The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (187 page)

receive cards total ing closer to 9 than the banker’s, for which

purpose 10 or more counts only as its last digit.

The banker deals two cards to the punter and to himself. If either

has a point of 8 or 9 (a ‘natural’) he turns them face up. With 6 or 7

a punter must stand; with less than 5 he must cal for a third card,

dealt face up; with exactly 5 he may do either (but in most

American casinos must draw). The banker must draw to a point

under 3, stand with a point above 6, and may do either with a

point of 3 to a punter’s third-card 9, or 5 to a punter’s third-card 4.

Otherwise, he must draw or stand as dictated by the most

favourable odds.

Macao

Baccara predecessor that remained popular in the USA until the

early twentieth century. With cards counting as at Baccara, the aim

is to get a count of 9 or less without busting. Punters place their

bets and al , including the dealer, receive one card face down. If

your first card is a Seven you win the amount you staked, if an

Eight you win double, and if a Nine treble – unless, however, the

dealer beats your card with an Eight or Nine of his own. Al bets

are of in case of a tie. When these accounts have been set led,

punters counting less than 7 may cal for one or more cards, which

are dealt face up. Those that are bust drop out, and the dealer tries

to beat the totals of those that remain, drawing more cards if

necessary.

Farmer (La Ferme)

European game described as ancien in the Académie des Jeux of

1764, but reportedly played in rural America wel into the

twentieth century. (Not that the game is essential y rural – la ferme

metaphorical y means the of ice of professional tax-col ector.) Play

with 45 cards omit ing al Eights and Sixes except 6 (original y

cal ed le bril ant). The aim is to get as close to 16 as possible, but

cal ed le bril ant). The aim is to get as close to 16 as possible, but

not more, counting Ace 1 (only), numerals face value, courts 10.

Players ante 1 unit to the farm (pool), and the farmer (or tax-

gatherer, or banker) deals one card each face down. Each in turn

must cal for at least one card and may request more, these being

dealt face down. Players may stop when they like, without stating

whether or not they are bust. When al are ready, the hands are

shown and anyone with a bust pays 1 unit to the farmer. Whoever

has 16, or the nearest count below it, col ects 1 unit from each non-

bust player with a lower total. Two or more players tying for best

share this equal y between them. The farm and of ice of ‘farmer’

transfer to the player who gets exactly 16. In the event of a tie,

priority goes to (a) the farmer, (b) the hand containing 6, (c) the

hand with fewer cards, (d) the tied player next from farmer’s left.

Quinze (Quince, Fifteen)

A two-player Pontoon equivalent popular at Crockford’s in the

early nineteenth century, notable players being Tal eyrand and the

Duke of Wel ington. The key total is 15, counting numerals at face

value (Ace 1 only) and courts 10 each. A stake is agreed and one

card dealt to each. Non-dealer may stand or keep cal ing for

another card, dealt face up, until he either stands or busts. Dealer

does likewise. The player with the bet er total wins the stake,

which, in the event of a tie or two busts, is doubled and carried

forward. The deal alternates.

Seven and a Half

Italian Pontoon equivalent played with 40 cards lacking Eights,

Nines and Tens. Numerals count face value, courts 1/2 each, K is

wild, and the aim is to get as close as possible to 71/2 without

exceeding it. Each punter antes and receives a card face down. After

looking at it he may either stick or cal for more cards, dealt face

up, until he either sticks or busts. Banker then does likewise. If he

up, until he either sticks or busts. Banker then does likewise. If he

busts, he pays those with less than 8 the amount of their stake,

doubled to the player who has a two-card 71/2 count. If not, he

col ects from anyone with a bust hand or a lower count than

himself, and pays anyone with a bet er count. A tie is a stand-of . A

two-card 71/2 beats one with more than two and entitles its holder

to replace the banker, unless the lat er also has one.

Pai Gow Poker

2-7 players, 53 cards

This banking game involving poker combinations is based on Pai

Gow, a Chinese Domino game. It has become popular in American

casinos. Pai-gow denotes a seven-card hand containing no paired

rank, but it has no special part to play.

PreliminariesAgree how the bank is to rotate, assuming you want

everyone to have the same number of deals.

DealThe punters each put up a stake and are dealt seven cards face

down. Al but the dealer examine their cards and split them into

two hands, one of five and one of two cards.

ObjectTo make two hands both of which wil beat those of the

banker when his turn comes to play.

RestrictionsThe Joker is not completely wild. It may represent an

Ace, or whatever card may be necessary to complete a straight,

flush, or straight flush, but nothing else. The five-card hand ranks as

a poker combination. (Five Aces, including a Joker, beats a royal

a poker combination. (Five Aces, including a Joker, beats a royal

flush. In some circles, A2345 is the second-best straight after

TJQKA.) In the two-card hand, a pair beats a non-pair, but no other

combination counts. The five-card hand must outrank the two-card.

For example, if the two cards are a pair of Aces, the five cards must

contain two pairs or bet er. Players may not discuss their hands at

any time.

Dealer’s play When the punters have placed their hands face down,

the dealer exposes his seven cards and similarly forms them into a

five-card and a two-card hand. The other players may not touch

their cards once the dealer’s have been shown.

Outcome As between the dealer and each punter, if both the

dealer’s hands beat both the punter’s, the dealer wins the punter’s

stake; if both the punter’s beat the dealer’s, the dealer pays the

punter the amount of his stake. If either hand is tied, the dealer’s

beats the punter’s. If each of them wins one hand, it is a ‘push’

(stand-of ).

Chinese Poker

(2-4p, 52c) An apparent derivative of Pai Gow, this is neither Poker

nor a banking game – nor, as far as I can make out, Chinese. Deal

thirteen cards each. Everyone arranges their cards in three tiers, a

top row of three and two rows of five beneath. The lowest row

must be the highest Poker hand of the three, and the top row the

lowest. Each row is then revealed in turn, and each player wins or

loses with each other according to their relative ranking. Anyone

who fails to arrange their hands in the correct order loses. There is

no strategy, no vying, and no sense in it at al .

Yablon (Red Dog, Acey-Deucey,

Yablon (Red Dog, Acey-Deucey,

Between the Sheets, etc.)

n players, n × 52 cards

Yablon is often cal ed Red Dog, a name that original y applied to

High Card Pool. Casino play usual y involves anything up to eight

packs shuf led together and dealt from a shoe.

Basical y, punters bet that the third card dealt from the top of the

pack wil be intermediate in rank between the first two. Everyone

makes an initial stake and the banker deals two cards face up with

enough space between them for a third. Unless the first two are of

the same rank, or consecutive (running A23456789TJQK) the

punters may then raise their stakes, but not by more than the

original amount. A third card is then dealt between the first two. If

it is intermediate, the punters win; if not, the bank does. The odds

paid to a successful punter vary with the ‘spread’ – that is, the

number of ranks intermediate between the first two cards – as

fol ows:

spread odds

1

5:1

2

4:1

3

2:1

4-11 1:1

If the first two cards are consecutive, it is a tie. No one may raise,

and no one wins.

If they are paired, no one may raise, but a third is turned. If it

matches the first two, the punters win 11:1, otherwise the bank

wins.

Let It Ride

Each player puts up three identical stakes and receives three cards,

which he may not show to anyone. The banker deals two face

down in front of himself. The hope is that one’s own three cards

and the banker’s two wil form a good Poker hand. After examining

their cards, each punter may take one bet back or ‘let it ride’. The

banker exposes one of his two cards and, again, everyone has the

option of retrieving another stake or let ing it ride. The banker’s

second card is then faced and everyone shows their hand. Each

punter whose three cards make a pair of Tens or bet er with the

banker’s two is paid on each of his remaining stakes at the

fol owing rate: Tens or bet er, stake times 1; two pairs × 2; three of

a kind × 3; straight × 5; flush × 8; ful house × 11; fours × 50;

straight flush × 200; royal flush × 1000.

Red Dog (High Card Pool)

‘has been the newspaperman’s gambling game over the years,

rather than Poker’ (Sifakis). Al contribute equal y to a pot, which is

replenished when empty. Deal five each, or four if nine or ten play.

Each in turn, starting with eldest, either pays a chip and throws his

hand in, or bets a specific amount that at least one of his cards wil

beat the top card turned from the pack, by being a higher card of

the same suit (Ace highest). No one may bet more than the pot

contains. The banker reveals the top card and each in turn then

set les with the pot, withdrawing from it the amount of his stake if

he can beat the top card, otherwise paying that amount in.

Variant 1:The actual top card is burnt (replaced at the bot om

without being shown), and the next one turned to set le the bet.

Variant 2:A punter may ‘copper’ his bet – that is, bet that none of

his cards wil win.

Slippery Sam

(3-15p, 52c). Al contribute equal y to a pot, which is replenished

when empty. Deal three each, which no one may yet look at, and

turn the next card face up. If it is a Seven or higher (Ace high), keep

turning the next until it is a Six or lower. Everyone then bets

whether or not they have been dealt at least one card of the same

suit as the turn-up, and higher in rank.

Speculation

n players, 52 cards

Asked to advise on the staging of Speculation for the film

production of a Jane Austen novel, I found this late eighteenth-

century game surprisingly fun to play, possibly because it rewards

competence in calculating probabilities. A banking game to the

extent that the dealer has certain advantages, it plays wel , and

more fairly, if the winner of each hand deals to the next.

Preliminaries Everyone starts with the same number of chips and at

the start of each deal antes one to a pot. Deal three cards face down

on the table in front of each player in a stack, then turn the next

card of the pack to establish a trump suit. (Not that there is any

trick-play. ‘Trump’ here means the only suit that counts.)

Object To be in possession of the highest trump when al cards in