The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (143 page)

other pegs one point for the refusal. If either gives away a Jack or a

Deuce, he may first peg 2 points for it (4 if in trumps). If he

neglects to do so, the other may score for it when the final

declarations are made.

Play Each in turn, starting with non-dealer, plays a card face up to

the table in front of himself, announcing the total face value of al

cards so far played. In play, scores are pegged for making sequences

and points, at the rate of 1 per card.

A sequence is three or more cards in ranking order (Ace low).

Example: Annie plays 8, Benny plays 6, Annie plays 7 and pegs 3 for the

sequence. If Benny then plays 5 or 9, he pegs 4.

The points are 15, 25, 31, the last known as the ‘grand point’ or

The points are 15, 25, 31, the last known as the ‘grand point’ or

‘hit er’. A player making any such total pegs as many points as

cards involved. Example: 7 4 4 scores 3 for the fifteen. If the next

adds a court or a Ten, he pegs 4 for the twenty-five; and if the next

plays a Six, he pegs 5 for the ‘hit er’ or ‘grand point’ of thirty-one.

The count may not exceed thirty-one. The first player unable to

play without busting says ‘Go!’, whereupon the other may add as

many more cards as he can without busting. The last to play scores

1 for the go, plus 1 per card if he hits thirty-one exactly.

If any cards remain in hand, those so far played are turned down,

and the next in turn to play begins another series as before. Hand

scores The players then reveal their cards and score for any of the

fol owing features they can make. Non-dealer counts first. Each

player’s hand is considered to consist of four cards, i.e. his own

three plus the deck card. Four types of combination are recognized:

1. Points

15

1 per constituent card

25 1

per constituent card

31

(Hitter) 1 per constituent card

2. Jacks and Deuces Jack or Deuce of trumps 4 ‘for his nob’

Any other Jack or Deuce 2

3. Pairs and prials Pair (two of same rank)

2

Prial (three alike)

9

Double prial (four alike) 18

4. Colours

Three in colour

2

Three in suit

3

Four in colour, two in suit 4

Four in colour, three in

5

suit

Four in suit

6 for ‘Costly Colours’

Sequences don’t count.

A given card or cards may be counted as belonging to more than

one combination, but may not be counted more than once within

one combination, but may not be counted more than once within

each of categories 3 and 4. For example, if you count a prial you

cannot count separately for any pair it contains, and if you count

four in suit, you cannot also count for three in suit or any in colour.

Examples (spades are trumps):

GamePlay up to 121.

Four-hand Four may play in partnerships. Each player mogs with

his partner, and the dealer, if refused, may mog alone by taking the

card below the deck-card and substituting a card he does not want.

Comment According to the Shropshire source, ‘his nob’ denotes the

Jack or Deuce of a suit other than trump. I query this, and have

here fol owed Cribbage terminology. In Salopian dialect, a score of

zero in a single hand is cal ed ‘a cock’s nist’.

Counting games (Adders)

Fifty-One

(2-5p, 32c) Deal five each from a 32-card pack and turn the next

face up to start a discard pile. Cards count as fol ows:

A K Q J T 9 8 7

11 4 3 2 -1 0 8 7

Each in turn draws a card from stock (so long as any remain), plays

a card face up and announces the total value of al cards so far

played, including the starter. Whoever raises the total above 50

loses.

Hundred

(2-6p, 32c) Divide the cards as evenly as possible. If any remain,

leave them faceup to start the discard pile and announce their total;

otherwise, start at zero. Cards count as fol ows:

A K Q J T 9 8 7

11 4 3 2 10 9 8 7

Each in turn plays a card to the table, adding its value to the

previous total and announcing the new one. A player wins by

making the total exactly 100, but loses by causing it to jump over

the 100 mark. It may be agreed to continue play with another

scoring point at 200.

Jubilee

(2-7p, 57c + 4

) A Czech game. Make a 61-card pack containing

one heart of each rank, two spades of each rank, two each of club

numerals from Ace to Nine only (no Tens or courts), and four

numerals from Ace to Nine only (no Tens or courts), and four

Jokers. Cards count as fol ows, plus in black suits, minus in hearts:

A K Q J T 9 8 7

15 10 10 10 10 9 8 7 0

Deal eight each and stack the rest face down. Eldest starts by

playing a black card and announcing its value. Each in turn

thereafter plays a further card, announces the total value of al cards

so far played, and draws a replacement from stock so long as any

remain.

No one may bring the total below zero. Anyone unable to make a

legal play must show his hand and pass.

Making the total an exact multiple of 25, whether by addition or

subtraction, scores 10 for a ‘jubilee’, or 20 if it is also a multiple of

100. Anyone causing the total to skip over a jubilee instead of

hit ing it exactly, whether by addition or subtraction, loses 5 points.

When al cards have been played the final total should be 189.

Ninety-Nine

(3-13p, 52c) Said to be a Gypsy game. Deal three cards each and

stack the rest face down. Play goes to the left, but may change. Each

in turn plays a card face up to the table, announces the total face

value of al cards so far played, and draws a replacement from

stock. Cards count as fol ows:

black Ace ad lib. Seven 7

red Ace 2

Eight 8

Two

2

Nine makes 99

Three

0

Ten

minus 10

Four

0

Jack 10 and reverse

Five

5

Queen 10

Six

6

King 10

A black Ace brings the total to anything its player chooses, from 0

A black Ace brings the total to anything its player chooses, from 0

to 99.

A Nine automatical y makes the total 99, and can therefore be

fol owed only by a Three, Four, Ten, or black Ace.

A Jack, besides counting 10, reverses the order of play – that is,

the next card is played by whoever played the card preceding the

Jack, and so on.

The total may not exceed 99. The first player unable to play

without busting loses a life. The first to lose three lives is the

overal loser.

Obstacle Race (Hindernislauf)

(2–6p, 32c) Recorded only by Jurgen Goring in Stich um Stich

(Berlin, 1977); possibly his invention. It has some nice points, and

lends itself to further elaboration.

Divide the cards evenly. If other than four play, the two

remaining cards are laid face up on the table to start the sequence,

and the dealer announces their combined point-total. Cards count as

fol ows:

A K Q J T 9 8 7

11 4 3 2 10 9 8 7

Queens count plus or minus 3, ad lib, and are the only cards able to

reduce the total.

Each in turn plays a card face up to the sequence, announcing the

combined total of al cards so far played. The ‘obstacles’ are 55, 66,

77, 88, 99, and 111. A player scores one point for hit ing an

obstacle precisely, but loses a point for skipping over one,

regardless of direction.

Play continues until the total reaches or exceeds 120, then starts

again at zero. The winner is the player with the highest score when

al cards have been played.

Twenty-Nine

(2-8p, 52c) Best played by four sit ing crosswise in partnerships. If

other numbers play, remove as many Tens as necessary to ensure

everyone gets the same number of cards. Deal them al out in ones.

Eldest leads to the first ‘trick’, announcing the face value of the card

led. Aces and courts count 1 each, other numerals at face value.

Each in turn plays a card and announces the new total, provided it

does not exceed 29. Anyone who cannot play without busting must

pass. Keep going until someone makes it exactly 29. That player

wins the trick for his partnership, turns it down, and leads to the

next. The winning side is that which takes the majority of cards. If

any Tens were removed, the last trick is not played. The earliest

description of this game (Ostrow, 1945) says the remaining

unplayed cards don’t count, but there seems no good reason not to

simply add them to one’s own pile of winnings.

Twenty-Nine is said to be a children’s game. Adults find it boring;

but, with a bit of creative imagination, it can easily be elaborated

into something more interesting and skil -demanding.

Wit and Reason

(I) (2p, 52c) The game which Cot on (1674) rightly qualifies as ‘so

cal ’d ’ results, like Noughts & Crosses, in a foregone conclusion.

One player takes al the red cards and one al the black. Each in

turn plays a card face up to the table and announces the total value

of al cards so far played. Ace counts 1, numerals face value, courts

10 each. If you can’t play without exceeding 31 you must pass. The

other player wil then win by making it 31 exactly. (You can easily

work out which card wins for the first player.)

(I ) (2p, 24c) The mathematical hustlers modern equivalent of this

game requires more wit and reason than Cot on’s original. Take out