There are two distinct methods of playing this game, so unlike as to lead
to the conclusion that at some time or other two separate games must have
been confused by being called under the same name, and have since been so
associated with each other. There is hardly one point in common between
the two methods in vogue; and while one is entirely different from anything
yet described in the present volume, the other is, to a great extent,
played on the lines of Pope Joan, Spin, and Newmarket, and may be regarded
as an offshoot of those games--rather than as an independent one--which has
got mixed with the one known under the title of Snip-Snap-Snorum, and has
come to be recognised under that name. As preference in such a case should
be given to the independent game, we shall first describe that, and
afterwards devote attention to the other system. In doing so we must
excuse ourselves for the manifest inconsistency of associating two distinct
games under the one title, on the ground of custom and practice among
different individuals, and in order to avoid confusion as far as possible,
we have re-named the game we shall describe last, as Jig, that being one of
the terms used in the game, and sufficiently distinctive for every purpose.
Snip-Snap-Snorum is a round game, available for any number, of players from
two to ten, when the full pack of fifty-two cards is played with, or for
any number up to six [91] when the smaller pack of thirty-two is used.
Probably the best number of players is five or six in the former case, and
three or four in the latter; the greatest objection to a large number of
players being that those first out have to wait until the others have
exhausted their stakes, which may not occur until several more rounds have
been completed.
At the commencement of the game each player has to be provided with five
coins or counters, of equal value, and the game is decided when all but one
of the players has exhausted those five stakes. The player who holds out
the longest becomes the winner, and secures the whole of the pool, which is
contributed to during the progress of the game as described later on.
The deal is decided in the ordinary way, the player to whom the first knave
is turned up having the first right to deal the cards. He shuffles the
pack, has it cut, and then distributes five cards to each player, one at a
time, and commencing with the one on his left-hand side. There is no
turn-up card needed; when all have received their five cards the hands are
looked at, and the game begins. The object of the players is to play cards
of equal value to those of their right-hand adversaries, and if they do so
the player has to pay a penalty into the pool; one stake for Snip, which is
the first pairing of a card; two stakes for Snap, the second pairing of the
same card; and three stakes for Snorum, the third pairing. For instance,
suppose there are five players, _A_, _B_, _C_, _D_, and _E_. _A_ is the
dealer, and, the cards having been dealt, _B_ has to lead; he plays a nine,
and calls it when he places it on the table face upwards in front of him;
_C_ likewise has a nine, which he must play by also placing it face upwards
on the table in front of him, and says "Snip," upon which _B_ has to pay a
stake into the pool, his card having been paired _D_ also has [92] a nine,
which he plays in similar manner, and says "Snap," upon which _C_ has to
pay two stakes into the pool, his card having been also paired; _E_ then
has to follow on, and also having a nine in hand, he must play it, and says
"Snorum," which imposes a penalty of three stakes upon _D_. This having
disposed of the four nines in the pack, _A_, whose turn it now is to play,
has to start upon a new card, and he has the option of playing whichever of
the five in his hand he chooses.
The penalties of Snip-Snap-Snorum do not remain in force if any other card
intervenes between the pairs, so that it is only the player next in order
of play who has the opportunity of securing a stack& for the pool from any
of the others. Taking the illustration given above, we will suppose that
_D_ had no nine, and was accordingly compelled to play, say, a ten. _B_
would have had to pay the penalty for Snip, as before; but _C_ could have
nothing to pay, his card not having been paired. Then suppose _E_, in his
turn, played a nine, and A also played one, that would only "snip" _E's_
nine, although the other two nines had just been played; _E_ would have
to pay one stake to the pool.
As soon as the five cards dealt to each player are exhausted, the next
in order becomes the dealer, and distributes five cards to each player,
as before, and the game is conducted round and round on exactly similar
lines until one of the party has lost the last of his five stakes.
He is then out of the game, and if he has any cards left he must add them,
face downwards and unexposed, to the top of the undealt portion of the
pack. The other players proceed with the game, and as each loses his last
stake he is left out, and no fresh cards are dealt him. This goes on until
all but one have lost their stakes, when, as already described, the game is
finished, and the last in takes the pool.
[93]
If a new game is started on, the first out in the previous game becomes
the new dealer.
The lead is a disadvantage in this game, as, after a few cards have been
played, it is often possible to know that certain cards remaining in hand
are absolutely safe, or nearly so. For instance, suppose two knaves have
been played during the first round or two, and that a third knave is in a
player's hand, that card may be played as an almost safe one, as there is
only one other that can pair with it, and the odds of the fourth knave
being in the next player's hand are very remote. For the same reason a
player having two of a kind in his own hand should always play one of them
when his turn comes round, provided, of course, he is not able to pair with
the player immediately preceding him.
If a player has a card similar to that played immediately before him,
he must play it. In the event of his failing to do so, he has to pay
a double penalty to the pool, while the player who would have been
penalized has to contribute just as though the right card had been played.
These penalties must be enforced before the cards are cut
for the next deal.