Chapter V (13)

_=LEADING PLAIN SUITS ORIGINALLY.=_ It will often happen that you will have to decide between the lead of a comparatively dangerous heart and a risky plain suit. Your knowledge of probabilities should enable you to select the safer course. The odds against getting a heart on the first round of a plain suit depend upon how many cards of the suit you hold. If you lead an Ace, or any card which is sure to win the trick, the odds against your getting a heart on it are as the following:--

If you have 4 cards of the suit, 22 to 1.
” 5 ” 15 to 1.
” 6 ” 7 to 1.
” 7 ” 4 to 1.
” 8 ” 2 to 1.

These odds may be slightly increased by taking into account the fact that players who cannot follow suit do not always discard hearts, having perhaps more dangerous cards to get rid of.

The odds against a suit going round a second time may be influenced by the cards played to the first round; but it sometimes happens that you have to calculate in advance for two rounds of a suit, regardless of the cards that may be played by others. This is especially the case when you fear that the suit will be led to you, and you have such cards as must win two rounds. If you have 4 cards of the suit the odds _against_ your getting a heart in two rounds are 2 to 1. The odds _in favour_ of your getting a heart in two rounds are:--

If you have 5 cards of the suit, 4 to 3.
” 6 ” 2 to 1.
” 7 ” 6 to 1.

As an example of the value of a thorough knowledge of these odds to a careful player, suppose he had to win two rounds of a plain suit, of which he held six cards; or to lead the ♡7, having three higher. The suit would be the better play, because it takes in only one heart, while the lead of the heart might take in four.

The following table shows the exact number of times in 1,000 deals that a heart would probably be discarded on a plain suit led, according to the number of cards in the suit held by the leader, and the number of times the suit was led:

Cards held by the leader. | 1,2,3,4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
----------------------------------+---------+------+------+------+-----
Times hearts will be discarded:-- | | | | |
On first round | 44 | 63 | 122 | 200 | 315
On second round | 358 | 430 | 659 | 857 | 1000
On third round | 842 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000

This shows that 158 times in 1,000, when the leader has 1, 2, 3, or 4 cards of the suit, it will go round three times, because 158 is the balance necessary to bring our last figure, 842, up to 1,000. Reducing this to a small fraction, the odds are about 5⅛ to 1 that a suit will not go round three times without affording to some player the chance of discarding hearts on it. This calculation shows the hopeless nature of all hands that contain at least three cards of each suit, unless the smallest card in every suit is below a 6; for if any one of the suits is led three times, it is even betting that you will have to win the third round, and 5⅛ to 1 that you get a heart on it if you do.

_=PLAIN-SUIT LEADS.=_ The favourite lead with most heart players is a singleton; or, failing that, a two-card suit. This is a mistake, unless the singleton is a high card; for if the adversaries are sharp players they will at once suspect the nature of the lead, and carefully avoid the suit. But if you wait until some other player opens the suit, it will very probably be led twice in succession. The best original plain-suit lead is one in which you are moderately long, but have small cards enough to be safe, and from which you can lead intermediate cards which probably will not win the first trick.

A very little experience at Hearts will convince any one that it is best, in plain suits, to play out the high cards first. This agrees with the theory of probabilities; for while the odds are 22 to 1 against your getting a heart on the first round of a plain suit of which you have 4 cards, the odds are only 2 to 1 against it on the second round, and on the third they are 5⅛ to 1 in favour of it. Accordingly, on the first round most players put up their highest card of the suit led, no matter what their position with regard to the leader; but in so doing, they often run needless risks. The object in Sweepstake Hearts is to take none, and the most successful players will be found to be those who play consistently with the greatest odds in their favour for taking none.

Suppose that you hold such a suit as A 10 9 7 4 2. This is a safe suit; because it is very improbable that you can be compelled to take a trick in it. The best lead from such a suit is the 10 or 9. If the suit is led by any other player, the same card should be played, unless you are fourth hand, and have no objection to the lead. This avoids the risk, however slight, of getting a heart on the first round, which would be entailed by playing the ace. In Sweepstake Hearts it is a great mistake to play the high cards of a suit in which you are safe; for no matter how small the risk, it is an unnecessary one. In the case we are considering, when you have six cards of the suit, the odds are 7 to 1 against your getting a heart if you play the ace first round. That is to say, you will probably lose one pool out of every eight if you play it. Take the greatest odds in your favour, when you have only four cards of a suit; they are 22 to 1 against your getting a heart the first round, so that you would lose by it only once in 23 times. But this is a heavy percentage against you if you are playing with those who do not run such risks, for you give up every chance you might otherwise have in 5 pools out of every 110.

When you have a dangerous hand in hearts, but one absolutely safe long suit, it is often good play to begin with your safe suit, retaining any high cards you may have in other suits in order to get the lead as often as possible for the purpose of continuing your safe suit, which will usually result in one or more of the other players getting loaded.

When you have at least three of each plain suit it is obvious that you cannot hope for any discards, and that you must take into account the probability of having to win the third round of one or more suits, with the accompanying possibility of getting hearts at the same time. If you have the lead, this probability must be taken into account before any of the other players show their hands, and as it may be set down as about 5⅛ to 1 that you will get a heart, any better chance that the hand affords should be taken advantage of.

It will often occur that a player’s attention must be so concentrated on getting clear himself that he has no opportunity to scheme for “loading” the others. But if it unfortunately happens that he is compelled to take in one or more hearts, he should at once turn his attention to taking them all, or to loading the other players, with a view to making a Jack of the pool. Should he succeed in either object, he has another chance for his money.

It is usually bad policy to return the suit opened by the original leader. He has picked that out as his safest suit, and although he may be the only one safe in it, by continuing it you are reducing your chances to two players, when you might share them with all three.

_=FOLLOWING SUIT.=_ When a player is not the original leader, his policy becomes defensive; for, as the first player is plotting to give hearts to every one but himself, each of the others must be a prospective victim, and should do his best to avoid the traps prepared by the one who plans the opening of the hand.

When you are second or third player, the first time a suit is led, it is usually best to play your highest card, unless you are safe in the suit, or have so many that there is danger of getting a heart, even on the first round. As fourth player, you should always play your highest card, unless there is already a heart in the trick, or some decided disadvantage in the lead. The risks you run in playing high cards while following suit must be judged by the same probabilities that we examined in considering the original lead. The fact that one or more players have already followed suit, and perhaps the cards they have played, may enable you to arrive at a still closer estimate of your chances. It is generally conceded, that the odds against a player who holds up on the first round are about 1 to 11. That is to say, in 12 pools, he will sacrifice his chances of one simply by holding up.

After one or two tricks have been played, the conditions may be such that it becomes necessary to hold up, in order to win the second round. This is especially the case after you have been loaded, and are anxious to keep a certain player out of the lead. For an example see Illustrative Hand No. 4. in which Y holds up the ♢ King to keep A from getting in and leading another round of hearts. In the same hand Z tries hard to make the pool a Jack by holding up the ♣ Q. Had not A been entirely safe in diamonds the stratagem would have succeeded.

In following suit it is important to keep count of the cards played, in order to avoid the unwitting lead of a suit of which the other players have none. The suits that need close watching are those in which you have nothing smaller than a six or eight. You should be careful to note which player appears to have the smaller cards, after the suit has been led once or twice, and be on the watch to take the lead away from him in other suits if you can, or he may load you by leading the small cards of your dangerous suit, in which he is safe. When this danger is apparent, it is best to retain, until the second round, such high cards as Kings and Queens of the suits led. Even if you have four of the suit, you run only a 2 to 1 risk in winning the second round instead of the first, as against a certainty that you will be out of the pool at once if the dangerous player gets the lead. For an example of this, see B’s play in Illustrative Hand No. 2.

Where you have a certain safe card, and others of another suit not absolutely safe, it is better to keep the safe card, in order to be sure of getting rid of the lead if you are put in on your dangerous suit.

In following suit, the most annoying hand that one can hold is one containing at least three cards of each suit, none of them below a 6. There is no hope of a discard, unless two players make a fight in some one suit, which they lead four or five times in order to load each other, regardless of the escape of the other players. This very seldom occurs, and never among good players. With such a hand escape is almost impossible, and it is usually best to make the losses as small as possible. Many good players, with such a hand, will deliberately take in hearts on the plain suits, hoping to escape with only one or two in each trick, instead of having to carry the whole load by getting into the lead at the end. It should never be forgotten that when you must inevitably take some hearts it is cheaper to take them in on plain suits than to win heart tricks.

_=CONTROL OF THE LEAD.=_ One of the strongest points in good heart play is the proper control of the lead at certain times. A player whose hand contains no commanding cards, and who is unable to do anything but follow suit on the first two or three rounds, will often find himself compelled to win one of the later rounds with a small card, taking in one or two hearts with it; and this misfortune usually overtakes him because a certain player gets into the lead at a critical period of the hand. If he sees the impending danger, and has K, Q or J of a suit led, he will not give up his high card, even if the ace is played to the trick; but will retain it in order to prevent the possibility of the dangerous player getting into the lead on the second round of the suit. In doing this, he of course decreases the odds against his getting hearts, by deliberately winning the second round. But 2 to 1 in his favour is a much better chance than the certainty, almost, that he will be loaded if a particular player is allowed the opportunity to lead a certain suit again. See B’s play in Illustrative Hand No 2, and Y’s in No 4.

A player may have no desire to prevent any particular adversary from getting the lead; but may be anxious simply to carry out a certain line of play. In order to do this it may be essential that he should have some direction of the course of the hand. This is impossible if his play is confined to following suit helplessly, whatever is led. He must be able to assume the lead himself in order so to change the course of the play as to better suit his game.

Let us suppose that he has a dangerous hand in plain suits, but is safe in hearts, and decides that his best chance is to lead hearts at every opportunity; or that he has a certain safe suit which it is manifestly to his advantage to have led as often as possible. The other players, being the ones who are to suffer from this line of play, will of course prevent it if possible; and in order to carry out the plan in spite of their opposition, it will be necessary for the individual player to gain the lead a certain number of times, and so force his game upon them.

Again, a player may know that he can load a certain adversary if he can get in and lead a certain suit or card; or he may know that by giving one player the lead, that player can load another. In such cases commanding cards must be held or retained, in order to give the player a certain control of the lead.

When a player is attempting to take all thirteen hearts, the control of the lead, especially in the end game, is very important; because the design of each of the other players will be to get the lead into some other hand, in the hope that they may load the player having it, and so at least divide the pool.

_=THE DISCARD.=_ One of the most important elements in heart play is the discard. The beginner is too apt to discard hearts at every opportunity; but a little experience will teach him that even a 3 in a plain suit may be a better card to part with.

The most important thing in discarding is to reduce the odds against your winning the pool. Let us suppose that you have the A K Q of a plain suit. It is 5⅛ to 1 that you get a heart if this suit is led a third time. If you can get a discard, the odds are at once reduced to 2 to 1 in your favour, that being the probability that you will escape, even if you have to win two rounds. This is a very large percentage, and should never be lost sight of. If you have a choice between two discards, one being from the K Q J 2 of hearts, and the other from the K Q J of a plain suit, select the plain suit. You can improve your chances little or none in the hearts, while you not only bring the odds to your side in the plain suit, but secure a chance of discarding on the third round of it.

Following the same principle, it is evidently good play to discard from a suit which has been led once or twice, if you have a dangerous card or cards in it. Even if you have a safe tenace in a suit, such as 4 and 2, the 5 and 3 being still out somewhere, it is better to discard from it if there is the slightest danger of your getting the lead. Tenaces are only safe when led up to.

In _=Howell’s settling=_, the object is not so much to load the others as to escape yourself. It is never advisable to attempt to take all thirteen hearts, because there are no Jacks; but there are many cases in which it is better deliberately to take three or four, in order to avoid the chance of taking six or eight. For an example of these tactics adopted by two players, see Illustrative Hand, No. 3. On the same principle, there are often cases in which it is advisable to take a trick with one heart in it, in order to get rid of a dangerous card, which might bring you in several hearts later on. The general principles of leading and discarding are the same as in Sweepstake Hearts; but it is not necessary to take such desperate chances to escape entirely.

_=THREE-HANDED HEARTS=_ is more difficult to play than any other form of the game, partly because there are so many rounds of each suit, and partly because the moment one player refuses, the exact cards of that suit in the two other players’ hands are known to each of them.

There is usually a great deal of cross-fighting in the three-handed game, during which one player escapes by getting numerous discards. When all three have refused, each a different suit, the end game becomes a question of generalship, and the preservation of one or more commanding cards, with which to control and place the lead, is usually the key to the situation. A player who has no high cards for the end game, unless he is quite safe, is almost certain to be loaded in the last few tricks.

_=TWO-HANDED HEARTS.=_ Before opening the hand, the player should carefully consider what suits are safe and what are dangerous. It is usually best to preserve the safe suits and to lead the dangerous ones, which you should clear your hand of, if possible. It is a great advantage to have a missing suit, and equally disadvantageous to have a number of a suit of which your adversary is probably clear. If a card of a missing suit is drawn, it is usually best to lead it at once, so as to keep the suit clear; but in so doing, be careful first to place the card among the others in the hand, or your adversary will detect that it is a missing suit.

The lead is a disadvantage if you have safe hearts; but toward the end of the stock, from which cards are drawn, it is an advantage to have commanding cards, with which you can assume the lead if necessary.

There is some finesse in determining whether or not to change the suit often in the leads. If you have a better memory than your adversary, it may be well to change often; but if not, it may assist you to keep at one suit until afraid to lead it again.

In Two-Handed Hearts, keeping count of the cards is the most important matter, because the real play comes after the stock is exhausted, and the moment that occurs you should know every card in your adversary’s hand. The exact number of each suit should be a certainty, if not the exact rank of the cards. Until you can depend on yourself for this, you are not a good player. The last thirteen tricks are usually a problem in double-dummy; but the advantage will always be found to be with the player who has carefully prepared himself for the final struggle by preserving certain safe suits, and getting rid of those in which it became evident that his adversary had the small and safe cards.

Some very pretty positions arise in the end game, it being often possible to foresee that four or five tricks must be played in a certain manner in order to ensure the lead being properly placed at the end, so that the odd hearts may be avoided.

_=AUCTION HEARTS.=_ The cards having been cut and dealt, the player to the left of the dealer, whom we shall call A, examines his hand, and determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. Let us suppose his hand to consist of the ♡ A K 8; ♣ J 6 5 4 3 2; ♢ K 4; and the ♠ 7 3. If the suit remains hearts, he is almost certain to take in a number; but if it is changed to clubs, he is almost as certain of getting clear. The hand is not absolutely safe, as hearts might be led two or three times before the clubs in the other hands were exhausted by the original leader, whose game would be to lead small clubs. As the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, he can afford to bid in proportion to his chances of winning it for the privilege of making clubs the suit to be avoided, instead of hearts.

It might be assumed, if the odds were 10 to 1 that the player would get clear if the suit were clubs, that therefore he could afford to bid ten times the amount of the pool, or 130, for his chance. Theoretically this is correct, but if he should lose one such pool, he would have to win ten others to get back his bid alone, to say nothing of the amounts he would lose by paying his share in pools won by others. Let us suppose him to win his share, one-fourth of all the pools. While he is winning the ten pools necessary to repair his single loss, he has to stand his share of the losses in the thirty others, which would average about 128 counters. This must show us that even if a player has a 10 to 1 chance in his favour, he must calculate not only on losing that chance once in eleven times, but must make provision for the amounts he will lose in other pools. Experience shows that a bid of 25 would be about the amount a good player would make on such a hand as we are considering, if the pool were not a Jack, and he had first say.

The next player, Y, now examines his hand. Let us suppose that he finds ♡ 6 4 3; ♣ A K 10; ♢ 8 7 5 3; ♠ 6 5 4. If the first bidder is offering on clubs, it is evident that he will lead them, as the successful bidder has the original lead in Auction Hearts; and it is equally evident that if he does so, a player with A K 10 will have to pay for most of the pool. If any of the other suits is the one bid on, B has as good a chance for the pool as any one, at least to divide it. With two men still to bid, a good player would probably make himself safe by shutting out A’s bid, probably offering 26.

Let us suppose B then to examine his hand, finding ♡ J 10; ♣ Q 9 8 7; ♢ A 10 9; ♠ 10 9 8 2. Being unsafe in everything, he passes, and practically submits to his fate, his only hope being that the pool will result in a Jack. Z then examines his hand, finding ♡ Q 9 7 5 2; ♣ none; ♢ Q J 6 2; ♠ A K Q J. He sees at once that on spades he would lose everything, and on diamonds he would have a very poor chance. On clubs the result would depend on how often spades were led. In hearts, he has a very good hand, especially as he has a missing suit to discard in. As he is the last bidder he can make sure of the choice for 27, which he bids, and pays into the pool. The result of the play is given in Illustrative Hand No. 4. (As the cards happen to lie, had A been the successful bidder and made it clubs, Z would have won the pool.)

ILLUSTRATIVE HANDS.

_=No. 1.=_ Sweepstake Hearts. | T| _=No. 2.=_ Sweepstake Hearts.
A leads for first trick. | R| A leads for first trick.
| I|
------+-------+-------+-------+ C+-------+------+------+--------
A Y B Z | K| A Y B Z
------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+------+------+--------
10♠ | Q♠ | 8♠ | _K♠_ | 1| _♣A_ | ♣K | ♣10 | ♣Q
♣J | _♣A_ | ♣4 | ♣K | 2| ♣5 | ♣2 | ♣9 | _♣J_
6♢ | _A♢_ | J♢ | Q♢ | 3| 10♢ | J♢ | 9♢ | _A♢_
5♢ | _K♢_ | 10♢ | 9♢ | 4| Q♢ | 8♢ | _K♢_ | 4♢
4♢ | 3♢ | 2♢ | _8♢_ | 5| 2♠ | J♠ | _A♠_ | 9♠
♣9 | ♣7 | ♣3 | _♣Q_ | 6| Q♠ | 10♠ | _K♠_ | 8♠
♣6 | ♣5 | ♣2 | _♣10_ | 7| ♡A | _7♢_ | 3♢ | ♡Q
3♠ | 6♠ | 4♠ | _J♠_ | 8| _♡10_ | ♡4 | ♡3 | ♡5
2♠ | 5♠ | ♡K | 9♠ | 9| ♣4 | ♡K | ♣6 | _♣7_
_♡A_ | ♡Q | ♡10 | ♡5 |10| ♡9 | _7♠_ | ♡J | 5♠
♡7 | _♡J_ | ♡9 | 7♠ |11| ♡7 | ♡2 | ♣8 | _♡8_
♡6 | _♡8_ | ♡4 | ♣8 |12| ♡6 | _6♠_ | 6♢ | 4♠
A♠ | ♡2 | _♡3_ | 7♢ |13| ♣3 | _5♢_ | 2♢ | 3♠
------+-------+-------+-------+--+-------+------+------+--------
A 4 Y 6 B 2 Z 1 A 4 Y 5 B 0 Z 4
Making it a Jack. B wins the Pool.

_=No. 1. 2nd Trick.=_ Z sees that with such a hand escape is impossible. As his chief danger is in being loaded with hearts at the end, he clears his hand as rapidly as possible. _=9th Trick.=_ The ♠A being held up, it looks as if A were safe in that suit with A 5 2. If Z now leads the ♡ 5, and A gets into the lead, returning the spade, Z must take every other trick. _=10th Trick.=_ If Z now leads ♠ 7, he loads A; but if his ♡ 5 should win the next trick he will take all the rest of the hearts, Y and B dividing the pool. If he leads the ♡ 5 first he cannot get more than four hearts, and the other players will inevitably make a Jack of it. _=11th Trick.=_ Y sees that if he underplays the 7 led, B will win the pool, as he has nothing but hearts, A having only one more. He keeps A out of the lead by winning two rounds, so as to be sure of loading B, making it a Jack. The ending is very well played.

_=No. 2.=_ A has an even chance to escape, and it is better for him to be third or fourth player in hearts than to lead them. _=3rd Trick.=_ B sees from the fall of the clubs that Y has no more, and that A is safe in them and will lead them again; so he holds up ♢ K to keep A out of the lead. _=7th Trick.=_ As A’s hand can now be counted to contain either the 7 4 3 of clubs and four dangerous hearts, or the 4 3 of clubs and five hearts, B’s game is clearly to lead diamonds, in order to load Y and Z. His only dangerous card, the ♡ J, will go on the next round of spades, which must be led again in the next two or three tricks.

_=No. 3.=_ Howell’s Settling. | T | _=No. 4.=_ Auction Hearts.
Z dealt, and A leads for | R | A, the successful
first trick. | I | bidder, names Hearts.
--------------------------------+ C +--------------------------------
A Y B Z | K | A Y B Z
--------+-------+-------+-------+---+-------+-------+-------+--------
10♢ | J♢ | 9♢ | _K♢_ | 1| ♡5 | ♡8 | ♡6 | _♡J_
7♢ | 6♢ | 8♢ | _Q♢_ | 2| Q♢ | 4♢ | 8♢ | _A♢_
♣4 | ♣9 | ♣J | _♣A_ | 3| J♢ | _K♢_ | 7♢ | 10♢
♣2 | ♣8 | ♣5 | _♣K_ | 4| _A♠_ | 7♠ | 6♠ | 10♠
J♠ | 8♠ | K♠ | _A♠_ | 5| ♡7 | _♡A_ | ♡4 | ♡10
5♠ | 7♠ | _Q♠_ | 10♠ | 6| _K♠_ | 3♠ | 5♠ | 9♠
4♠ | _6♠_ | 3♠ | 2♠ | 7| ♡Q | _♡K_ | ♡3 | ♣9
♡5 | ♡3 | _♡8_ | ♡4 | 8| ♡9 | ♣J | ♣10 | _♣Q_
_♡A_ | ♡J | ♡7 | 5♢ | 9| _Q♠_ | ♣6 | 4♠ | 8♠
♡9 | ♡2 | _♡K_ | ♣Q | 10| _J♠_ | ♣5 | ♣A | 2♠
A♢ | _♡10_ | ♡6 | 9♠ | 11| 6♢ | ♣4 | 5♢ | _9♢_
4♢ | ♣3 | ♡Q | _♣10_ | 12| 2♢ | ♣3 | _♣K_ | ♣8
2♢ | _♣7_ | 3♢ | ♣6 | 13| ♡2 | ♣2 | _3♢_ | ♣7
--------+-------+-------+-------+---+-------+-------+-------+--------
A 3 Y 2 B 7 Z 1 A 0 Y 7 B 1 Z 5

Z wins 9; Y 5; A 1; B loses 15. A wins the pool.

_=No. 3.=_ A begins with the intermediate cards of his safe suit. _=8th Trick.=_ Y is afraid to lead away from his club tenace, because it might be at once led back to him. _=9th Trick.=_ Z seizes this opportunity to get rid of the very dangerous ♢5. If A does not play the ♡A now, it is quite possible that he will take every trick, except one in diamonds. _=10th Trick.=_ If A leads the ♢2, and hearts are led again, he must take all the remaining hearts. By taking three at once he can escape the rest. B sees that if he passes this trick A will at once lead the ♢2, and he will take all the remaining hearts; so he takes these three and throws the lead to Y, who has no chance to injure him. _11th Trick._ Z keeps two clubs, hoping that if Y gets in and leads clubs, B may discard a diamond instead of a heart, in which case Z would get clear.

_=No. 4.=_ A, with his dangerous suit of spades, clears up the hearts at once. _=6th Trick.=_ The second round of spades betrays A’s dangerous suit to the other players. _=7th Trick.=_ A must risk the King and 3 being divided, for if they are in one hand nothing will save him. Z keeps ♢9 and ♣Q in order to be sure of getting a lead, as he is the only player who can load A by putting him in on spades at the end making him take in his own hearts. _=8th Trick.=_ B cannot risk playing the high clubs while there is any chance for him to win the pool. He can count A to be safe in diamonds, with two hearts and two spades. _=10th Trick.=_ A clears his hand of the very dangerous spade before leading his tenace in diamonds. _=12th Trick.=_ A will not give up the heart until he is sure that B has not the ♣7.

* * * * *

_=Text Books.=_ There are at present only two text-books on the game; _Foster on Hearts_, and _Hearts and Heartsette_.

SLOBBERHANNES.

_=Cards.=_ Slobberhannes is played with a Euchre pack, thirty-two cards, all below the Seven being deleted. The cards rank: A K Q J 10 9 8 7, the ace being the highest both in cutting and in play. There is no trump suit.

_=Counters.=_ Each player is provided with ten counters, and points are marked by placing these counters in the pool. The player who first loses his ten counters also loses the game. If stakes are played for, counters of a different colour must be provided, and the player losing the game must pay as many counters to each of the others as they have points still in front of them. One player is usually the banker, and sells and redeems all money counters. The others are redistributed at the end of each game.

_=Players.=_ Any number from four to seven may play; but the two black Sevens must be deleted if there are more than four players. When seven play, the dealer takes no cards. All the preliminaries of seats, cards and deal are settled as at Hearts.

_=Dealing.=_ The entire pack is distributed, the dealer giving each player in rotation two or three cards in each round. No trump is turned. All irregularities in the deal are governed by the same laws as at Hearts; but a misdeal does not lose the deal under any circumstances. The same dealer must deal again.

_=Objects of the Game.=_ The object in Slobberhannes is to avoid taking either the first or the last trick, or any trick containing the Queen of clubs. The player who wins any of these loses one point, and if he wins all three of them, he loses an extra point, or four altogether. The penalty for a revoke is also the loss of a point.

_=Method of Playing.=_ The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and the winner takes it in and leads for the next trick. The player winning the first trick must pay for it immediately, to avoid disputes. The tricks which are neither the first nor the last have no value, unless they contain the club Queen, which must be paid for as soon as it is taken in.

There is a good deal of play in manœuvring to get rid of cards which might win the last trick, or which would take in the club Queen. The Ace and King of clubs are of course dangerous cards, and unless the player holding them has small cards enough to make him safe in that suit, he should be on the alert for opportunities to discard.

POLIGNAC. QUATRE-VALETS, OR FOUR JACKS.

_=Cards and Players.=_ When Polignac is played by four persons, a Piquet pack is used, and eight cards are dealt to each player, 3-2-3 at a time. When five play, the two black Sevens are deleted, and six cards are given to each player. When six play, each receives five cards. When seven play, the dealer takes no cards. In France, the cards usually rank as in Écarté; K Q J A 10 9 8 7; but in England and America it is more usual to preserve the order in Piquet, A K Q J 10 9 8 7. There is no trump suit. All the preliminaries are settled as at Hearts or Slobberhannes.

_=Counters.=_ Each player is provided with ten or twenty counters, as may be agreed upon, and the player first losing his counters loses the game, and pays to each of the others any stake that may have been previously agreed upon, usually a counter for each point they have still to go when he is decavé.

_=Objects of the Game.=_ The object of the game is to avoid winning any trick containing a Jack, and especially the Jack of spades, which is called _=Polignac=_. The moment any player wins a trick containing a Jack, he pays one counter into the pool. If he takes in Polignac, he pays two counters. The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. The highest card played, if of the suit led, wins the trick, and the winner leads for the next trick. If a player has none of the suit led he may discard anything he pleases.

The game is sometimes varied by adding a _=general=_, or _=capot=_. Any player who thinks he can win all the tricks announces capot before the first card is led. If he is successful he loses nothing; but each of the others must pay five counters into the pool, one for each Jack, and one extra for Polignac. If the capot player fails to win every trick, each player pays for whatever jacks he has taken in.

ENFLÉ, OR SCHWELLEN.

When Enflé is played by four persons, the Piquet pack of thirty-two cards is used. If there are more than four players, sufficient cards are added to give eight to each person. The rank of the cards and all other preliminaries are the same as at Hearts. There is no trump suit.

The cards are dealt 3-2-3 at a time. The eldest hand leads any card he pleases, and the others must follow suit if they can. If all follow suit, the highest card played wins the trick, which is turned face down, and the cards in it are dead. The winner leads for the next trick, and so on. But if any player is unable to follow suit, he is not allowed to discard, but must immediately gather up the cards already played, and take them into his own hand with the cards originally dealt to him. The players following the one who renounces to the suit led do not play to the trick at all; but wait for him to lead for the next trick. Should any player fail to follow suit on the next trick, or on any subsequent trick, he gathers the cards already played, takes them into his hand and leads for the next trick. The play is continued in this manner until some player gets rid of all his cards, and so wins the game.

Enflé is usually played for a pool, to which each player contributes an equal amount before play begins. The game requires considerable skill and memory to play it well, it being very important to remember the cards taken in hand by certain players, and those which are in the tricks turned down.

THE LAWS OF HEARTS.

1. Formation of table. Those first in the room have the preference. If more than the necessary number assemble, the choice shall be determined by cutting, those cutting the lowest cards having the right to play. Six persons is the largest number that can play at one table. The player cutting the lowest card has the deal.

2. In cutting, the Ace is low. Players cutting cards of equal value, cut again. All must cut from the same pack, and any person exposing more than one card must cut again. Drawing cards from an outspread pack is equivalent to cutting.

3. A complete Heart pack consists of fifty-two cards, which rank in the following order:--A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2, the Ace being highest in play. In Three-Handed Hearts, the spade deuce is thrown out. In Five-Handed, both the black deuces are laid aside. In Six-Handed, all four deuces are discarded. In Joker Hearts the heart deuce is replaced by the Joker.

4. When two packs are used, the player next but one on the dealer’s left must collect and shuffle the cards for the next deal, placing them on his right. The dealer has the privilege of shuffling last.

5. The dealer must present the pack to his right-hand adversary to be cut. Not less than four cards shall constitute a cut.

6. In case of any confusion or exposure of the cards in cutting, or in reuniting them after cutting, the pack must be shuffled and cut again.

7. If the dealer reshuffles the cards after they have been properly cut, or looks at the bottom card, he loses his deal.

8. After the cards have been cut, the dealer must distribute them one at a time to each player in rotation, beginning at his left, and continuing until the pack is exhausted; or in Two-Handed Hearts, until each player has thirteen.

9. The deal passes to the left.

10. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if the pack is proved to be incorrect, either during the deal or during the play of a hand; or if any card is faced in the pack, or is found to be so marked or mutilated that it can be named. In the last case a new pack must be used.

11. If a card is exposed during the deal, the player to whom it is dealt may demand a new deal, provided he has not touched any of his cards. If the deal stands, the exposed card cannot be called.

12. Any one dealing out of turn may be stopped before the last card is dealt. After that the deal must stand, and the packs, if changed, must so remain.

13. It is a misdeal: If the dealer omits to have the pack cut, and the error is discovered before the last card is dealt; or if he deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy it before dealing another; or if he counts the cards on the table, or those remaining in the pack; or if it is discovered before all have played to the first trick that any player has not his proper number of cards, the pack being perfect.

14. A misdeal loses the deal unless one of the other players has touched his cards, or in any way interrupted the dealer.

15. If, after the first trick is played to, any two players are found to have more or less than their correct number of cards, the pack being perfect, the one having less shall draw from the hand of the one having more, and each shall pay a forfeit of five counters into the pool.

16. If a player omits to play to any trick, and plays to the following one, he shall not be allowed to correct the error; but shall be compelled to take in the last trick, with whatever hearts it may contain.

17. Should a player be found during or at the end of a hand to be a card short, all the others having the right number, and all having played to the first trick, he shall be compelled to take in the last trick.

18. If a player leads or plays two cards to a trick, he must indicate the one intended, and leave the other face up on the table. Any card exposed, except in the proper course of play, or any card named by the player holding it, must be left face up on the table.

19. A player must lead or play any exposed card when called upon to do so by any other player, provided he can do so without revoking. He cannot be prevented from playing an exposed card, and if he can so get rid of it, no penalty remains.

20. If a player leads out of turn, a suit may be called from him when it is next his proper turn to lead. This penalty can be enforced only by the player on his right. If he has none of the suit called, or if all have played to the false lead, no penalty can be enforced. If all have not played to the false lead, the cards can be taken back, and are not exposed cards.

21. If the third hand plays before the second, the fourth hand may demand that the card be taken back, and may call upon the third hand to play the highest card he has of the suit; or may call upon him not to discard hearts. If the fourth plays before the third, the second player may demand the penalty.

22. The first player to any trick having led, the others must follow suit if they can. Should a player revoke, and discover the error before the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted, he may amend his play, and the card played in error becomes an exposed card. Any who have played after him may withdraw their cards and substitute others, the cards first played not being exposed.

23. If the revoke is discovered during the play of the hand, the hand must be played out, and at the end the revoking player must pay all losses in that hand. Should the revoking player win the pool himself, he must pay to the pool thirteen counters and leave them for a Jack. Should he divide it, he must pay the other winner six counters, and leave up seven for a Jack.

24. Should two or more players revoke in the same hand, each must pay the entire losses in the hand, as if he were alone in error; so that if two should revoke, and a third win the pool, he would receive twenty-six counters, instead of thirteen. In Auction Hearts the revoking player must pay the amount of the bid in addition.

25. The claimant of a revoke may search all the tricks at the end of a hand. The revoke is established if the accused player mixes the cards before the claimants have time to examine them.

26. A revoke must be claimed before the tricks have been mixed, preparatory to shuffling for the next deal.

27. If a player is lawfully called upon to lead a certain suit, or to play the highest of it, and unnecessarily fails to comply, he is liable to the penalties for a revoke.

28. Any trick once turned and quitted must not again be seen until the hand is played. Any player violating this rule is subject to the same penalties as for a lead out of turn.

29. In settling at the end of the hand, the player having taken no hearts, [each of the others having taken at least one,] wins the pool. Two players having taken none, the other two having each at least one, divide it, the odd counter remaining until the next pool. Three players having taken none, the thirteen counters remain in the pool, forming a Jack, which can be won only by one player taking no hearts, each of the others having taken at least one. During the time the Jack is played for, and until it is won, each player must add to the pool by paying for the hearts he takes in each hand.

30. In Auction Hearts, the player to the left of the dealer has the first bid, the dealer the last, and there is no second bid.

THE BÉZIQUE FAMILY.

This family includes three of our most popular games; Bézique itself, Binocle, and Sixty-Six. These are all comparatively modern games, but are descended from very old stock, the best known of the ancestors being Marriage, Matrimony, and Cinq-Cents. The etymology of the word Bézique is very much disputed. Some claim that it is from the Spanish basa, afterwards basico, a little kiss; referring to the union of the spade Queen and the diamond Jack, and the various marriages in the game. This was afterwards Basique, transformed by the French to Bésique, and by the English to Bézique. One English writer thinks the word is from bésaigne, the double-headed axe.

Judging from the rank of the cards, which is peculiar to German games, Bézique may have originated in an attempt to play Binocle with a piquet pack, for Binocle seems to have been originally played with a full pack of fifty-two cards. One German writer says the game is of Swiss origin, and that they probably got it from Spain. In one writer’s opinion, the name Binocle, is derived from _bis_, until, and _knochle_, the knuckle, which would imply that the original meaning was, until some one knuckled; _i.e._, stopped the game by knocking on the table with his knuckles. This interpretation seems far-fetched, but if correct, it would sustain the opinion that Binocle was derived from the old game of Cinq-Cents, in which the player knocked with his knuckles to announce that he had made enough points to win the game. In the opinion of the author, the word “binocle” is a German mispronunciation of the French word “binage,” which was the term used in Cinq Cents for the combination of spade Queen and diamond Jack, as will be seen if the description of Cinq Cents is referred to. Stopping the play is a prominent feature in Sixty-Six, another variation of Bézique, and the connecting link between Binocle and Skat. In Sixty-Six, the combination known as Bézique, or binocle, is omitted; so is the sequence in trumps. Sixty-four-card Binocle is simply Bézique, with a slight difference in the counting value of the various combinations. Sometimes twelve cards are given to each player.

Great confusion seems to have existed when the game of Bézique was introduced to England, in the winter of 1868-9, owing to the fact that so many persons rushed into print with their own private opinions of the rules, which were first given by Dr. Pole, in 1861. No one knew whether “the last trick” was the absolute last, or the last before the stock was exhausted. Whether the highest or lowest cut dealt was also a matter of dispute. “Cavendish” got both these wrong in the first edition of his “Pocket Guide,” but corrected himself without explanation or apology in the second edition. It was then the custom of many players to attach no value to the trump suit until the stock was exhausted; so that until the last eight tricks there was no such thing as trumping a trick in order to win it. Disputes also arose as to counting double combinations, many contending that a double marriage should be as valuable as a double bézique. Time and experience have finally settled all these points, and the rules of the game are now practically uniform in all countries.

BÉZIQUE, OR SIXTY-FOUR-CARD BINOCLE.

There are two forms of Bézique in common use; the ordinary game, which will be first described, and the variation known as Rubicon Bézique, which is to Bézique proper what Railroad Euchre is to Euchre.

_=CARDS.=_ Bézique is played with two packs of thirty-two cards each, all below the Seven being deleted, and the two packs being then shuffled together and used as one. It is better to have both packs of the same colour and pattern, but it is not absolutely necessary. The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9 8 7; the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.

_=COUNTERS.=_ Special markers are made for scoring at Bézique; but the score may easily be kept by means of counters. Each player should be provided with four white, four blue, and one red, together with some special marker, such as a copper cent or a button. The button stands for 500 points, each blue counter for 100, the red for 50, and the white ones for 10 each. At the beginning of the game the counters are placed on the left of the player, and are passed from left to right as the points accrue, exchanging smaller denominations for higher when necessary. Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 points, and going twice round to the game hole.