This game is sometimes called Dutch Bank. Any number of persons may play, and a full pack of fifty-two cards is used. The cards rank from the A K Q down to the deuce. Any player may shuffle, the dealer last. The pack is then cut, and the reunited parts are placed in the centre of the table. The players then cut it into several packets, none less than four cards, all of which remain on the table face down. Some player then pushes one of the packets toward the dealer, and bets are then made on the others. Any player, except the dealer, can bet what he pleases on any packet.
After all the bets are made all the packets, including the dealer’s, are turned face up, exposing the bottom card of each. Any packet disclosing a card lower than the dealer’s loses all bets placed upon it. Any packet showing a card better than the dealer’s wins from him. The dealer takes all ties. The deal then passes to the next player on the left. Sometimes only three packets are cut, one of which is pushed to the dealer.
This game is a great favourite with card-sharpers, especially on ocean steamers. They use packs in which the cards are trimmed long and short, so that a confederate may cut them by the ends or by the sides for high or low cards, afterward pushing one of the high cuts toward the dealer.
This is apparently the fairest of all banking games, there being absolutely no percentage in favour of the banker except that the players have to do the guessing.
The one who is willing to put up the largest amount of money to be played for is usually selected as the banker. He is provided with a large bowlful of beans, counters, buttons, small coins, or some objects of which a large number of similar size and shape can be easily obtained. An oblong card is placed in the centre of the table, and the players stake their money upon its corners or upon its edges. These corners are supposed to be numbered in rotation from 1 to 4, the figure 1 being on the right of the banker.
A bet placed on any of the corners takes in the number it is placed upon and the next higher also; so that a bet upon the corner 1 would be upon the numbers 1 and 2; upon 2 it would be upon 2 and 3; and upon 4 it would be upon 4 and 1.
Diagram of the card
In the illustration the bet would be upon 2 and 3.
If the bet is placed upon the edge of the card, it takes in the next higher number only.
Diagram of the card
In the illustration the bet is upon the number 2, and no other.
After all the bets have been placed, the banker takes a large handful of the beans or counters from the bowl, and places them on the table, counting them off rapidly into fours. The number of odd counters remaining decides which number wins; if none remain, 4 wins. If there were 2 or 3 counters over, the banker would pay all bets on the corners 1 and 2, even money. If there were 2 over, he would pay all bets on the edge of the card between 1 and 2 at the rate of three for one, and so on. The counters are then returned to the bowl, and bets are placed for another coup.
Sometimes the banker will draw a handful of beans from the bowl and place them upon the table, covering them with a saucer or with his cap. He then bets any player that there will be 1, 2,3, or 4 left, the player taking his choice, and being paid three for one if he guesses correctly.
In spite of the fact that this game is apparently perfectly fair for all concerned, the author has never seen an American who could win anything at it while a Chinaman was the banker.
This is one of the oldest banking games, and is supposed to be of Italian origin. It belongs to the same family as Lansquenet, Florentini, and Monte Bank. Under the name of Pharaon, it was in great favour during the reign of Louis XIV., and came to America by way of New Orleans. As originally played, the dealer held the cards in his left hand, and any bets once put down could not again be taken up until they were decided. In addition to splits, the dealer took hockelty.
As now played, Faro requires extensive and costly apparatus, the engraved counters used being often worth more than their playing value.
A full pack of fifty-two cards is shuffled and cut by the dealer, and then placed face upward in a dealing box, the top of which is open. The cards are drawn from this box in couples, by pushing them one at a time through a slit in the side. As the cards are withdrawn in this manner a spring pushes the remainder of the pack upward. The first card in sight at the beginning of each deal is calledsoda, and the last card left in the box isin hoc.
The first card withdrawn is placed about six inches from the box, and the second is laid close to the box itself.
Two cards and a box
Every two cards withdrawn in this manner are called aturn, and there are twenty-five turns in each deal, Soda and Hoc being dead cards. In making the first turn, the Soda begins the pile farther from the box, and the next card taken out is called aloser, which is placed close to the box. The card left face upward in the box is thewinnerfor that turn, so that there must be a winner and a loser for every turn; the loser outside the box, and the winner left in it. On the next and all following turns, thewinning card on the previous turn will be placed on the same pile as the Soda, so that it shall be possible at any time to decide which cards have won, and which have lost.
TheObject of the Gameis for the players to guess whether the various cards on which they place their money will win or lose. They are at liberty to select any card they please, from the ace to the King, and to bet any amount within the established limit of the bank.
The Layout.All bets are made with counters of various colors and values, which are sold to the players by the dealer, and may be redeemed at any time. These counters are placed on the layout, which is a complete suit of spades, enamelled on green cloth, sufficient space being left between the cards for the players to place their bets. The ace is on the dealer’s left.
The layout of the cards and counters
There are a great many ways of placing bets at Faro. For instance: A player may make bets covering twenty-one different combinations of cards, all of which would play the Ten to win, as follows:—
The layout of the cards and counters
If the first bet is supposed to be flat upon the Ten itself, 2, 3 and 4 would take in the card next the Ten; 5 the cards on each side with the Ten; 6 and 7 the three cards behind which the bets are placed, the Ten being one in each instance; 8 and 9 take in the Ten and the card one remove from it in either direction; 10 and 11 are the same thing, but placed on the other card; 12 to 17 inclusive take in the various triangles of which the bet is the middle card; 18 and 19 take in the four cards surrounding them; 20 and 21 areheeledbets, the bottom counter being flat on the corner of the card, and the remainder being tilted over toward the card diagonally across from the one on which the bet is placed, playing both cards to win. In addition to these twenty-one bets, others might be made by heeling bets that would take certain cards to lose, and the Ten to win. Bets may also bestrungbehind odd or even cards on the side next the dealer. These show that the player bets the next case card that comes will win if it is an even card, and lose if it is odd; that is, if he places his string behind an even card.
If the player thinks a card will win, he bets itopen, that is, with nothing but his counters. If he wants to play a card to lose, hecoppersit, by placing a checker or button on his chips. If a player wishes to reach two cards widely separated, such as the deuce and Seven, and has not money enough to bet on both; he can ask the dealer for amarker, which is a flat oblong piece of ivory. This is placed on the card to be played with the same money, and the dealer may either trust his memory for the bet, or place another marker on it.
After the dealer has waved his hand preparatory to pushing the top card from the box, no bet can be made or changed. After the turn is made, the dealer first picks up all the bets he wins, and then pays all he loses, after which he waits for the players to rearrange their bets for the next turn. Between each turn a player may make any change he pleases. A lookout sits on the right of the dealer to see that he pays and takes correctly, and to watch that no bets are changed, or coppers slipped off, during the turn.
Splits.If two cards of the same denomination win and lose on the same turn, it is a split, and the dealer takes half the bets on the split card, no matter whether it is bet to win or lose. Splits should come about three times in two deals if the cards are honestly dealt.
Keeping Cases.As the cards are withdrawn from the box they are marked on a case-keeper, which is a suit of thirteen cards, with four buttons running on a steel rod opposite each of them. As the cards come out, these buttons are pushed along, so that the player may know how many of each card are still to come, and what cards are left in for the last turn. In brace games, whenthe cards are pulled out two at a time to change the run of them, the case-keeper is always a confederate of the dealer, and is signalled what cards have been pulled out under the cards shown, so that he can secretly mark them up. A bet placed or left upon a card of which none are left in the box is called asleeper, and is public property; the first man that can get his hands on it keeps it.
When only one card of any denomination is in the box, it is obvious that such a card cannot be split, and that the bank has no advantage of the player. Such cards are calledcases, and the betting limit on cases is only half the amount allowed on other cards. It is not consideredcomme il fautfor a player to wait for cases, and those who play regularly usually make a number of small bets during the early part of the deal, and then bet high on the cases as they come along. A player who goes upon the principle that the dealer can cheat those who bet high, and who follows and goes against the big bets with small ones, or who plays one-chip bets all over the board, hoping to strike a good spot to fish on, is called a piker; and when a game runs small this way, the dealers call it apiking game.
Keeping Tab.In addition to the case-keeper, score sheets are provided on which the players may keep a record of what cards win and lose on each turn. These tabs are printed in vertical columns, about five deals to a sheet. A dot indicates the soda card; a dash, hoc. All winners are marked with a down stroke, and all losers with a cypher. The diagram in the margin will give a very good idea of a faro tab for a complete deal. The Queen was soda, the Five split out, and the Eight was in hoc.
A0010201113001141000500X61111701108110-90101100000J1110Q.010K1011
Systems.On the manner in which the cards will go, a great many systems of play are based. There are sixteen different ways for a card to “play,” which are simply the permutations of the stroke and the cypher arranged in rows of four at a time. If a player is bettingthree on a side, he will take each card as it becomes a case, and bet that it either wins three times and loses once, or loses once and wins three times. In the foregoing deal he would have bet on the A 3 4 6 9 J to lose on the fourth card out of the box, and would have bet on the case cards of the 2 7 8 10 Q K to win. The Soda, it must be remembered, is really a winning card. Of these bets he would have won 5 out of twelve, taking back his money on the 8, as that card was left in hoc. Playingbreak even, these bets would have been exactly reversed, as all the cards would have played either to win and lose an equal number of times, or towinorlose out; that is, to do the same thing all four times.
Another favourite system is colours. The player takes some definite card, such as the soda, or the first winner or loser, as his starter, and whatever the colour of the third card of each denomination, that is, the card that makes it a case, he plays it to win or lose, according to the system of colours he is playing. Many players reverse on the last turn.
When a player bets one card to lose and another to win, and loses both bets on the same turn, he iswhipsawed.
The Last Turn.If three different cards are left in for the last turn, the players cancall the turn, naming the order in which they think the cards will be found. Suppose the three cards left in the box are the 9 8 2, these may come in six different ways:—
The odds against any one of these ways are 5 to 1; but the dealer pays 4 for 1 only. In calling the turn, the bet is strung from the selected loser to the selected winner. If the third card intervenes, the bet is strung away from it, to show that it goes round the layout to the other card.
If there are two cards of the same denomination in the last turn, it is called acat-hop; and as it can come only three ways, the dealer pays 2 for 1. Suppose the cards are 8 8 5, they can come:—
If three cards of the same denomination are left, the call is by the colour, and is paid 2 for 1. Suppose two black and one red card are left. These may come:—
The bets are placed on the dealer’s right for red first; on his left for black and red, and in front of him for two blacks.
CHEATING.If Faro were honestly played, it would be one of the prettiest banking games in the world; but unfortunately the money to be made at this game is so great that the richest prizes in the gambling world are offered to the men who can so handle the cards as to “protect the money of the house.” All systems are not only worthless, but dangerous to use, when opposed to the skill of the modern faro dealer. A first-class “mechanic” can get from one to two hundred dollars a week, and a percentage of the profits; but it is hardly necessary to say that he is not paid that amount simply for pulling cards out of a box. Before venturing to “buck the tiger” get some one to show you how fifty-three cards are shuffled up, so as to make the last turn come the way thatthere is most money in it for the house. Watch the movements carefully, so that you will know them the next time you see them in a fashionable house, which you imagine to be “dead square.” If you see a dealer with a shuffling board as thick as his dealing box, don’t play against that game. If you see a dealer take up the cards already taken from the box, slipping them one under the other, as if to straighten them up, the sooner you cash your chips the better, for you are up against a brace game, no matter where it is dealt.
The proprietors of some fashionable “clubs,” especially at watering places, pretend to be above all such things as cheating at faro, and get indignant at the suggestion of the possibility of there being anything crooked in their establishments. The author has but one reply to all such. If it is true that there is nothing unfair in your game, let me put a type-writer girl in the dealer’s place to shuffle and pull out the cards, and let your men just see to paying and taking bets.
The boast of all these fashionable gambling houses is that they never won a man’s money except in a square game. Strange to say, this is generally true, and the explanation is very simple. If you are losing there is no necessity to cheat you, so you lose your money in a square game. If you are winning, it is the bank’s money, and not yours, that they would win if they started to cheat you; and as the dealer is paid to “protect the money of the house,” as they call it, he is perfectly justified in throwing the harpoon into you for a few deals, just to get his own money back; but he is very careful not to cheat you out of any of your own money. You may lose if you like, but you cannot win; faro banks are not run that way.
The banker and his assistant, called the croupier, sit opposite each other at the sides of a long table, on each end of which are two large diamonds, one red and the other black, separated by a square space and a triangle. Any number of persons can play against the bank, placing their bets on the colour they select, red or black.
Six packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one, the dealer taking a convenient number in his hand for each deal. The players having made their bets, and cut the cards, the dealer turns one card face upward on the table in front of him,at the same time announcing the colour he deals for, which is always forblack first. The dealer continues to turn up cards one by one, announcing their total pip value each time, until he reaches or passes 31. Court cards and Tens count 10 each, the ace and all others for their face value. Having reached or passed 31 for black, theredis dealt for in the same manner, and whichever colour most closely approaches 31, wins. Suppose 35 was dealt for black, and 38 for red; black would win. The number dealt must never exceed 40.
The colour of the first card dealt in each coup is noted, and if the same colour wins the coup, the banker pays all bets placed on the space markedCouleur. If the opposite colour wins, he pays all bets in the triangle markedInverse. All bets are paid in even money, there being no odds at this game.
Although black is the first colour dealt for, both it and inverse are ignored in the announcement of the result, red and colour being the only ones mentioned, win or lose.
If the same number is reached for both colours, it is called arefait, and is announced by the word, “Après,” which means that all bets are a stand-off for that coup. If the refait happens to be exactly 31, however, the bank wins half the money on the table, no matter how it is placed. The players may either pay this half at once, or may move their entire stake into the first prison, a little square marked out on the table, and belonging to the colour they bet upon. If they win the next coup, their stake is free; if not, they lose it all. Should a second refait of 31 occur, they would have to lose a fourth of this imprisoned stake, and the remainder would be moved into a second prison, to await the result of the next coup, which would either free it or lose it all.
Probabilities.It has been found that of the ten numbers that can be dealt, 31 to 40, the number 31 will come oftener than any other. The proportions are as follow:—
The 31 refait also comes oftener than any other. Although the odds against it are supposed to be 63 to 1, the bankers expect it about twice in three deals, and each deal will produce from 28 to 33 coups.
It is probable that more money has been lost at the wheel than at any other gambling game in the world. In conjunction with Rouge et Noir, it forms the chief attraction at Monte Carlo, and other public gambling casinos. The rage for these games was so great, and the trickery connected with them so common, that they were banished from France by the law of 18 juillet, 1836, and had to take refuge in Baden and Homburg. Before that time the public revenue from the gaming houses amounted to five or six millions a year, all of which was lost by closing them up. The evil was not exterminated, however, for there are to-day hundreds of gambling hells in Europe, which make up for the brevity of their existence by the rapidity with which they fleece their patrons.
In America, the wheel has always been popular, but Rouge et Noir is practically unknown, the reason being that in the latter game there is no variety, and therefore no chance for the player to exercise any judgment, or to play any “system” in making his bets, as he can in Faro.
The Wheel.The roulette wheel is turned by a small cross-bar rising from its axis. The surface of the wheel slopes from the axis to the outer edge, which is divided into small square pockets, coloured alternately red and black, and each having a number just above it, on the surface of the wheel. These numbers may be in any order, according to the fancy of the maker of the wheel, and they may run from 1 to 27, to 30, to 33, or to 36. In addition to the numbers there are zero marks, which are calledsingleanddouble 0, andEagle Bird. All three of these are used in American wheels, and they are green, so that they win for neither colour. In some of the European wheels there are two zeros, the single 0 being red, and the double 0 black. The single 0 also counts as “odd,” and as below 19; while the double 0 is “even,” and above 18. Bets on odd or even, above and below, are not paid, however, but must remain on the table until the next roll, when the player either gets back twice his money or loses it all. At Monte Carlo there is only one zero, which is green, and takes everything but bets on itself. The numbers on the wheel are arranged as follows at Monte Carlo, the heavy type being the black:—
Arrangement of the numbers on the Roulette wheel
The pockets on the edge of the wheel are at the bottom of a sort of circular valley, the centre of which is formed by the revolving wheel, and the outer slope by a stationary but rising margin orborder, at the top of which is an overhanging edge, under which the banker spins a small ivory ball, always in the direction opposite to that in which the wheel is turning. As the ball loses its momentum it strikes some little brass ridges, which cause it to jump onto the wheel, and then to run into one of the pockets. The number, the colour, odd or even, and whether above or below, is immediately announced by the banker, and all bets are taken and paid accordingly.
The Layout.The wheel is sunk in the middle of a long table, on each end of which is a layout, and on these layouts all bets are placed. The divisions are as follows:—
The heavy faced type indicates the black numbers:
Roulette layout
Bets may be made on the following chances:
1.En plein.Flat upon any number, which pays 35 for 1. The betting limit at Monte Carlo is 180 francs.
2.A cheval, on the line between two numbers, which pays 17 for 1. Betting limit on this chance is 360 francs.
3.Un carré, on a cross line, taking in four numbers. This pays 8 for 1. Limit is 750 francs.
4.Transversale, at the end of any three numbers, and taking them in horizontally. Pays 11 for 1. Limit is 560 francs.
5.Transversale Six, placed on the line at the end, taking in the three numbers horizontally above and below. This pays 5 for 1. Limit is 1,200 francs.
6.Bas.At the bottom of any of the three vertical columns, taking in the twelve numbers. This pays 2 for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs.
7.Bas à cheval, between any two of these columns. This pays ½ for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs.
8.Premier, Milieu, Dernier.Bets placed in the spaces marked P 12, M 12, and D 12, are upon the first, middle and last twelve numbers; that is, from 1 to 12, 13 to 24, and 25 to 36 respectively. This pays 2 for 1. Limit is 3,000 francs.
A cheval between any two of the last mentioned, pays ½ for 1.
In addition to the foregoing, all the following chances may be bet upon. They all pay even money. The limit is 6,000 francs.
9.Impair.That the number will be odd.
10.Pair.That the number will be even.
11.Manque.That the number will be from 1 to 18.
12.Passe.That the number will be from 19 to 36.
13.RougeorNoir. Red or Black.
The foregoing are the payments at Monte Carlo; but wheels with less numbers are scaled down accordingly. The players can bet on the zero if they choose, and they will be paid if it comes up, 35 for 1, but all other bets are lost. In wheels with two zeros, red and black, the bank wins on the colour which does not come, and the bets on the right colour are neither paid nor taken, but must remain until the next turn of the wheel. This is now the practice at Monte Carlo, with the single-zero wheels.
Systems.As at Faro, gamblers at Roulette are never tired of devising systems to beat the game; but none of them are of any further use than to afford a little passing amusement to their inventors. Persons who are interested in systems will find in the New York Sun, July 5, 1896, a very interesting tabulation of every roll of the ball at Monte Carlo for seven successive days, 4,012 in all, of which 120 were zeros. If they can find a system that will beat the wheel for seven days, and have a return ticket, Monte Carlo will take care of all their spare cash.
One curious fallacy about some systems is to imagine that they will win if the player will quit when he is a certain amount ahead, and not play again until next day. Until some rule can be given by which the exact hour can be fixed to begin play, all such systemsmust be delusions, as there is no reason why a second man should not begin where the first left off, and therefore no reason why the first should not continue playing all the time.
It is in the interest of the proprietors of all gambling houses to pretend to be afraid of systems. The word is passed round, and the deluded gamesters think they have found the thread which has held the sword of Damocles above the banker’s head so long. As a matter of fact, there is no one so welcome at a gambling house as a player with a system. A man may be fortunate enough for a long time to guess right oftener than he will guess wrong, and a lucky man in good guessing form is a very dangerous customer, that no cold deck will beat; but a man with a system surrenders to a double foe; the inevitable percentage of the game, and the skill of the banker, who can beat any system if the player will only promise to stick to it.
This game is played with a large number of cards, on which are printed various permutations of the numbers 1 to 90, taken five at a time; but each of the five numbers selected for one combination must be in a separate division of tens, such combinations as 2 4 8 16 18 not being allowed on any card, because the 2 4 and 8, for instance, are all in the first ten numbers of the 90. These cards have each a number, printed in large red type across the face of the other figures. The following might be a keno card, No. 325:—
A keno card
Some cards have more than three rows of figures on them, but none have more than five in one row.
The cards are left on the tables in large numbers, and any number of persons may play. Each selects as many cards as he wishes, or thinks he can watch, and places upon them their price, usually twenty-five cents each. An assistant comes round and calls out the numbers of all the cards to be played, and they are “pegged” on a large board provided for the purpose.
Ninety small ivory balls, with flattened surfaces to carry the numbers, are placed in a keno goose, which looks like a coffee urn with the spout at the bottom. This spout can be screwed out toput in the balls, and is controlled with a spring cut-off like a powder horn, which lets out only one ball at a time. When all the cards have been pegged, the goose is rapidly revolved several times back and forth, and then a number is taken out, and placed in a little tray with ninety depressions in it, numbered in regular order, which hold the balls as they come from the goose. The keno roller calls each number distinctly, and the players who find it on their cards cover it with a button. The first player to get a horizontal row of five numbers covered in this manner, calls out “Keno!” or bangs the table with a card, and that stops the game. An assistant comes round to the table and calls out the number of the card; if it has been paid for and pegged, he proceeds to call the numbers forming the keno, and these are checked by the roller from the balls on the tray. If everything is correct, the player is given all the money paid by the other players for their cards, less the ten per cent which goes to the house. If two kenos are made on the same number, they divide the pool equally.
As an illustration of the profitable nature of the game for the house, it may be remarked that if ten men were to play keno for a dollar a card, and each of them made keno ten times, they would all be “dead broke;” because on each of the hundred kenos at ten dollars each, the bank would have taken out its dollar percentage.
This game is sometimes calledSweat, and again, but erroneously,Hazard. It is played with three dice, which are usually thrown down a funnel in which several cross-bars are placed. The player is offered five different forms of betting, all of which appear on theLayout, and which cover all the combinations possible with three dice.
A chuck-luck layout
The Raffles are sometimes indicated by a representation of one face of a die. Bets on single numbers pay even money, if thenumber bet on comes up on the face of any of the three dice. If it comes up on two of them, such as two deuces, it pays double; but if all three dice are alike it is araffle, and the house takes all bets not placed on raffles. Bets on the numbers from 18 to 3 are upon the total count of the pips on the upper faces of the three dice. The small figures under these numbers show the odds paid; 14, for instance, pays twelve for one. All raffles pay 180 for one; the same as 18 or 3.
Bets on High and Low, Odd or Even, pay even money. High throws are all above 10, and low throws are all below 11. This would be perfectly even betting if the house did not take raffles. Some houses allow a player to bet on raffles generally; that is, to bet that a raffle of some kind will come. Such bets are paid 30 for 1.
The percentage of the house, even in a square game, may be seen from the following table, which gives the odds against the event, and the odds which the house pays:—
Cheating.There are endless ways of swindling at Chuck-luck, the most modern being to turn the dice over after they have reached the table through the funnel. This is done by an apparatus under the cloth, the dealer looking down the funnel to see how the dice lie, and then adjusting them to suit himself. Another method is to hold out one die, throwing only two down the funnel, and slipping the third down the outside, turning it so that when it is combined with the two already in the funnel it will beat the big bets on the layout. Raffles can be forced in this way whenever the two dice in the funnel are paired.
This game is played on a pocket billiard table. The banker asks for bets on theinsideandoutside, and the amounts staked on each side must balance. So long as they do not balance, the banker must ask for what he wants: “Give me fourteen dollars on the outside to make the game,” etc. As soon as the amounts balance, and no more bets are offered, he says: “Roll. The game is made.”
A round stick, about a foot long, is placed behind nine small ivory balls. Any person may roll. He takes his stand at one corner of the table and rolls the balls across the table to the pocket diagonally opposite him. At least one ball must go into the pocket and one must be left out, or they must be rolled over again. The number of balls left outside the pocket, odd or even, decides whether the inside or the outside bets win; and after the banker has deducted his ten per cent, the players who have backed the winning side get their money.
The money staked by the banker is piled upon the table, so that all players may see what is to be won. The banker takes a Spanish pack of forty cards, shuffles them, and offers them to the players to be cut. Holding the pack face down, the banker draws two cards from the bottom and places them on the table, face up, for the “bottom layout.” He then draws two cards from the top of the pack for the “top layout.”
The players can bet on either layout, and after all the bets are placed the pack is turned face up. The card that shows is called the “gate.” If it is of the same suit as either of the cards in the top layout, the banker pays all bets on that layout. If there is a card of the same suit as the gate in the bottom layout, the banker pays that also. If there is no card of the same suit as the gate in either of the layouts, the banker wins from that layout; so that he may win or lose from either or both on the same gate.
The pack is then turned face down, the gate is drawn off and thrown aside and two fresh layouts are made, as before and the bets placed before the new gate is shown. This is continued until the pack is exhausted.
This is a purely gambling game, chiefly useful for separating fools from their money. The dealer takes three cards, slightly bent lengthwise, so as to be more easily picked up by the ends. One of these is shown, and the players are told to watch it. After a few skilful passes, the three cards come to rest on the layout, and the players are asked to bet that they can pick out the card shown.
If the dealer will lay two to one, it is a fair gamble; but if he lays even money only, the player is betting two to one against himself. There are endless ways of pretending to mark the shown card, so that it may be known by the back; but the dealer or his confederate always knows that this is done, and the mark is shifted during the passes.
This game is played with a layout, divided and marked as follows:—
A layout for this game
The players can bet on any of the three spaces. Two dice are thrown by the banker, and if the number thrown isunderseven he pays all bets upon the U, even money, taking all those upon 7 and O. If the throw isoverseven, he pays all bets upon the O, taking all those upon U and 7. If seven is thrown, he pays all bets upon that number, three for one, and takes all upon U and O.
As there are 36 possible throws with two dice, 15 being under and 15 over seven, the percentage in favour of the banker is always 21 to 15, on U and O. As there are only 6 ways out of 36 to throw seven, the odds against it are 5 to 1; but the banker pays only 3 for 1. In spite of this enormous percentage in his favour, he frequently adds to his revenue by skilful cheating.
This is a banking game for any number of players, with a pack of fifty-two cards. After the pack has been shuffled and cut, the dealer lays off two cards, face up for “hand cards.” He then deals a card for himself and one for the players, also face up. If either of these is of the same denomination as either of the hand cards, it must be placed with them, and another card dealt; because all bets must be made on single cards.
Having two cards, one for the players and one for himself, the banker turns up cards one at a time. If he draws the same denomination as the players’ card, he wins all the bets upon it. If he draws his own denomination, he loses all bets upon the other card. If he draws a card that matches neither, and is not in the hand cards, it is placed on the table, and the players can bet upon it.
As soon as the players’ card is matched, the banker withdraws both cards, but he cannot withdraw his own card. All cards matching the hand cards must be placed with them.
The common form of folding chess-board provides a field for three of our best known games; Chess, Checkers, and Backgammon, which are generally spoken of as “table games,” although, strictly speaking, Backgammon is the only game of Tables. These three games were probably played long before history noticed them, and they have survived almost all ancient forms of amusement.
Chessis not only the most important of the three, but the most widely known, and possesses the most extensive literature. According to Chatto, it is probable that all games of cards owe their origin to chess, cards themselves having been derived from an old Indian variation of chess, known as the Four Kings. Chess is also the most fascinating of the table games, its charm being probably due to the fact that, like whist, it is a game that no man ever mastered. Whether or not this is in its favour is an open question. The amount of study and practice required to make a person proficient in chess brings a serious drain upon the time, and the fascinations of the game are such that once a person has become thoroughly interested in it, everything else is laid aside, and it is notorious that no man distinguished as a chess-player has ever been good for anything else.
Mr. Blackburne, the English chess champion, regards the game as a dangerous intellectual vice which is spreading to rather an alarming extent. Discussing the matter, after his game with Mr. Bardeleben, he said: “I know a lot of people who hold the view that chess is an excellent means of training the mind in logic and shrewd calculation, provision and caution. But I don’t find these qualities reflected in the lives of chess-players. They are just as fallible and foolish as other folks who don’t know a rook from a pawn. But even if it were a form of mental discipline, which I doubt, I should still object to it on the ground of its fatal fascination. Chess is a kind of mental alcohol. It inebriates the man who plays it constantly. He lives in a chess atmosphere, and his dreams are of gambits and the end of games. I have known many an able man ruined by chess. The game has charmed him, and, as a consequence, he has given up everything to the charmer. No, unless a man has supreme self-control, it is better that he should not learn to play chess. I have never allowed my children to learn it, for I have seen too much of its evil results. Draughts is a better game, if you must have a game.”
Chess is generally believed to have originated in India, and in its primitive form was called Chaturanga. It is mentioned in the Hindoo Puranas, at least 3000 years B. C. The game seems to have spread eastward long before it came West, going through Burmah to Thibet, Siam, China, Malacca, Java, and Borneo. Owing to the better preservation of historical records in China, many persons have been led to credit that country with the invention of chess, but recent investigations have shown that the Chinese got it from India. At some remote period of the world’s history the game was taken from China to Japan, and there are to-day many points in common between the games played in these two countries, especially in the arrangement of the pieces, although the Japanese board has eighty-one squares.
Chess came westward through Constantinople, it having passed through Persia sometime during the sixth century. The Arabs seem to have learned the game, and taken it to Mecca and Medina, afterward passing it along to Syria and the Byzantines, sometime during the seventh century. Disbanded body-guards of the Byzantine emperors carried it to Scandinavia and the North, while it was gradually spreading over Europe by way of the Bosphoros and the Danube.
Draughts, orCheckers, is sometimes claimed to be an older game than Chess: but it is much more probable that both are developments of some still older game, all trace of which is lost. In Egypt and Nubia there are illustrations of persons playing at draughts twenty centuries before the Christian era. During recent explorations in Egypt quite a variety of draughtmen have been found, some of which were used during the reign of Rameses III. The usual form seems to have been circular, about an inch in diameter, and surmounted by a round knob, something like a chess pawn, so that the men could be easily picked up. From the manner in which the men are shown mixed upon the board, it is evident that they could not move or take backwards, as in Polish draughts, but whether they advanced diagonally, as at the present day, there is no evidence to show. The Japanese game of draughts has lately been revived in England and America under the name of Go-Bang, but as it requires a special board of 324 squares, it has never been popular.
Backgammoncannot be traced to its origin. Several authorities have fallen into the error of ascribing the game to a certain country because the name is derived from a certain language, forgetting that in ancient times every country invented its own names for games. Chess is called Choke-choo-hong-ki in China, and Shogi in Japan; but that does not make it either a Chinese or a Japanese game. Either of these names might be used for Backgammon, as they have exactly the same meaning. The Welsh words, bach, and cammen; or the Saxon bac, and gamen, signify“a little battle;” while the Chinese and Japanese names for Chess signify “mimic warfare.”
The Welsh and Saxons undoubtedly got Backgammon from the Romans, who played it under the name of Scripta Duodecimo. They seemed to have got it from the Greeks, who are known to have used a table called Abacus, very much like a backgammon board in form, with lines drawn upon it, and the men were moved from one line to another according to the throws of the dice.
There is no trace of Backgammon among the games of the Egyptians or the Hebrews, although the chief factors in the game, the dice, have been known to all nations, and are probably the oldest gaming instruments in the world.
As to the respective merits of these table games, there is little to be said. Curiously enough they are played by entirely different classes of people. Backgammon has always been highly respectable, and seems likely to retain its position as the fashionable game. Draughts is peculiarly the game of the middle classes, popular at the workman’s dinner hour, in the sitting-rooms of cheap hotels, in country clubs, and in fire engine stations; the latter being a favourite training ground for our checker champions. Chess is probably the most universal game of all, and its general character is understood by almost every educated person in the world.
Chess is played upon a square board, divided into sixty-four smaller squares of equal size. These small squares are usually of different colours, alternately light and dark, and the board must be so placed that each player shall have a light square at his right, on the side nearer him.
Each player is provided with sixteen men, eight of which are calledpieces, and eightpawns. The men on one side are red or black, and those on the other side are white or yellow, and they are usually of a standard pattern, which is known as the Staunton model.
The eight pieces are:
These eight pieces are arranged on the side of the board nearer the player, and immediately in front of them stand the eight Pawns, ♟. Diagram No. 1 will show the proper arrangement of the men at the beginning of a game:—