Hoyle's Games Modernized Part 4

64.--Before the pack is cut to the dealer, a player may call for fresh cards at his own expense. He must call for four fresh packs.

65.--Torn or marked cards must be replaced, or fresh packs called for at the expense of the two players.

BYSTANDERS.

66.--If a bystander call attention to any error or oversight, and thereby affect the score, he may be called on to pay all stakes and bets of the player whose interest he has prejudicially affected.

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BLIND HOOKEY.

The players, of whom there may be any number, cut for deal, the lowest having the preference. The pack is then shuffled by the player on the dealer's right hand, and afterwards, if he so please, by the dealer himself, after which it is cut by the right-hand player. The two halves are then re-united, and the pack is pa.s.sed to the player on the left of the dealer, who cuts from the top a small quant.i.ty of cards (not less than four, nor more than his due proportion of the pack). The pack is then pa.s.sed to the next player, who cuts a similar portion, and so on round the circle, the cards left belonging to the dealer. No one looks at his cards, but makes his stake on pure speculation; hence the name "blind" hookey. The dealer then turns up his cards, and shows the bottom one; the other players do the same. Each player holding a higher card than that of the dealer receives the amount of his stake; all below or equal pay the dealer. This is repeated until a hand occurs in which the dealer is a loser all round, when the deal is at an end, and the next player deals.

A second method is as under: The cards having {33} been shuffled and cut, the dealer cuts them into three portions. Two of these are for the company, the third for himself. The other players place their stakes on whichever two packets they please, the rejected packet being taken by the dealer.[13]

The stakes having been made, the cards are turned up, and the players receive or pay as the bottom cards of their packets prove to be higher or lower than that of the dealer.

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CRIBBAGE.

Cribbage is primarily a game for two players, though it may also be played by three, or even four persons; in the latter case, two playing against two, as at Whist. Of the two-handed game there are three varieties, known, from the number of cards dealt to each player, as "five-card," "six-card,"

and "seven-card" cribbage. The number of points to be made in the first case is 61; in the second, 121; and in the third, 181. If the loser has made less than half the specified number of points, he is "lurched," and pays double the agreed stake.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cribbage Board.]

The score is marked by means of pegs of ivory or bone, on a special board, as depicted above. It will be observed that there is on either side of the board a double row of holes, thirty in each, divided, for convenience in counting, into sets of five. The board is placed cross-wise between the players, and {35} both start from the same end (which should be that to the left of the first dealer), each travelling up the outer and down the inner row (once round in the "five-card," twice in the "six-card," and thrice in the "seven-card" game), terminating with the "game-hole" at the end from which they started. In scoring, the hinder peg for the time being is advanced the requisite number of points beyond the foremost.

We will commence with the five-card game.

The pack of fifty-two cards is used, and the players cut for deal, the lowest dealing. For this and for "sequence" purposes, the cards rank in regular order from ace (lowest) up to king (highest), but in counting court cards count as tens.

The pack having been shuffled, the non-dealer cuts, and his opponent deals, one at a time, five cards to each player. Meanwhile the non-dealer scores three holes, known as "three for last," and regarded as a set-off for the advantage of first deal. The undealt portion of the pack is placed face downwards between the players. Each player now "lays out" two of his cards (placed face downwards to the right hand of the dealer) to form what is called the "crib." The principles which govern the "lay out" will be discussed later.

The crib having been laid out, the non-dealer cuts, by lifting off the upper half of the pack. The dealer turns up the card left uppermost and places it on the top of the pack. This card is known as the "start." Should it chance to be a knave, the dealer is ent.i.tled to "two for his heels," and scores two points.

The score depends partly upon the course of play, {36} and partly upon the player's holding certain combinations of cards. These latter are scored at the close of the hand.

The scores which may be made in course of play are as under:--

PAIRS.--A player playing a similar card to the card last played by his adversary (as a king to a king, or a seven to a seven) is ent.i.tled to score _two_ for a _pair_.[14]

PAIRS-ROYAL.--If the first player in the case last supposed can follow with a third card of the same description, he scores _six_ for a _pair-royal_.

DOUBLE PAIRS-ROYAL.--If the second player replies with a fourth card of the same description, he scores _twelve_ for a _double pair-royal_.

SEQUENCES, OR RUNS.--Three or more cards of any suit but forming a regular numerical succession (as two, three, four; knave, ten, nine), count one for each card to the last player. The sequence need not be played in regular order, so long as the cards exposed for the time being form an unbroken series. Thus, suppose that A plays a five, and B a four. If A now plays either a six or a three, he is ent.i.tled to score a run of three (three points). We will suppose that he plays a three. If B can play either a six or a two, he will be ent.i.tled to score _four_; and if A can then add another card at either end, he will score _five_. Suppose, again, that A has played a five and a three, and B a two and a six. If A now plays a four, he is ent.i.tled to score five for the complete sequence. The highest number that can be scored {37} for a sequence is _seven_, for ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Ace, king, queen, do not count as a sequence.

FIFTEEN or THIRTY-ONE.--A player whose card makes, with those already exposed, the number _fifteen_, scores two. If either player makes _thirty-one_, he scores two in like manner. If, when the cards on the table approach thirty-one, the player whose turn it is can go no further without pa.s.sing that number, he says, "Go." His opponent then plays any other card or cards up to that limit. If they make thirty-one exactly, he scores two; if not, he scores one for "last card," _i.e._ the last card played. This (at five-card cribbage) terminates the hand.

The hand being over, the players, beginning with the non-dealer, proceed to "show," _i.e._ turn up their cards, and reckon how many points they may contain conjointly with the turn-up card, which is regarded as belonging, for this purpose, to the hand of each player, as also to the "crib" of the dealer. The first point noted is the _fifteens_ they may contain, _two_ points being reckoned for each, and the cards being combined in every possible way to make that number. Thus three fives and a ten or court card make (apart from their value under other aspects) four fifteens (technically spoken of as "fifteen eight"[15]), each of the fives forming one fifteen with the ten, and the three fives united forming another.

The next thing to be noted is the presence of any pairs, pair-royal, or double pair-royal. Thus, in the {38} case supposed, the player, after claiming "fifteen eight," would go on to say "and six for a pair-royal, fourteen."

If all the three cards in the hand are in sequence (independent of suit), three points are reckoned for this, or if the three form a sequence with the turn-up card, four.

If three of the cards are in sequence, and the fourth is a duplicate of one of them, such fourth card is regarded as making a fresh sequence with the other two, the "double run," as it is called, scoring six points. Besides this, the holder is ent.i.tled to two for his "pair" (the two duplicate cards), bringing the total value (irrespective of "fifteens") up to eight.

Where (as in crib at five-card, or hand or crib at six-card Cribbage) five cards have to be reckoned, it may happen that three are in sequence, and that the other two are duplicates of one of them. In this case they const.i.tute a treble run of three (nine points) and a pair-royal (six points), total fifteen.

If the three cards of the hand are all of one suit, the player scores three points for a _flush_. If the turn-up is of the same suit, four points.

If the hand chance to contain a _knave of the same suit as the turn-up card_, the holder is ent.i.tled to score one point, "for his n.o.b."

The non-dealer having scored his points, as above indicated, the dealer proceeds to score any points, first in his hand, and then in the crib, in like manner. There is only one distinction, viz., that, in counting crib, a flush is not reckoned unless the "start" is of the same suit as the rest.

In this case the flush is worth five points (one for each card). {39}

The following table indicates the method of counting some of the more important combinations (including the start) of the hand at five-card Cribbage:--

Points.

Four fives (_Fifteen eight and a double pair-royal_) 20

Three fives and a ten (_Fifteen eight and a pair-royal_) 14

Two fives, a four, and a six } _Fifteen-four, pair, Two fours, a five, and a six } and double run of Two sixes, a four, and a five} three_ 12

Three threes and a nine } Three sixes and a nine } Three sixes and a three } Three sevens and an eight} _Fifteen six and a pair-royal_ 12 Three eights and a seven } Three nines and a six } Three sevens and an ace }

Two eights, a six (or nine), and a seven } _Fifteen four, Two sevens, a six, and an eight } pair, and double Six, five, and two fours } run of three_ 13

Two fives and two tens or court cards of like denomination (_Fifteen eight and two pairs_) 12

Two nines and two sixes (_Fifteen eight, and two pairs_) 12

Two fives, a ten, and a court card (_Fifteen eight and a pair_) 10

Two sixes, a seven, and an eight (_Fifteen two, pair, and double run of three_) 10

A five and any three court cards in sequence, or ten, knave, queen (_Fifteen six and run of three_) 9

A five and three court cards, or a ten and court cards, in sequence (_Fifteen six and run of three_) 9

Any sequence of three cards, with a duplicate of one of them, but no "fifteen" (_Pair and double run of three_) 8