|
Witnesses at the Last Darnall's Chance muster might recall the spectacle of several Royalist Officers and their ladies grouped around a tavern table, growling, hissing, laughing, and cursing each other. No, they were not fighting over who would pay the bar tab; they were playing cards.
Playing cards have been with us since at least the 14th century. Contrary to most popular concepts, playing cards originally inspired Tarot cards, and not the reverse. Originally, cards were made of pasteboard, among other things, while the rich could purchase, or have commissioned to be made, painted ivory playing card sets. One of the best, and probably oldest, two player card games is Piquet (pronounced PICK-ay). It has existed virtually unchanged for over four hundred years, and is skillful, and often narrowly fought game. Piquet is a scoring game, with the objective being building up hands of cards of the same suit, building up three- or four-of-a-kind, etc., to score points. The highest scoring player after six hands of Piquet wins. Piquet is played with a "piquet pack," belying the French influence involved. A piquet pack is a standard pack of cards with the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of each suit removed. The remaining cards rank as normal, from 7 to ace. The cards are cut to determine the dealer, with the low cut acting as dealer. The dealer deals out twelve cards to each player, and the remaining eight cards are fanned out facedown on the table between the two players. One fan contains five cards, the other three. At this stage the first opportunity for scoring takes place: a player who has been dealt no face cards may declare "carte blanche." which scores 10 points, but also reveals something of his hand; as a matter of strategy it is sometimes considered wise to decline "carte blanche." Note that ace cards do not "carte blanche." The non-dealing player now substitutes cards; he must substitute at least one card from his hand with one from the fan of five facedown cards on the table. He may substitute all five if desired (certain variants allow the player to examine the other cards in the fan, even it he doesn't take them - but this is considered quite un-English!). The dealer then substitutes cards in his turn; he must substitute at least one card, and may take up to three; or if the non-dealer has taken less than five he may substitute up to five cards. Any cards exchanged are discarded, and are kept close at hand for later referral. Any unclaimed cards in the fan may be turned up by the dealer, but need not be. The next stage for scoring is the declaration stage. The non-dealer begins this stage by declaring his longest suit, called his "point." For example, if he has five cards of the same suit he declares "point of five" - however, he does not declare which suit. If the dealer has no suit as long as, or longer than the non-dealer's he says, "Good," and the non-dealer scores 1 point for each card in his suit. If the dealer has a longer suit in his hand he says "No good," and scores the points for himself. If the suits are of equal length the dealer asks "Making?," and both players then count the face value of their suit, as follows: Aces = 11 pointsThe highest total scores the points (1 point per card in the suit), and if they are equal no one scores. The next stage is the sequence stage and follows along the same lines. The non-dealer declares his longest sequence, (i.e., 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack = a sequence). So for example, if the non-dealing player has a sequence of four cards, say 7, 8, 9, 10, he would declare "Sequence of four." Just as in the previous stage, the dealer would then respond "Good," if he has no sequence equal to or higher than the non-dealer, "No good," if he has a larger sequence, and "Making?," if is sequence is the same length as the non-dealer. If both players have equal sized sequences, the sequence headed with the highest card scores. So, a sequence of 9, 10, Jack, Queen, would beat one of 8, 9, 10, Jack. If the sequences are equal, no one scores. The player who scores for sequence may also score for any other sequence he holds, even if the opposing player beats this lesser sequence. So, in the above example, if the winning player (the one with 9, 10, Jack, Queen) had another sequence of three, with 7, 8, 9, he would score for that sequence as well, even though the other player's 8, 9, 10, Jack beats it. A player scores 3 points for sequence of three, 4 points for a sequence of four, but then 15 points for a sequence of five, 16 points for a sequence of six, and so on. At five and above simply score one point per card, and add 10 points. This is where a lot of points can be gained. The final scoring declaration is now for sets, of three- or four-of-a-kind. Again, the non-dealer declares his best set. Any four-of-a-kind from 10 and up may be declared as a set, as well as any three-of-a-kind from Jack and up. The dealer answers "Good," or "No good," since "Making?" is impossible here. The successful hand then also scores any subsidiary sets. Three-of-a-kind scores 3 points, but four-of-a-kind scores 14 points, and is declared, for example, "Queens for 14." The rounds of scoring are now complete, and the hands are actually played, with the non-dealer leading the first "trick." The dealer then first declares and scores for any declarations he may have, then follows to the first trick, following suit if possible. During play each player scores 1 point for each trick he leads to, and 1 point for each trick he takes that his opponent led to. The winner of the last trick scores 1 additional point. Finally, the player who won the most tricks scores 10 points for cards, or 40 Points for "capot" if he wins all of the tricks. A player who builds his score up to 30 before his opponent can score at all claims "Pique," and scores an additional 30 points. If a player scores up to 30 points before any card is led he scores "Repique" for 60 points. A game, or "partie," consists of six hands At the end of the sixth hand the winner scores the difference between the two scores, plus 100 points. However, if one player has scored less than 100 points overall, he is "rubiconed." In this case the winner adds the whole of his opponent's score to his won, plus the 100 points. There is a viable strategy, when being rubiconed is inevitable, that the doomed player refuse to score during the last deal, so that his opponent does not acquire the extra points. A final note on scoring: it is customary to keep score aloud during the play of the hand. For example, the non-dealer has scored for point of five, sequence of three, Kings for 14, and Jacks for three during the declaration, for a total of 25 points. As he leads the first trick (worth 1 point) he says "26," and his opponent, if he wins the trick, will say "One." As he leads the next trick he will say "Two," and so on. Piquet is a fascinating game that hearkens back to the true social importance of card playing. While the rules may seem a bit complicated, each phase or stage is quite simple, and to describe the game as "involved" is perhaps a better choice of words. See you at the deal! |
|
© Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 The English Civil War Society of America. All rights reserved.
|