The hands being thus made up, the elder hand proceeds to declare or "call"
the scoring {106} combinations he may hold, in the following manner. There
are three things in the hand that may be scored, namely (1) the _point_;
(2) the _sequence_; (3) the _quatorze_ or _trio_.
(1) The _point_ is scored by the party who has the most cards of one suit.
The elder hand states how many he has. If the dealer has not so many, he
says "Good," and the elder hand scores one for each card; if the dealer has
more, he says "Not good," and the elder hand, scoring nothing, passes on to
the next item. If the dealer happens to have the same number, he says
"Equal," and then the elder hand must count and declare the number of the
pips--the ace counting eleven, the court cards ten each, and the others
what they are. The highest number of pips makes the cards "good," and
invalidates those of the other party. If the number of pips are equal,
neither scores.
(2) The second item is scored by the party who has the best _sequence_,
that is, the greatest number of consecutive cards, not less than three, of
the same suit, or, if an equal number, those of the highest rank. Thus,
ten, nine, eight, seven are better than ace, king, queen; but ace, king,
queen are better than king, queen, knave; and so on. A sequence of three
cards, no matter what, counts three; of four cards, four; beyond this ten
are added, so that a sequence of five cards counts fifteen; of six cards,
sixteen; and so on. The elder hand declares his best sequence. If the
dealer has a better, he says "Not good"; if only inferior ones, he says
"Good." In the latter case the holder scores not only for the _best_
sequence, but for every other he holds in his hand; all the opposite party
may hold being {107} invalidated. If the best sequences are equal, neither
scores.
(3) The third item is called the _quatorze_, from the fact that four aces,
four kings, four queens, four knaves, or four tens in one hand, if "good,"
score fourteen. Three of either kind (called a _trio_) score three. In
deciding which party is to score, the higher cards are better than the
lower, but any four like cards take precedence of the best three. Thus four
tens are better than three aces; but three aces are better than three
kings, and so on. The elder hand names his best quatorze or trio, to which
the dealer says "Good" or "Not good," as the case may be; and, as with the
sequence, the one who has the best scores all others he may hold, while
those of the opponent are all destroyed.
The point and sequence, when scored by either party, must be shown to the
other, if asked for.