The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (56 page)

any are played, and the winner of each trick leads to the next.

Score Score one white for leading an honour to a trick, and one for

leading to a trick and thereby capturing an honour. At end of play,

whoever won a majority of tricks scores one white per trick in

excess of six, or two reds for capot if he won al twelve. Neither

scores if the tricks are divided.

Throughout play, whenever one player scores a red – whether for

an imperial or by get ing his sixth white across – his opponent’s

an imperial or by get ing his sixth white across – his opponent’s

odd points are promptly annul ed, and he must shift al his whites

back to the left. The sole exception is the impériale blanche, which

does not annul the odd points. With this exception, however, the

rule is also applied at the start of the second and subsequent deals

when reds are scored for imperials in hand. Hence it is important,

especial y near the end of a game, that scores be made strictly in

order: turned trump, imperials in hand, impériale blanche, the

point, leading and capturing honours, number of tricks taken.

Optional extras Some players recognize two additional imperials,

each earning one red but not forcing the opponent to cancel his

whites. An impériale de retourne occurs when a player has al but

one card of an imperial, and the card missing is the trump turn-up.

This counts immediately before the score for point. An impériale de

rencontre, or impériale tombée, occurs when a player wins the four

top trumps in tricks without having been original y dealt al four.

This counts immediately before the score for honours.

Gleek

3 players, 44 cards

An oldEnglish game describedinvarious, slightly dif ering

waysbetween 1533 and 1674. It could be described as the three-

player equivalent of Piquet. For more details, see

.

Preliminaries Three players use 44 cards ranking AKQJT987654.

Deal twelve each in fours, set the remaining eight face down as a

stock, and turn the top card for trump. If it is a Four (‘Tiddy’), the

stock, and turn the top card for trump. If it is a Four (‘Tiddy’), the

dealer receives 4p from each opponent.

Bidding Each in turn bids to take in the stock (excluding the turn-

up) in exchange for seven discards. Eldest starts at 12p, and each in

turn raises by 1p. The highest bidder pays half his bid to each

opponent (any odd penny going to the elder of them), makes seven

discards, and takes the stock, other than the trump turn-up. (Sources

vary as to whether you discard before drawing or draw before

discarding.)

Vying the ruf The ruf , or flush, or point (as at Piquet) is the total

face value of cards held in one’s longest suit, counting Ace 11,

courts 10 each, numerals as marked. Each in turn pays 2p or more

to the pot so long as he thinks he has the highest-counting ruf . This

pot is won by the player showing the best ruf when al bets are

equalized, or, without showing, by the player remaining when

neither of the others has matched his last bet. If al pass without

vying, the pot is carried foward to the next deal. An oddity of the

game is that a player holding four Aces may vie the ruf , without

warning, and wil inevitably win it.

Gleeks and mournivals A gleek is three Aces, Kings, Queens or

Jacks, a mournival four of the same. These are declared, not vied.

Whoever has the best mournival wins, from each opponent, for

Aces 8p, Kings 6p, Queens 4p, Jacks 2p. Failing mournivals,

whoever has the best gleek wins half the appropriate amount. It is

not clear whether the player who wins this is also entitled to

payment for any lower gleeks and mournivals he may hold, so this

should be decided beforehand.

Play Eldest leads. Players must fol ow suit if possible, otherwise

may play any card. 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 player counts 3 points per trick won, plus additional

points for top trumps won in tricks as fol ows: Ace (‘Tib’) 15, King

3, Queen 3, Jack (‘Tom’) 9. If one of these counters is the turn-up, it

counts in favour of the dealer. Since the combined total is 66,

anyone who scores less than 22 pays the dif erence into a trick-pot,

and anyone who scores more than 22 takes out the dif erence,

yielding a zero-sum result.

Comment In The Compleat Gamester of 1674, Charles Cot on

counts also 5 for the trump Five (‘Towser’) and 6 for the trump Six

(‘Tumbler’). Thesepresumably representonly side paymentsmade

upon beingturned for trump, otherwise they make nonsense of the

22-point target for tricks. They are absent from earlier accounts of

the game.

Romestecq (Rum und Stich, Rumstick)

An eighteenth-century Dutch game, played also in France and

Germany, by two, or more usual y by four or six in partnerships,

with partners sit ing adjacently in order to communicate their

holdings. Deal five each from a 36-card pack ranking AKQJT9876

and play five tricks at no trump. Game is 21 points if four play, 36

if six. Anyone dealt a quartet (four Aces, Kings etc.; German Wirlik,

French virlique) wins the game immediately. Other features score

thus:

Quartet (Wirlik, virlique)

wins outright

Two pairs (Doppelnieger, double ningre) 3

Triplet (Tritsch, triche)

2 (or 3 if Aces)

Two suit pairs (Dorf, village)

2 (e.g. CK CQ 19 18)

AA or KK (Doppelrome, double rome)

4, or 2 if ‘duped’

Lower pair (Rome, rome)

1

Win last trick (Stich, stecq)

1

A combination held and scored in the hand is announced by

saying ‘part of a triplet’ (or whatever) upon first playing a card of it

to a trick. You can also score for capturing combinations taken in

tricks from the other side, when they are said to be grugé (‘duped’).