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Table of ContentsPage Name Date5 Introduction7 Card Games8 Playing Cards9 One-And-Thirty 144011 Tarot CA 140015 Trump or Ruff and Honors 152916 Gleek 152218 Primero 152620 Piquet 153423 Lansquenet/Landsknecht 153425 Maw 154827 Cribbage/Noddy CA 160029 Hombre/Renegado 161831 Put 167232 Loo CA 165033 Whist Before 167235 All Fours 167236 Brag 172138 Faro & Bassett 1734 & 150042 Twenty-One CA 175044 Seven Up 182946 Euchre 182949 Bluff or Poker (Early Version) 182950 Bluff or Poker (Later Versions) CA 185052 Spanish Monte Before 184953 Solitaire or Patience (Quadrille) CA 1750

55 Dice or Dice Games57 Hazzard 137059 Passe Dix 153460 Novem Cinque 155261 Raffle or Inn & Inn CA 140062 Chuck a Luck/Sweatcloth CA 175063 Over and Under Seven CA 185064 Craps CA 1850

67 Divers Amusements68 Tabula/Tables CA 457 AD70 Nine Man Morris CA 1400 BC72 Hnefetafl CA 400 AD74 Football Before 1300 AD76 Hurling Before 1602 AD79 Fox & Geese 146180 Medieval Chess CA 1000 AD81 Quoits CA 1400 AD82 Draughts Before 1300 AD83 Bowling Games CA 1300 AD85 Royal Game of Goose 159788 Bibliography

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IntroductionThis booklet was initially written to fill a crying need among a very specialized

community. The original audience for this work was historical re-enactors. These are peoplewhose hobby involves dressing up in the clothing of the people of the past and trying torecreate some aspect of the past either as an exercise in public education, or for their ownamusement. One of the stock activities in this hobby is playing the games of the era one isportraying, but I have repeatedly encountered re-enactors who were forced to invent rules, orsubstitute some modern game rules, to stand in for the actual rules of some historical game. Thereason for this was a shortage of readily available sources for old games, and it is to fill thisgap that I have compiled this booklet.

The considerable success of this booklet however has made it clear that re-enactors arenot the only audience for the information contained herein. It is equally applicable to readersor writers of historical fiction and history and to those who have a general interest in games.

In selecting the games for this work, I have tried to limit myself to those games thatwere played in England or America, since to expand beyond that would call for a work thatwould be beyond my time and resources to compile, and probably yours to read. I have alsolimited myself to games which I have repeatedly encountered in my reading of history.Simply being included in an old book of games wasn't enough. I had to have independentdocumentation that some significant portion of the population was actually playing the game.I have also limited myself to games played primarily by adults. Children's games, while theyare a worthy subject, would have required a book considerably larger than this.

The next criterion was that a game had to be sufficiently documented that could berecreated with some accuracy, and it wouldn't be necessary to invent a completely new gamethat uses the same playing pieces or general form as the original, and pretend it was theoriginal game.

Finally, I have set the year 1900 as an arbitrary cut-off. This allows for the inclusionof a vast variety of games, but ensures that I am not duplicating too much that is readilyaccessible in any modern "Hoyle's" or other currently available game book.

I should confess however, to making a few exceptions to the above criteria. The firstwas the game of Tarot. This game was never played, to any significant degree, in the Englishspeaking world. It was played primarily in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.However, it forms such an important part of card game history, and has accumulated such acargo of misinformation, that I felt it was important to include it. The game of Tabula also, isnot really a game of the English speaking world, but rather the Latin speaking world. I haveno information to suggest it was ever played in Roman Britain, though to rationalize a bit, itmight well have been that early medieval games of what we take to be Backgammon werebeing played using Tabula rules.

In some cases, I have elected not to include a game because it is so similar to a gamealready in the book that I could essentially tell my word processor to duplicate the file, changethe title, and pretend to have added a new game to the collection. This was the case with thegame of Basset. Though it was an enormously popular game in the period of this book, it was sosimilar to Faro that it was essentially the same game with different terminology. Basset wastherefore folded into the chapter on Faro, since Faro is a far more significant game.

At the beginning of each game, I have listed a level of complexity. This should reflectthe difficulty one might experience learning the game by heart, not the complexity of thestrategies required to win. I have left the gamesmanship and strategies to you. If the game islisted as "simple", you should probably be able to master the rules in a single sitting. If a gameis listed as "difficult", it means that you will probably have to refer to the book repeatedlyduring your first few games.

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There is a certain amount of social distinction present in the complexity of these games.Generally, the more complex games are those which were popular with the aristocracy, whoseprimary occupation was often leisure; and who needed complex games, just as they neededcomplex dances, poetry and music, to keep their well-educated but under employed mindsoccupied.

The commonality on the other hand, liked a game that could be mastered quickly andremembered easily, so the working man could instantly get down to the business of squanderinghis hard earned wages and his family's sustenance.

Of course, squandering money was what all of these games were about. Nobody, rich orpoor, from the Roman Empire to the 20th Century, could really take a game seriously wherethere was no money involved. Even stodgy Victorian families found it necessary to play for atleast a few pennies, just to keep the game interesting. Therefore, if you are going to appreciatethe flavor of these games, you will have to get something to wager with. In fact, in many of thegames, wagers won and lost are the only way of keeping score. Whether you wager cash, matchsticks, poker chips, cash, Monopoly Money or real estate deeds, you will have to make somesort of wagering currency part of your standard equipment to play the games of our ancestors.

Those familiar with the previous three editions will note several differences in thisedition. First is the format: I have tried to package this booklet in a compact format, so that itcan be easily transported to events, and then I have tried to give it a cover that looksgenerically “Old” enough, that it can be left visible at a re-enactment without seriouslycompromising the presentation.

In addition, I have resurrected some games which were present in the first edition butwere dropped from later editions: namely Bowling, Football and Quoits. My rationale fordropping them in the first place was a perception that my readership were not interested infield games, but only wanted the more sedate stuff. I find now that I am mistaken, and so Ihave reintroduced them to the collection. Further, I felt that moving my timeline up to theyear 1900 implied some obligation to include the more formalized games of the 19th Century,like Baseball, Rugby, Cricket etc. which would have overwhelmed this volume in theminutiae which industrial man seems to think are essential to play a game.

To this earlier concept of authorial integrity I now say “Pfooie!”. I will not include the19th Century formalized sports for no other reason than I choose not to.

In none of these editions have I tried to compute the odds upon which you might baseyour wagering, or reproduce the rather complete and involved tables contained in many of mysource documents. If you are the sort of person who likes such things, please consult mybibliography. I for one, find such things a distraction from the fun of a game, and unworthy of agentleman or lady gamester.

Also, in none of these editions have I tried to go into too much detail on the historicalbackground of any game. I have tried to condense much date into a compact, user friendly form.Mostly, I have tried to present a single, straight-forward and playable game under eachheading, rather than digress into an involved discussion of all the possible variants of eachgame, and when and where such variants were played. As such, this is not really a history ofgames, but rather a book of historical game rules. While I have included a few notes at thebeginning of each game, and usually a date of first mention, to set it in its proper context, I havenot tried to delve into the social, political and economic factors surrounding the games. Thispursuit I will leave to others. I for one, would rather play than talk about a game.

Los Angeles California1999

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Card Games

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Playing CardsPlaying cards made their debut onto the European scene in the 1370s (their arrival

being announced by a flurry of ordinances banning them as immoral time-wasters). The firstcard decks probably came from Mamluk Egypt, being brought over the Mediterranean by Italianmerchants.

Some, such as the surviving Visconti Sforza deck from the mid 15th Century, werebeautiful, hand painted pieces of art, but most were cheaply produced, wood-block printeddecks, intended for hard use, and frequent replacement. As playing cards spread throughoutEurope, each region developed its own distinctive style. The games in this book will make useof several of these styles.

These games are played largely with a standard "French" deck, which is the 52 carddeck familiar to modern American players. The French suits are Spades, Clubs (Black) Hearts,and Diamonds (Red). The "Face Cards" (more generally called "Court" cards or "Coat" cards inprevious centuries) are the King, Queen and Knave (Jack). The number cards are the Ace (1), 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The most significant difference between historical French cards andmodern cards is the lack of any numbers in the corners of the cards. The habit of printingnumbers on the faces of playing cards (with the exception of Tarots) originated in the 1880s, andwas not general until the 20th Century.

Many of these games however (Primero, Hombre, Monte) are played with a Spanishdeck. In a Spanish deck (this is also the "Italian" deck), the suits are the Swords, Clubs, Cupsand Coins. There are only 48 cards in a Spanish deck. It lacks the 10, 9 and 8. The Court cardsare the King, Knight and Knave. For games utilizing a Spanish deck, you can either use anactual Spanish deck, or just remove the 10, 9 and 8 from the deck, or use a Tarot playing carddeck, and remove the Trumps, Queen, 10, 9 and 8 from the deck.

There are no games in this book which must be played with the German/Swiss deck(though some of them could be), but for purposes of completeness, I will briefly describe it here.The suits for the German deck are usually Bells, Acorns, Leaves and Hearts (though sometimesShields or Roses replace the Leaves). There are 36 cards in the deck, with four Court cards: the"Dauce" (Ace), the King, the Upper (Knight) and the Under (Knave). The number cards arethe 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6 (sometimes deleted).

Finally, there is the Tarot style, which were playing cards for about four centuriesbefore people started telling fortunes with them. Tarots are described in greater detail in thesection of the game of Tarot.

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One-and-ThirtyAs might be guessed from its name, this game is an ancestor of the modern Twenty-One.

This earlier incarnation however, remains something of a mystery. A game called Trente-et-unwas being condemned in sermons in the mid 15th Century, and is mentioned frequentlythereafter. The rules however, are never really defined. In 1672, Cotton talks about a gamecalled "Bone-Ace" which seems to be related, though perhaps not the game itself.Nevertheless, for lack of other evidence, I have included Cotton's Bone Ace, which is as good asany other surmise as to the nature of the mysterious "Thirty -One". Perhaps the originalThirty-One was Bone Ace without the first stake. I doubt we shall ever know.

This is a very simple game, and by the 17th and 18th Centuries, was regarded as"trivial and very inconsiderable" and not really a game worthy of serious gamesters. However,Cotton found a definite value in it for the gentleman since it was played by ladies and otherpeople of quality and it was a "licking game for money", which I take it to mean involved agreat deal of money changing hands. So, if you are a lady, or a person of quality, or you wouldlike to meet ladies and suck up to people of quality, while winning and losing large sums ofmoney, this is the game for you.

Complexity: SimpleEquipment: 52 card French deck.Number of Players: 2 or more.

Earliest Mention: French sermon of 1440 by Bernadine.

Sequence of Play:Bone Ace is a "two stake" game, which means that the stakes that are wagered are

divided into two parts, and won independently of each other.

The deal moves to the left, from player to player with each hand. This is not abanking game, since the dealer is at a considerable disadvantage. First deal is determined bydrawing low card.

1. The dealer deals each player three cards at a time, starting with the player to herleft (the "Elder Hand"). The third card is placed face up. The remaining cards are held by thedealer as a stock. The player with the highest card face up wins the first stake (called the"Bone"). In the case of a tie, the stake goes to the eldest hand (the hand to the right). If theAce of Diamonds (the Bone Ace) is turned up, it beats all other cards.

2. The Eldest Hand then turns her cards face up, and tries to get them to total as close tothirty-one as possible without exceeding thirty-one. Court cards equal 10, Aces equal 1 or 11and all other cards equal the number of pips on the card. If she is not satisfied with the handshe has been dealt, she may then request additional cards, one at a time, from the dealer, untilshe is satisfied or exceeds 31 and is out.

3. Play then continues around the circle, with each player repeating the process. If anyplayer reaches 31, the game is over and she has won the second stake. If no player has reached31, then the winner is determined as follows (Note: Unlike twenty-one, a game may be overbefore some players have had a chance to display and improve their hands).

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Winning:Three Court Cards are judged to equal thirty and-a-half. If two or more players have

this, then the one with three of a kind wins. If none have three of a kind, or more than one hasthree of a kind, the one with the highest card in the combination wins. All ties go to the ElderHand.Sources: Cotton, The Complete Gamester

Parlett , A History of Card Games

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Tarot Sometime shortly after playing cards were introduced from Egypt, the Europeans

added a further embellishment to the game to create the deck variously known as Tarocco,Taroc, Tarot or Trionfi .

The unique feature of the Tarot deck is what is now called the "major archana", butwhich were originally known as the "Triumphs" (often shortened to "Trumps"). The Triumphswere simply an additional suit of permanent Trumps. Their iconography does not betokenmystic symbolism. They are simply familiar symbols which would have been easilyrecognized and remembered by the Medieval mind. In the early days, this memorizing wasnecessary, since the Triumphs have an order of precedence, yet early cards have no numericalmarkings to aid the player in remembering that, for example, Death outranks the Popess.Fortunately, by the later 16th Century, the Triumphs in a Tarot deck have a numerical mark toindicate precedence, and learning the game is therefore rendered much easier.

Later ages have attached much mystical significance to the Tarot deck, but at the timeof its inception, it was regarded as simply a game. The use of Tarot for cartomancy (i.e. fortunetelling) dates back to the year 1781, when a French Freemason and mystical philosopher namedAntoine Court de Gébelin, on a visit to the provinces, saw a Tarot deck for the first time. Hewas immediately overcome by the sort of inspiration which characterized all of his"scholarship", and immediately decided that this lowly deck of playing cards was, in fact,the secret book of the High Priests of Ancient Egypt, disguised as playing cards to foil theenemies of Egyptian learning. In the fifth volume of his life's work: Le Monde Primitif, he laidout the fruit of his suppositions, and imbued it with all of the mysticism for which the Masonswere famous. All of his other work on the history of mankind (likewise derived frominspiration rather than research) has been forgotten, but his effect on the lowly deck of Tarotcards has been lasting.

Prior to that time, Tarot had never been associated with any sort of divination. Cardfortune telling had been occasionally practiced as something of a parlor game in 16th CenturyItaly, but the cards used were not Tarot, and there was no mystic symbolism. They were usedmerely as a random number generator to answer questions of the "she loves me/she loves me not"variety. There were also specialized fortune-telling decks, but they were not Tarot decks.They did not follow suits and each one had on it a very specific message of the sort which maynow be found in fortune cookies--and they were probably taken about as seriously as we nowtake fortune cookies.

I hope with these rules, I can bring the poor Tarot back to its real roots. If it pleases youto regard the Tarot as something more than mere cards, you are free to do so; but the people ofthe 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries did not; and it would be a mistake to project upon them thebeliefs of the 20th Century.

It should be noted that the Tarot deck has within it, every element required to playany of the card games included in this book. The requisite "Spanish" or "French" or "German"decks may be created simply by subtracting cards.

The rules below are a reconstruction of those used in France in the 16th Century. Thereis no documentation of any earlier sets of game rules, though there are surviving Tarot decks andreferences to games from the late 14th Century onward. This game however, is probably prettyclose to the earlier games, and contains all of the essential elements of nearly all later Tarotgames. All of the later games with which I am familiar are trick taking games which use theTriumphs as Trumps, and they only vary in the number of players, the number of cards dealt orthe specific point values assigned to specific cards. The structure of this game therefore, isprobably essentially the same as any game of Tarot, Tarocco or Taroc, practiced before or sincethe 16th Century.

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A final note: Tarot was generally considered to be a high prestige game, ranking justbehind chess in order of snobbery, and before "cards" (any game played with regular cards).Tarot was extremely popular on the continent (especially France and Italy), but never reallycaught on in England.

Complexity: ModerateEquipment: Complete Tarot deckNumber of Players: 2 to 6.Earliest Mention: French sermon of 1470. A single card (the "Pope") survives from a

deck dated around 1390.

Order of Precedence of the TriumphsNote: Some cards (like the rather blasphemous "Popess") are not found in all decks, and somedecks have unique Triumphs like "Il Capitano" or "the Ship" in place of more familiar ones. Ifyou have a non-numerated deck, you will have to ensure that everyone agrees on the order ofprecedence, and any anomalies are settled, before you start to play. The usual precedence of theTriumphs is as follows:

The World XXIThe Judgment XX (or the Angel, or the Trumpet)The Sun XIXThe Moon XVIIIThe Stars XVIIThe Tower XVI (or House of God, or Lightning)The Devil XV (or the Ship)Temperance XIVDeath XIIIThe Hanged Man XIIStrength XIThe Wheel of Fortune XThe Hermit IXJustice VIIIThe Chariot VIIThe Lovers V IThe Pope V (or Jupiter, or [according to Gébelin]

the High Priest/Hierophant)The Emperor I VThe Empress IIIThe Popess I I (or Juno, or Il Capitano, or [Gébelin

again] High Priestess)The Magician I (or Mountebank)

The Fool Naught

General Aspects of the GameTarot is a trick-taking game, with each player playing for himself and trying to

accumulate points by taking high-value cards in each trick.For those who are unfamiliar with modern trick-taking games like Hearts or Bridge,

the basic principal of play is thus: the player whose lead it is lays down a card. The playernext to him must then also lay down a card in the same suit, or if he has no cards in the samesuit, a Trump (hereafter called a "Triumph") or a card in another suit. This continues aroundthe table until every player has laid down a card. At the end, the player who has laid downthe highest numbered card in suit, or (even greater) the highest Triumph, is considered to have

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won the Trick, and removes the cards from the table to add to his winnings. Any Triumph beatsany regular card, and any card in the suit which was originally led beats any non-Triumph cardwhich was played if that card is not in the original suit. The rankings of the suit cards are asfollows:

KingQueenKnight/ChevalierKnave/Jack/Valet10987654321 (Ace)

The DealThe deal and the order of play moves clockwise. The dealer deals out ten cards (or some othernumber agreed upon by the players) to each player, face down, two cards at a time, startingwith himself.

PlayThe player to the right of the dealer has the first lead. He may lay down any card, including aTriumph. If he leads a Triumph, every other player must play a Triumph if he has one to play.If he lays down a suit, all players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, butcan play a Triumph, they MUST play a Triumph. The winner of the previous trick has thelead on the next trick. Play continues until all cards have been played.

The FoolThe Fool is a unique Triumph card. It may be played at any time regardless of whether theplayer with the Fool can follow suit; however, the Fool cannot win a trick. When the Fool isplayed, it is simply displayed by the player and then added to his own pile of winnings. Thetrick is then taken by the other player with the strongest card, but in winning the trick he doesnot win possession of the Fool. If the Fool is led, all other players must follow suit as if aTriumph had been led. The Fool is then added to the winnings of the owning player and thetrick is taken by the other player with the strongest Triumph.

Determining the WinnerAfter all tricks are taken, each player totals up the points for the cards he holds. The one withthe most cards is the winner.

The point values are as follows:

Taking a trick 1 point each trickFool 5 pointsThe World 4 points (highest Triumph)The Magician 4 points(lowest Triumph)Each King 4 pointsEach Queen 3 points

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Each Knight 2 pointsEach Knave 1 pointAll Others 0 points

At the end of each round, each player should write down the number of points gained.

After each round, the deal passes to the player on the right. After all players have dealt, thepoints are totaled and the player with the most points wins. If the players wish to modify thisand play to some specified number of rounds or number of points, or continue playing after eachone has dealt; they are free to do so by mutual agreement.

Sources: Dummet, The Game of TarotHargrave , A History of Playing CardsParlet , A History of Card Games

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Trumpor

Ruff and HonorsThis is one of the proto-games from which a whole host of later games evolved. It is a

trick-taking game and an ancestor of Whist, and it was popular with all social classesthroughout Western Europe in the 16th and 17th Centuries. I think it is even probable thatTrump, or something much like it was being played with those first decks of cards in the 14thand 15th Centuries. This game, or a game much like it, was either devised as a way of playingTarot without Tarot cards, or Tarot cards were invented to add greater color and interest to thisgame. In the 17th and 18th Centuries it went by the variant title of "Ruff and Honors", and inthe 16th, it was often called Triumph.

Number of players: FourComplexity: SimpleEquipment: One standard 52 card French deck.Earliest Mention: 1529 in a sermon by Latimer.

Play:• The players are dealt twelve cards each, from left to right. The four remaining cards are

placed in stock in the center of the table and the top one is turned up for trumps.• If anyone has the Ace of Trump, called "Ruffs", he takes up the four cards in the stock and

discards four cards of his choice.• Play is by partners. Each player is partnered by the player opposite him, and has an

opponent to his left and right.• The Elder Hand (the player to the left of the Dealer) leads the first trick. Play then

moves to the left, around the circle, with each player following suit if possible, or playingTrump if he cannot follow suit. If he cannot follow suit or play Trump, he must simplydiscard a card. The person with the highest card in suit wins the trick, unless a Trump hasbeen played. If so, then the highest Trump wins the trick. The ranking of cards is prettyconventional: Ace, King, Queen, Knave, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, in that order.

Once all twelve tricks have been played, the partners determine their score and the team withthe highest score wins the hand. A game consists of a number of hands which is mutuallyagreeable to the players. Scoring: I have to confess at this point to being unable to decipher Cotton's description of the scoringsystem in Trump. The 17th Century was not the golden age of clear, succinct expository writing.He seems however to be alluding to a scoring system similar to Whist, so that is what I havefollowed. One point is won for every Trick taken by a side. If a side holds in its Tricks, the Ace, King,Queen and Jack of Trump, they have scored "Honors" and score 4 additional points. If they holdthree of the above, they score 3 points. If less, they score no additional points. Source: Cotton, The Complete Gamester Parlett, The History of Card Games

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Gleek It is difficult to pin down the exact form of this game, since like many other games, itexisted for a long time before anyone bothered to write down the rules. These rules are as theyappeared in the Complete Gamester in 1672. It was the favorite game of Catherine of Aragon,who doubtless had sufficient leisure to learn the rules after her husband divorced and banishedher. Number of Players: 3 Equipment: French deck with the 2s and 3s removed. A great deal of small change. Earliest Mention: 1522, Watson's Church of Evil . Sequence of Play: Part the First: Dealing and Bidding: 1. The Dealer deals out 12 cards to each player, in batches of 4. She then places theremaining 8 on the table with the top one turned up to indicate the Trump suit. 2. If the turned up card is one of the following, each player pays the Dealer its value inpoints (a penny a point is customary): Ace (called a Tib) 15 points, Jack (Tom) 9 points, 6(Tumbler) 6 points, 5 (Towser) 5 points, 4 (Tiddy) 4 points, King 3 points and Queen 2 points. Itis customary for payment to be made immediately the points are gained. There is no score-keeping. 3. Each player then bids to buy the 7 cards in the pot, excluding the turned up card.The bidding starts with the Elder Hand (the player to the left of the dealer) and moves aroundthe circle. The player who has bid the highest must pay that amount to each player and thenwins the right to discard 7 cards into the discard pile and add the 7 cards to her hand. Part the Second: The Ruff: 4. The Players then wager on who has the strongest Ruff. A Ruff is some number ofcards in suit and in sequence. The more cards in the Ruff, the stronger it is. If two players havethe same number of cards in a Ruff, the player with the highest value card at the top of theRuff wins. The Elder Hand (the player to the left of the Dealer) starts the wagering by saying"I'll vie the Ruff ten pence" (or whatever number). The vie then passes around the table. Eachplayer then must either say "I'll see the vie" and if she wishes to raise the stakes she can add"and raise it ten pence" (or whatever amount). This continues until every player has had achance to "see the vie" and raise the stakes, and every player has had a chance to match anyincreases. Once it becomes clear that every player is satisfied with the level of the wager, thebidding is over and the cards are displayed. A player who does not wish to "see the vie" ormatch an increase will reply "I'll not meddle with it". In doing so, she loses any money shemay have already bid and will not display her hand. 5. If only one player is willing to "vie the Ruff", and the other two are unwilling to "seeher vie", then that player has won the Ruff. If there is no contest on the Ruff, none of theplayers need display their cards. Each of the losing players then pays the winner six points. Part the Third: Gleeks and Mournivals: 6. The players then display their Gleeks and Mournivals. A Gleek is three of a kindand a Mournival is four of a kind. The cards making up a Gleek or Mournival must be an Ace(highest), King, Queen or Jack. If no one has a Gleek or Mournival made up of these cards, skipthis part. Any Mournival beats any Gleek, and in case of more than one player holding the

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same number of a kind, the player with the highest cards in the Gleek or Mournival is thewinner. 7. The two losing players pay the winner as follows: 4 Aces--8 points3 Aces--4 points 4 Kings--6 points 3 Kings--3 points 4 Queens--4 points 3 Queens--2 points 4 Jacks--2 points 3 Jacks--1 point Part the Fourth and Last: Trick Taking: 8. The game then concludes with Trick taking in a manner identical with Tarot orPiquet. The winner of the last hand leads. Each player must then follow suit if she can or playa Trump (the Trump suit was decided in step 1 above) and the highest card played wins theTrick. If the player cannot follow suit, and does not have a Trump or wish to play it; she mayplay a card in another suit, though that card has been sacrificed, since only a card in the suitled or a Trump can win a Trick. Any Trump beats any card of another suit. A higher Trumpbeats a lower Trump. A Trump may not be played if the player can follow suit. 9. Each player then calculates the value of the cards she has won. The scores are thencompared, and the losers pay the winner the difference between their scores and the winner'sscore. Points are calculated as in step 2 above. All cards not mentioned in step 2 are worth 0points. No points are won just for winning a trick. 10. The round is over. The Elder Hand should deal the next round. Sources: Cotton, The Complete Gamester Partlett, The History of Card Games

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Primero Primero was one of the most popular card games of the 16th Century, and continued inpopularity until the later 17th Century when it was supplanted by Hombre. Its origins areeither Italian (where it was called Primera) or Spanish, but it was played throughout Europe--and was particularly popular in England. During the reign of Elizabeth, it was all the rage atCourt and is mentioned several times in Shakespeare. In French it was known as Prime. It isquite clearly a game of the gentry, since its rules are rather complex, and would require acertain amount of leisure to master. Number of Players: 4 to 6 Complexity: Difficult Equipment: 40 card Spanish Deck (remove 8, 9 & 10 from each suit in a French Deck) Earliest Mention: Berni, Capitolo del Gioco della Primera , 1526 Sequence of Play: 1. Each player antes in. 2. The dealer deals out two cards to each player, two at a time, dealing counter-clockwise,starting with himself. Play moves in a counter-clockwise direction (i.e. to the left). 3. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, the players may chose to lay down awager, or discard one or both cards and draw replacements from the deck. 4. Once a player has chosen to wager, no other players may discard cards from their hand, butmust match the wager. If they do not chose to match the wager, they may drop out of the round,losing any money they have already wagered. Any players who discarded prior to the wagermust then also match the wager or drop out. 5. If all players chose to discard rather than wager, the hand is redealt. 6. If all players but one chose not match the wager, the player to the left of the one who setdown the wager is compelled to match the wager and continue playing. 7. Each player who has remained in the game then receives two more cards (the dealercontinues to dispense cards, even if he has dropped out of the round). 8. All remaining players may raise the wager. However, if any player chooses to refuse theincrease, the wagering continues at the previous level. 9. Each player in turn may then discard any one or two cards, taking his replacements from thediscard pile. 10. Once a player feels he has a winning hand, he knocks twice on the table or calls out "Vada"(Go). Each player may then discard one more card, and then all players display their handsfor scoring. The player with the highest ranking hand is the winner and takes the pot. Thedeal then moves to the next player.

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Scoring: The hands, from lowest to highest are as follows: 1. Numerus: Two or three cards of the same suit. The cards of the same suit are totaledaccording to point values. All Coat Cards (Face cards) are equal to 10. The number cards arescored as follows: 2 = 12 points 3 = 13 points 4 = 14 points 5 = 15 point A=16 points 6 = 18 points 7 = 21 points 2. Primero: Four cards in suit, scored as above. Note: Any Primero, regardless of pointvalue beats any Numerus. Point values are only important if no superior hands are played andthe issue must be settled between two like hands. 3. Supremus: Three cards in suit and sequence, and one unrelated card. Note that thenumber cards are sequenced by point value, so that the Ace comes between the 5 and the 6. CoatCards may not be included in a Supremus. If two like hands are played, the winner isdetermined by points. 4. Fluxus: Four cards in suit and sequence, as above. 5. Chorus: Four of a kind. Sources: Parlett, A History of Card Games The 16th Century Italian Madrigal Primeri

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Piquet This French card game was introduced some time in the 16th Century, and wasextremely popular throughout Europe. It was not however, known as Piquet (or "Picket") untilthe 17th Century. In the 16th, the French called it "Cent" and the English called it "Saunt" or"Saint". It was reckoned to be the best game for play by two people. It should be noted that Iconsulted four different sources for these rules. One was 17th Century, one was 19th and twowere 20th Century. Not one of them agreed on all of the rules. What appears below isprimarily what I found in Cotton's The Compleat Gamester (1674), though I have consultedlater works to get clarification of some of his more incomprehensible passages. Complexity: Difficult Equipment: 36 card "Picket Pack" deck (standard French deck with the

2s, 3s, 4s & 5s) removed. Pen, ink and paper. Number of Players: Two Earliest mention: 1534 in Rabelais's Gargantua . Card Values: In a Picket Pack, Aces are high, followed by Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s etc. Start-up: Select a dealer (this may be either by cutting the cards or by mutual consent). 1. The dealer shuffles. His opponent (called the "Elder Hand") cuts. 2. The dealer deals out twelve cards to the Elder Hand and to himself, starting with the ElderHand, and dealing no less than two and no more than four at a time. The remaining twelvecards he lays in the middle of the table. This becomes the "Stock". First Phase: 1. The Elder Hand surveys his cards. If he has no Court Cards (i.e. "face cards") in his hand,he says "I have a Blank, and I shall discard (some number) cards". (For a Blank the ElderHand immediately receives 10 points). If the Dealer also has a Blank (which he mustimmediately display), then the Elder Hand receives no score. If the Dealer has a Blank, andthe Elder Hand does not, he simply declares it, but gains no points from it (however, he doesprevent the Elder Hand from later claiming a Picky or Repicky--see below) (NB Points should be noted down as soon as they are scored) 2. The Dealer then discards up to 8 cards, replacing them from the stock (Each player mustdiscard at least one card). 3. If the Elder Hand had a Blank, he now displays his hand, and discards the number he saidhe would discard in step 1. If not, he need not display his hand, nor declare anything, but hesimply discards up to 8 cards and replaces them from the stock. Second Phase: 1. The Elder Hand declares his Ruff. This is the number of cards in a single suit. If the Dealerhas a lesser Ruff, he need not declare, and he may simply concede the round to the Elder Hand.The winner of the Ruff gains a point for each card in sequence. The loser may ask the winner todisplay his winning hand, but if he is not asked, he need not do so.

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2. Next, the Sequences are played. A Sequence is a series of cards, in sequence and suit (i.e. 9,10, Jack; or 10, Jack, Queen, Ace). A series of 3 is a Tierce, 4 is a Quart , 5 is a Quint, 6 is aSisixm, 7 is a Septism, 8 is a Huitism and 9 is a Neufism. The longest Sequence is judged to bethe winner. If the players have two Sequences of equal size, then the Sequence with thehighest top card wins. If there is a tie, the point goes to the Dealer. The winner may thenaward himself the value of the winning sequence, and also the value of any other sequences hemight have in his hand. The loser gets no points. A Tierce wins 3 points and a Quart 4. Any sequence of 5 or more wins the number of cards insequence plus 10 points, so a Quint would win 15 and a Septism would win 18. 3. Next are reckoned the Ternaries and Quatorzes. These are cards of the same denomination (3or 4 Queens, 3 or 4 Aces etc.) A Quatorze (4 of a kind) beats a (Ternary) 3 of a kind. If both havea Quatorze or Ternary, then the point goes to the holder of the strongest set (i.e. 4 aces beats 4kings, 3 Jacks beats 3 9s etc.). As in Sequences, only the winner may win points, and he that winsmay also count other sets he may have had in his hand which were not the winning sets. A Ternary scores 3 points. A Quatorze scores 4, unless it is 4 Aces, Kings, Queens or 10s; in whichcase it scores 14. Third Phase: 1. At this point, Picket becomes a Trick-Taking game, like Tarot, Bridge or Whist. The Elderplays the first card and the Dealer must follow suit if he can. The winner of each trick is theone who played the highest card of the suit led. The winner of the last trick leads the nextcard. There are no trumps. 2. This continues until all cards are played. Then the score is settled. For each trick taken: 1 point. For picking up the last trick: 2 points. For each A, K, Q, J or 10 taken or played in a winning trick. 1 point. For winning more tricks than your opponent. 10 points. For winning every trick 40 points. (this is called a Capet) Scoring: Scores are then tallied. However, to add further complication to an already elaborate game,there are still two more ways to score. The players keep score and continue dealing hands untila total score and the end of a hand exceeds 100. Then the player with the highest score wins.The deal shifts from player to player after each hand. Repicky: If a player scores 30 points before the third phase, without the other playerscoring any, he is adjudged to have won a Repicky, and he is awarded a bonus of 60 points. Picky: If a player scores 30 points after the third phase, without the other playerscoring any, he has won a Picky, and gets a bonus of 30 points.

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If the Dealer had a Blank at the beginning of the round, even though he gained no points fromit, the Elder Hand cannot claim a Repicky or Picky later in the hand. Penalties for Screwing Up: If you forget to claim a Picky or Repicky before the cards are taken up at the end of the hand--tough! You do not need to claim it at the instant it happens, but you must claim it before the endof the hand. If you forget to tally up the points from one step before you move on to another (i.e. Ruffsto Sequences; Sequences to Sets etc.), you blew it. You lost those points. If you make a mistake in tallying your score, and you are caught at it, your opponentthen takes over the responsibility for tallying your score. If he makes a mistake in your score,you resume the job of adding it up. If you concede the game and set down your cards, you may not retract your concession. Sources: Bohn, Hand-Book of Games Cotton, The Complete Gamester Parlet, A History of Card Games

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Lansquenet/Landsknecht The name of this game suggests it was played by the German Mercenaries who served inthe armies of most European monarchs in the 16th Century. It fell out of favor in most of theworld by the 18th Century, though some there were some adherents who declared it thenational card game of Germany. It was revived in the 19th Century by the Romantic movement,who liked its associations with the swashbuckling past. One French writer of the 19th Centurydescribed it thus: "It is a game of good repute whose very name invokes the cavalier ways of the 17th Centurygentlemen and soldiers of fortune...Chronicles of the time tell us that D'Artagnan and hismusketeers were dedicated Landsquenet players" L'Academie des Jeux, 1876 Its simplicity suggests it was a game played by men who did not wish to overburdentheir brains with complex rules or difficult strategies--thus rendering it ideal as a gamblinggame for illiterate soldiers to use for the soul purpose of disposing of or redistributing theirwages and plunder. This is the grand-daddy of all banking games. As in all banking games, thebest strategy is to be the Banker. Number of Players: One Banker and any number of Punters. Complexity: Simple Equipment: This could be played with any deck, either German, French or Spanish. Wagering is with Coins, valuables or wagering tokens. Earliest Mention: 1534 in Rabelais's Gargantua The Deal: The dealer is the banker, and must have sufficient funds to cover all the bets of all the players(or the players must agree to extend the dealer sufficient credit to cover all bets). Any numberof people may play. The game is complete after a single deal and a second round is a secondgame. The players ante in with an initial bet. The dealer begins by dealing two "Hand Cards", which he places face up at the center of thetable. Then he deals one card, face up, to himself; and then one face up card to the players (thiscard is called the Réjouissance card). The players then place their ante on the Réjouissance card. They may also increase theirwager at that time. If any of the first four cards dealt match each other, then the dealer wins, collects the ante,and deals again. Play: The dealer draws one card at a time from the top of the deck and lays it face up on the table. Ifthe card matches any of the Hand Cards, it is laid next to them and play continues. If the cardmatches no cards on the table, it is laid next to the Réjouissance card and the players may placeadditional wagers on it (it, essentially, becomes another Rejouissance card). If the card the

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dealer draws matches (i.e. is the same denomination as) a Réjouissance card, the dealer winsall bets laid on that card and that card is withdrawn from play. If the dealer draws a card which matches his own card, he loses all wagers remaining on thetable and the game is over. The game also ends if all cards have been played, or all players'wagers have been lost. If both Hand Cards are matched once, all remaining wagers are withdrawn and returned to thebetter, the cards are collected, the deck is reshuffled, and the dealer deals again. If it is a friendly game, the players have the option of passing the deal around the circle.Otherwise, the Banker can simply make it understood at the beginning of the game that he isthe Bank, and he is taking on all comers. Variations: There is a variation on this game where no Rejouissance card is dealt; rather the dealer dealseach player a card and the players wager upon their own cards. If the dealer draws a cardwhich matches a particular player's card, the dealer wins that player's wager. The player'scards may match each other, but may not match the dealer's or the Hand Cards. Sources: Dawson; The Complete Hoyle's Games Parlett; The History of Card Games

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Maw This game started out as a French peasant game, but by around 1576, it was being playedby the nobility at all the courts of Christendom. It was the particular favorite of James VI ofScotland (later James I of England), and was the game to play at his court. Complexity: Moderate Equipment: 52 card French deck Number of Players: 3 to 6. Earliest mention: 1548 General: Maw is a trick taking game, the object of which is to win three or more tricks. If no player winsthree tricks, the hand is considered "spoiled" and is redealt with no winner being adjudged. Ifthere is a winner, he gains the pot, into which every player has anted an equal amount. If thewinner wins all five tricks, he is considered to have "Jinked" and he not only wins the pot, butevery player must then pay him an additional amount, equal to the initial ante. The Deal: The Dealer deals out five cards to each player, starting with the player to his left (called the"Elder Hand"). He must deal the cards in twos and threes, not one at a time. After dealing tothe players, he turns up one card to indicate Trump. The suit of that card is the trump suit. Robbing: If an Ace is turned up as Trump, the Dealer has the option of "Robbing" it (taking the Trumpcard, and discarding a card). He must do this before the Elder Hand has played his first card.If an Ace is not turned up, or the Dealer does not elect to "Rob", any player may rob the card onhis first turn to play. Robbing must occur before the player has played his first card, and hemay instantly play the card he has robbed, if he so desires. Sequence of Play: The Elder Hand leads his first card. If he leads a suit other than Trump, each subsequentplayer must follow suit or play a Trump. Unlike most trick-taking games, he may play a Trumpeven is he can follow suit. If he leads Trump, each player must follow suit with Trump (withthe exception of "reneging "--see below). The player who plays the highest card wins the trickand leads the first card on the next round. If you cannot follow suit or play a Trump, you mayplay any card, but that card cannot win the Trick and will be sacrificed. Play continues for fiverounds at which time all cards will have been played. Ranking of Cards: The greatest complication in Maw is the ranking of the cards. The red suits (Hearts andDiamonds) are ranked in usual sequence with Ace low (King, Queen, Knave, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3,2, Ace). The number cards in the black suits however, are ranked in reverse order (King, Queen,Knave, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). While this could prove confusing if you were trying tocompare red cards against black, this will not occur, since one must follow suit or play a Trump,and cards of different suits are therefore not being ranked against each other. This reverseranking of black suits applies even if a black suit is Trump. To further complicate matters, when a suit is Trump, the strongest card in the entire deck is the5 of Trump. The 5 of Trump beats all other cards. The second highest card is the Knave of

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Trump. The Knave of Trump beats all cards but the 5 of Trump. The third highest is the Ace ofHearts. The Ace of Hearts is the third highest card regardless of what suit is Trump. Reneging: The 5 of Trump, the Knave of Trump and the Ace of Hearts may "renege" if any lower Trump isled. This is to say that you are not obliged to play any of these cards if your opponent leadsTrump-- you may play any other card if you so desire. However, if a higher Trump (like the 5if you have the Knave, or the Knave if you have the Ace of Hearts) is led, you are obliged toplay that card if you have no other Trump to sacrifice. Sources: Dawson, The Complete Hoyle's Games (this is nothing more than the modern game of"Spoil Five", which is a direct descendent of Maw) Parlett, A History of Card Games

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Cribbage/Noddy Cribbage is an old game, which in the 16th Century went by the name of Noddy.Folklore holds it that the inventor of Cribbage was Sir John Suckling, who introduced it intocourtly circles around 1630. He did not invent it, of course, but probably cleaned up and codifiedsome of the scrambled rules inherent in any folk-game like Noddy. It fell out of favor as anaristocratic game in the 18th Century, but is still played by just plain folks in the England andthe US to this day. Number of Players: Two Complexity: Moderate Equipment: Standard 52 card Frenchdeck. Two Cribbage boards.

Play: The deal rotates from one player to another. The players draw for the first deal. High carddeals. Each player has a cribbage board to maintain a running score off all points won. ACribbage board has two parallel rows of peg holes. Each time a score is made, the trailing pegis moved past the leading peg a number of holes equal to the number of points won. This is doneso that if there is any problem or counting error, there is always a peg in place to tell you whatthe score was before you started to move pegs around. The First Part: The Dealer deals out six cards, one at a time, to the Elder Hand and himself. Each playerdiscards two cards into the "crib" at the center of the table. The Second Part: The Elder Hand cuts the pack, and the Dealer takes the bottom card off of one of the half decks(the card that was in the middle of the deck) and turns it face up "for starters". If it is a Jack,the Dealer scores two points "for his heels". Neither player actually picks the card up andputs it in his hand, but both may make as much use of it as they will to make scoringcombinations with the cards in their hands. The Elder Hand then lays down a card and announces its identity and any score it gains. TheDealer then does the same. The Elder Hand then lays down another card, announces its identity and claims the score fromany combination it has made with the card(s) he has previously played. This continues untilall cards have been played. Scoring: Scores are taken immediately and recorded on the cribbage board. The same cards can be part ofany number of separately scored combinations. The game is played to 61. The winner is the firstto score 61. Fifteen (2 points): Any number of cards totaling 15. Aces are 1, Court Cards are 10. Pair (2 points): Two of a kind Pair Royal or "Pryal"(6 points): Three of a kind Double Pair Royal (12 points): Four of a kind

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Run: Three or more cards in numerical sequence (suit immaterial)--one point per card insequence. Flush: Four cards of the same suit--one point per constituent card. Variations: In the 18th Century and earlier, this game was played with only five cards being dealt to eachplayer. Source: Cotton, The Complete Gamester

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Hombre (Renegado)

Think not when woman's transient breath has fled That all her vanities at once are dead; Succeeding vanities she still regards, And though she plays no more o'er looks the cards. Her joy in gilded chariots when alive, And love of Ombre after death survive. Usually called "Ombre" or "the Spanish Game" by English speakers, this game wasthe most popular European card game of the late 17th and early 18th Centuries, though it felldistinctly out of fashion by the second quarter of the 18th Century. In began in Spain around theend of the 16th Century as a four person game. By the 17th Century, when it caught on outsideSpain, most people were playing a variation called "Renegado", which is a three person game.the terms used are those used in England, which were Anglicized versions of French versions ofthe original Spanish words. This game became all the rage in England when it was broughtback by Charles II when he returned from exile in France in 1660. This game seems to have beenparticularly popular with women. Number of players: 3 Equipment: 1 Spanish deck (remove 10s, 9s, and 8s from a French deck) Earliest mention: 1618 Background: Hombre is a trick taking game, much like all other trick taking games. the cards are separatedinto "Black" and "Red" suits. If you are using a standard French deck of Spades, Clubs, Hearts,and Diamonds, it is fairly obvious which is which. If you are playing with an actual Spanishdeck, the Cups and Coins are the red suits, and the Swords and Clubs (the weapons) are theblack. From high to low, in the black suits, the cards rank K, Q, J, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In the red suits, theyrank K, Q, J, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Number cards in reverse order). The three highest trumps are called Matadors, and are the following: Spadillo: the Ace of Spades (Swords) Manille: the lowest trump (2 in black, 7 in red) Basto: the Ace of Clubs. If red is trump, the red Ace is called a Punto, but is not a Matador. Play: Starting with the Elder Hand (the player to the left of the Dealer), each player declares herintention. she may either decline to state (pass), or declare herself the "Hombre". The Hombrechooses the Trump suit and obliges herself to win the majority of the tricks played. The othertwo players then become partners against her. she may either play a "simple" game, whichmeans she may make any number of discards and take a like number from the remaining stock, or

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she may play a "solo" game, which means she makes no discards. If no one has the guts todeclare herself the Hombre, the one holding the highest Matador must become the Hombre andplay a simple game. The Hombre leads the first trick. Play then moves to the left, which each player having tofollow suit if she can. If she cannot follow suit, she can lay a Trump or simply discard her card.If Trumps are led, and a player's only Trump is a Matador, she need not follow suit, but maydiscard. She is only forced to play a Matador if another Matador is led and she has no Trumpsto sacrifice. If the Hombre wins the first five tricks, she may declare victory and claim the pot. She may,however, then undertake a "Vole", and take all nine. The result of a Vole is a matter of localarrangement, but one possible outcome would be for the other two players to pay off double theirante. If the Hombre is beaten she is "Beasted", and she pays off to the person who won the mosttricks. The third party neither wins nor loses, but retains his ante. If the Hombre is Beastedand the two opponents tie, then she pays them off equally. Sources: Parlett; History of Card Games Cotton; the Complete Gamester

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Put This is the archetypal "low" game. It was a game very popular in "ordinaries"(taverns where meals were served), and much played by laborers, soldiers, servants andapprentices. It was not generally played between gentlemen, but sometimes a naive youngswain was foolish enough to play it in an ordinary with a low-born sharper, with predictableresults. This game was notorious for the number of people who cheated at it, and country peoplevisiting the town were well advised to beware of anyone who might offer them a game of Put.It began some time in the mid-17th Century, and persisted until the mid-19th. Number of Players: Two Complexity: Simple Equipment: One 52 card standard deck. Earliest Mention: 1672 in the Complete Gamester Play:• Cards are ranked 3, 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4. Suits are immaterial.• Draw for deal. High card deals.• Deal three cards to each player.• Eldest Hand (the player opposite the Dealer) has the option of throwing in his hand, and

giving his opponent one point, or of saying "I put", which indicates he is willing to play outthe hand. The Dealer then has the opportunity to throw in his hand and give one point tohis opponent, or to say "I put", and play out the hand.

The players simultaneously lay down one card each. The one with the highest card wins thetrick. If there is a tie, that trick is "spoiled”, and no one wins it. Once all three tricks havebeen played, the player who has won the most tricks wins the hand and three points. If allhands were a tie, it is spoiled and no points are awarded for that hand. If one trick was a tie,and each player won one trick, then it is spoiled and no points are awarded. If two tricks werespoiled and one was won, then the winner of that one trick is awarded three points. Play is to five points. Sources: Cotton, The Complete Gamester Bohn, Handbook of Games Parlett, History of Card Games

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Loo Cotton states, in the Complete Gamester, that Loo may be "played several ways".Rather than digress in a fruitless enumerations of all the surviving varieties, I will simplychoose two to stand for all. Loo originated some time in the second half of the 17th Century,and survived as a friendly, though vicious and cut-throat, English family game until the later19th Century. It was also known as "Lanterloo". While it was never as popular as some of itscontemporaries (Ombre, Whist etc.), it managed to survive for a rather long time as a minordiversion between games about which a committed gamester could become really obsessed. Number of players: Three to eight. Complexity : Moderate Equipment: One standard 52 card deck. General points: Loo is a trick taking game, like so many others in this book, but unlike most other suchgames, the winner does not take all. The pot is divided up into the number of tricks to beplayed. In a five card game, if a player wins a trick, he has won a fifth of the pot; two tricks,to fifths etc. There is a three card and a five card version of this game (I will first describe thefive card). The top trump is the Jack of Clubs, called "Pam". When a player leads the Ace of Trumps, hesays "Pam be civil", as a reminder to the holder of the Pam that she is not to use Pam to trumpthe Ace of Trumps. If the initial deal yields one of the players a hand where all cards are ofthe same suit, then the other players are "Looed", and play does not continue. The player withthat hand collects all the stakes. If there are two "Loos", then the "Elder Hand" wins. TheEldest Hand is the player to the left of the Dealer, and seniority moves to the left, ending withthe Dealer. Play: Five cards are dealt, to the left, one at a time. A card is then turned up to designate the Trumpsuit and the remaining cards are put in stock, face down in the center of the table. The Eldest Hand then leads the first trick. Each player then must play a card, following suit ifthey can, or playing a Trump or discarding a card if they cannot. The highest card in suit winsif no trumps are played. If Trumps are played, the highest Trump wins. The winner of the lasttrick leads the next trick. Play continues until are cards are exhausted. Each player collects one stake for each trick taken. Three Card Loo. Three Card Loo differs from five card Loo in only a few particulars. Only three cards are dealtto each player. In addition, one dummy hand (called a "Miss") is also dealt. Starting withthe Eldest Hand, each player has the option of discarding his hand as dealt and substitutingthe Miss hand. This may only be done once, and the discarded hand does not become anotherMiss hand. If there are many players at the table (and the chief virtue of three card Loo is thenumber of people who may play), then one or more additional Miss hands may be dealt. Sources: Cotton, The Complete Gamester Bohn, Handbook of Games Parlett, A History of Card Games

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Whist It is with some trepidation that I include the game of Whist in this thin volume. Nogame until the 20th Century has spawned as much literature as Whist, and I am trying here, tocram into a few pages, what many people have required entire volumes to expound. Few games have enjoyed such popularity for so long as Whist (also known, in the 17thand 18th Centuries as "Whisk"). It is first described in Cotton's Complete Gamester in 1672,and was extremely popular among the leisure class in France, England and North Americathroughout the 18th Century. Cotton also states that the game was so well known, that he neednot even explain the rules, which suggests that it had caught on sometime earlier in the 17thCentury than 1672. In the 19th Century, it was largely replaced by Euchre in America, but inEngland, its popularity continued unabated until the advent of Bridge in the early 20thCentury. If a Victorian Englishman was playing cards, the odds were he was playing Whist.The first "Hoyle's", published in 1742 by Edmund Hoyle, was a treatise dealing exclusivelywith Whist. Later editions of "Hoyle's", written after his death in 1769 by other people, wereexpanded to include hundreds of other games, until "Hoyle's" has simply become a by-word forrule book. New "Hoyle's" are still being written today. It all started however, with Whist;undoubtedly one of the most popular games in history. It is essentially a very simple game, butseveral centuries of popularity have shackled it with such a massive burden of extra rulesdesigned to address unlikely occurrences and errors, that the rules can be very daunting todecipher. I have omitted these esoteric rules, and what follows is a bare-bones, generic game ofWhist. I have also unapologetically ignored the countless variants, with names like Boston orDouble Dumbie, which have added further confusion to the game. If you find this form of Whist unsatisfying, I refer you to my bibliography, whichshould sate the most fanatic Whistophile. Number of Players: Four Complexity: Moderate Equipment: Standard 52 card deck. Set Up: Players draw for partners. The two highest cards partner with each other, as do the two lowcards. The person who drew the lowest card is the first dealer. All ties must redraw todetermine their relative position, but their overall ranking does not change. For example, theplayers draw a "5", a "6", another "6" and a "9" on the first cut. The one who drew a "9" is thehighest and will remain so. The one who drew a "5" is the lowest and will be the dealer. Thetwo who drew "6s" draw again. One draws a "Jack", the other a "4". The high card thenassumes the second spot and is paired with the one who drew a "9", and the other assumes thethird position, and is partnered with the dealer. (Note: Aces count low at this time. They willcount high at all times hereafter). The players will then seat themselves so that partners areopposite each other, and have opponents to the right and left. The dealer then shuffles the cards, they are cut by the player to his right and then he dealsthem all out, one at a time, starting on his left. He lays the last card down, face up, to indicatetrump. When it is the dealer's turn to play to the first trick, he picks up the card and puts it inhis hand, and then plays to the trick. The cards being dealt, each player sorts them into suits. The player to the left of the dealer(the "Elder Hand") leads. Play moves from left to right, with each player following suit ifpossible. If a player has none of the lead suit in his hand, he may play a trump or some othersuit. Once all players have laid down a card, the Trick is complete, and the player who laid

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the strongest card wins the Trick. This continues until all cards have been played, at whichpoint the score is tallied. If a Trump is played, it beats all cards of lesser value. If more than one player plays Trumps,the strongest Trump wins. If Trumps are led, all players who have a Trump in their hands mustplay one. The Revoke This occurs when a player, holding one or more of the suit led, plays a card of a different suit. Ifhe does so, he loses three points or three tricks from the hand just played, at the discretion ofhis opponents. The three tricks or points are then added to the opponent's score. Scoring: The complete game is played in "Rubbers" of three hands (sometimes called "games") each. Acomplete game does not consist of any less than one Rubber. Once a side has taken six Tricks,they have "made book". Any Trick over six counts for one point. If a side holds in its Tricks, the Ace, King, Queen and Jack of Trump, they have scored "Honors"and score 4 additional points. If they hold three of the above, they score 3 points. If less, theyscore no additional points. A side that wins a hand wins 5 points. A Rubber is won by the first team to win two out of threehands. The Etiquette of Whist: What follows is taken verbatim from Dick & Fitzgerald's Modern Pocket Hoyle of 1880.While they are not precisely rules, these guidelines will go far towards reviving the gentilitythat was so much a part of the playing of Whist. The following rules belong to the established etiquette of Whist. They are not calledlaws, as it is difficult, in some cases impossible to apply any penalty to their infraction, andthe only remedy is to cease to play with players who habitually disregard them. Two packs of cards are invariably used at Clubs: if possible this should be adhered to. Anyone, having the lead and several winning cards to play, should not draw a secondcard out of his hand until his partner has played to the first trick, such an act being a distinctintimation that the former has played a winning card. No intimation whatever, by word or gesture, should be given by a player as to the stateof his hand, or of the game. A player who desires the cards to be placed, or who demands to see the last trick [orwho asks what the trump suit is] should do it for his own information only, and not to invite theattention of his partner. No player should object to refer to a bystander who professes himself uninterested inthe game, and able to decide any disputed question facts: as to who played any particular card--whether honors were claimed though not scored, or vice versa -&c, &c. It is unfair to revoke purposely; having made a revoke, a player is not justified inmaking a second in order to conceal the first. Until the players have made such bets as they wish, bets should not be made withbystanders. Bystanders should make no remark, neither should they by word or gesture give anyintimation of the state of the game until concluded and scored, nor should they walk round thetable to look at different hands. Sources: Dick & Fitzgerald;" Modern Pocket Hoyle " Parlett;" History of Card Games "

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All-Fours This game originated in the 17th Century, and was probably brought to England by thecourtiers of Charles II. It was popular throughout the 18th Century, and eventually evolved,with a few very small changes, into the game of Seven-Up. Number of Players: Two Complexity: Moderate Equipment: One standard 52 card deck. Earliest mention : 1674 in the Complete Gamester. The Deal Cut for deal. High card is the dealer. Deal to the left, six cards to each player, three cards ata time. Turn up the last card for trumps. If it is a Jack, the dealer immediately gets one point.The other player then examines his cards. If he is not satisfied with his hand, he declares "Ibeg". If the Eldest Hand (the other player) begs, the dealer then examines his own hand, and hasthe option of either leaving things as they are and giving the Eldest Hand a point (called "agift" and indicated by the dealer saying "Take it"), or dealing out three to himself and theother player (called "running the cards"), and then turning up a new card for trumps. If thesame suit as the previous trump is turned for trumps, the dealer deals another three to eachplayer and then turns a new trump. He keeps this up until he turns a new trump. If a Jack of therejected trump suit comes up during any of these subsequent deals, the dealer does not score apoint. In the unlikely event that the deck is exhausted, then the pack is taken up, reshuffled,and redealt. The Eldest Hand may not beg again, but must accept the new trump suit. Once thisis settled, the players may then take up their hands, and discard all but six of their cards. Sequence of Play This is a standard trick taking game. Aces are high. The Eldest Hand leads with a card. Thedealer may lay any card in the suit that was led, or if he does not have a card in the correctsuit, he may play another card, such as a trump. The highest card in suit wins if no trumps areplayed. The highest trump wins if trumps are played. When a player takes a trick, he puts allthe cards from that trick in his pile, and leads the next trick. This continues until all cardshave been played. Scoring The winner is the player with the highest score over 31. If neither player has scored 31,another hand is dealt and play continues until 31 is exceeded. The person with the highesttrump in his hand gains one point. The person with the lowest trump in his hand gains one point. When playing what onebelieves to be the lowest trump, announce it so that everyone knows you are claiming that point.If someone later plays a lower, there is no penalty for a false claim (other than not winningthat point) The person who holds the Jack of trumps at the end of the hand gets one point. The person who won the most points from tricks in that hand gains one point. Tricks are scoredas follows: A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, 10=10, all others=0.

Sources: Foster; Hoyle, Cotton; the Complete Gamester, Parlett; History of Card Games

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Brag This is a traditional British working class card game, popular in pubs and in the Army.It is still played today in Britain, but the current form shows so many influences of Poker, thatit has become little more than a Poker variant. In the British Army, where this game wasextremely popular, there was a tradition that, when there was no money to be had betweenpaydays, the soldiers would "play for noses". The winner of a hand had the right to swat theloser on the nose with his cards, fanned out as they would be in playing. In the 19th Century, itwas also played in the United States, but its popularity there never came close to that ofEuchre, Poker or Faro. The game's roots lie in the early 17th Century with the game of "Post".The game was subject to tremendous evolution throughout its long life. The basic version belowis the 18th Century form. It should be noted however, that in the 18th Century, this game wasregarded as a suitable one for persons of quality and distinction. It wasn't till the 19th Centurythat its unfashionability consigned it to the lower classes. The lower class version probablydispensed with the first and third stakes. Number of Players: Two to eight. Complexity: Moderate Equipment: One standard 52 card French deck. Earliest Mention: 1721 edition of the Complete Gamester Brag is a three stake game, which means each player antes into three different pots,which may be won independently of each other, at different stages in the game. The Deal: The dealer deals 9 cards to each player, three cards at a time, counterclockwise, turningthe last card face up. Any remaining cards are discarded into stock. The First Stake: The person who has the highest card turned up wins the first stake. If any of themhave the Ace of Diamonds, that wins over any other card. In case of a tie, the Elder Hand wins(the Eldest hand is the player to the left of the dealer. Seniority moves then to the left, in thedirection of the deal). The turned up card is discarded into the stock. The Second Stake: This stake is called the "Bragg". Each player examines his hand for pairs. Thehighest pair will win the stake (note, three of a kind is not reckoned to be higher than a pair).Aces are high. The Knave of Clubs is a wild card, and may be paired with any other card. If itis paired with a pair, it makes it a half-step higher , thus beating a matching pair of the samevalue. Before the cards are displayed however, each player, starting with the Elder Hand,has the option of raising the stake. This portion of the game is played in a manner identicalwith modern Poker, with each player in turn either matching the stake as it comes to him,folding or raising it. This continues around the circle until everyone has had at least one chanceto raise or match the stake, and a player opts to match the stake without raising it. Then thecards making up the pairs are displayed and the strongest pair takes the pot. The cards whichmade up the pair are then discarded into stock.

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The Third Stake: The players then select from their remaining cards, cards which equal 31 or come asclose as possible to 31. Court cards equal 10, Aces equal 11 or 1 and all other cards equal thenumber of pips on the cards. The winner is the holder of 31 or the person with the highest totalequaling less than 31. All ties go to the Elder Hand. If another hand is to be played, the EldestHand (the player to the immediate left of the dealer) becomes the dealer. Sources: Cotton, The Complete Gamester Parlett, A History of Card Games

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Faro & Basset Faro is a close relative and descendent of the game of Basset, differing from Basset inonly a few minor details of terminology and play. Basset, according to Parlett, dates from themid 15th Century and came to England with the return of Charles II, where it enjoyed aboutfifty years of popularity before being superseded by Faro. Faro originated sometime in the mid18th Century in France, where it was used by Louis XIV as a means to extract money from thenobility, whom he was not legally entitled to tax. It was popular in 18th Century Europe withall levels of society. When the British occupied Philadelphia during the Revolution, andsettled in for the winter, the Hessians kept a Faro Bank for the amusement and diversion of therest of the Army. In the 19th Century, it was particularly popular in the United States. It isnot much of an exaggeration to say that there was a Faro table in every western saloon. Likemost banking games, the rules are extremely simple. However, unlike some other bankinggames, it requires some rather awkward accessories which require a certain amount ofinvestment in equipment before one can really start to play. However, many players in roughcircumstances made do with a simple layout made from an expendable deck of cards, and "kepttabs" with a pencil and paper. It you do not wish to take the time and trouble to set up your ownsmall casino, you too can make do with less than the full set up. Following the description ofFaro, I will briefly discuss the game of Basset. Complexity: Simple Number of Players: One Dealer and any number Players ("Punters") Earliest Mention: 1734 in "The Complete Gamester" by Seymour. Equipment In its most basic form, the Faro table is a long rectangle (perhaps three feet by one and a half)It is covered in green felt, and glued to this felt is the "lay-out". This is a complete suit ofSpades, glued to the table and lacquered to keep them from dog-earing. The cards are laid outin two rows, running left to right. The Ace through Six is on the lower row (nearest the dealer'sside of the table), the Seven is on the far right of the rows, mid way between the upper andlower row, and the Eight through King is on the upper row. This is the basic table. There arenumerous refinements, which add to the class, but also to the complexity of construction.

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These could include the following: 1. A raised divider, running about 8" from the edge of the table, on the player's side, to clearlydelineate the players' pots from their wagers (the pot is on their side, the wager in on thedealer's side). This is not necessary if the Faro table is a separate small table set on a largertable. 2. A spring-loaded box to hold the cards. The spring ensures that the top card is alwayspressed against the top rim of the box, regardless of how many cards are in the box. The box hasa rim to hold the cards in place, but no top. The face of the top card is visible to all players. 3. A "cue box" or "case keeper". This is the most complicated part of the Faro rig. It isconstructed something like an abacus, with the image of each card in the Spade suit in themiddle of the frame. A rod leads out of each card and on the rod is four counters. The dealeruses this to keep track of the cards which have been pulled. Each time a card his pulled,regardless of suit, he moves one counter to the far side of the rod. 4. A space marked "High Card" or "H.C." on the back edge of the table (nearest the Dealer).When this is present, the Punters may place wagers here to bet on whether the winning card(the second card drawn) will be higher than the losing card (the first card drawn). If they win,they are paid off one-to-one. They may "copper" this bet (see below) to reverse it. The “HighCard” option dates from the last quarter of the 19th Century. 5. Chips (more commonly called "Checks") to indicate bets, though checks can be dispensedwith and money placed directly on the layout. It is easiest for the Dealer if each Punter haschecks of a different color or design. Colored checks can be placed on top of a bet to indicate theowner. The Cards A complete, standard 52 card deck is used. The Game The Dealer's deck is placed face down on the table or face up in the Card Box. The game commences with each player (called a "punter") laying wagers on the card images onthe Faro table. If the wager is placed directly over the card image, the Punter is wagering ononly that card. A player may wager on two cards by placing his wager mid-way between twocard images. He may place a single wager upon four cards by placing the wager between four ofthem. A Punter may place as many separate bets as he wishes or can afford. The Dealer discards the top card (the "Soda Card"). The Dealer then wins any wagers, placedon the next card displayed (e.g. if the card should be an Ace, the Dealer collects all wagersplaced on the Ace). The first card, which wins for the dealer is called the "losing card.". The Dealer discards that card, revealing the next card. If that card is (for example) a Five, hepays off all wagers which had been placed on the Five. The second card, which wins for thePunters, is called the "winning card." This concludes a single "Turn". In the interval between turns, the Punters may place additionalwagers or increase existing ones, or move wagers from one card to another. New players may

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also join the game between the turns and players who still have money/chips on the table, maywithdraw their wagers and either leave the game or sit out one or more turns. The game continues in Turns, with the first draw going to the Dealer and the second to thePunters, until the deck is exhausted. The strategy lies in keeping track of which cards havebeen pulled. The players may watch the Cue Box (if one is present) and/or make written notesto aid their memories (the cue box may be worked by the Dealer, one of the Punters or theDealer's Assistant, called the "Lookout"). When the Dealer gets to the bottom of the deck, thedeck is reshuffled, cut and replaced, face up on the table. A Faro game has no real ending, andcan continue indefinitely, with new players entering between turns and old players being wipedout or cashing out. Coppering The Punters have the option of "Coppering" a bet. This means placing a copper token(traditionally a Penny) on top of the bet. A Coppered bet wins on the first card, and loses onthe second (the opposite of a usual bet). Calling the Turn/Last Call: When someone has been keeping track of the cards played (that is what the Cue Box is for),and the players become aware that they are down to the last three cards in the deck, anyPunter has the option of "calling the turn". To do this, he must name the three cards remaining(not difficult if the Cue Box has been used properly), and the order in which they will bepulled. If he gets it right, he wins his bet. If he gets it wrong, he loses. As in all other aspectsof Faro, suit is immaterial. If a player calls the turn successfully, he is paid off four-to-one. Iftwo of the three cards are the same (called a "cat"), then the winner is paid off only two-to-one. If all three cards are the same (highly unlikely), then the turn may not be called. Splits: If the first and second card are of the same denomination, then the house only takes half thelosing bet. If the amount cannot be cleanly divided in two, the difference goes to the dealer. The Cue Box: The Cue Box (also called the "Case Keeper") is used to keep track of the turning of the cards. Itmay be operated by the Dealer, the Lookout, or, most commonly, by one of the more soberpunters. Each time a card is played, one of the disks for that card is moved. A proper game ofFaro must involve keeping an accurate track of the cards played, and if a Cue Box is not present,then the players must "Keep Tabs" by tracking the cards with a paper and pencil. This isnecessary for the following reasons: 1. It allows players to bet only on cards that are likely to turn up. 2. It makes it possible to call the turn at the end. 3. The House customarily collects all bets remaining on the table after the last card is turned. The Game of Stuss: Stuss is a simplified American version of Faro. It appears to have originated in the late 19thCentury, in the New York Jewish community, but it probably gives a pretty fair approximationof a bare bones Faro game, of the sort that would be played in a mining camp or military camp.Its differences from standard Faro are these: • No Coppering. All bets must be on the "winning" card.

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• The last four cards in the deck are not dealt. They are called the Pocket cards. At the endof the game they are laid out and the house wins all bets on the Pocket cards.

• The house takes the entire losing bet on a split.• Many Stuss games are played without a card box.• The bets are placed before the deck is displayed. If any bets are placed on the "Soda

Card", they are lost. The game then begins normally. Basset Basset is essentially the same game as Faro, with the following differences: 1. The Dealer deals out all cards into a right pile and a left pile, face down. He then turns overthe left first. That is his card, and a match wins for the Dealer. 2. The Dealer then turns over the top card from the right pile, and a match wins for the Punterwho wagered on it. 3. A Punter may wager that the next card to be turned up in the right pile will be the same asthat which was turned up in the right pile in the previous draw. If he is correct, he is paid offseven to one. This bid is called the "Sept-et-la-va". Sources: Dawson, " Hoyle " " The Gamblers ", Time-Life Books (for pictures of the table and accessories). Parlett, " A History of Card Games " . Croontz & Katz " Scrapbook of the American West" . Scarne, " Scarne on Cards " .

Dick & Fitzgerald; " Modern Pocket Hoyle

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Twenty One This card game dates from the middle of the 18th Century. It emerged in the Court ofFrance as "Vingt-et-un", where it reigned for many years, along with Faro and Whist, as thefavorite games of the French court. It became popular in North America some time around theAmerican Revolution. It was played in England from the 18th Century on, but really took holdaround the time of the First World War. The British names for the game are "Pontoon", or"Van John", and are both corruptions of "Vingt-et-un". "Black Jack", the American name for thegame, dates from the late 19th or Early 20th Century. Prior to that, it was generally known as"Twenty-One". Complexity: Simple Number of Players: One Dealer/Banker and any number of Punters. Equipment: One standard 52 card deck. Sequence of Play:

1. The Banker deals one card, face down to each Punter, and then to himself.

2. Each player examines his card, and places his wager upon it. The Banker then has theoption of doubling the stakes, which he does by crying "Double". This being settled, anadditional card is dealt, face down, to each player.

3. Starting with the Punter on the left, each player asks the Dealer for additional cards(the traditional request "hit me", is probably 19th Century American). The cards aredealt, one at a time, face up. This continues until the Punter is satisfied with his handor exceeds 21 and "busts", thereby losing. A Punter who busts announces the fact anddisplays his cards.

4. Once all the Punters have finished, the Banker deals cards to himself in the samemanner.

5. All Players then display their cards (the "show down").

6. All Punters who remain in the game, who have a score that exceeds the Banker's, arepaid the amount of their wager by the Bank. All Punters who have a score less than orequal to the Banker lose their wagers to the Bank. If the Banker busts, all Punters whohave not also busted, win that hand.

7. This concludes the hand. If this is an informal game, a Punter becomes the Banker bydrawing a natural twenty-one (a Ten/face card and an Ace). If it is a casino game, theBanker does not change and the cards are simply shuffled and redealt.

8. If a player has two of a kind in his hand, he may Double Down. He may lay both cardson the table face up and play and wager upon each as a separate hand.

Winning The object is to achieve a score of 21 or to achieve a score that does not exceed 21 that is higherthan that of your opponent(s). All ties go to the Banker. Number cards are scored at face value.Face cards have a score of ten. Aces may be scored as either one or eleven, at the player'sdiscretion.

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Differences From Modern Black-Jack The Banker does not deal himself a face up card. Both cards are face down. The Banker is not obliged to take a card, regardless of how low his score may be. Natural 21s are not declared until the show down. Sources: Bohn, Handbook of Games Parlett, History of Card Games Scarne, Scarne on Cards.

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Seven Up This is a direct descendent and very close relative of the venerable old game of All-Fours. Thisversion of the game originated in the United States in the early 19th Century, and was apopular game among working people and middle class families.

Complexity: Simple Number of Players: Two, three or four. Equipment: One standard 52 card deck. Seven tokens, chips or coins per player. Earliest mention : 1829

The Deal If there are four players, chose partners and sit in a circle so that each player is flanked by hisopponents and facing his partner. If there are fewer than four players, then each player playsfor himself. When playing as individuals, each player has seven tokens each. When playingas teams, the Dealer and the Eldest Hand (the player to the left of the Dealer) each haveseven tokens, and their partners none. Cut for deal. High card is the Dealer. Deal to the left, six cards to each player, three cards at a time. Turn up the last card fortrumps. If it is a Jack, the Dealer immediately gains a point (note, every time a point is scored,the player who won that point tosses one token into the center of the table). The player to the left of the Dealer (the "Eldest Hand") then examines his cards. No otherplayers may yet look at their cards, and if they do, their opponents score a point. If the Eldest Hand is not satisfied with his hand, he declares "I beg". If the Eldest Hand begs, the Dealer then examines his own hand, and has the option of eitherleaving things as they are and giving the Eldest Hand a point (called "a gift" and indicated bythe Dealer saying "Take it"), or dealing out three more cards to each player (called "runningthe cards"), and then turning up a new card for trumps. If the same suit is turned for trumps, theDealer deals another three to each player and then turns a new trump. He keeps this up untilhe turns a new trump. If a Jack of the rejected trump suit comes up during any of these subsequentdeals, the Dealer does not score a point. In the unlikely event that the deck is exhausted, thenthe discard pack is taken up, reshuffled, and redealt. The Eldest Hand may not beg again, but must accept the new trump suit. Once this is settled,the players may then take up their hands, and discard all but six of their cards. Sequence of Play This is a standard trick taking game. Aces are high. The Eldest hand leads with a card. Eachplayer may then lay any card in the same suit, or if he does not have a card in the correct suit,he may lead another card, such as a trump. The highest card in suit wins if no trumps areplayed. The highest trump wins if trumps are played. When a player takes a trick, he puts allthe cards from that trick in his pile, and leads the next trick. This continues until all cardshave been played.

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Scoring The winner is the first player or team to dispose of all seven tokens. If no one has won at theend of a hand, then another hand is played through. If a player disposes of seven tokens beforeall tricks have been played, then the game is over and those tricks remain unplayed. If no onehas one at the end, then the scores are carried over and a new hand is dealt. The person/team with the highest trump in his hand gains one point. The person/team with the lowest trump in his hand gains one point. When playing what onebelieves to be the lowest trump, announce it so that everyone knows you are claiming that point.If someone later plays a lower, there is no penalty for a false claim (other than not winningthat point) The person/team who holds the Jack of trumps at the end of the hand gets one point. The person/team who won the most points from tricks in that hand gains one point. Tricks arescored as follows: A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, all others=0. Sources: Foster; Hoyle Parlett; History of Card Games

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Euchre "This ill-bred game of cards is about twenty-seven years old. It was first discovered by thedeck hands on a Lake Erie steam boat and handed down by them to posterity in all its juvenilebeauty. It is generally played by four persons, and owes much of its absorbingness to the factthat you can talk, and drink, and chaw and cheat while the game is advancing" Westminster Papers, 1875. Euchre was an enormously popular game in the United States in the 19th Century, rivalingPoker as the national card game. It was the card game for which the Joker was invented.Euchre is the descendent of Whist and the ancestor of modern Bridge, which largely replaced itin the 20th Century. There are numerous variations on Euchre that were played from time totime. I will ignore them all, and concentrate on the basic, and by far most commonly played,version of the game. Number of Players: 4 Equipment: Standard 52 card deck with optional Joker. Earliest mention: 1829 in on the Mississippi river. It arrived in England around 1863. Set up: Remove the Two through Six from the deck. Players divide into two teams. The partners sitopposite each other in the circle, with an opponent to the right and left. Draw low card todetermine the dealer. The Cards: The highest card is the "Right Bower". The Right Bower is the Jack of the Trump suit. TheJack of the suit of the same color (the opposite suit) is known as the "Left Bower" and will beatall cards but the Right Bower. The players may also elect to include a Joker or "Best Bower".The current form of clownish Joker did not emerge until the turn of the century. Before that theJoker was often a blank card with the same back as the rest of the deck, or it had some otherdevice on it. One surviving deck shows a tiger, with the legend "Beats the Right Bower". Ifthe Joker should be turned up for Trumps, discard it and place the next card down for Trumps.The Joker found its way into Euchre around the 1870s. Deal:• Deal each player five cards. The cards should be dealt two or three at a time, not one at a

time. Turn up the 21st card for Trumps. (The suit of that card will be the Trump suit)• The player to the left of the dealer (the "Elder Hand") then decides if he will accept, or

"order up" the Trump. If he elects so to do, the dealer then takes up the Trump and discardsa single card. If he elects not to pass, the choice passes to the dealer's partner.

• The partner may not order up the Trump, but if he wishes the dealer to take it, he declares"I assist". The dealer then takes up the Trump and discards a card.

• If the partner passes, then the choice moves to the left to the third player, who like thefirst, may elect to order up or pass. If he passes, the choice passes to the dealer, who mayelect to accept or "turn down" the Trump.

• If he turns it down, each player, beginning with the Elder Hand, has the option of naming anew suit for Trumps or passing. If no one will take up the Trump, assist or name a newTrump, it is declared a misdeal and the same dealer deals again.

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Sequence of Play: If one player has a particularly strong hand, he may elect to "go alone". If he so declares, hispartner puts his cards down and the player who is going alone plays alone against his twoopponents. If he wins all five tricks, he will score 5 points. If he wins less than 5 but more thanhis opponents, he scores 1. The Elder Hand leads the first Trick. The player to his left must then follow suit. He mayplay a card of a different suit (to include Trumps), only if he has no cards of that suit left is hishand. (Note: the Left Bower, though not actually of the Trump suit, is considered to be of theTrump suit for the purposes of play). All players, moving around the circle to the left, lay one card. The player who laid thehighest cards wins the Trick. The winner of the last Trick leads the next Trick. This continues until 5 tricks have beenplayed, at which point the scores are tallied and recorded. The deal then moves to the left, and the Elder Hand becomes the dealer. Scoring:• The first team to win 5 points has won the game.• The player who has "ordered up" the Trump suit has agreed to win at least 3 of 5 tricks. If

his team fails to do so, they are "Euchred" and the opposing team scores 2 points.• If either team wins 3 or 4 tricks, they sore 1 point (unless the opponents were Euchred, in

which case they score 2).• If either team wins all 5 tricks, they have scored a "March", and they get 3 points.• If a player has Gone Alone and scored a March, his team gets 4 points. Sources: Dawson, Hoyles Parlett, History of Card Games Dick, Modern Pocket Hoyle

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Bluff or Poker (Early Version)

Bluff or Poker, originated on the Mississippi river some time after the LouisianaPurchase in 1803. It was first mentioned in print in 1836 but the reminiscences of variousgamblers printed after 1836 can place it as far back as 1829. This earliest version has the basicstructure of modern Poker, but also has some interesting differences. Complexity: Moderate Number of Players: 4 Equipment: Standard deck with all cards but the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Tenremoved (20 card pack) Sequence of Play• Once card is dealt to each player. The lowest card is the Dealer. Cards are collected,

shuffled, cut and dealt to the left. Deal then moves to the left with each new hand.• The Eldest Hand (often called the "Age") who is the player to the left of the Dealer, antes

in.• Each player is dealt 5 cards, one card at a time.• Each player, starting with the one to the left of the Age, must place twice the initial ante

on the table or withdraw from the game. When meeting the ante, the players may alsoraise the pot, and each following player must meet that bet ("see the bet") or withdrawfrom the game ("fold"), sacrificing any bets he may have made so far.

This "seeing" and "raising" continues until every player remaining in the game has"seen" but not "raised" the pot. If the other three players lacked the nerve to "see" all the"raises", the remaining player wins without showing his cards. If two or more players remain,the remaining players show their hands and the player with the strongest hand wins. The strength of hands is judged as follows, with the weakest first and the strongestlast. Nothing: No cards in any of the above combinations. One Pair: Two cards of the same numeration. Three

unmatched. Two Pair: Two sets of matched cards, one unmatched. Three of a kind: Three matched cards, two unmatched. Full: Three matched cards, and two matched cards. Four of a kind: Four matched cards. Royal Four Aces and a King. If both players have the same ranking of hand, the one whose strongest set is of the highestdenomination wins (i.e. Player One has three Tens and two Queens, and Player Two has ThreeKings and Two Jacks--Player Two wins). Aces are high. Sources: Parlett, " History of Card Games " Dick & Fitzgerald "Modern Hoyle" 1880

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Bluff or Poker (Later Version) In the 1850s, the twenty-card version of Bluff/Poker fell into disuse, until it receivedbut a passing mention in an 1858 version of Hoyle's. This version, which is essentially themodern form of Five Card Draw, had replaced it. The only significant difference between thisversion, and modern Poker (other than a slightly different ante system) is the lack of the"Straight". The "Straight" was mentioned as early as 1864, but it was unpopular with mostplayers and was not generally accepted until the 1890s. Poker was brought to England in 1872by the American Ambassador, where it became popular among the upper classes. In the UnitedStates however, snobbery towards Poker was rather pronounced, and it was not consideredappropriate for genteel families or gentlemen's clubs, though it was often played by the wellhealed in less formal settings. Number of Players: Two to seven (four to six is optimum). Complexity: Moderate Equipment: Standard 52 Card Deck. Sequence of Play• One card is dealt to each player. The player with the lowest card is the dealer. Cards are

collected, shuffled, cut and dealt to the left. Deal then moves to the left with each newhand.

• The Eldest Hand (often called the "Age") who is the player to the left of the dealer, antesin.

• Each player is dealt 5 cards, one at a time.• Each player, starting with the one to the left of the Age, must place twice the initial ante

on the table or withdraw from the game. When meeting the ante, the players may alsoraise the pot, and each following player must meet that bet ("see the bet" or "call") orwithdraw from the game ("fold"), sacrificing any bets he may have made so far. Allremaining players, starting with the Age, may then discard up to five cards and take thesame number of cards from the dealer to improve their hands.

• Once every player has discarded or passed, the final round of betting begins, starting withthe Age and moving to the left. It continues until every player has either folded ormatched the bet without raising it. The remaining players then display their hands andthe strongest hand takes the pot. The final showing of the hand, by the way, is known asthe "show down".The strength of hands is judged as follows, with the weakest first and thestrongest last.

Nothing: No cards in any of the above combinations. One Pair: Two cards of the same numeration. Three

unmatched. Two Pair: Two sets of matched cards, one unmatched. Three of a kind: Three matched cards, two unmatched. Straight: Five cards in sequence but not in suit (Ace can be

low or high)* Flush: Five cards in suit but not in sequence. Full House: Three matched cards, and two matched cards. Four of a kind: Four matched cards. Straight Flush: Five cards in suit and sequence (Ace can be low or

high)* *Not in general use until the 1890s.

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If both players have the same ranking of hand, the one whose strongest set (or in thecase of Straights or Flushes, the highest card) is of the highest denomination wins (i.e. PlayerOne has three Tens and two Queens, and Player Two has Three Kings and Two Jacks--PlayerTwo wins). Aces are high. This concludes a "Hand". The deck is passed to the left, the new dealer reshuffles, theplayer opposite cuts the deck and deals out all the cards. Variations: Flat Poker: The same as above, but with no discard phase. The players receive their cards andstart betting. Stud Poker (First mention 1864): The players ante in. The first card is dealt face down, thenthe next card is placed face up. The players then have a round of betting. The remaining cardsare then dealt with a betting interval between each card. When five cards are down, there is afinal round of betting followed by a "show down" (the players display their cards). Jack Pot (First mention 1870): This variation is played with any form of Poker. This Jack Potrule states that only a player who has two Jacks or better may open the betting. If he lacks sucha hand, and he is called upon to open the betting, he must fold. If a player has a sufficienthand and is called upon to do so, he must open the betting. The Jack Pot variation was popularin the West, but unpopular in the South of the United States. Joker's Wild (1880): Around 1880, standard decks started including a Joker, ostensibly for use inplaying Euchre. Poker players occasionally used it to spice up their game. In a wild card game,five of a kind was the strongest hand. Sources: Parlett, " History of Card Games " Dawson, " Hoyle's "

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Spanish Monte This game was played extensively in the American Southwest, and was extremelypopular with the Mexican and the Indian population. The Indians even produced their owncards, by hand, on rawhide, when the supply of Mexican cards ran out. It attained its greatestpopularity among the Gringo population during the California Gold Rush of 1849. The earliestmention I have found for it is 1849, but my sources are distinctly "Anglo", and this is a Spanishgame. I believe, without any real evidence to support me, that it is probably as old as the 17thCentury, if not older. It remained a popular gambling house game throughout the 19th Century.It was also known as Mountebank or Monte Bank. It should not be confused with "Three CardMonte", which is nothing but a shell game, and not a true card game at all. Players: 1 Banker, any number of Punters. Complexity: Simple Equipment: 1 Spanish deck (remove 8s, 9s and 10s) Play• The Banker deals two cards from the bottom of the deck and lays them face up on the table.

This is the "Bottom Layout".• The Banker deals two cards from the top of the deck and lays them face up on the table.

This is the "Top Layout".• The Punters then place their wagers on either Layout.• Then deck is then turned over so that the bottom card is face up. This card is called the

"Gate" or "Port" card. If the Gate is the same suit as either of the cards in the Top Layout,the Banker pays out all bets on that layout. If the Gate is of the same suit as any card inthe Bottom Layout, he pays off those bets as well. If the Gate is not of the same suit as oneor both Layouts, then the money laid on the unmatched Layouts is collected by the Banker.

• The deck is shuffled and another round begins.

Comments: As in Faro, Twenty-One and all other good banking games, theodds in this clearly favor the Bank, though at first glance, thePunter would probably think his chances about even. In themajority of hands, the Bank is paying off to one Layout andcollecting from the other, and more-or-less breaking even.However, every few hands, the Bank wins big, and collectsfrom both layouts. It is far more rare for him to pay out to bothlayouts. Therefore, the game largely consists of the Punterspassing money back and forth among themselves while theBank remains relatively untouched; and then, every fewhands, the Bank takes a bite out of the total pool of moneybeing circulated by the Punters. Eventually, the Bank ends upwith all of the money, and the Punters, providing they lackedthe sense to get out when they were ahead, end up withnothing.

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Solitaire or Patience The "Patience" or "Solitaire" class of games are those card games which are played bya single person. Whereas the term "Solitaire" now tends to denote a specific game, the moderngame of Solitaire cannot be played effectively with old-style cards. Modern Solitaire requiresthat there be numerations visible in the corners of the cards, and such numerations were notpresent on playing cards until the 1880s. Solitaire however, is much older than that. I have not been able to definitivelydetermine the time or place of the invention of Solitaire, but the Oxford English Dictionary'searliest reference to the use of the term is the year 1746, in the correspondence of HoraceWalpole, where he asks if a certain lady has learned any new Solitaire games. From this, we can infer that by 1746, Solitaire games were being played by the Englishgentry, and probably had been played by them for some time before that, since multiplevariations were already present. The OED's earliest reference for the use of the word"Patience", which as a game name is synonymous with Solitaire, is 1816, in a passage thatreferences the Emperor Napoleon. Legend asserts that Bonaparte was an avid Solitaire player, and several games in mysource bear some reference to him. However, Parlett doubts this, and insists that the Emperoramused himself while in exile playing Whist and Vingt-et-un with his guards and visitors, notplaying Patience in solitude. My source for this game is "Dick's Games of Patience or Solitaire with Cards", byWilliam B. Dick, 1883. There was a somewhat earlier manual of Solitaire games, written inthe 1870s by Lady Adelaide Cadogan, but prior to that, hundreds, if not thousands of Solitairecard games were born, were played and were forgotten without ever being written down. It is in the nature of a solo activity like Patience that there should be infinite variety.A Solitaire player is free to add any variation to the game that strikes her fancy, and thisvariation need not be approved by nor conveyed to any other human being. The soul purpose ofPatience is self-amusement, and whatever amuses one at some particular moment is the correctform of the game. I have therefore selected, purely arbitrarily, one game from Dick's book of sixty-fourgames, which shall stand for all the Solitaire games yet devised.

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Quadrille (Patience)

This game is impossible to date, but may be as early as the late 18th Century. The name may beintended to suggest the dance. Complexity: Simple Equipment: 1 “French” deck of 52 cards Players: One. Deal out the cards one at a time. The intention is to build a “tableau” and then build on thecards in the tableau until all cards are down. The tableau is as follows: Queens are placed in the center. It is immaterial which suit goes where, but they should belaid out to form a cross. “5”s and “6”s are laid out in a roughly even circle around the queens. Build up on the “6”s, matching the suit of the foundation card, so that the seven of clubs goes ontop of the 6 of clubs etc. You may build as high as the Knave/Jack on the “6”s. Build down on the “5”s, still matching suit. Thus, the “4” of clubs would be laid on top of the“5” of clubs. This continues until you reach the Ace. You then place the King on top of the Ace. All cards which are not Foundation cards, and cannot be placed on that round, are put, face up,in the discard pile. If the next card played provides an opening for the top card in the discardpile, you may play the discarded card, and any subsequent top card if an opportunity presentsitself. When you have played your last card, pick up the discard pile, turn it over and use it as yourdeck. Once you have gone through your third round (once with a fresh deck and twice with thediscard pile), you are done. If all your cards are played and in their proper place, you havewon. What you should see is a cross of Queens in the center, with a rough circle of Kings andKnaves surrounding them. If you have failed to play every card by the second time you reachthe bottom of the discard pile, you have lost.

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Dice Games

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Dice & Dice Games Dice are almost as old has human history. The Egyptians and Sumerians hadpyramidal dice, Africans and Native Americans had two sided dice (heads or tails) orgambling sticks. In fact, most human civilizations have had some sort of random numbergenerator which they have used for games and gambling. Six-sided cube dice have been found in Etruscan, Roman, Greek and Celtic archeologicalsites, and many bear a strong resemblance to modern dice. The ancient world was extremelyfond of gambling. The story of the Roman soldiers dicing for the robe of Christ is well known,and Tacitus, in describing the Germans, speaks of their love of gambling and their willingnessto wager all their possessions, and even their freedom, on the cast of the dice. Little is known regarding the rules to ancient dice games. They were probably fairlysimple, since the excitement came not from the nature of the game itself, but from theadrenaline rush which accompanies wagering your financial security, or perhaps much more, onthe cast of a die. All of the dice games included in this chapter are of unknown antiquity. Pass-Dix, it has been asserted by one of my sources, is an ancient Roman game, and for all we know, itmay be. The other games as well, with the possible exception of Hazard, could all,conceivably, have been played centuries, or even millennia, before their essence was set down onpaper. In addition to these games, which have something like rules, there is mention in theViking Sagas of the most basic of dice games, wherein two or more people are vying for a singleitem (it could be a treasure or a "pot"--in this case it was a piece of real estate). Each personcasts the dice, the one who rolls the highest wins. If there is a tie, then those who tied rollagain until there is a winner. This sort of gambling is probably as old as dice. The traditional material to make dice has long been bone (dice probably evolved frombone divination or gambling lots), but when bone was not convenient, they have been made out ofanything available. Wooden dice are common, and dice may be found made out of ivory, brassor even hammered out of lead musket balls. I have not, however, seen dice made of any preciousmaterials. The purpose of dice was to gain or lose valuable things, not to be valuable things inthemselves. Jargon Dicing had its own jargon to refer to various number combinations. This terminology wasuniversal among dice games, and should be used with all of the games included herein, prior tothe 19th Century in America. one pip "Ace" two pips "Deuce" three pips "Trey" (pronounced "tray") four pips "Cater"(rhymes with platter) five pips "Cinque" (pronounced "sink") six pips"Sice" (pronounced "cease") A roll of three, consisting of a two and a one would be "Ace-Deuce". A seven, consisting of a fiveand the three would be "Cinque-Tray" or "Tray-Cinque". A set of doubles was called a "Doublet". When described numerically it would be called, forexample, "Double-Cinque". Double Ace (modern "snake eyes") was called "Ames-Ace".

Cinque-Trey is called "Crabs".

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Hazzard Hazzard was THE dice game of the Renaissance and Middle Ages. It is unclear when itbegan or when it assumed the form laid out below (this is taken from a late 17th Centurysource), but some form of it was probably played well into antiquity. Hazzard remainedpopular throughout Europe and America until the 20th Century, when it evolved into themodern game of Craps. The principals of the game are extremely simple. Unfortunately, it requires a certainamount of effort to learn all of the various "Nicks" and "Chances" and "Outs". There is apattern to these numbers however, and if you understand that pattern, it becomes much easier tomemorize the rolls. Complexity: Moderate Equipment: Two six-sided dice and some coins or wagering tokens. Number of players: Any number Earliest Mention: Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale, CA 1370. Sequence of Play Pre-game: Each participant rolls one die. The one who rolls the highest becomes the Caster.All others become Setters. All ties are settled by rolling again. 1. The Caster throws the dice. If the roll is between 5 and 9, it becomes the Main and play continues. If the roll is not between 5 and 9, the dice are passed to the Setter to the left of theCaster, who then becomes the Caster and repeats this step. 2. After the Main is cast, each Setter lays a wager on the table or abstains from wagering. If aSetter abstains from wagering he may wager later (see step 3 "Chance"). If none of the Setterswager, return to step 1. 3. The Caster throws the dice again. This, and all subsequent throws, are called the Chance. If he rolls a Nick (see below), he wins and collects all wagers on the table and returns tostep 1. If he rolls an Out (see below), he loses and must pay out to each Setter the amount ofthat Setter's wager. He then passes the dice to the Setter to his left, who then becomes theCaster, and starts with step 1. A roll which is neither an Out nor a Nick, is called a Mark. When a Mark is rolled, eachSetter then has the opportunity to increase his wager, and then the Caster rolls again. Thiscontinues until either a Nick or an Out is rolled. 4. Play continues as long as the Setters' money or nerve holds out. There are no points to count.The winner is the one who leaves the table with the most money. Principals of Play: The Main determines what the next roll must be to either win or lose. It also decidesthe odds of winning or losing. Some Mains have much better odds than others, and it is in thecalculation of these odds that the challenge of this game lies. In the following list, the firstcolumn is the number of the Main, the second is the number that must be rolled to gain a Nickand the third is the number that must be rolled to suffer an Out. If a Caster rolls any number

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other than those on this list, he has rolled a Mark. If he rolls a Mark, he neither wins norloses. He simply gives the Setters an opportunity to increase their wagers, and then he rollsagain. Main Nick (win) Out (lose) 5 5 2, 3, 11, 12 6 6, 12 2, 3, 11 7 7, 11 2, 3, 12 8 8, 12 2, 3, 11 9 9 2, 3, 11, 12 Note: There is a pattern to these, which may help you remember them: the highest and lowesthave only themselves as Nicks, and 11 & 12 as their Outs. The next highest and lowest havethemselves and 12 as their Nicks, and 11 as their Out; and the middle one, 7, has 11 as a Nickand 12 as an Out. All Nicks other than the Main itself, and all Outs other than 2 & 3,are going to be some combination of 11 and 12. "To conclude, happy is he that having been much inclined to this time-spending-money-wasting game, hath took up in time, and resolved for the future never to be concernedwith it more; but more happy is he that hath never heard the name thereof." Charles Cotton, T h e Compleat Gamester , 1674 Sources: Cotton, The Compleat Gamester, G.W. A Manifest Detection of Diceplay

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Passe Dix Here is the game for those who find Novem Cinque too intellectually taxing. I have notbeen able to document it any earlier than the 16th Century, but Jacobs insists it is ancient(Roman in fact). Given its primitive simplicity, I am inclined to believe him, or at least toacknowledge that it could be. The common Tudor and Stuart name for it was "Passage". Complexity: Simple Equipment: 3 six sided dice Number of Players: 2 or any number. Earliest mention: 1534 in Rabelais's Gargantua . First variation (From Complete Gamester) Only two may play this game. The players cast to see who will be the first Caster. High caststarts. The Caster and the Fader (the person who bets against the Caster) ante in. The Casterthen rolls three dice. If he rolls doubles (called a "doublet") which, when added to the thirddie, equals less than ten, he loses the bet. If he rolls a doublet which, when added to the totalof the third die, is equal to or greater than ten, he wins. If he doesn't roll a doublet, he passesthe dice to the Fader, who then becomes the Caster and repeats. Wagers can be increased atany time, by mutual consent, but not withdrawn or decreased. Second Variation (From Jacobs--this variation is of untraceable age, but is the current version ofthis game) Sequence of Play: 1. The Caster rolls a single die. 2. Based upon this roll, all players divide into those who believe the final roll ofthree dice will total 10 or lower; and those who believe it will be 11 or higher. Each playermust find another player of the opposite opinion to wager against. The exact amount of thewager is a matter of negotiation among individual players. If there are more players of oneopinion than another, a single player may cover the wagers of more than one opponent--thoughhe is not obliged to do so. No player is obliged to accept a wager higher than he wishes (norlower than he wishes). If no one can be found to take one side or the other, the first die is rolledagain. 3. The Caster then casts the second die. If this roll has not settled the issue, theplayers may take this opportunity to increase their wagers. They may not decrease theirwagers, nor may they change sides. 4. The Caster casts the third die, and the three dice are totaled. The wagers are thensettled. Side Bets: In addition to the regular wagering on the total of the three dice, the players are free to bet onany other aspect of the game as well. They may bet upon the total of the first two dice, orwhether the Caster will blow on the dice before casting them--or whatever strikes their fancy. This sort of side betting can also be practiced in any other game of chance.

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Novem-Cinque This is the dice game for the person who finds Hazzard too taxing for the wit or whowants his gambling undiluted with any hint of strategy. I found it in a mid-16th CenturyEnglish book on the methods used to cheat at diceplay, but judging from its stultifyingsimplicity and Latin/French name, it is probably Medieval or even Roman. This is the sort ofgame that was doubtless popular with soldiers, and I would wager that it was the game ofchoice for such tasks as deciding who should perform some onerous duty, selecting candidates fora suicide mission, or deciding who was to be first on the gallows. Complexity: Simple Equipment: Two dice and something to wager Number of Players: Any number Earliest mention: G. W., A Manifest Detection of Diceplay , 1552 Sequence of Play: 1. Each player antes in and one player is selected to roll first (no significant advantageor disadvantage is gained from rolling first, since every player must take his Chance with thedice). 2. The player with the dice casts his Chance. If he rolls a 5 or a 9, he has rolled anOut and he is out of the game and he has lost his wager. If he has rolled anything else, he hasrolled a Mark, and he is still in the game. Either way, he hands the dice to the player to hisleft, who repeats this step. 3. The dice continue to be passed around until all but one player has rolled a 5 or a 9.That soul survivor collects the pot. The wager may be increased at any time by mutualagreement of all remaining players. If all players rolled an Out on their first rolls, the game isreplayed. After each player has rolled at least once, the winner is the last survivor, regardlessof whether he has rolled as many times as all the other players. The Name: The name of this game, "Novem-Cinque", is a complete description of its essence. Novem isLatin for "nine" and "Cinque" is Norman French for "five". The probable 16th Centurypronuncitation would be "Novem-Sink". It was also just called "Cinque" or "Sink". Source: G.W. The Manifest Detection of Diceplay & a certain amount of extrapolation

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Raffle or Inn and Inn I have no primary source for this game so I can't date it exactly. It is mentioned inMcLean's The English a t Play in the Middle Ages , but she does not date her source. A verysimilar game called Inn and Inn is described in Cotton's Complete Gamester, and I have usedCotton as my principal source. Number of Players: two or three Complexity: Simple Equipment: 4 dice and a Dice Cup or Box for each player. Play The Caster sets the wager. The other two players must agree to match him or there is no game. The Caster casts his four dice. If there are no "Doublets" (two dice of the same number), he has rolled an Out, and hisopponent(s) win the wager. If there are two opponents, they may either divide the winequally, or roll high dice for it. If there are two Doublets in the Caster's roll, he has won (an "Inn & Inn"). If there is only one Doublet in the cast (an "Inn"), then a note is made of the number of theDoublet (i.e. Double Ace, Double Deuce, Double Tray, Double Cater, Double Cinque, DoubleSice), and the dice are passed to the left to the next player, who then casts. If the next playercasts and Inn & Inn, he wins outright, if not, the dice are passed to the next player (if there isone). Once all players have cast, the one with the highest Doublet is the winner. If it is a tie, thedice return to the Caster, and the game begins again. If there are three players, and two havetied, they divide the wager of the odd man out. Sources: McLean, The English a t Play in the Middle Ages Cotton, The Complete Gamester & a certain amount of extrapolation

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Chuck a Luck or Sweat Cloth This is a banking game using dice and a marked table or cloth. It was known in England asSweat-Cloth and in America as Chuck-a-Luck or Sweat. It originated some time in the 18thCentury. It remained popular well into the 19th Century, and was played extensively bysoldiers in the Civil War. It was often found in gaming parlors and saloons in the Old West. Number of Players: One Banker and any number of Punters. Equipment: Three standard dice, a dice cup or "bird cage" for casting the dice, and a table orcloth marked with six squares labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, in that order. More elaborate later19th Century gaming house tables might also have additional squares for each possible rolltotal, “three-of-a-kind” etc. Sequence of Play: Each player lays a wager on one or more of the numbered squares. The Banker casts the dice. If one of the dice equals the number on the square upon which a Punter placed a wager, the Bankplays the Punter even money. If two dice equal the number, the Punter gets double money and ifthree equal the number, the Punter gets triple money. If no dice equal that number, the Punterloses his money to the Banker. This completes one round. New wagers are placed and play continues indefinitely. Source: Glenn, in " Buckskinning V " . Jacobs " Worlds Best Dice Games "

.

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Over and Under Seven This game was very popular in the British Army. It must have been most popular with himwho was keeping the bank, because, as in any good banking game, the odds favor the house. Forthis reason, it was also very popular with Royal Navy sailors on troop ships who would use itto free the soldiers of the burden of their excess pay. Complexity: Simple Number of players: One Banker and any number of Punters. Equipment: A lay out cloth and two dice. Earliest Mention: Mid-19th Century The Game The cloth contains three blocks, labeled, left to right, "Under", "7" and "Over". The Punterswager on whether the roll will be under 7, exactly 7 or over 7. The Banker then rolls the dice.If a Punter who wagered "Over" or "Under" wins, he is paid even money. If a Punter whowagered "7" wins, he is paid three times his original wager. That's it, that's all, there's nothing more to this game but the gullibility of the Punters.

Sources: Scarne, "Scarne on Dice" Farwell, "Mr. Kipling's Army"

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Craps Hazard fell out of favor in America in the early 19th Century, and in England by the middle ofthe 19th Century. It was displaced by the game of Craps, which probably originated withblack longshoremen in the southern United States, and was spread by sailors throughout theworld. In 19th Century it was not as popular as it is today. It was often considered a Negrogame, and inappropriate for white men, so it usually (but not always) took a back seat toChuck-a-Luck among white Americans. It was not generally played in Casinos and gamblingestablishments until the 20th Century. Complexity: Moderate Players: Any number (three to six is best) Equipment: Two dice. Sequence of Play: One of the players is designated as the Shooter. This is done by general agreement or by highroll. The Shooter then places his wager. The Shooter casts his dice. If he rolls a 7 or an 11, (a "natural")he wins immediately. If herolls a 2, 3, or 12, he "craps out" and loses immediately. If he rolls anything else, that number becomes his "point". He continues to roll until he rolls hispoint again, and wins, or rolls 7, and loses. New wagers may be laid and old ones increasedbetween rolls, but existing wagers may not be decreased or withdrawn. Whenever a Shooter wins, he may be the Shooter on the next cast, or pass it to the man to hisleft. If he loses, he must pass it to the man to his left. If any player does not wish to be aShooter when the dice come to him, he may elect to pass it to the player to his left. Betting The mechanism for betting in Craps is very much a matter of local preference. Even in modernCasinos, there is considerable variation. In a private game, wagering is very much a case ofindividual negotiation, rather than something specified by the rules. The Shooter can declaresomething like "I've got five dollars here. Who will fade me?" and someone else will say,"You're faded! Roll". If the Shooter wins, the "Fader" pays him five. If he loses, he pays theFader five. The Shooter or any other player may also set their own odds, such as "Five 'll getyou ten I make this point". Any player may wager with any other player on any facet of the game, and bets need not bemade with the shooter, though there is little point for him to roll if he does not stand to winanything, so at least one player will need to "fade" him (i.e. cover his bet). If the shooter is notsatisfied with his stake in the game and the amounts people have laid to "fade" him, then hecan call off the betting by calling "no bet", at which point the game does not go forward until heis satisfied. The types of bets are as follows: 1. Right Bet: A wager that the shooter will "pass" (i.e. win either by rolling a naturalor by making a point) 2. Wrong Bet: A wager that the shooter will lose. 3. Proposition Bet: Any bet that doesn't bet specifically on passing or not passing, but onsome other facet of the game (will he make his point on this roll, will he crap out on the initialroll etc.)

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4. Center Bet: A bet, usually with the shooter, that is laid in the center of the ring ofplayers. 5. Side Bet: A bet, usually with a player who is not the shooter, and which is laidoutside the ring of players. Sources: Scarne, Scarne on Dice Jacobs , World's Best Dice Games

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Divers Amusements

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Tabula The first surviving mention of this ancient Roman game occurs during the reign of theEmperor Zeno (AD 475-81), though it was probably in use somewhat earlier. In the 6thCentury, it came to be known as "Alea". The exact origins of this game are obscure. It isprobably descended from the ancient Persian game of "Nard", which is also the ancestor ofmodern Backgammon, but whether it is an early form of Backgammon or an evolutionary deadend is not entirely clear. "Tabula", of course, came to be known as "Tables", which was thename by which Backgammon was known until the 17th Century. There are references to gamesof "Tables" throughout the Middle Ages, and several beautiful game boards, some inlaid withprecious stones, have survived. Whether the people of Medieval Europe were playingsomething like Roman "Tabula" on these boards or something more like Backgammon is seldomclear. However, as time goes on the likelihood of the game taking on a more modern aspectincreases. By the 16th Century, Tables (the Backgammon type) was clearly triumphant, andwas being played with rules little different from the modern (i.e. take out the "doubling cube"and you're there). The rules to modern Backgammon are so well known, I will not cover themhere. Complexity: Simple Number of Players: 2 Equipment: A Tabula board (see illustration), 15 tokens for each player, 3 six sideddice. Play: Players cast for first move. The highest moves first. First player casts three dice. He enters his pieces onto the board at the lower left hand quarter.The pieces travel from the lower left quarter, to the lower right, to the upper right, to theupper left. The player, having rolled, may then move three pieces the number of spaces shownon the three dice, or he may combine two or more moves to a single piece. For example, if theplayer rolls a 4, 3, and 6, he may move one piece 4 spaces, another 3 spaces and another 6 spaces,or he may move a single piece 13 (or rather 4 spaces, then 3, then 6) or one piece 7 spaces (orrather 3 spaces then 4 spaces) and another 6. If the opponent has placed two or more of her pieces on a space, the player cannot move hispiece into that space. If a player cannot use one or more of his rolls because his way is blocked,then he loses that roll, and the turn passes to his opponent. If a player can move, he must, even if the result will be bad for him. If a player's piece comes to rest on a space occupied by a single opponent's piece, than that pieceis removed from the board, and must re-enter on the opponent's next turn. The object is to move all of one's pieces off of the upper left edge of the board before one'sopponent. You may not move one of your pieces off the board until all of your pieces are in the upper leftquarter (there is no historical documentation for this rule, but it does make the game workbetter). Game Lexicon

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Inciti Pieces which are blocked from moving Ordinarii The pieces in a space which is closed to an opponent. Vagus A single piece--a piece vulnerable to capture.

Source: Bell, Board and Table Games

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Nine Man Morris

Nine-Man Morris is a game of unknown antiquity, and is a descendent of Three-Man Morris (aform of tic-tac-toe)which can be dated back to Ancient Egypt CA 1400 BC. A fragment of aNine-Man Morris board was found on the Gokstad Viking ship and the game was widelyplayed throughout Medieval Europe. This game is so basic that the board and the pieces canbe easily improvised. The board for this game can be scratched in the dust, carved into a treestump or tavern table, or painted on a piece of cloth. The pieces can be rocks and twigs, coins(one side takes heads, the other tails) or anything else that comes to hand. Complexity: Simple Number of Players: Two Equipment: 9-Man Morris Board (see illustration) and eighteen disk-shaped playingpieces or coins, nine for each player, with some distinguishing color or mark to differentiate oneplayer's pieces from another's. Play The players decide who will go first. The first player places a piece from his pile of nine onany one of the points of intersection on the board. The second then places his piece on adifferent point of intersection. This continues until all nine pieces are placed. A player mustplace a piece from his pile on each of his first nine moves. The object is to get three of one's pieces in a row. This may be along any of the lines on the boardexcept the diagonals at the corners. When a player succeeds in getting three in a row (this isreferred to as a "Mill"), he is entitled to "Pound" his opponent. Pounding consists of removingone of the opponent's pieces permanently from play. The piece that is removed may not be partof an opponent's Mill unless there are no other pieces available. Once all nine pieces are on the board a player's move consists of moving one of his pieces into anadjacent vacant intersection. He does this to create additional Mills and continue to Pound hisadversary. He may move along the diagonals, but not build a Mill along the diagonal (not allboards have diagonals). Play continues until one or the other players is reduced to only two pieces, or one of the playersis hemmed in and can make no move. Some players allow the same Mill to be repeated indefinitely by moving a piece off line withone move and then moving it back with the next. Others do not. Variations: 6-Man-Morris Same rules as above, only with six pieces and a less elaborate board (see illustration) 3-Man Morris This is essentially Tic-Tac-Toe/Naughts-and-Crosses. Each player has three pieces, whichthey place alternately. The object is to get three in a row. If a Mill is not made in placing thepieces, the players may move as in 9-Man-Morris until one or the other wins.

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Sources: Murray, A History of Board Games Other Than Chess Provenzo, Play i t Again Bell, Board and Table Games

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Hnefatafl A king is surrounded by his enemies. All that stands between him and ignominious capture ishis loyal huscarls, who are prepared to sell their lives dearly to carry their lord to safety.Such is the premise of the ancient Saxon and Norse war game of Hnefatafl, and the strongemotional appeal of this scenario probably had something to do with its widespreadpopularity among the those warlike peoples. This game originated some time before 400 AD,and was still being played in Saxon England and Scandinavia until the 11th Century. It isrelated the Scandinavian game of Tafl, of which nothing but the name survives. Number of players: Two Difficulty: Simple Equipment: One Hnefatafl board, with 18 or 19 squares to a side, and markings on the starting squares toassist in placing the pieces. • 48 attacking pieces (called "Hunns")• 24 defending Hunns• 1 king, called a "Hnefe".• The pieces are set up as in the illustration.

Play:Each player may move one piece, one square per turn. Moves may only be orthogonal (theopposite of diagonal--across the sides of the square rather than the corners).

The Hnefe's side moves first. The players move alternately.

A piece is captured when a player straddles an opponent's Hunn with two of his (each on oneside, opposite each other, orthagonally). A piece may be moved in between two enemy pieceswithout being captured however. A capture must be the result of a move on the part of thecapturing player.

A Hnefe cannot be captured in the usual manner, but must be hemmed in on all four sides.

If the Hnefe player moves it off the board, he wins. If the attacking player traps the Hnefe,he wins.

Source: Bell, Board and Table Games

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FootballIf anything could have been described as the national game of old Europe, it would be

football. However, before tiresome English Public School Masters decided it neededstandardized rules in the early 19th Century, exactly what was meant by “football” variedtremendously from place to place. This regional variety was exacerbated by the fact that therewas no significant traveling of teams. There was no national championship, just traditionalrivalries between the teams of opposing villages, guilds, families, households or any otherconvenient social grouping of the age. Often a team had only one opponent, which it wouldplay against once a year.

While the game varied greatly from place to place, it had some elements in common inmost places. In sum, it was played with a more or less round leather ball by two groups of men(and occasionally women) whose intent was to gain control of the ball and move it into theiropponent’s territory towards a goal. It was generally (though not universally) understood thatthe ball was not to be carried, but was to be kicked.

Beyond that, there existed considerable variation, dictated by local conditions andtraditions. The field could be a clearly delineated rectangle or semi-rectangle; or it could beinfinite, bounded only by impassable natural obstructions. It was often played through thestreets of a town or village. The teams could keep score, based upon how many times a ball iskicked into a “goal post” (or rock, or tree), or victory could be gained by conveying the ball tosome far off objective (the local tavern, the patron’s manor house) or just to carry the ball so farinto the opponent’s territory that it couldn’t possibly be returned by nightfall.

It was also an extremely rough game, in which there were no “fouls” or “penalties” andno referees to enforce them if there were. What few rules there were would have been so firmlygrounded in tradition, that to break them would have been unthinkable, or they would havebeen self-enforcing (to carry the ball would invite sudden, violent assault from the opponents).Serious injury or death often resulted from Football matches, but this was no deterrent to theEnglishman’s enthusiasm for the game. In fact, it was probably a significant part of itsattraction.

Since the modern re-enactor has no ancient tradition to draw upon, I have provided aset of rules that incorporate many typical elements, yet should be suitable to modern conditions.

Complexity: SimpleEquipment: One leather wrapped ball filled with rags or dried peasNumber of Players: Any number, though the sides should be roughly even.

The Playing FieldThe field should be a fairly rock-free, open field about twenty to forty yards wide, and eightyto one hundred and fifty yards long. At each end of the field, there should be a goal. The goalcan be a post, though if it is, it should be at least five feet high so that someone can’t beimpaled on it. Designated trees and rocks also serve as excellent goals. Equidistant betweenthe goals is the starting place. I would recommend marking this spot with a bit of flour orscratching out a mark in the grass.

The Officials:There is but one official. He is the score keeper. He should be a sober and well respected man.His duty is to call out when a score is made, and return the ball to the starting place after eachscore. He is not a referee. He can disapprove of the actions of the players, but he may not stopplay for fouls or penalties.

The Sequence of Play:

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Play commences when the score keeper tosses the ball in the air from the starting place. Whenthe ball hits the ground, each team tries to move it by kicking it with their feet or striking itwith their hands, arms, heads or other convenient body part, towards a goal in the opponent’sterritory. A goal is scored when the ball strikes the goal object (post, tree, whatever). When agoal is scored, the ball is recovered by the score keeper who returns it to the starting place andtosses it once again into the air.

Play ends when a team scores three points (or some other mutually agreeable number), or whenit just becomes too dark, or muddy to play; or the players collapse in mutual exhaustion (asignificant factor in teams made up of fat middle aged men like myself).

There are no “time outs” except after a score. Injured players remove themselves from the gamewith no interruption in play. The ball cannot go “out of bounds”. If it should find its way pastthe agreed upon boundaries, it may be pursued by the players or any spectator may feel free topick it up and toss it back into the field (and if the toss happens to favor the spectator’sfavored team, so be it).

A player should not hold a ball in his hands nor carry it (though he may strike it with hishands). Carrying the ball is not in keeping with the traditions of this particular village, andis therefore churlish and dishonorable. If someone does such a knavish thing, he should beimmediately taught he error of his ways by being tackled or otherwise brought roughly toearth.

ConclusionThis is my shot at a modern-friendly recreation of old football, as it was played in Europe untilthe 19th Century. Of course, if you would like to change something, go ahead and do it, thoughI would exhort you not to modernize and regularize it and take away the anarchic quality thatis such an integral part of traditional games.

I should mention that, as with original football, I have known few recreated games to gowithout some sort of minor injury. Anyone who chooses to participate should understand thatbeforehand. You may certainly feel free to add additional safety rules like time outs toevacuate the wounded--but if you are as reckless as our ancestors, like them you can leave thegame “with broken heades, black faces, bruised bodies, and lame legges, yett laugheinge &merrilie jestinge at their harmes”.

A little linguistic note:In the Middle Ages, this game (along withany other team field sport) was known as“camping” or more specifically with Football“kicking camp”. The word either comes fromthe French “Champs” for “field” or theGermanic “Kampf” for “battle”. Given theroughness of the game, I tend to favor thelatter etymology.

Sources: McLean, The English at Play in theMiddle Ages

Vale, The Gentleman’s Recreations

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HurlingI cannot describe this Cornish variant of Football better than did Richard Carew, in his Surveyof Cornwall in 1602. This also serves as an excellent illustration of the spirit of the lessdomesticated varieties of football.

The hurling to the Country, is more diffuse and confuse, as bound to few of these orders(i.e. the rules of football). Some two or more gentlemen do commonly make this match,appointing that non such a holiday, they will bring to such an indifferent place, two, three ormore parishes of the East or South quarter, to hurl against s any other, of the West or North.Their goals are either those Gentlemen’s houses, or some towns or villages, three or four milesasunder, of which either side maketh choice after the nearness of their dwellings. When theymeet, there is neither comparing of numbers, nor matching of men, but a silver ball cast up, andthat company, which can catch, and carry it by force, or slight, gaineth the ball and thevictory.

Whosoever gaineth seizure of this ball, findeth himself generally laid flat on God’sdear Earth: which fall once received, disableth him from any longer detaining the ball: hetherefore throweth the same (with like hazard of intercepting) to some f his fellows, farthestbefore him, who maketh away withal in like manner. Such as see where the ball is played,give notice thereof to their mates crying “Ware east”, “Ware west” &c as the same is carried.

The hurlers take their next way over hills, dales, hedges, ditches; yea, and throughbushes, briers, mires, plashes, and rivers whatsoever; so as you shall sometimes see 20 or 30tugging together in the water, scrambling and scratching for the ball. A play verily both rudeand rough, and yet such, is not destitute of policies, in some sort resembling the feats of war: foryou will have companies laid out before, on the one side, to encounter them that come with theball, and of the other party to succor them, in manner of a fore ward. Again, other troops liehovering on the sides, like wings, to help or stop their escape: and where the ball itself goeth,it resembleth the joining of the two main battles: the slowest footed who come lag, supply theshow of a rear ward: yea, there are horsemen paced also on either party (as it were in ambush)and ready to ride away with the ball, if they can catch it at advantage. But they may not sosteal the palm: for gallop any one of them never so fast, yet he shall be surely met at somehedge or corner, cross lane, bridge or deep water, which (by casting the country) they know hemust needs touch at: and if his good fortune guard him no the better, he is like to pay the priceof his theft, with his own and his horse overthrown to the ground. Sometimes the wholecompany runneth with the ball, seven or eight miles out of the direct way, which they shouldkeep. Sometimes a foot mean getting it by stealth, the better to scape unespied, will carry thesame quite backwards, and so, at last, get to the goal by a windlass (i.e. indirect route): whichonce known to be won, all that side flock thither with great jollity: and if the same be aGentleman’s house, they give him the ball for a trophy, and the drinking of his beer to boot.

For the “silver ball”, I would recommend a wooden ball the size of a large grapefruit, paintedwhite. If you wish to make it a less lethal projectile, you can always use a leather wrappedball.

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Fox & GeeseThis is a an ancient game of capture which was enormously popular from before the

15th until the 19th Century.

Complexity: SimpleNumber of Players: 2Equipment: Fox & Geese board, 17 tokens of one color (the Geese) and one of another

(the Fox).

Earliest Mention: Household accounts of King Edward IV of England, 1461-83.

Set Up:See illustration opposite. The dark pieces are the Geese. The Fox may be placed in anyunoccupied space.

Play:The Fox moves first. He may move in any direction (forward, backward, diagonally) one space.

The Geese may move forward along the straights or diagonals, but may not move backward.The Geese player may move one token per turn.

The Fox may capture Geese by jumping them as in Checkers. If the Fox begins his move adjacentto a Goose which has an open space on the opposite side of him the Fox may jump to that openspace and capture a Goose. If this puts the Fox in a position to jump another Goose, he may do soimmediately. He may jump as many Geese as present themselves in a single turn. Jumping maybe done in any direction, straight or diagonally.

Victory:The Geese win if they trap the Fox in a position where he cannot move. The Fox wins if hecaptures enough Geese that they cannot trap him, or the Geese have all moved to the oppositeside of the board and cannot pursue the Fox (remember that Geese cannot move in reverse).

Note:All things being equal, the advantage in this game lies with the Fox. The Geese must useconsiderable strategy to corner the Fox and must be willing to sacrifice Geese to bait a wellplanned trap.

Sources: Murray, A History of Board Games Other Than ChessProvenzo, Play i t Again

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Medieval Chess Chess was introduced into Europe from the Middle East some time around 1000. It was playedprimarily by the Clergy, Burgers and Nobility; and was played by Ladies as well asGentlemen. It attained its modern form in the late 15th and early 16th Century. Prior to that,there had been many local variations. The one summarized below is the closest to the oldPersian game of Shatranj, which was the source of European Chess. This was one of many stylesof Chess practiced in Medieval Europe. When you play this, you will quickly see why modernChess was devised. This is a slow game. In this game, only the Rooks are really powerfulpieces. All of the others are slow and ponderous, and the Queen, which in the present form ofthe game, is the dominant piece on the board, is reduced to the function of guarding the King. Inthe original Persian game, the Queen was not a feminine piece, but was a "Firz" or councilor.

Number of Players: TwoDifficulty: Moderate

Equipment:A standard 8 X 8 chess board is used. The identification of the pieces is the same as in modernChess. The pieces are laid out as in modern Chess (left to right, first row, Rook, Knight,Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook, second row, eight Pawns)

Sequence of Play:The players roll dice to see who moves first. High roll moves first. The players have an optionof deploying into" battle order" before the formal beginning of the game. The player with thefirst move may make ten moves in succession, though none of his pieces may move past themiddle of the board. The other player then makes his ten moves. The game may then begin.

The players move alternately. They continue until all the opponent's pieces but the King aretaken, or the King is "Check Mated" (put in a position where he currently in danger and cannotmove without moving into danger). When a player places his opponent's King into danger, heannounces the fact by calling "Check". When a player's King is in Check, he may make nomove but one which moves his King out of danger or interposes a friendly piece between thethreatening piece and the King.

The Moves:The King may move only one square, diagonally or orthagonally (at right angles). Kings maynot put each other into check.The Queen may move in any direction, diagonally. Queens may not attack each other.The Bishop may move two squares diagonally, backwards or forwards, jumping over theintervening piece.The Knight moves one square orthagonally, and then one diagonally, jumping over allintervening pieces (the same as the modern Knight).The Rook may move orthagonally any number of squares. It cannot jump over intervening pieces.The Pawn may move one square orthagonally forward and capture one square diagonally. If hereaches the far side, he is promoted to Queen, and can move diagonally, forward or backward.

These are the only moves allowed. There is no "castling", no double initial move for pawns, orany other modern move not covered in these rules.

Sources: Eales, Chess, the History of a GameMclean , The English a t Play in the Middle AgesBel l , Board and Table GamesVale , The Gentleman's Recreations

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QuoitsThis is an ancient game, dating from at least the 13th Century. A “Quoit” is a discus with ahole in the middle, which is thrown over a pin, called a “Hob”. A common variant of this is“Horseshoes”.

Complexity: SimpleNumber of players: 2 or moreEquipment: 1 or more Quoits or Horseshoes per player and 2 Hobs

Sequence of PlayThe first hob is driven into the ground, leaving around 6”-8” above ground. The second Hob isdriven in at a distance of 15-30 paces (distance is optional).

The players stand with their toe against one Hob and cast their Quoits at the other. If theplayers have multiple Quoits, they can alternate casts or cast all at once.

After all Quoits are cast, the players reckon which is closest, and the player with that one,wins a point. If more than one Quoit is closer than all the opponent’s Quoits, then the ownergains a point for every Quoit that is closer. This is called “Cutting out”.

If a player should succeed in “ringing” the Hob so that the pin passes through the hole in theQuoit, that is reckoned as two points.

Play continues to some mutually agreed upon score.

Sources: Carson : Colonial Virginians at Play McLean: The English at Play in the Middle Ages

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DraughtsThis game was created in France some time in the 12th Century when somebody devised a game,played on a Chess board where all the pieces moved like Medieval Chess Queens (the Frenchcalled the game "Dames"). The rules are essentially the same as modern Checkers. Afterabout 1530, a rule became popular whereby it became compulsory to capture an opponent's pieceif you were in a position to do so (the "Jeu Forcé"). The variation in which capturing wasoptional was called "Jeu Plaisant". The usual English name for this game is and was Draughts.The English name for the piece is "Draughtsman". The French name is "Dame" after the 15thCentury. Prior to that it was called a "Ferse" or "Fierge".

A mindless variation on this game involves the players pitching the pieces onto theboard and wagering on whether they will land on light or dark squares.

Number of Players: TwoDifficulty: Simple

Equipment:One Chess board, eight squares by eight. Twelve round, flat pieces per player. One playershould have black pieces, and the other red or white pieces.

Set up:The pieces are placed on the first three rows of dark squares.

Moves:Players move alternately. A player may move one piece per turn. A piece may move one squarediagonally, forward. A piece may capture that of an opponent by jumping it diagonally. Apiece may jump another only if the landing square on the opposite side is unoccupied. If a piecejumps and captures a piece and moves into a position that would allow it to capture another, itmay (or must) do so. All captures must be forward.

When a piece reaches the opposite end of the board, it becomes a "Queen" or "King"(whichever name you prefer). A Queen may move and capture forward or backward. A Queenis usually designated by placing a captured piece on top of it.

Play continues until all of a players pieces have been taken or trapped (i.e. preventedfrom moving). The winner is the one who puts his opponent into such a sorry state.Sources: Bell, Board and Table Games

Provenza, Play i t Again.

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Bowling GamesThis encompasses a wide variety of games, involving rolling small wooden balls either

at a target, other balls or at pins. The term “Bowls” generally applies to games where balls arerolled at other balls, whereas when pins are involved, the game goes by the name of “9-Pins”,“10-Pins” etc. or “Skittles”, which also refers to an tabletop game of miniature 9 pins.Miniature skittles may be played with any of the 9-Pins variations below.

Bowling of some sort dates from around the 13th Century. It was popular with allsocial classes, and was frequently played in tavern yards and church yards after (or during)Sunday services. Many houses and taverns boasted “Bowling Greens” which were nicelymanicured lawns with level places for the pins. Some had “frames” behind the pins to catchballs. When such frames were present, and balls bounced back to strike additional pins, thesewere “foul” and not counted. Bowling Alleys were also present, and became increasinglypopular in the 19th Century for the game of 10-Pins, which is essentially, what we know todayas “Bowling”.

The following are several bowling games. I would like to be able to date them, but I’mafraid I can’t, other than to say that I am fairly confident that all of them were in place by the18th Century. How far before then any particular variant was being played, I couldn’t say.Like so many other games before the days of “Hoyle” (and even after), every village, or evenevery tavern within a single village, might have its own house variant of a particular game--which is to say, use or ignore these rules as suits your humor, there is no single “right” way tobowl.

9-Pins VariationsThese all have a few things in common. They are all played with nine or sometimes ten woodenpins (these pins are conical or bullet shaped) and two balls. They may be played by anynumber, but two is optimum. Each bowler gets two pitches, after which the score is determinedand the pins reset. Bowling is done from any distance that the bowlers find convenient(perhaps 3-7 paces), and a mark should be made in the ground to ensure that they are allbowling from the same distance. This distance can be changed during a game by mutualagreement. The game is played to a mutually agreeable score. 31 is a popular goal, and somevariations require that the precise score of 31 be reached. If a score of over 31 is gained, then anadditional nine points must be gained to win the game.

Version 1: The Line

Line the pins up in a row, about half a pin length apart. A bowler gets one point for each pinknocked down. The bowlers can cast from a point a few paces from the center of the row, or froma point a few paces from the right or left end pin. Note: you are not bowling down the line ofpins. The pins will be perpendicular (think of the letter “T”) to the line of pitch.

Version 2: The Square

Set the pins in a square consisting of three equal rows of three pins each. The pins should beabout half a pin length apart. A bowler gets one point for each pin knocked down.

Version 3: The Circular “King Pin”

Start by setting three pins along the line of pitch. The closest to the bowlers will be the “KingPin”. One pin length behind the King Pin will be the “Queen Pin”. One pin length behind theQueen Pin will be the “Jack Pin”. Once these pins are set, place the remaining six pins in a circle

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around the King Pin, one pin length from the King Pin, and more or less equally spaced aroundthe circle (the Queen Pin is, of course, part of this circle).

Each regular pin is worth 1 point. The King Pin is worth 3 points, and the Queen Pin is worth 2points. However, if the Jack Pin is knocked down (“Bowling the Jack”), the number of pointsscored in that round is deducted from the bowler’s score.

Bowls Variations.“Bowls” generally refers to games played without pins. In games of bowls, such as in moderngames like the French “Boules” or Italian “Bocci”, the object is to get your balls closer to atarget than your opponent. The balls are usually made of wood. Often these balls have somesort of offset weight or flattened part, to give them an eccentric spin. This game can also beplayed with 4 Pound cannon balls, if those are available.

There are a few universal features to Bowls. The target, what ever it may be, is called a“Jack”. The object is to get one or both of your balls closer to the Jack than your opponent’s.Each bowler gets two casts, casting alternately. The bowlers aim to either place their balls toscore or block, and may also strike their opponent’s balls out of place.

Striking the Jack can either be a foul, resulting in a lost round, or can be an objective, if it movesthe Jack to a more advantageous position.

The Jack BallEach player has two balls, preferably a different color than his opponent’s. There is also one“Jack” ball, which is usually white. The Jack is carefully cast into the middle of the bowlinggreen.

Player 1 casts his first ball, trying to get as close to the Jack as possible. Player 2 then casts hisfirst ball, trying to either move his opponent’s ball out of a good position, move his ball into agood position, or move the Jack to a place more favorable to himself. Player 1 then casts hissecond ball, followed by Player 2. This concludes the round. The player who has one of hisballs closer to the Jack than the other gains one point. If both of his balls are closer than any ofhis opponent’s, he gains two points. Play continues until a previously agreed upon score, like 5,is reached.

Jack StrawThis is an older version, which was common in the Middle Ages, but not much after that, atleast as far as I have been able to determine. The play is identical to the “Jack Ball” versionabove, except instead of a Jack Ball, a “Jack Straw” is placed in the ground to serve as thetarget. Some other delicate thing, like a bit of paper can also serve.

The object is to place one’s ball as close to the Jack Straw as possible, but if you actually run itdown, or hit your opponent’s ball to cause it to crush the Jack Straw, then you lose the round.Sources: Gomme: The Traditional Games ofEngland, Scotland & Ireland

Carson: Colonial Virginians at Play McLean: The English at Play in the

Middle Ages

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The Royal Game of GooseThis is the ancestor of all of those board games where you roll the dice, move along

squares on the board, and receive rewards or punishments depending on what the square uponwhich you landed, says. Without Goose, there would have been no Monopoly or Life or any ofthose myriad of children's games we have all played. It was, according to, given as a gift by Francesco DeMedici of Florence to King Philip II of Spain in the second halfof the 16th Century. By 1597, it had found its way to England.

Complexity: SimpleEquipment: A "Game of Goose" board, two dice, one token for each player.Number of Players: 2 or more.

Sequence of Play:The first player rolls the dice. This will be the total number of squares he must move in thatturn. He moves his token along the numbered squares (his piece starts on the un-numberedsquare to the left of square #1), and if the square he lands upon has one of the symbols listedbelow, he is rewarded or punished accordingly. He then passes the dice to the next player, whotakes his turn.

If a player lands on an occupied square, the occupant is moved back to the square from whichthe moving player began. When this occurs, both players pay one coin into the pot (see"wagering" below). If this was a penalty square which required some delay, then the originaloccupant need not continue to suffer the penalty, and the penalty is then applied to the newoccupant.

The winner is the first player to reach square 63. If he overshoots this square, he is returned tosquare one. A player cannot win until he lands exactly on square 63.

The Board:The board consists of 63 squares, laid out in a spiral pattern as shown opposite.

Wagering:There can be no 16th Century adult's game without wagering and Goose is no exception. Eachplayer should equip himself with a generous quantity of coins or tokens representing coins. Asthe game goes on, players will be required to place coins into a pot in the center of the board.When someone finally wins the game, he wins the pot.

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Variations:There are many different versions of Goose, and each has its own rules. Many Goose boardshave the rules printed on them. If you have such a Goose board, and the rules differ from these,it would probably be easier to use the printed rules that are right in front of you rather thanthese--or you could mix and match the rules you like and create what is for you, the perfectGame of Goose.

The Significance of the Symbols:The board may be ornamented in any manner you see fit. Historical or mythological themeswere popular, as were Aesop's Fables. On a few specific squares, symbols will appear whichwill indicate a reward or punishment for landing on that square. These are as follows:

Square # 6: The Bridge Advance to square #12 and pay one coin for toll.

Square #19 The Inn Pay one coin for drink and lodging.

Square #31 The Well Remain on square #31 for 2 turns

Square #42 The Maze Return to square #30 and pay one coin.

Square #52 The Prison A player in prison will remain there until another player lands on that square and replaces him. He

must also pay one coin to bribe the gaoler.

Square #58 Death's Head Return to square #1 and pay one coin for funeral expenses.

Square #26 Dice Roll again and take another turn.

Square #63 Dice Roll again and move off the board, thus winning the game.

Squares #5, The Goose Roll again and take another turn.14, 22, 32, 41,50 & 59

Sources: Murray, A History of Board Games Other Than ChessProvenzo, Play i t Again Bell, The Boardgame Book

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BibliographyBell, R. C.; The Boardgame Book ; Viking Press, New York, 1979

Bell, R. C; Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations , Oxford University Press, 1960

Bohn, Henry; Hand-Book of Games ; Harrison & Son, London, 1850

Carson, Jane; Colonial Virginians at Play ; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. 1989

Cotton, Charles; The Compeat Gamester ; 1674: (contained in Games and Gamesters of theReformation ; Routledge & Son, London, 1930

Dawson, Lawrence; The Complete Hoyle's Games ; Gallery Books, New York; 1989

Diagram Group; Rules of the Game: The Complete Illustrated Encylopedia of All the Sports inthe World ; Bantam Books; New York, 1976

Dick & Fitzgerald; Modern Pocket Hoyle , 1880

Dick; Modern Pocket Hoyle , 1886

Dummett, Michael; The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City ; Unwin Brothers,Liverpool, 1980

Eales, Richard; Chess: The History of a Game ; Facts on File Publications; New York, Oxford;1985

Farwell, Byron; Mr. Kipling's Army ; Norton, New York, 1987

Foster, R. F.; Foster's Complete Hoyle ; J. B. Lippincott, New York, 1897.

G.W. [Gilbert Walker?], A Manifest Detection of Diceplay , 1552; as contained in Rogues,Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggers: A New Gallery of Tudor and Early Stuart Rogue Literature ; A.F. Kinney editor; University of Massachusetts Press, 1990

Glenn, George D.; Games Sports and Other Amusements ; as contained in The Book ofBuckskinning V ; William H. Scurlock editor, Rebel Publishing Co, Texarcana Texas, 1989.

Gomme, Alice Bertha; The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland ; (2 volumes),Dover, New York; 1964 (Originally published 1898)

Hargrave, Catherine Perry; A History of Playing Cards ; Dover, New York, 1930

Hicks, Jim; The Gamblers , Time Life Books Old West Series, 1978

Jacobs, Gil; World's Best Dice Games: How to Play and Win; John Hansen Co, Milbrae CA, 1981

Kings Singers; the song Primeri as performed in their television series Madrigal History Tour .

McLean, Teresa; The English at Play in the Middle Ages ; Kensal Press, Berkshire UK, 1987

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Murray, H.J.R.; A History of Board Games Other Than Chess ; Oxford, 1952

Newell, William Wells; Games and Songs of American Children ; Dover, New York, 1963

Parlett, David; A History of Card Games ; Oxford, 1991

Pole, William; The Evolution of Whist ; Logmans, Green & Co, New York, 1895

Pool, Daniel; What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew ; Simon & Schuster, New York,1993

Provenzo, Asterie & Provenzo Eugene; Play It Again: Historic Board Games You Can Make andPlay ; Prentice Hall, N.J.; 1981

Scarne, John & Rawson, Clayton; Scarne on Dice ; Military Service Publishing Co., WashintonDC, 1945.

Scarne, John; Scarne on Cards ; Crown, New York, 1949

Trachtman, Paul; The Gunfighters ; Time Life Books; New York, 1974.

Vale, Marcia; The Gentleman's Recreations: Accomplishments and Pastimes of the EnglishGentleman 1580-1630 ; D.S. Brewer Ltd. Cambridge and Rowman & Littlefield, New Jersy; 1977

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