Here we may first note the call of "Wellington," which is a superior call
to Napoleon, inasmuch as it supersedes the latter. As in the Nap call, the
player undertakes to make the whole five tricks, but at double the Nap
stakes. Thus, if the caller of Nap receives 1s. or pays 6d., on a
Wellington he would receive 2s., or pay 1s. Wellington can only be called
over Napoleon, that is, it cannot be declared unless "Nap" is declared
before it.
Another innovation is an adaptation from Solo Whist, and is called
"Misery." It is on the principle of the Misere, when, there being no
trumps, the caller has to lose the whole five tricks, while his opponents,
of course, endeavour to force him to take a trick. At some tables trumps,
determined in the usual way by the initial lead, are recognised; but this
feature is quite foreign to the original Misere. If trumps are recognised
the caller should invariably lead a single suit--_i.e._ a suit consisting
of one card only. This declaration ranks between the calls of _three_ and
_four_, and is paid for in the same way as a call of three is paid for;
that is, at our stakes, to win would be to receive 3d. from each of the
other players, and to lose would be to pay 3d. to each.
"Sir Garnet" consists of an excess hand of five cards, dealt in the usual
way and left on the table. {97} Until this extra hand is appropriated, each
player, when it is his turn to call, has the privilege of taking it up and
combining it with his own hand. From the ten cards thus in his possession
he must reject five, which he throws away face downwards, and on the
remaining five he is bound to declare "Nap." The stakes are the same as on
an ordinary Nap call.
In "Peep Nap" one extra card only is dealt, face downwards on the table,
and each player, on his turn to call, may at his option have a private peep
at the card by paying one penny--or higher, according to the stakes--into
the pool. When all the players have called, the superior declaring hand has
the privilege, if he has "peeped," of exchanging the table card for one of
his own. Nobody but the superior caller can exchange; nor, even if a player
calls Nap, can he appropriate the peep card until the following hands have
had the option of seeing it as above. In the event of a Nap call, it is as
a rule to the advantage of the following players to peep also, as, if the
caller uses the peep card, they have thereby a guide as to what suit to
save.
"Purchase" or "Ecarte" Nap, however, is unquestionably the most interesting
form of Napoleon. After the dealer has dealt, and before anybody starts
calling, the dealer goes round again in turn, and serves out fresh cards
from the pack in exchange for as many cards as the players may wish to
throw away from their original hands. For every fresh card so exchanged the
player has to pay one penny (or more, according to the stakes) into the
pool. He must not exchange cards more than once in {98} each round, but he
can then purchase any quantity up to five. The cards thrown away are not
shown, nor used again till the next deal. The dealer must sell to each
player in turn, and to himself last, after which the calls start from his
left in the usual way. In view of the extra number of cards brought into
the game, Purchase Nap should be confined to a table of not more than four
players, and for the same reason the calls should be made on much stronger
hands than at ordinary Nap.