The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (39 page)

Fingers), and even the Irish for ‘trick’, cuig, is the word for five.

Gaelic through and through, it is first at ested under the name Maw

as the court game of James VI of Scotland (later James I of

England), and was subsequently carried to the New World, where it

remains popular in Canada, especial y in Nova Scotia (‘New

Scotland’).

Newcomers may find it initial y daunting because of the peculiar

rank of cards and rules of play, which obviously derive from the

ancient Spanish game of Hombre and which take a lit le get ing

used to. But it is wel worth the ef ort, as much for its intrinsic

interest as for its cultural and historic significance – not to mention

the fact that it is one of the very few games for which five is the

best number of players.

The fol owing description benefits from additional information

col ected by Anthony Smith. See also

.

Preliminaries From three to ten can play, from four to six usual y

do. Four may play in two partnerships of two, six in two

partnerships of three or three of two. For non-partnership play, five

is ideal. Each starts with 20 chips or counters, but scores can easily

be kept in writing.

Cards Fifty-two. There is always a trump suit, and three or four

cards are always the highest trumps, namely (from the top down):

✝5‘Five Fingers’

✝J Jack of trumps

A Ace of hearts ✝A Ace of trumps (if not hearts)

The others rank from high to low according to colour:

in KQJT98765432A ‘high in red’

in KQJA23456789T ‘low in black’

A There are usually 14 trumps, but 13 in hearts. In plain suits, the King is

always highest.

Deal Everyone chips one to the pool. Deal five cards each in batches

of two and three, or four and one, in either order. Stack the rest

face down and turn the top card for trump.

Object To be the first to win a total of five tricks over as many deals

as it takes, which wil usual y be two or three depending on the

number of players.

Robbing the pack If dealt the trump Ace, you may declare that fact

and then ‘rob the pack’ by taking the turn-up and discarding an

unwanted card face down. You are not obliged to declare it if you

don’t intend to rob, but, if you do, you must rob before playing to

the first trick. If the turn-up is an Ace, dealer may rob the pack by

exchanging it for any unwanted card.

PlayEldest leads to the first trick.

Toa plain-suit lead, you may either fol ow suitor trump,

aspreferred, but may renounce only if unable to fol ow suit.

To a trump lead, you must play a trump if possible, unless the

only one you hold is a top trump (✝5, ✝J, A) and it is

higher than the one led. In this case, you may ‘renege’ by

discarding from another suit. Expressed another way: you can’t

force a top trump out by leading a lower one, only by leading

a higher.

The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the

highest trump if any are played, and the winner of each trick leads

to the next.

Score Each won trick scores 5 points, and a game ends as soon as

Score Each won trick scores 5 points, and a game ends as soon as

one player wins by reaching a total of 25 points. It may be agreed

that a player who takes al five tricks in one deal wins a double

stake.

Spoil Five

In the forerunner of Twenty-Five your aim is to win three tricks,

thereby winning the stake. Failing this, it is to ‘spoil five’ by

preventing anyone else from doing so. If you win the first three

straight of you either sweep the pool or instead ‘jink’ by leading to

the fourth. Jinking obliges you to win al five. If successful, you get

an extra chip from each player; if not, you lose your stake. If

nobody wins three, or a jinker fails to win five, the tricks are said to

be ‘spoilt’. The pool is then carried forward to the next deal,

increased by one chip per player.

Forty-Five

AddaJoker, which ranks between ✝J and A asthe third-highest

trump. If, in turning the top card for trump, you turn the Joker, you

take it into hand, place any unwanted card at the bot om of the

pack, and turn the next instead. The aim is simply to score points,

not to ‘spoil five’, and thereisnojinking. Each won trick

counts5points, andanadditional 5 goes to the player who was dealt

the best card. Normal y, the best card is the highest trump, and if

the ✝5 appears in play its holder scores 5 immediately. If no one

was dealt any trumps (rare), the best card is the highest-ranking

card that actual y won a trick, or the first played of cards tying for

this honour. Tricks are scored as soon as taken, and the game ends

as soon as one player or partnership wins by reaching the 45-point

target score.

Variants In some parts of Ireland, the best card counts 6, and the

target may be set at 31 (though the game is stil cal ed Forty-Five).

target may be set at 31 (though the game is stil cal ed Forty-Five).

In Canada, a side scores 5 for winning three or four tricks, or 10 for

al five. Another variant has 15 for three, 20 for four, and game for

al five. The Joker, if used, ranks as the fourth highest trump, below

A.

Auction Forty-Fives

4 or 6 players, 52 cards

The auction equivalent is at ributed to Canada and Nova Scotia. I

have not heard of its being played in Ireland.

Preliminaries Four or six play in two partnerships, with partners

sit ing alternately round the table. Game is 120 points. Deal five

cards each (2+3).

Bidding Each in turn may bid or pass, and having passed may not

come in again. Bids go from 5 to 30 in multiples of five,

representing five per trick plus five for holding the highest trump in

play. A side standing at 100 points to game may not bid lower than

20. The first time any given number is bid, the next in turn may say,

‘I hold,’ thereby taking over the bid at the same number. The next

in turn, however, must then either raise again or pass. No suit is

mentioned til al have passed after the highest bidder, who then

announces trumps.

Drawing Before play, each in turn, starting with eldest, may make

any number of discards, face down, receiving from dealer the same

number of replacements from the rest of the pack.

Play The ranking of cards, method of trick-play and privileges of

reneging are as for Twenty-Five or Forty-Five.

Score Count 5 per trick and 5 for whoever proves to have held the

Score Count 5 per trick and 5 for whoever proves to have held the

highest trump in play. The non-bidding side scores whatever it

makes. If the bidding side fulfil ed its bid it scores al it made; if

not, it deducts the bid from its current total. A bid of 30, if made,

scores 60.

Variant In some circles the dealer, having discarded, may ’rob the

pack’ by examining al the undealt cards and freely selecting

replacements.

Bête (Labet, Beast)

Seventeenth-century ancestor of five-card games. From two to five

each pay a stake to the pool and receive five cards from a 32-card

pack ranking KQJAT987, after which the next is turned for trump.

Each in turn may either pass or play, the aim being to win at least

three tricks, or the first two straight of . Anyone holding the trump

King wins a chip from each player. A player winning three or more

tricks sweeps the pool, and for winning al five additional y

receives an equivalent amount by each active opponent. If no one

wins three, a player winning the first two tricks sweeps the pool.

Any active player failing to sweep the pool pays to a side pot an