Chapter VIII: Part 8

17. If there are more than four candidates, the players are selected by cutting, those first in the room having the preference. The four who cut the lowest cards play first, and again cut to decide on partners; the two lowest play against the two highest; the lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards and seats, and, having once made his selection, must abide by it.

18. When there are more than six candidates, those who cut the two next lowest cards belong to the table, which is complete with six players; on the retirement of one of those six players, the candidate who cut the next lowest card has a prior right to any after-comer to enter the table.

19. Two players cutting cards of equal value, unless such cards are the two highest, cut again; should they be the two lowest, a fresh cut is necessary to decide which of those two deals.

20. Three players cutting cards of equal value cut again; should the fourth (or remaining) card be the highest, the two lowest of the new cut are partners, the lower of those two the dealer; should the fourth card be the lowest, the two highest are partners, the original lowest the dealer. {232}

CUTTING OUT.

21. At the end of a rubber, should admission be claimed by any one, or by two candidates, he who has, or they who have, placed a greater number of consecutive rubbers than the others is, or are, out; but when all have played the same number, they must cut to decide upon the out-goers; the highest are out.

ENTRY AND RE-ENTRY.

22. A candidate, whether he has played or not, can join a table which is not complete by declaring in at any time prior to any of the players having cut a card, either for the purpose of commencing a fresh rubber or of cutting out.

23. In the formation of fresh tables, those candidates who have neither belonged to nor played at any other table have the prior right of entry; the others decide their right of admission by cutting.

24. Any one quitting a table prior to the conclusion of a rubber may, with consent of the other three players, appoint a substitute in his absence during that rubber.

25. A player joining one table, whilst belonging to another, loses his right of re-entry into the latter, and takes his chance of cutting in, as if he were a fresh candidate.

26. If any one break up a table, the remaining players have the prior right to him of entry into any other; and should there not be sufficient vacancies at such other table to admit all those candidates, they settle their precedence by cutting. {233}

SHUFFLING.

27. The pack must neither be shuffled below the table, nor so that the face of any card be seen.

28. The pack must not be shuffled during the play of the hand.

29. A pack, having been played with, must neither be shuffled by dealing it into packets, nor across the table.

30. Each player has a right to shuffle once only (except as provided by Law 33) prior to a deal, after a false cut, or when a new deal has occurred.

31. The dealer's partner must collect the cards for the ensuing deal, and has the first right to shuffle that pack.

32. Each player, after shuffling, must place the cards, properly collected and face downwards, to the left of the player about to deal.

33. The dealer has always the right to shuffle last; but should a card or cards be seen during his shuffling, or whilst giving the pack to be cut, he may be compelled to re-shuffle.

THE DEAL.

34. Each player deals in his turn; the order of dealing goes to the left.

35. The player on the dealer's right cuts the pack, and, in dividing it, must not leave fewer than four cards in either packet; if in cutting, or in replacing one of the two packets on the other, a card be exposed, or if there be any confusion of the cards, or a doubt as to the exact place in which the pack was divided, there must be a fresh cut. {234}

36. When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has once separated the pack, he cannot alter his intention; he can neither re-shuffle nor re-cut the cards.

37. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle the cards, the pack must be cut again.

38. The fifty-two cards shall be dealt face downwards. The deal is not completed until the last card has been dealt face downwards. There is no misdeal.

A NEW DEAL.

39. There must be a new deal--

I. If, during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the pack be proved
to be incorrect or imperfect.

II. If any card be faced in the pack.

III. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, one at a time and in
regular rotation, beginning at the player to the dealer's left.

IV. Should the last card not come in its regular order to the dealer.

V. Should a player have more than thirteen cards, and any one or more
of the others less than thirteen cards.

VI. Should the dealer deal two cards at once, or two cards to the same
hand, and then deal a third; but if, prior to dealing that card, the
dealer can, by altering the position of one card only, rectify such
error, he may do so.

VII. Should the dealer omit to have the pack cut to him, and the
adversaries discover the error prior to the last card being dealt, and
before looking at their cards; but not after having done so.

40. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by either of the dealer's adversaries, the dealer or his partner may claim a new deal. A card similarly exposed by the dealer or his partner gives the same claim to each adversary. The claim may not be made by a player {235} who has looked at any of his cards. If a new deal does not take place, the exposed card cannot be called.

41. If, in dealing, one of the last cards be exposed, and the dealer completes the deal before there is reasonable time to decide as to a fresh deal, the privilege is not thereby lost.

42. If the dealer, before he has dealt fifty-one cards, look at any card, his adversaries have a right to see it, and may exact a new deal.

43. Should three players have their right number of cards--the fourth have less than thirteen, and not discover such deficiency until he has played any of his cards, the deal stands good; should he have played, he is as answerable for any revoke he may have made as if the missing card or cards had been in his hand; he may search the other pack for it, or them.

44. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be proved incorrect or imperfect, such proof does not alter any past score, game, or rubber; that hand in which the imperfection was detected is null and void; the dealer deals again.

45. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the adversary's cards, may be stopped before the last card is dealt, otherwise the deal stands good, and the game must proceed as if no mistake had been made.

46 A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for his partner without the permission of his opponents.

DECLARING TRUMPS.

47. The dealer, having examined his hand, has the option of declaring what suit shall be trumps, {236} or whether the hand shall be played without trumps. If he exercise that option, he shall do so by naming the suit, or by saying "No trumps."

48. If the dealer does not wish to exercise his option, he may pass it to his partner by saying "I leave it to you, Partner," and his partner must thereupon make the necessary declaration, in the manner provided in the preceding Law.

49. If the dealer's partner make the trump declaration without receiving permission from the dealer, the eldest hand may demand:

I. That the declaration so made shall stand.

II. That there shall be a new deal.

But if any declaration as to doubling or not doubling shall have been made, or if a new deal is not claimed, the declaration wrongly made shall stand. The eldest hand is the player on the left of the dealer.

50. If the dealer's partner pass the declaration to the dealer, the eldest hand may demand:

I. That there shall be a new deal.

II. That the dealer's partner shall himself make the declaration.

51. If either of the dealer's adversaries makes the declaration, the dealer may, after looking at his hand, either claim a fresh deal or proceed as if no such declaration had been made.

52. A declaration once made cannot be altered, save as provided above.

DOUBLING AND RE-DOUBLING.

53. The effect of doubling and re-doubling, and so on, is that the value of each trick above six is doubled, quadrupled, and so on. {237}

54. After the trump declaration has been made by the dealer or his partner, their adversaries have the right to double. The eldest hand has the first right. If he does not wish to double, he shall say to his partner, "May I lead?" His partner shall answer, "Yes," or "I double."

55. If either of their adversaries elect to double, the dealer and his partner have the right to re-double. The player who has declared the trump shall have the first right. He may say, "I re-double," or "Satisfied." Should he say the latter, his partner may re-double.

56. If the dealer or his partner elect to re-double, their adversaries have the right to again double. The original doubler has the first right.

57. If the right-hand adversary of the dealer double before his partner has asked "May I lead?" the declarer of the trump shall have the right to say whether or not the double shall stand. If he decide that the double shall stand, the process of re-doubling may continue as described in Laws 55, 56, 58.

58. The process of re-doubling may be continued until the limit of 100 points is reached--the first right to continue the re-doubling on behalf of a partnership belonging to that player who has last re-doubled. Should he, however, express himself satisfied, the right to continue the re-doubling passes to his partner. Should any player re-double out of turn, the adversary who last doubled shall decide whether or not such double shall stand. If it is decided that the re-double shall stand, the process of re-doubling may continue as described in this and foregoing Laws (55 and 56). If any double or re-double out of turn be not accepted, there shall {238} be no further doubling in that hand. Any consultation between partners as to doubling or re-doubling will entitle the maker of the trump or the eldest hand, without consultation, to a new deal.

59. If the eldest hand lead before the doubling be completed, his partner may re-double only with the consent of the adversary who last doubled; but such lead shall not affect the right of either adversary to double.

60. When the question, "May I lead?" has been answered in the affirmative, or when the player who has the last right to continue the doubling expresses himself satisfied, the play shall begin.

61. A declaration once made cannot be altered.

DUMMY.

62. As soon as a card is led, whether in or out of turn, the dealer's partner shall place his cards face upwards on the table, and the duty of playing the cards from that hand, which is called Dummy, and of claiming and enforcing any penalties arising during the hand, shall devolve upon the dealer, unassisted by his partner.

63. After exposing Dummy, the dealer's partner has no part whatever in the game, except that he has the right to ask the dealer if he has none of the suit in which he may have renounced. If he call attention to any other incident in the play of the hand, in respect of which any penalty might be exacted, the fact that he has done so shall deprive the dealer of the right of exacting such penalty against his adversaries.

64. If the dealer's partner, by touching a card, or {239} otherwise, suggest the play of a card from Dummy, either of the adversaries may, but without consulting with his partner, call upon the dealer to play or not to play the card suggested.

65. When the dealer draws a card, either from his own hand or from Dummy, such card is not considered as played until actually quitted.

66. A card once played, or named by the dealer as to be played from his own hand or from Dummy, cannot be taken back, except to save a revoke.

67. The dealer's partner may not look over his adversaries' hands, nor leave his seat for the purpose of watching his partner's play.

68. Dummy is not liable to any penalty for a revoke, as his adversaries see his cards. Should he revoke, and the error not be discovered until the trick is turned and quitted, the trick stands good.

69. Dummy being blind and deaf, his partner is not liable to any penalty for an error whence he can gain no advantage. Thus, he may expose some, or all of his cards, without incurring any penalty.

EXPOSED CARDS.

70. If after the deal has been completed, and before the trump declaration has been made, either the dealer or his partner expose a card from his hand, the eldest hand may claim a new deal.

71. If after the deal has been completed, and before a card is led, any player shall expose a card, his partner shall forfeit any right to double or re-double which he would otherwise have been entitled to exercise; and in the case of a card being so exposed by the leader's partner, the dealer may, instead of calling the card, {240} require the leader not to lead the suit of the exposed card.

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED.

72. All cards exposed by the dealer's adversaries are liable to be called, and must be left face upwards on the table; but a card is not an exposed card when dropped on the floor, or elsewhere below the table.

73. The following are exposed cards:--

I. Two or more cards played at once.

II. Any card dropped with its face upwards, or in any way exposed on or
above the table, even though snatched up so quickly that no one can
name it.

74. If either of the dealer's adversaries play to an imperfect trick the best card on the table, or lead one which is a winning card as against the dealer and his partner, and then lead again, without waiting for his partner to play, or play several such winning cards, one after the other, without waiting for his partner to play, the latter may be called on to win, if he can, the first or any other of those tricks, and the other cards thus improperly played are exposed cards.

75. Should the dealer indicate that all or any of the remaining tricks are his, he may be required to place his cards face upwards on the table; but they are not liable to be called.

76. If either of the dealer's adversaries throws his cards on the table face upwards, such cards are exposed, and liable to be called by the dealer.

77. If all the players throw their cards on the table face upwards, the hands are abandoned, and the score must be left as claimed and admitted. The hands may be examined for the purpose of establishing a revoke, but for no other purpose. {241}

78. A card detached from the rest of the hand of either of the dealer's adversaries, so as to be named, is liable to be called; but should the dealer name a wrong card, he is liable to have a suit called when first he or his partner have the lead.

79. If a player, who has rendered himself liable to have the highest or lowest of a suit called, or to win or not to win a trick, fail to play as desired, though able to do so, or if when called on to lead one suit, lead another, having in his hand one or more cards of that suit demanded, he incurs the penalty of a revoke.

80. If either of the dealer's adversaries lead out of turn, the dealer may call a suit from him or his partner when it is next the turn of either of them to lead, or may call the card erroneously led.

81. If the dealer lead out of turn, either from his own hand or from Dummy, he incurs no penalty; but he may not rectify the error after the second hand has played.

82. If any player lead out of turn, and the other three have followed him, the trick is complete, and the error cannot be rectified; but if only the second, or the second and third, have played to the false lead, their cards, on discovery of the mistake, are taken back; and there is no penalty against any one, excepting the original offender, and then only when he is one of the dealer's adversaries.

83. In no case can a player be compelled to play a card which would oblige him to revoke.

84. The call of a card may be repeated until such card has been played.

85. If a player called on to lead a suit have none of it, the penalty is paid. {242}

CARDS PLAYED IN ERROR, OR NOT PLAYED TO A TRICK.

86. Should the third hand not have played, and the fourth play before his partner, the latter (not being Dummy or his partner) may be called on to win, or not to win, the trick.

87. If any one (not being Dummy) omit playing to a former trick, and such error be not discovered until he has played to the next, the adversaries may claim a new deal; should they decide that the deal stand good, or should Dummy have omitted to play to a former trick, and such error be not discovered till he shall have played to the next, the surplus card at the end of the hand is considered to have been played to the imperfect trick, but does not constitute a revoke therein.

88. If any one play two cards to the same trick, or mix a card with a trick to which it does not properly belong, and the mistake be not discovered until the hand is played out, he (not being Dummy) is answerable for all consequent revokes he may have made. If, during the play of the hand, the error be detected, the tricks may be counted face downwards, in order to ascertain whether there be among them a card too many: should this be the case they may be searched, and the card restored; the player (not being Dummy) is, however, liable for all revokes which he may have meanwhile made.

THE REVOKE.

89. Is when a player (other than Dummy), holding one or more cards of the suit led, plays a card of a different suit. {243}

90. The penalty for a revoke--

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who, at the end of the hand,
may, after consultation, either take three tricks from the revoking
player and add them to their own--or deduct the value of three tricks
from his existing score--or add the value of three tricks to their own
score;

II. Can be claimed for as many revokes as occur during the hand;

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in which it occurs;

IV. Cannot be divided--_i.e._ a player cannot add the value of one or
two tricks to his own score and deduct the value of one or two from the
revoking player.

V. In whatever way the penalty may be enforced, under no circumstances
can the suit revoking score Game, Grand Slam or Little Slam, that hand.
Whatever their previous score may be, the side revoking cannot attain a
higher score towards the game than twenty-eight.

91. A revoke is established, if the trick in which it occurs be turned and quitted--_i.e._ the hand removed from that trick after it has been turned face downwards on the table--or if either the revoking player or his partner, whether in his right turn or otherwise, lead or play to the following trick.

92. A player may ask his partner whether he has not a card of the suit which he has renounced; should the question be asked before the trick is turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting does not establish the revoke, and the error may be corrected, unless the question be answered in the negative, or unless the revoking player or his partner have led or played to the following trick.

[NOTE.--A negative answer to the question does not _in itself_
establish the revoke, apart from turning and quitting the trick, or
some subsequent act of play.--ED.]

{244}

93. At the end of the hand, the claimants of a revoke may search all the tricks.

94. If a player discover his mistake in time to save a revoke, any player or players who have played after him may withdraw their cards and substitute others, and their cards withdrawn are not liable to be called. If the player in fault be one of the dealer's adversaries, the dealer may call the card thus played in error, or may require him to play his highest or lowest card to that trick in which he has renounced.

95. If the player in fault be the dealer, the eldest hand may require him to play the highest or lowest card of the suit in which he has renounced, provided both of the dealer's adversaries have played to the current trick; but this penalty cannot be exacted from the dealer when he is fourth in hand, nor can it be enforced at all from Dummy.

96. If a revoke be claimed, and the accused player or his partner mix the cards before they have been sufficiently examined by the adversaries, the revoke is established. The mixing of the cards only renders the proof of a revoke difficult, but does not prevent the claim, and possible establishment, of the penalty.

97. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards have been cut for the following deal.

98. If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, bets on the odd trick, or on amount of score, must be decided by the actual state of the score after the penalty is paid.

99. Should the players on both sides subject themselves to the penalty of one or more revokes, neither can win the game by that hand; each is punished at the discretion of his adversary. {245}

CALLING FOR NEW CARDS.

100. Any player (on paying for them) before, but not after, the pack be cut for the deal, may call for fresh cards. He must call for two new packs, of which the dealer takes his choice.

GENERAL RULES.

101. Any one during the play of a trick, or after the four cards are played, and before, but not after, they are touched for the purpose of gathering them together, may demand that the cards be placed before their respective players.

102. If either of the dealer's adversaries, prior to his partner playing, should call attention to the trick--either by saying that it is his, or by naming his card, or, without being required so to do, by drawing it towards him--the dealer may require that opponent's partner to play his highest or lowest of the suit then led, or to win or lose the trick.

103. Should the partner of the player solely entitled to exact a penalty, suggest or demand the enforcement of it, no penalty can be enforced.

104. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred, the offender is bound to give reasonable time for the decision of his adversaries.

105. If a bystander make any remark which calls the attention of a player or players to an oversight affecting the score, he is liable to be called on, by the players only, to pay the stakes and all bets on that game or rubber.

106. A bystander, by agreement among the players, may decide any question. {246}

107. A card or cards torn or marked must be either replaced by agreement, or new cards called at the expense of the table.

108. Once a trick is complete, turned, and quitted, it must not be looked at (except under Law 88) until the end of the hand.

BOOKS ON BRIDGE.

The greater number of these have come into existence quite unnecessarily. All that the student need know will be found in the following:--

BADSWORTH.--The Laws and Principles of Bridge, with Cases and Decisions
reviewed and explained. (G. P. Putnam's Sons.)

BERGHOLT, ERNEST.--Double Dummy Bridge: [an exhaustive collection of
card-problems by living composers]. (Thos. De la Rue & Co., Ld.)

DALTON, WILLIAM.--Bridge at a Glance: an Alphabetical Synopsis. (Thos.
De la Rue & Co., Ld.)

---- Bridge Abridged; or, Practical Bridge. (Do.)

---- "Saturday" Bridge. (The West Strand Publishing Co., Ld.)

DOE, JOHN.--The Bridge Manual. (Frederick Warne and Co.)

HOFFMANN, Professor.--Bridge. (Chas. Goodall & Son, Ld.)

_For American Views on the Game._

ELWELL, J. B.--Bridge.--Advanced Bridge.--Practical Bridge. (Chas.
Scribner's Sons, New York; and George Newnes, Ld., London.)

STREET, C. S.--Bridge Up to Date. Dodd, Mead & Co., New York.

_For Anglo-Indian Views._

HELLESPONT.--The Laws and Principles of Bridge. (De la Rue, London)

ACE OF SPADES.--The Theory and Practice of Bridge. (_Times of India_
Press, Bombay.)

LYNX.--Bridge Topics. (W. Newman & Co., Calcutta.)

ROBERTSON and WOLLASTON.--The Robertson Rule and other Bridge Axioms.
(Calcutta.)

* * * * *

{247}

AUCTION BRIDGE.

A lively offshoot from the preceding game, which has recently become very popular in some of the London Clubs. So highly is it ranked in many quarters, that a well-known player has given it as his opinion that "in a year or two we shall only remember Bridge as the son of Whist and the father of Auction." Having in view the strong element of gambling which the latter game contains, and the expectedly heavy losses which may be incurred by the unwary player, the writer opines that a good many impecunious folk are likely to remember it only as being connected with their "uncle."

It is, in fact, a combination of Bridge and Poker. In all that takes place after the declaration has been finally determined, it is pure Bridge, with an extra infusion of "double dummy," due to inferences from the course of the bidding. In the bidding itself, which leads up to the final declaration, the qualities of the Poker-player are pre-eminent--cool but rapid judgment, shrewd reading of character, a happy instinct when to "lie low" and when to "bluff"; when to make a spurt forward for game, and when to egg the opponents on beyond the limits of discretion, and to leave them in the lurch!

By the adherents of the new game--who are head {248} over ears in love with it, and are consequently blind to all its weak points--it is contended that the "gambling" argument brought against it is as fallacious as it was when urged against Bridge proper, and that, to redress the balance, it is only necessary to readjust the value of the points. This is not true. Poker is an excellent game, but no readjustment of values will ever place it on the same plane as games of science, because the qualities of brain and temperament upon which it is based are essentially distinct from the qualities of analysis and combination such as go to the making of (say) a first-class Chess-player. There is, undoubtedly, a greater difference in kind between Auction Bridge and Bridge than there is between Bridge and Whist; whether that difference renders Auction "inferior" or "superior," however, is a moot question which every card-player must decide for himself. There are many who regard the additional spice of hazard, not as a defect, but as a merit.

The Laws of the game, which for some time were in a state of flux, have now been settled as authoritatively as those of Bridge or Whist. It will only be necessary to set out _verbatim_ those Laws which differ from the Laws of Bridge. As regards the remainder, the reader is referred to the preceding Bridge Code.

THE LAWS OF AUCTION BRIDGE.

(Framed by a Joint Committee of the Portland and Bath Clubs, 1908; and reprinted, by permission, so far as they differ from the Laws of Bridge.)

1. _As in Bridge._

2. A game consists of thirty points obtained by {249} tricks alone, when the declarer fulfils his contract, which are scored below the line, exclusive of any points counted for Honours, Chicane, Slam, or under-tricks, which are scored above the line.

3. _As in Bridge._

4. When the declarer fulfils his contract, each trick above six counts, &c. (_as in Bridge_).

5 to 10. _As in Bridge._

11. At the end of the rubber, the total scores for tricks, Honours, Chicane, and Slam obtained by each player and his partner are added up, 250 points are added to the score of the winners of the rubber, and the difference between the two scores is the number of points won, or lost, by the winners of the rubber.

12 to 46. _As in Bridge._

47. The dealer, having examined his hand, must declare to win at least one odd trick, either with a trump suit, or at "no trumps."

48. After the dealer has made his declaration, each player in turn, commencing with the player on the dealer's left, has the right to pass the previous declaration, or to double, or re-double, or to overcall the previous declaration by making a call of higher value. A call of a greater number of tricks in a suit of lower value, which equals the previous call in value of points, shall be considered a call of higher value--_e.g._ a call of two tricks in Spades overcalls one trick in Clubs, or "Two Diamonds" overcalls "One No Trump."

49. A player may overbid the previous call any number of times, and may also overbid his partner. The play of the two combined hands shall rest with the partners who make the final call. Where two partners have both made calls in the same suit, the {250} one who made the first such call shall play the hand, his partner becoming Dummy.

50. When the player of the two hands (hereafter termed the declarer) wins the number of tricks which were declared, or a greater number, he scores below the line the full value of the tricks won (see Laws 2 and 4). When he fails, his adversaries score, above the line, 50 points for each under-trick, _i.e._ each trick short of the number declared; or, if the declaration was doubled or re-doubled, 100 or 200 points respectively for each such trick. Neither the declarer nor the adversaries score anything below the line for that hand.

51. The loss on the declaration of "One Spade" shall be limited to 100 points in respect of tricks, whether doubled or not.

52. If a player makes a trump declaration out of turn, the adversary on his left may demand a new deal, or may allow the declaration so made to stand, when the bidding shall continue as if the declaration had been in order.

53. If a player, in bidding, fails to call a sufficient number of tricks to overbid the previous declaration, he shall be considered to have declared the requisite number of tricks in the call which he has made, and his partner shall be debarred from making any further declaration, unless either of his adversaries overcall, or double.

54. After the final declaration has been accepted, a player is not entitled to give his partner any information as to a previous call, whether made by himself or by either adversary; but a player is entitled to inquire, at any time during the play of the hand, what was the value of the final declaration. {251}

55. Doubling and re-doubling affect the score only, and not the value in declaring--_e.g._ "Two Diamonds" will still overcall "One No Trump," although the "no trump" declaration has been doubled.

56. Any declaration can be doubled, and re-doubled once, but not more. A player cannot double his partner's call, or re-double his partner's double, but he may re-double a call of his partner's which has been doubled by an adversary.

57. The act of doubling re-opens the bidding. When a declaration has been doubled, any player, including the declarer or his partner, can in his proper turn make a further declaration of higher value.

58. When a player, whose declaration has been doubled, fulfils his contract by winning the declared number of tricks, he scores a bonus of 50 points above the line, and a further 50 points for every additional trick which he may make. If he, or his partner, have re-doubled, the bonus is doubled.

59. If a player doubles out of turn, the adversary on his left may demand a new deal.

60. When all the players have expressed themselves satisfied, the play shall begin, and the player on the left of the declarer shall lead.

61. A declaration once made cannot be altered, unless it has been overcalled or doubled.

62. As soon as a card is led, whether in or out of turn, the declarer's partner shall place his cards face upwards on the table, &c. (_as in Bridge_).

63 to 69. _As in Bridge._

70. If, after the cards have been dealt, and before the trump declaration has been finally determined, any player exposes a card from his hand, the adversary {252} on his left may demand a new deal. If the deal is allowed to stand, the exposed card may be picked up, and cannot be called.

71. If, after the final declaration has been accepted, and before a card is led, the partner of the player who has to lead to the first trick exposes a card from his hand, the declarer may, instead of calling the card, require the leader not to lead the suit of the exposed card.

72 to 89. _As in Bridge._

90. The penalty for each revoke shall be--

(_a_) When the declarer revokes, his adversaries add 150 points to
their score above the line,[64] in addition to any liability which the
revoking player may have incurred for failure to fulfil his contract.

(_b_) When either of the adversaries revoke[s], the declarer may add
150 points to his score above the line,[64] or may take three tricks
from his opponents and add them to his own. Such tricks, taken as
penalty, may assist the declarer to fulfil his contract, but they shall
not entitle him to score any bonus above the line, in the case of the
declaration having been doubled or re-doubled.

Under no circumstances can a side score anything, either above or below the line, except for Honours or Chicane, on a hand in which one of them has revoked.

91 to 108. _As in Bridge._

HINTS TO PLAYERS.

_The "One-Spade" Convention._

In certain club circles where the game has been somewhat extensively played, a fixed idea has arisen that to be the first to make an effectual declaration is a positive disadvantage. Hence the "convention" {253} has been established that (except in certain cases defined below) the dealer must begin with a nominal or fictitious call of One Spade, in order to obtain information from the opponents' calls as to the contents of their hands, or to induce them to undertake a contract which they are unable to carry out.

As it would never do for the dealer, under such a convention, to be left to play the hand at One Spade--which may be the very last thing that he desires--it is a further understanding that the dealer's partner must _never_ fail to overcall. If he has nothing better to say, he must call "Two Spades," thus re-opening the bidding for the dealer to make a fresh start, in case the opponents also "lie low."

The effect of this convention, plainly, is as follows:--

The second player (by which is meant the player on the dealer's left) is quite certain that the bidding will come round to him again; therefore he never opens his mouth unless he is sure that it is to his advantage to do so. All that the dealer has done, therefore, is to shift on to his partner's shoulders the _onus_ of opening, which is disadvantageous for the double reason that the new opener is debarred from One Spade, and that the second player has been given an unnecessary option.

The exceptional cases in which, under the convention, it is agreed that the dealer shall make a genuine call are (1) when he has a _moderate_ or "guarded" No-trumper, when he is to declare One No-trumps; (2) when he has a strong suit to the ace, king, of Spades or Clubs, when he is to declare two in the strong suit as an invitation to partner to make a No-trumper.

Now, as it is conceded that to call first under such {254} circumstances is an advantage, why give second player the option of enjoying the same advantage, which he might not otherwise have had?

By this convention, if it be adopted, the limitation of loss, under Law 51, is voluntarily annulled.

GENERAL REMARKS.

It will be noticed that, if the player of Dummy fulfils his contract, his reward increases as in ordinary Bridge with the value of the declaration. If he fails, however, by the same number of tricks, he loses no more on a declaration of No-trumps than on a declaration of Spades, the penalty for failure being always 100 or 50 per trick, according as the opponents have, or have not, doubled. Assuming that your chance of winning tricks is the same, it is always better to play a high call than a low one. Conversely, it is very frequently wiser to leave the opponents to play out a black call, which you think you can defeat, than to incur risk of failure yourself by overbidding.

Do not forget that to double a call is to warn the opponents of their danger and to drive them to make another call which may not suit you so well. If dealer declares One No-trumps, and you, being second player, have eight clubs to tierce major, and you keep your mouth shut, and let No-trumps be played, you may be pretty sure of 100 above for two tricks "under." If you double, and they make it Two Hearts and win the odd trick, you are 50 points to the bad. A high declaration (Four, or even Three, in a red suit), which the opponents cannot get out of, may be doubled more freely, though the penalty under Law 58 must be borne in mind. Such doubles are often advisable on {255} high-card strength in the plain suits, even when weak in trumps. Still more politic is what is known as a "free" double, that is, the double of a call which in any case will give the opponents game if they fulfil their contract. Conversely, a double which gives the opponents a game that they would not otherwise have secured is the worst double of all.

The most important point of all in the game is to remember that, in the majority of cases, it is more profitable to let your opponents fail than to score below the line yourself. The efforts of the skilled player are being always directed to driving the other side into a contract which they cannot bring off, and then _leaving them to play it_. It is in this kind of strategy that the Poker-player is pre-eminent: to know when to "bluff" the enemy into an indiscretion, and when to avoid a similar snare set for oneself, are gifts of nature not to be acquired from a book.

Suppose you have a strong hand, and call Two No-trumps, and win the first game from love with four by cards, and score 30 Aces, you have won 66 points, and have improved your chance of winning the 250 points for the rubber. If we reckon your chance of the rubber as 5 to 3 on (it certainly is not more), it is worth about 63 points more--say 130 in all.

This you may think a great success. But if you can get the opponents to overbid your Two No-trumps with Three Hearts, and you see that they can only get the odd trick, you will be better off if you double and let them play, even if they score 16 for honours. For 200 less 16 leaves you 184 points--and you are still 54 to the good.

As player of Dummy, aim first at fulfilling your {256} contract. When this is accomplished, you may try for game.

As player against Dummy, aim first at saving the game. When there is no risk of that being lost, devote yourself to defeating the dealer's contract.

* * * * *

{257}

FIVE HUNDRED.

This is a game largely played in the United States and in Canada, but not so well known in this country as it deserves to be, though one variety of it has been played in London clubs. It is primarily and specifically a game for three players; and this is one of its greatest merits, for good three-handed games are rare.

"Five Hundred" has been characterised as a "patchwork" or "mosaic" game; but such expressions do not do it justice, as tending to create the impression that it is a thing of shreds picked up here and there, and indifferently joined together. It does, indeed, borrow its elements from sundry older games: Euchre, Loo, Nap, and Auction Bridge: but by combining these elements into a new and harmonious whole, it achieves a sum total that produces the effect of novelty without taxing our brains to assimilate unfamiliar and bizarre ideas.

It appears to many people to contain all the merits of Auction Bridge without the patent defects of the latter--the interminable length of the rubber, the undefined limits of loss, and the supersession of skill by "bluff."

In the following description, the typical form of the game is assumed, in which three players take part, each being opposed to both the others. The pack used is the piquet pack of thirty-two cards (cards below the seven being omitted) _plus_ the Joker--thirty-three cards in all. {258}

Those who are not Euchre-players must begin by familiarising themselves with the functions of the Joker, and with the peculiar rank and attributes of the Right and Left Bower.

When there are trumps, the Joker is the master trump; then follows the knave of trumps (the "Right Bower"); then the other knave of the same colour (the "Left Bower"); after which come the ace, king, queen, ten, nine, eight, seven of trumps, in descending order. The trump suit thus consists of _ten_ cards; the plain suit of the same colour consists of _seven_ only; the other two plain suits consist of eight each. The knaves of the latter two suits take their ordinary Whist and Bridge rank, between the queen and the 10.

When there are no trumps, all the cards, except the Joker, rank as in Whist or Bridge. The Joker remains the master card of the pack; if it is led, the leader names the suit which he elects it to represent, and the other players must follow suit accordingly.

In cutting for deal, the Joker is the lowest card, and an ace the next higher. After which come the 7, &c., upwards to the king.

After shuffling and cutting, the dealer distributes three rounds of three cards each to the three players, followed by one round of one card each. The remaining three cards are laid face downwards on the table, and constitute the "widow."

The bidding then begins. The eldest hand has the first right to declare how many tricks (not fewer than six) he will contract to win. At the same time, he must either name a trump suit or declare No-trumps. The eldest hand is not bound to bid, but may pass. Each successive player, in the usual Bridge order, may {259} either overbid, or may also pass. A player who has once "passed" cannot subsequently bid. With this exception, the bidding and overbidding continue, until every one is content. If no player bids, the cards are played No-trumps, and in this case the "widow" remains unappropriated, the eldest hand has the first lead, and each player scores 10 points for each trick that he may make.

When the bidding, if any, is completed, the player who bid the highest,--thenceforward known as "the bidder,"--has the first lead.

The bidder, before playing, takes the "widow" into his own hand, and then discards any three cards out of the thirteen. These rejected cards are to be laid face downwards on the table, and may not be inspected by any one. There are penalties for discarding too many or too few cards, and for illegally looking at the discard.

The value of any bid depends, as in Auction Bridge, partly on the number of tricks contracted for, and partly on the declaration as to trumps. The best and most modern schedule (known as the "Avondale") is as follows:--

+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Bids | Tricks | Tricks | Tricks | Tricks | Tricks |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| In Spades | 40 | 140 | 240 | 340 | 440 |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| In Clubs | 60 | 160 | 260 | 360 | 460 |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| In Diamonds | 80 | 180 | 280 | 380 | 480 |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| In Hearts | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+
| In No-trumps | 120 | 220 | 320 | 420 | 520 |
+--------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+

{260}

The scale is uniform, and easy to remember. The numbers increase downwards by 20 at a time, and horizontally by 100 at a time. It will be noticed that no two bids are numerically equal.

There are certain restrictions on the power of the Joker in the case of No-trumps. The leader of it cannot nominate it to be of a suit in which he has previously renounced; and if he plays it (not being the leader) to the lead of a suit in which he has previously renounced, it has no winning value.

When there are trumps, the Joker and both Bowers form part of the trump suit in the order of precedence already explained.

If the bidder fulfils his contract, or makes any greater number of tricks fewer than ten, he scores the number of points set out in the above table, _but no more_. If he wins all the ten tricks, he scores a _minimum_ of 250; but if his bid be worth more than 250, he scores nothing extra. Should he fail in his contract, the value of his bid is set down in his _minus_ column, and has to be deducted from his past or future _plus_ score. In every case, each opponent of the bidder scores 10 points for every trick that he wins.

The winner of the game is he who first scores 500 points (hence the title of the game). If two players score more than 500 each in the same deal, one of them being the bidder, the latter is the winner. If neither is the bidder, he who first makes the trick that brings his score over 500 is the winner.

Each player keeps his score in three columns, one for _plus_ points (headed "WON"), one for _minus_ points (headed "LOST"), and the third for the net total. {261}

REVOKES.

The American rule is as follows:--

"Upon the revoke being claimed and proved, the hands shall be immediately abandoned. If it is an adversary of the bidder who has revoked, the bidder scores the full amount of his bid, while the side in error scores nothing."

Professor Hoffmann's rule is as follows:--

"If the bidder be the offender, he shall be set back the amount of his bid [_i.e._ the amount shall be scored in his _minus_ column], each of the opponents scoring as usual for any trick or tricks he may have made, including any which, but for the revoke, would have fallen to him.

"If one of the opponents be the offender, the cards of the trick in which the revoke occurred, and of any subsequent trick, shall be taken back by their respective holders, and the hand played anew from that point. The bidder and the opponent not in fault shall each score according to the result of the play, but the offender can score nothing for that hand, and shall further be set back 100 points."

If a player finds that he holds the Joker, two knaves of the same colour, and any two other cards of the same suit as one of the knaves, he has four tricks certain, by declaring the three-suit trumps, unless all the other five trumps be in the same hand. Should he hold two more tricks in the side suits, he will be quite justified in bidding six.

The chances of getting another trump, by taking in the "widow," are an important element in arriving at sound decisions. The odds evidently vary with the number of trumps already held by the player. {262} The following figures should be carefully borne in mind:

If a player holds four trumps, it is 8 to 5 on his finding one more at least in the "widow."

If he holds five trumps, the odds are only 7 to 6 in favour.

If he has six, he must not reckon on getting another, the odds being 6 to 5 _against_.

BOOK ON FIVE HUNDRED.

HOFFMANN, PROFESSOR.--Five Hundred: the popular American Card Game.
Goodall & Son, Ld.

* * * * *

{263}

QUINTO.

This game is the invention of Professor Hoffmann. It has achieved immediate popularity in circles where it has been experimentally introduced, and it has been thought that it may even be destined to supplant Bridge. Waiving discussion, however, of the question whether Bridge is on the point of immediate deposition from its throne, no impartial person would deny that games could be devised that might run it very close, and bid fair to imperil its popularity. To invent such a game Professor Hoffmann, with his long and close experience of social pastimes of every kind, is exceptionally well qualified; and, whether or no we shall all leave off being Bridge-players and become Quinto-players, there is no denying that in the latter game there are several new and interesting elements, that it carefully avoids the fatal error of excessive complexity--the ruin of "Vint" and "Skat," for instance--and that it is compounded of skill and chance in very happy proportions.

It is a game of two partners against two, as at Bridge and Whist. The pack, however, consists of fifty-three cards instead of fifty-two. The place of the extra card (five "crowns"--known as "Quint Royal") which is included by Messrs. Goodall & Son in their "Quinto" packs can be supplied equally well by the "Joker," which all ordinary packs now contain. Similarly, the score-sheets (which resemble {264} those of Bridge, except that no horizontal division is necessary) may be dispensed with, and their place supplied by ordinary paper and pencil, or by an ordinary cribbage-board.

After settling partners and deal in the usual way, the cards are shuffled and cut, and the dealer then lays aside the five top cards, face downwards, to form what is known as the "cachette." The remaining forty-eight cards are dealt out as at Whist, so that each hand contains twelve cards; but no trump card is turned up.

The players in rotation, commencing with the eldest hand, have then the option of once doubling the value of each trick, and of once re-doubling an opponent's double. The option passes round the table once only, and does not affect the value of the "quints," as defined below.

The normal value of each trick, reckoned irrespective of its contents, and counting to the side which wins it, is five points. Each side scores the number of tricks that it actually wins. If A B win 11 tricks, and Y Z 2, A B score 55, and Y Z 10. These values may, however, be doubled or quadrupled before the play begins, as previously explained. The winners of the twelfth trick take the "cachette," which itself counts as an extra trick. Thus the winning of the twelfth trick bears a double value.