side reaches 91 before the pack runs out, the player that
comes nearer to it wins. When two play against two as partners, each
takes an adversary and plays against him individually, the scores being
balanced at the end by adding those of the partners together.