Vingt-Un derives its name from the fact that each player aims at making, by
the cards he holds, "twenty-one." Any number may play. The full pack of
fifty-two cards is used. After they have been duly shuffled and cut, the
dealer[44] distributes one card, face downwards, to each of the other
players (whom we will call the punters), and one to himself. The punters
look at their cards, and each places on, or beside his card, the coin (or
counters representing coin) he proposes to stake. A _maximum_ and _minimum_
stake are usually fixed beforehand, and a prudent player will make a
practice of always {158} staking, according to the nature of his hand,
either the _maximum_ or the _minimum_, never an intermediate amount. The
reason of this is obvious. With certain cards,[45] say, eight, nine, ten
(or a tenth card), or ace, the holder has the chances in his favour, as a
tenth card, of which there are sixteen, will give him a good hand. With any
other as his first card, the chances are against him, and he should
therefore risk as little as possible.
The dealer also looks at his card, and, if he thinks fit, says, "I double
you," or simply "Double," the effect of his so doing being that he will
receive or pay, as the case may be, _double_ the stakes offered by the
punters. In deciding whether to double or not, he has two points to
consider, viz. (1) the fact of himself holding an exceptionally good card,
and (2) the absence or rarity of high stakes among the punters, indicating
that their cards are not such as they feel safe in backing freely. It must,
however, be remembered that the dealer has the important advantage of
receiving from ties, also from all players who overdraw. These two points
make a considerable percentage in his favour. With an ace, tenth card,
nine, or eight, he should _always_ double; and the weighty authority of
"Cavendish" is in favour of his doubling with a seven, or even a lower
card. In these latter cases, however, we think the amounts of the stakes
should be taken into consideration, as affording some gauge of the probable
strength of the enemy.
All court cards at this game count ten; an "ace," eleven or one, at the
option of the holder; all other {159} cards according to the number of
their pips. Differences of suit are not recognized.
The object of the game is, as we have said, to make twenty-one, and this
may be made either by the conjunction of an ace and a court or other tenth
card, called a "natural," or by three or more cards, say a five, six and
ten; ace, five, seven, eight; or ace, seven, three.
The ace is, as will readily be perceived, the most valuable card; not
merely from the fact that there are sixteen cards out of the fifty-two that
will form a "natural" with it, but from the fact that (counting as eleven
or one at pleasure), it gives the holder a double chance of making a
winning number.
The stakes having been made, and the dealer having decided whether to
"double" or not (in the latter case, silence is a sufficient negative), he
deals a second round of cards, still face downwards.
Each player again looks at his cards. If those of the dealer form a
"natural," he turns them up, and receives from each player double the
amount of his stake, or, if he has "doubled," quadruple.[46] (The
proportionate increase in the latter case will henceforth be taken for
granted.) What cards the other players may hold is, in this case
immaterial, save in the event of some one of them holding a second
"natural," in which case the two cancel, neither paying nor receiving.
We will now take the case of the dealer finding that his two cards do _not_
constitute a "natural." {160} If there be any such among the punters, the
holder turns up his cards, and receives double the amount of his stake. To
all other players, beginning with the elder hand, the dealer is bound to
offer cards. This he does by the interrogative, "Do you stand?" or "Card?"
The elder hand looks at his cards. If he has sixteen points or more, he
will usually decide not to draw, conveying his decision by the word,
"Stand," or "Content."[47] If he has less than sixteen, which is generally
accepted as the average limit, he will probably draw a card, intimating his
desire to do so, by replying, "Card," "Please," or "Yes." He may now be in
three different positions. The card given him (as where, holding a six and
an eight, he has received a ten), may make his total more than twenty-one.
In such case he is "over," and at once hands his stake to the dealer, and
throws his cards, face downwards, in the middle of the table, where they
are collected by the player to the right of the dealer, known as the
_pone_.[48]
The dealer then asks the same question of the next player. We will suppose
that his hand consists of an ace and a two.
This, according to the value put upon the ace, will represent either three
or thirteen. Thirteen is not good enough to stand upon, and the player
accordingly draws a card. (This third card, and all following, are dealt
face upwards.) He receives, say, a second "two," making him fifteen. Not
{161} caring to stand on this amount, he draws another card, and receives a
"seven," making him twenty-two, or twelve. With twenty-two he would be
over, and with twelve he is worse off than when he started. Again he says,
"Card," and receives, say, a "three," making him still only fifteen. He
draws again, and this time receives, we will suppose, a "five," when he of
course "stands."
And so the game proceeds, all who overdraw paying and throwing up their
cards forthwith. Last comes the turn of the dealer himself. If his cards
are eighteen or upwards, he will "stand." At seventeen, he should usually
stand. At fifteen, or sixteen, it is an open question, to be decided partly
by the number of punters who may be still standing (and who, if numerous,
will probably have some low hands amongst them), partly by his knowledge of
the idiosyncrasies of his opponents, and partly by the nature of the cards
which have been "drawn" by the other players. Should he go "over," he pays
all, with the exception of those who, having overdrawn, have already paid
up their stakes. If otherwise, he pays or receives as the cards of the
punter, or his own, are nearest to the critical "twenty-one." Should the
cards of any punter amount to exactly twenty-one, he will receive double
the amount of his stake. In like manner, should the dealer's cards make
exactly twenty-one points, each of the punters pays double the amount of
his stake. In the event of "ties" (twenty-ones included), the punter pays
the dealer. It must, however, be remembered that a natural vingt-un always
takes precedence over one made by drawing. {162}
Should a punter, on receiving his second card, find that both are alike,
_e.g._ two aces, two kings, or two queens, he may, if he pleases, go on
both. In such case, he places the second card parallel to the first, at a
few inches' distance, and on it a separate stake, of the same amount as
staked on the first card. When it becomes his turn to draw, he says, "I go
on both," and the dealer then gives him another card, face downwards, on
each. The player then draws as he pleases to complete each hand, but must
finish the drawing on one, before beginning on the other. Should the third
card dealt be the same as the first two, _i.e._ a third ace, king, or
queen, he can go on all three in like manner. Likewise on a fourth, should
the first four be alike. Each hand pays or receives on its own merits, as
though belonging to an independent punter.
Where the two first cards are aces, it is a matter of course to go on both.
With a pair of tenth cards, it is more prudent to stand. Two nines, or two
eights (from the probability of a tenth card being dealt to one or both of
them) are favourable cards whereon to go double.
The occurrence of a natural in any hand but the dealer's usually terminates
the deal. By way of a sort of grace, however, it does not have this effect
in the first round of a deal. Sometimes, by agreement, the deal is made to
consist of a given number of rounds; say, till all the pack is exhausted,
or till two packs are exhausted, the two being shuffled together. Where the
first mentioned rule prevails, the pone collects the cards thrown up at the
end of each hand, and shuffles them in readiness for the {163} use of the
dealer, but does not hand them to him till the first supply is exhausted.
Should the dealer have gone right through the pack without the occurrence
of a natural, he throws the last card, face upwards, on the table, and,
receiving the remade cards from the pone, gives them a final shuffle,
offers them to be cut, and proceeds as before.
In some circles the deal does not pass in rotation, but the holder of a
natural (other than in the first round of a deal) becomes thereby entitled
to the next deal. The practice, however, is a bad one, for the deal being
an advantage, it is but fair that each should enjoy such advantage in turn.
There is no authoritative Code of Laws for Vingt-Un. A Code which covers,
we believe, all points as to which any difficulty is likely to arise will
be found in _The Book of Card and Table Games_. A slightly different Code,
which has received the approval of the Editors of the _Field_ and _Bell's
Life_, will be found in _Round Games at Cards_, by "Cavendish" (De la Rue
and Co.).