The objects of Solo Whist are--to make eight tricks out of the thirteen in
conjunction with a partner; {143} to make five or nine tricks out of your
own hand against the other three players in combination; or to play your
own hand so as to avoid taking a trick, however strenuously your three
adversaries may endeavour to force you to do so.
The cards are dealt round to the four players, _three cards at a time_,
until there are only four remaining. Then these are dealt singly, the last
card being turned up as the trump, and being the property of the dealer.
The eldest hand, _i.e._ the player on the dealer's left, has the first
call. He can _propose_, _i.e._ ask for a partner with the object of making
with that partner eight of the thirteen tricks; he can call a _solo_, which
is a declaration to make five of the thirteen tricks without having a
partner; he can declare _misere_, _i.e._ to lose all the thirteen
tricks--in this phase of the game all the four suits are equal, the trump
suit being annulled; or he can call _abondance_, when, making whatever suit
he likes trumps, and declaring the suit before the first card is led, he
endeavours to make nine tricks out of the thirteen. The call of _abondance_
is, however, superseded by any other player declaring to make _abondance_
in trumps, _i.e._ with the trump suit as it stands.
Further than this, he may call an _open misere_, or _misere ouverte_,
thereby undertaking not only to lose all the thirteen tricks, but to expose
his own cards on the table as soon as the first trick is played to and
turned. Or--the supreme call of all--he may announce his intention of
taking the whole thirteen tricks by saying, "_Abondance declaree_." In this
case as in the simple _abondance_, he names his own trump suit, and in the
case of this declaration, and this only, he leads, wherever he may chance
to sit, the {144} original lead to the first trick in all other cases
coming from the eldest hand.
There are thus six things the eldest hand may do after he has examined his
cards, and in showing what the eldest hand can do we have explained what
the various calls are. Recapitulating them in due order of value, they
are--proposition and acceptance when two players (wherever they sit),
undertake to make eight of the thirteen tricks against the other two in
partnership; a solo, where the caller to win must take five tricks at
least, the suit originally turned up being trumps; the misere, the
abondance, and the two exceptional calls, which have already been
sufficiently described. The eldest hand may not, however, have cards that
would justify his attempting either of the things specified. In that case
he says, "I pass;" and here it may be observed that, in the case of the
eldest hand, and to the eldest hand _only_ who has passed, there is
extended the privilege of accepting a proposition made by the second,
third, or fourth players, such proposition, of course, not having been
previously accepted or superseded by a higher call.
The second hand, whose turn it now is to declare, may accept a proposal if
one has been made, may propose if the eldest hand has passed, or may make
any better call than the eldest hand has made. Of course, an _inferior_
call is nugatory, _i.e._ a player cannot call a solo if a previous hand has
called a misere. The higher call always supersedes the lower one, but a
player, having once called, can, if he is over-called, increase his call up
to the highest limit--the abondance declaree.
The third hand can accept a proposition if one {145} has been made and has
not been accepted or superseded, can propose if no proposition or higher
call has been made, or can make any call superior to those previously
declared.
The fourth player--the dealer--may accept a proposition coming from any
quarter under the previously announced stipulations; or he may propose, in
which case only the eldest hand can accept; or he may make an independent
call, provided it is better than any preceding call.
The matter may be thus illustrated: suppose the eldest hand passes, the
second proposes, the third and fourth pass, and the eldest hand accepts,
then--calling them A, B, C, D, according to their order at table--A, B
would be partners against C, D, and would be obliged to make eight of the
thirteen tricks. They would occupy their original seats and play in their
proper order, B following A to the first trick, and the regular progression
from left to right being observed all through the hand. Again we will
suppose that A proposed, B passed, C called misere, and the fourth player
(D) called an abondance. The calls of A and C would be superseded, unless,
indeed, A should call an abondance in trumps, which would supersede the
abondance of D in a plain suit; or C should call a misere ouverte, which
would supersede the other calls; though D would still have the option, if
his hand were strong enough to justify it, of making the supreme call of
abondance declaree. We will assume that D's call of abondance was left
unchallenged, and in that case he would then, but not before, announce the
suit that he made trumps, and A, the player on his left, would lead out for
the first trick. A, B, and C playing together {146} in concert, but not, of
course, being allowed to see each other's cards, or in any way to acquaint
each other with the cards held, except by the legitimate and proper means
afforded by the play of the hand. D's object is now to make nine tricks
unaided, and the aim of his opponents is to score more than four tricks
between them. Sometimes, indeed, an abondance, like a solo or a
proposition, succeeds with two or three tricks to spare. These are called
"over tricks," and are paid for according to an agreed-upon scale. On the
other hand, any tricks short of the number required by the caller are known
as under tricks, and are paid for by the caller in the manner we will
shortly describe.
Before passing to other matters, it is necessary to draw attention to some
important facts to be impressed upon the memory: (1) that no player, after
having "passed," can make an independent call or a proposition; (2) that
only the eldest hand can accept a proposition after having once passed; (3)
that a superior call always annuls and supersedes a call of inferior value;
and (4) that a player having once made a call, may increase it to anything
up to the supreme call. It should be understood that a caller, in
increasing his declaration, can make any higher call he chooses. Thus,
should he propose, or even accept, and be overcalled by a solo, he would be
at liberty to at once call an abondance declaree, and "skip" all the
declarations of intermediate value.
In the case of all the players passing, the cards are thrown up, and there
is a fresh deal by the next player in rotation. It is sometimes arranged,
however, rather than throw up a hand that has been {147} dealt, to play
what is called a general misere. This is very simple in its form, but by no
means so easy to play as it appears to be. There are no trumps. The tricks
are led and followed to in the usual way, and the player who takes the last
or thirteenth trick pays an agreed stake, equal as a rule to the stake of a
solo, to each of his adversaries. Generally speaking, the big cards are
thrown away, but it is often necessary to keep one or more leading cards to
force through a suit in which you may be dangerous.