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Card Games |
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| Cribbage |
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In this game the object
is to form counting combinations that traditionally are scored bymoving pegs on
a special Cribbage board. The appeal of the game, usually played by two but can
be four or sometimes three, is evident from two facts: few changes have been
made in the original rules, and it remains one of the most popular of all card
games. In the U.K. from 1966 through 1969, the "Card Corner" in the News of
the World had more requests for information on Cribbage than for any other
game. In the United States, Cribbage is played by more than 10 million people,
principally across the northern states, from New England to the Pacific, and
the game has remained popular in Canada as well.
The game of Cribbage (earlier spelled Cribbidge) was invented by
the 17th-century English poet Sir John Suckling. Although Cribbage quite
clearly developed from Noddy, an older game for which a special scoring board
also was used, it appears to be the only existing game in its family. Cribbage
would quite likely have become the most popular of all two-hand card games if
so many descriptions had not called the Cribbage board indispensable, which it
is not.
Almost the only big change from the original rules is that in
modern two-hand Cribbage each player is dealt six cards instead of five, as
originally. See Cribbage
Books
Variations
Five-card Cribbage was the
original game. Each player discards two cards into the crib, remaining with
only three, plus starter. At the beginning of the initial hand nondealer pegs 3
to offset dealer's advantage. Game is 61.
Four-hand Cribbage is
played in partnerships of two on a side, partners seated across the table from
each other. The dealer gives each player five cards; each discards only one
into the crib. The score is usually slightly less in the showing, but the
average per side is about 9 points in the play. Game is always
121.
Three-hand Cribbage has each player dealt five cards. Each
discards one into the crib, and a single card is dealt blind to complete the
crib, which belongs to the dealer. Each player scores for himself. Eldest hand
(the one to the left of the dealer) shows first.
Scoring
Scoring is traditionally called pegging, because it
usually is done by moving pegs on a scoring device, the Cribbage board. This
Cribbage board is essentially a tablet with 60 counting holes (in two rows of
30) for each player, plus one game hole for each, and often extra holes for
holding pegs when not in play and for keeping track of games won. Game is 121
(twice around the board plus 1 for the game hole) or 61 in the less frequently
played game of Once Around. Each player has two pegs, and each scoring point is
marked by jumping the rearmost peg ahead of the other (thus showing at a glance
the number of points scored on a move as well as the total). Scores must be
pegged in order because the first player to reach 121 (or 61) or, in some
games, to pass it is the winner. Emphasis on the board as a scoring device
created the idea that the game could not be played without it, but the score
can be kept with pencil and paper or with chips or other counters; indeed,
keeping score by discarding counters (each player starting with 121 or 61) is
so efficient and simple a method that the enduring primacy of the board is
difficult to understand.
The Cut/Deal
A full deck is used,
King is high, Ace is low. Face cards and tens count 10 each; other cards count
their index value (number of pips). The player cutting low card deals first,
the deal alternating with each hand. The dealer deals six cards, alternately,
to the nondealer and to himself. Each player then discards two cards, facedown,
to form the crib. In discarding to the crib, since it scores for the dealer,
the nondealer tries to lay away "balking" cards, those least likely to create
scoring combinations. After the discard, the undealt remainder of the pack is
cut by the nondealer; the top card of the lower packet is turned faceup on top
of the reunited deck and becomes the starter. If the starter is a Jack, dealer
immediately pegs (scores) 2, called "2 for his heels." If the starter is any
other card, the Jack of that suit--formerly called "knave noddy," an
unmistakable link with the earlier game--is worth 1 point to the holder for
"his nobs" but is not scored until later. This is followed by the two stages of
scoring, the play and the showing.
Playing
The nondealer
begins the play by laying faceup before him any card from his hand, announcing
its counting value. Dealer then plays a card (each adds cards to his own pile,
so that his original hand may be counted later in the showing) and announces
the total of the two cards. Play continues alternately, each player announcing
the new total, until the total reaches 31, or until one player cannot play
without increasing the total beyond 31. If either player cannot add a card
without exceeding 31, his opponent must play any card(s) in his hand that may
be added without exceeding 31. The last to play in each sequence scores a
"go"--2 points if he reaches exactly 31, or 1 for any lesser total. After a go,
count begins again at zero.
In addition to go, the object is to peg for
certain combinations of cards played consecutively. These combinations score
whether the cards are played in strict alternation or in succession by one
player when his opponent cannot play. The score in every case is pegged by the
player whose card completes the combination. Any player who can add to a
combination, providing there has been no intervening card, can score the value
of the new combination. Combinations are scored for playing a card that makes
the count exactly 15 (score 2); for playing cards of the same rank to make a
pair (2), three of a kind (6), or four of a kind (12); and for playing a third
or later card to form a run, or sequence, regardless of suits and regardless of
the order in which the cards are played (1 for each card in the run).
The next stage of scoring is the showing. After all four cards are
played, the values in each hand are counted--the nondealer's hand first, then
the dealer's hand, then the crib, which scores for the dealer. The starter
counts as a fifth card in each of the three hands. Every combination of two or
more cards totalling 15 scores 2; each pair, 2; every sequence of three or more
cards, 1 for each card in the sequence; four cards of the same suit, 4, or 5 if
of the same suit as the starter (but only a five-card flush matching the
starter counts in the crib); and his nobs (jack of the same suit as the
starter), 1. Every possible different grouping of cards in the hand, plus
starter, counts separately, except that a sequence of four or five cards may be
counted only once, and not as two or more separate sequences of three.
As indicated above, the order of scoring on each hand is important and
is as follows: (1) scoring of starter, if it is a jack, (2) scoring in play for
various combinations, (3) scoring in play for go, (4) scoring of nondealer's
hand, (5) scoring of dealer's hand, and (6) scoring of crib. When either or
both players approach a score of 121 (or 61), whose turn it is to score becomes
important. The game ends immediately if either player is able to count out in
the play or the showing. If nondealer is able to count out in the showing, it
does not matter if the dealer, with or without counting his crib, could have
scored a higher total. The loser scores only what he has already pegged before
his opponent counts out, and if he has not already counted at least 61 (or 31),
he is "lurched" ("left in the lurch") and, if the play is for stakes, loses
doubly. (As sometimes played, the winner must be able to count out to exactly
121, just as, in playing for a go, he tries to reach 31 exactly. Thus, for
example, if a player's score is 120, he can count out only if he can score
exactly 1 point, as for his nobs or for go.) Some play that, if a player fails
to claim his full score on any turn, his opponent may call out "muggins" and
score for himself any points overlooked.
After each player has played
all four of his cards, and the showing has been completed, the cards are put
back in the deck and shuffled and dealt as before. See
Cribbage
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| Faro |
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Faro is one of the
oldest gambling games played with cards, supposedly named from the picture of a
pharaoh on French playing cards imported into Great Britain. A favourite of
highborn gamblers throughout Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries,
Faro was the game at which the young count Rostov, in Leo Tolstoy's War and
Peace, lost a fortune. Faro was introduced to the United States in New Orleans.
Common in American gaming rooms, especially in the West, until 1915, the game
had all but vanished by 1925, except in a few Nevada casinos.
In the
game the 13 cards of the spade suit, representing the ranks of all suits, are
enameled on a layout on which the bets are placed against the house. A bet may
be placed on any rank to win or (by coppering the bet--i.e., placing a copper
counter on the chips) to lose; or, by the manner in which the chips are placed
on the layout, a bet may cover several ranks. A shuffled pack of playing cards
is placed face up in a dealing box. The top card is removed and not used. The
next card taken from the box loses (the house pays the coppered bets placed and
takes in bets placed on the card to win). The card left showing in the box
wins, and the house pays the amount of any bet placed on that rank to win. The
two cards constitute a turn. The dealer then removes the exposed card from the
box, puts aside another card (which loses), and leaves exposed another card
(which wins). The game continues in this fashion through the pack. The last
card in the box does not count. When cards of the same rank appear in the same
turn and so both win and lose, the house takes half of each bet on that rank,
whether to win or to lose. This is called a split.
Stuss is a variant
of the game in which the cards are dealt from a pack held face down in the
dealer's hand, not from a dealing box. When a split occurs the house takes all
the bets on that rank instead of only half of them.. |
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| Gin Rummy |
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Gin is a member of the
Rummy-games family; introduced in New York in 1909, it became a nationwide fad
in the U.S. in the 1940s. Two play; each is dealt 10 cards face down, one at a
time, beginning with nondealer. The remainder of the pack, placed face down,
forms the stock, the top card of which is turned up beside it as the first up
card.
Nondealer may take the up card or refuse it; if he refuses, dealer
has the same option. If both refuse, nondealer draws the top card of the stock.
Thereafter, each player in turn takes either the up card or the top card of the
stock, then discards one card face up on the up-card pile.
Object of
play is to form melds as in Rummy--either sequences of three or more cards of
the same suit or sets of three or more cards of the same rank. After drawing, a
player may knock (go down) if his unmatched cards (less one discard) total 10
or less. Face cards count 10, aces 1, other cards their number value. Upon
knocking, a player faces his 10 cards arranged in sets and with unmatched cards
to one side, then discards his 11th card. If all his cards are matched, he is
gin.
The opponent of the knocker may lay off any of his unmatched cards
upon the knocker's sets, thereby reducing his count. If the knocker has the
lower count of unmatched cards, he wins the difference. Should his opponent
have an equal or lesser count, he has undercut the knocker and receives the
difference (if any) plus a bonus of 25 points. The knocker cannot be undercut
if he has gone gin--he receives, in addition to the total points of his
opponent's unmatched cards, a bonus of 25 points.
First to reach 100
points wins the game and receives a 100-point bonus. Each player then adds to
his score 25 points for each hand he has won, called a box. If the loser has
failed to score, the game is a shutout, or schneider, and the winner's total
score is doubled. Gin Rummy is frequently played with several variations and as
a gambling game, often for a small amount of money per point.
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| Newmarket |
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This game is also known
as Boodle, Stops or (in Britain) Newmarket and is suitable for about 3 to 8
players. It is a fairly simple stops game in which the aim is to get rid
of your cards first, and to win stakes by playing particular cards.
You
need two packs of cards to play. Take the jack of spades, queen of diamonds,
king of clubs and ace of hearts out of one and place them in the middle of the
table. These are known as the "boodle" cards.
Each player
places the agreed stake in the kitty, plus an additional stake on each boodle
card. (Experiment to see what works for you, but I'd recommend a kitty stake of
between one and four times the boodle stake.)
Ace is high. Dealer deals
the entire second pack out between the players, plus an extra "dummy" hand. (If
there are five players, the four to dealer's left get nine cards each, the
dealer and the dummy eight.)
Whoever holds the two of diamonds
announces and plays it. If no one has it, call for the three, and so on. Play
now proceeds with whoever holds the next highest card in the suit. So the
holder of the four plays that, then the holder of the five ...
This
would be dire sport indeed were it not for the dummy hand, the cards in which,
of course, prevent these runs from being completed. If you play the last card
in a sequence, you must begin a new run with your lowest card in a suit of
another colour. The first person to empty her hand completely takes the pot;
and if at any time someone plays
 J,
 Q,
 K or
 A, she
collects the money on that card. (If any boodle money remains uncollected when
someone goes out, it carries over to the next game.)
More than most
games, newmarket admits of myriad variations. Some use four kings instead of
the cards above. Some allow the dealer the opportunity to switch his hand with
the dummy hand; if he refuses, that opportunity passes to the next player. Some
require any player switching hands to pay extra for the privilege. Some permit
players to divide their boodle money as they wish across the four cards. And
some say that if a player completes a run, she need only change suit, not
colour. (Since the choices offered by the game are already somewhat limited,
I'd definitely suggest adopting this last one.)
In fact, if you add
enough of these embellishments, newmarket can actually be quite enjoyable. For
a bit. If you're 12. |
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