A declaration once made stands, and cannot be recalled.
A player at Purchase Nap, having once bought fresh cards or refused to buy,
cannot subsequently amend his decision.
Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, the dealer must, in default
of any higher call, make one trick, or pay 1d. each to the other players.
Any one who has trumped a suit, or renounced upon a suit before all the
five tricks have been played out, and so made or defeated a declaration,
must immediately show his remaining cards to prove that he has not revoked.
So stringent is this rule, that if he should refuse to show them, he is
held to have revoked, and a revoke entails the following penalties:--
On the revoke being discovered, the cards must be taken up and replayed
properly--that is to say, players must follow suit, if they can; and always
remember that a revoke is just as much a revoke if you throw away a card of
another suit, holding a card of the suit led, as if you trumped under the
same circumstances.
The hand having been replayed, the offender pays the stakes for himself and
every one of the other players to the caller, if the call succeeds. If the
call fails, he pays the stakes to every other player, except the caller.
A revoke proved against the caller himself entails the immediate penalty of
the loss of the stakes; that is to say, if a man calls three and revokes,
it matters not how many tricks he makes, he must pay (at penny Nap) 3d. to
every one of his opponents.
If a card is exposed in the pack or in dealing, or {101} if there is a
mis-deal, or if the pack is shown to be faulty, or if the cards are dealt
without being cut, there should be a fresh deal by the same player.
Any player can demand a fresh deal if any one of these faults is committed,
but the demand must be made before the hands are looked at; otherwise the
deal must stand.
After all the calls have been declared, should a player discover that he
has too few or too many cards the game must be played out, and if the
number in the superior caller's hand be correct he takes the stakes, if he
succeeds in making his call good, but neither receives nor pays if he
fails. Should the caller, however, hold a wrong number in his hand, he
neither receives nor pays if he wins, but pays if he fails. When a Nap is
declared, the game must be played out subject to the above rules, whether
the other players have their correct number or not; but, failing a Nap
call, the cards must be redealt should any irregularity be discovered
before all the players have declared.
There is one rule at Napoleon that has fallen into disuse, and that relates
to playing out of turn. It is so common for persons to play valueless or
losing cards out of turn without remark, that many people forget that the
fortunes of a hand may often be influenced by the premature exposure of the
winning card or a trump. A person who, out of his turn, plays a card that
obviously influences the game should be subjected to the same penalty as if
he had revoked. {102}