Round Games with Cards Part 6

_Go Better_.--See _Raise_.

_Go in_.--To stake a sum equal to double the ante and any straddles or raises which may have been added to it, in order to qualify for drawing and playing for the pool.

_Hand_.--The five cards held by any player.

_Jack-pot_.--The game which follows an unopened game, _i.e._ which follows a game in which every player had rejected his cards (see p. 40).

_Joker_.--An extra card, to which any value may be a.s.signed by the player holding it (see p. 41).

_Kitty_.--A portion of the stakes set aside in every game, either to defray the expenses of the table, or as a reward for some specially good hand.

_Limit_.--The maximum amount by which stakes may be [43] increased at one time. The limit, which has a tendency to prevent wild and unreasonable betting, is generally fixed before play begins.

_Make Good_.--To make good is really the same as to call, but a player may make good his previous bet, _i.e._ may make it equal to that of the previous player, and may afterwards raise.

_No_. 1.--The player to the left of ante--the next player is No. 2, and so on round to the dealer.

_Pa.s.s_.--To give up the game. To throw the cards, face downwards, on the table, and cease playing until the next deal. The player who pa.s.ses loses any sum he may have staked.

_Pat_.--A term used in reference to the hand originally dealt to each player in a game. To play pat is to bet on the hand originally dealt, without drawing. A pat hand is a hand of high value, which has been dealt to the player, a hand which he cannot hope to improve by drawing.

_Player_.--This is not strictly a technical term, but the tyro should note that the persons seated at the table are not necessarily all players.

One or more may retire from the game, and on doing so forfeit all their interest, and cease to be players in that game. There are seldom more than two or three players remaining at the end of a game.

_Pool_.--The whole of the stakes in a game.

_Pot_.--The pool.

_Raise_.--To raise the preceding player is to stake a sum in excess of that staked by him.

_Rise_.--See _Limit_.

_Say_.--The option, which comes to each player in turn, of playing, and therefore betting, or of pa.s.sing, _i.e._ throwing down his cards and resigning the game.

_See_.--To see or call your opponent is to make your [44] stake equal to his. If the stake be not then raised by succeeding players, every hand must be exposed (see p. 37).

_Show_.--The exposure of a hand or hands at the end of the game.

_Skip Straight or Skip Sequence_.--A sequence of alternate cards--two, four, six, eight, ten, for instance. This hand is sometimes introduced, and takes precedence of _triplets_. It is beaten by an ordinary sequence.

_Straddle_.--To raise the ante. To double the initial stake made by ante in every game before the cards are dealt. Straddling the ante gives the straddler (or the last straddler, if there be more than one) the advantage of the last say before the draw.

_Straight_.--A sequence, a series of five cards in regular order (see p. 38).

_THE STAKES_.

As before stated, the ante and limit should be fixed before play begins, and once fixed should not be altered in any circ.u.mstances. Players who have lost sometimes apply to have the limit raised. This should be refused.

The ante should be a small sum, the smaller the better. It must not exceed half the limit, and for general play a much lower proportion is desirable.

If the limit be one s.h.i.+lling, the ante may be fixed at one penny.

Counters are desirable for play in all cases; they are in every way more convenient, and avoid the constant trouble of giving change.

They should be circular in form, and all of one size, but of three values, represented by different colours:--

1, say Red; the value of ante.

2, say White; treble the value of ante.

3, say Blue; the value of the limit. [45]

The counters should be sold to each player before the game begins, and be bought back at the same rate after play.

_HINTS TO PLAYERS_.

A few words of advice to the tyro may not, in conclusion, be out of place.

They will not make him into a good player--practice and experience alone can do that,--but they may prevent him paying for his experience more than is necessary:--

Do not play with folk you do not know.

Never play with a man you cannot implicitly trust. The game needs all your attention, and it becomes a toil instead of a pleasure if you have to be on the watch for unfair play.

Never play for a stake you are not prepared to lose.

Fix a limit to your losses and cease play at once when they reach it.

The temptation to continue is greater when losing than when winning.

Fix a time to cease play--and keep to it.

Perfect self-control is, it is needless to say, essential to successful play.

The man whose losses make him ill-tempered, must not play at all.

He certainly cannot win, since loss of temper involves loss of judgment.

A game like Poker, which it must be confessed is not calculated to rouse the finer feelings of humanity, is only tolerable when played under the severest self-imposed restraint.

Avoid playing, moreover, with an opponent who cannot keep his temper.

You will beat him, no doubt, but anger is infectious, and, unless you are blessed with extraordinary self-command, the risk of catching it is too great.

Neither voice, manner, nor features should give the [46] slightest clue to your hand. One or other will do so at first inevitably, and all will need a constant effort to control. The perfect Poker player sits like an automaton, and his face is a mask.

Study your opponents, their features and manner, in success and failure.

To an accurate observer they will generally betray themselves.

An American authority says, "the study of my adversaries is, of more value than the study of my cards."

Bluffing is at best a very dangerous game, seldom worth the risk, and it involves, even for its occasional success, a very just estimate of your opponents. Remember that you cannot bluff even a tyro out of "fours."