Hoyle's Games Modernized Part 1

Hoyle's Games Modernized.

Edited by Louis Hoffmann.

PREFACE

To the present generation the name of Edmond Hoyle conveys but a vague meaning, though the phrase "according to Hoyle" is still now and then used as a synonym for correct play in a card-game.

Hoyle was in fact the "Cavendish" of his day, and was in many ways a man of special mark. He was born in 1672, and died in 1769, having outlived half-a-dozen monarchs. Of his earlier life little is known. He is said to have been called to the Bar, though whether he ever practised as an advocate is uncertain. In 1742 he was living in Queen's Square, and giving lessons in whist-play, which he was the first to reduce to a scientific method. He had up to that time communicated his system either personally, or in the form of ma.n.u.script, but in that year he for the first time published his memorable "Short Treatise on the Game of Whist." Of this first edition only two copies (one in the Bodleian Library) are known to exist. Its price was a guinea. It was freely pirated, and this fact was probably the reason that the succeeding editions, of which there were three published in 1743, were issued at the more modest price of two {vi} shillings, each genuine copy being guaranteed by the autograph of the author. Other editions followed, several of which are only now represented by single copies. Of the seventh edition, published in 1747, no copy exists. The eighth (1748) embodied, in addition to the Whist manual, short treatises on Quadrille, Piquet, and Backgammon, which had in the meantime appeared separately. The book was from time to time further amplified, and the eleventh edition (precise date uncertain) is ent.i.tled "Mr. Hoyle's Games of Whist, Quadrille, Piquet, Chess and Backgammon Complete." The autograph signature to each copy was continued until Hoyle's death. In the fifteenth edition it is replaced by an impression from a wood block.

It is significant of the respect in which Hoyle was held, that his Laws of Whist, with some slight alterations by the _habitues_ of White's and Saunders' chocolate-houses (the then headquarters of the game), were accepted as the final authority from 1760 till 1864, when the basis of the present code, settled by the Turf and Portland Clubs, was adopted in their stead.

Nothing would now be gained by reproducing Hoyle's original text. In the present volume no attempt is made to do so. Its teachings are, however, but the teachings of the master, amplified and brought up-to-date, and it is a fitting tribute to his memory that his name should be retained upon the t.i.tle-page.

LOUIS HOFFMANN.

HOYLE'S GAMES MODERNIZED

ALL-FOURS.

ALL-FOURS, known in America as OLD SLEDGE, or SEVEN UP, is usually played by two players, with the full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank in play as at Whist, the ace being the highest, and the two the lowest. The game is seven points.

There are four different items which count towards the score, whence the name _All-Fours_. Such items are as follows:

_High._--The highest trump out, scoring one to the original holder.

_Low._--The lowest trump out, scoring one to the original holder.

_Jack._--The knave of trumps, scoring one to the dealer, if turned up; if otherwise, to the winner of the trick to which it falls.

_Game._--Scoring one to the ultimate holder of the more valuable cards in the tricks won by him, according to the following scale:--

For each ten (trump or otherwise) 10 For each ace " 4 For each king " 3 For each queen " 2 For each knave " 1

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N.B.--In the case of the players being equal in this particular, or of neither party holding any card which counts towards Game, the elder hand scores the point.

METHOD OF PLAYING.

The players cut for deal, the highest card having the preference.[1] The dealer gives six cards to each, turning up the thirteenth as trump. If the elder hand is dissatisfied with his cards, he may say, "I beg," in which case the dealer is bound either to allow him (by the phrase, "Take one") to score one point, or to give each player three more cards from the pack, turning up that next following by way of fresh trump card. If this should be of the same suit as the original trump, the dealer is bound to give three more cards to each, again turning up the seventh, until a new suit does actually turn up. If the turn-up card be a knave, the dealer scores one, this taking precedence of any other score. If, by reason of the elder hand "begging," there is a further deal, and the dealer a second time turns up a knave, he again scores one. The elder hand leads any card he pleases.

His antagonist must follow suit or trump, his right to do the latter not being affected by his holding cards of the suit led. If, however, having a card of the suit led, he neither follows suit nor trumps, he becomes liable to the penalty of a revoke.

The player of the highest card of the suit led, or a trump, wins the trick, which is turned down as at {3} Whist, and so on throughout the six tricks.

In scoring, the order of precedence is (1) High, (2) Low, (3) Jack, (4) Game; subject, as we have seen, to the contingency of "Jack" having been the turn-up card, the point for this being scored before the hand is played.

The play is mainly directed to capturing the Jack, and such cards as may score towards Game.

Some players score a point whenever the adversary does not follow suit or trump. Some, again, make it the rule that each player must count his score without looking at his tricks, under penalty of losing one or more points, as may be agreed, in the event of a miscalculation.

FOUR-HANDED ALL-FOURS.

The players cut to decide who shall be partners; the two highest playing against the two lowest, and facing each other, as at Whist. The right to the first deal is decided by the cut, the highest dealing.[2] Afterwards each player deals in rotation.

The dealer and the elder hand alone look at their cards in the first instance, the option of begging resting with the latter. The other two players must not take up their cards till the dealer has decided whether he will "give one" or "run the cards" for a new trump.

The players play in succession as at Whist, four cards const.i.tuting a trick. In other respects, the play is the same as in the two-handed game.[3]

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BACCARAT.[4]

Baccarat has many points of resemblance to Vingt-un, but the element of chance is much more prominent. The stakes are made before any card is dealt, and one player plays for several. There is therefore, save on the part of the banker, scarcely any scope for personal skill or judgment.

The object of the game is to hold such cards as shall together amount to the point of _nine_. The cards from ace to nine count each according to the number of its pips. Court cards are equivalent to tens, and ten at this game is _baccarat_, a synonym for zero. Thus a player holding a three and a ten (or court card) is considered to have three only; a player holding two tens and a five counts five only. And not only is a tenth card baccarat (0), but ten occurring as part of a total score, however made, is disregarded; so that a five and a six count, not as eleven, but as one only; three, seven and five, not as fifteen, but as five; and so on.

There are two forms of Baccarat, known respectively as _Baccarat Chemin de Fer_ and _Baccarat_ {5} _Banque_, the latter being the version more frequently played. A description of Baccarat Chemin de Fer will, however, be the best introduction to the explanation of Baccarat Banque, and we therefore take it first in order.

BACCARAT CHEMIN DE FER.

Six full packs of cards of the same pattern are used, shuffled together.

The players seat themselves round the table. In the centre is a basket for the reception of the used cards. If there is any question as to the relative positions of the players, it is decided by lot. The person who draws the first place seats himself next on the right hand of the croupier, and the rest follow in succession. The croupier shuffles the cards, and then pa.s.ses them on, each player having the right to shuffle in turn. When they have made the circuit of the table, the croupier again shuffles, and, having done so, offers the cards to the player on his left, who cuts. The croupier places the cards before him, and, taking a manageable quant.i.ty from the top, hands it to the player on his right, who for the time being is dealer, or "banker." The other players are punters. The dealer places before him the amount he is disposed to risk, and the players "make their stakes." Any punter, beginning with the player on the immediate right of the dealer, is ent.i.tled to "go bank," viz. to play against the whole of the banker's stake. If no one says "Banco" (which is the formula by which the desire to go bank is expressed), each player places his stake before him.

If the total so staked by the seated players is not equal to the amount for the {6} time being in the bank, other persons standing round may stake in addition. If it is more than equal to the amount in the bank, the punters nearest in order to the banker have the preference up to such amount, the banker having the right to decline any stake in excess of that limit.

The stakes being made, the banker proceeds to deal four cards, face downwards, the first, for the punters, to the right; the second to himself; the third for the punters, the fourth to himself. The player who has the highest stake represents the punters. If two punters are equal in this respect, the player first in rotation has the preference. Each then looks at his cards. If he finds that they make either _nine_, the highest point at Baccarat, or _eight_, the next highest, he turns them up, announcing the number aloud, and the hand is at an end.

If the banker's point is the better, the stakes of the punter become the property of the bank. If the punters' point is the better, the banker (or the croupier for him) pays each punter the amount of his stake. The stakes are made afresh, and the game proceeds. If the banker has been the winner, he deals again. If otherwise, the cards are pa.s.sed to the player next in order, who thereupon becomes banker in his turn.

We will now take the case that neither party turns up his cards; this is tantamount to an admission that neither has eight or nine. In such case the banker is bound to offer a third card. If the point of the punter is baccarat (_i.e._ cards together amounting to ten or twenty, = 0), one, two, three, or four, he accepts as a matter of course, replying, "Yes," or "Card." A third card is then given to {7} him, face upwards. If his point is already six or seven, he will, equally as a matter of course, _refuse_ the offered card. To accept a card with six or seven, or refuse with baccarat, one, two, three, or four (known in either case as a "false draw"), is a breach of the established procedure of the game, and brings down upon the head of the offender the wrath of his fellow-punters; indeed, in some circles he is made liable for any loss they may incur thereby, and in others is punishable by a fine. At the point of five, and no other, is it optional to the punter whether to take a card or not; n.o.body has the right to advise him, or to remark upon his decision.

The banker has now to decide whether he himself will draw a card, being guided in his decision partly by the cards he already holds, partly by the card (if any) drawn by the punter, and partly by what he may know or guess of the latter's mode of play. If he has hesitated over his decision, the banker may be pretty certain (unless such hesitation was an intentional blind) that his original point was five, and as the third card (if any) is exposed, his present point becomes equally a matter of certainty. The banker, having drawn or not drawn, as he may elect, exposes his cards, and receives or pays as the case may be. Ties neither win nor lose, but the stakes abide the result of the next hand.

The banker is not permitted to withdraw any part of his winnings, which go to increase the amount in the bank. Should he at any given moment desire to retire, he says, "I pa.s.s the deal." In such case each of the other players, in rotation, has the option of taking it, but he must start the bank with the same amount at which it stood when the last banker {8} retired. Should no one present care to risk so high a figure, the deal pa.s.ses to the player next on the right hand of the retiring banker, who is in such case at liberty to start the bank with such amount as he thinks fit, the late banker now being regarded as last in order of rotation, though the respective priorities are not otherwise affected.

A player who has "gone bank," and lost, is ent.i.tled to do so again on the next hand, notwithstanding that the deal may have "pa.s.sed" to another player.

When the first supply of cards is exhausted, the croupier takes a fresh handful from the heap before him, has them cut by the player on his left, and hands them to the banker. To const.i.tute a valid deal, there must be not less than seven cards left in the dealer's hand. Should the cards in hand fall below this number, they are thrown into the waste-basket, and the banker takes a fresh supply as above mentioned.

BACCARAT BANQUE.

In Baccarat Chemin de Fer, it will have been noticed that a given bank only continues so long as the banker wins. So soon as he loses, it pa.s.ses to another player. In Baccarat Banque the position of banker is much more permanent. _Three_ packs of cards,[5] shuffled together, are in this case used, and the banker (unless he retires either of his own free will, or by reason of the exhaustion of his finances) {9} holds office until the whole of such cards have been dealt.