The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (61 page)

sandwich’. Take your pick.

Four players sit ing crosswise in partnerships (and il -fit ing

trousers) are dealt twelve cards each in fours from a 48-card pack

ranking 9AKQJ8765432 in each suit. Each Nine (manil a) counts 5

points, A-K-Q-J count 4-3-2-1 respectively. An additional 1 point

per trick makes 72 points in al , and the declaring side must take at

least 37 to win. Play to the right.

The dealer may announce trumps, declare butifarra (no trumps),

or delegate this choice to his partner, who must then exercise it.

Either opponent may double, and either declarer may then

redouble. Eldest leads, and tricks are played as at Manil e. The

winning side scores whatever it makes, doubled if played at no

trump, and in any case doubled or quadrupled if doubled or

redoubled.

Spanish Solo

3 players, 36 cards

A variety of Manil e with bidding, once popular throughout Spain

and Latin America.

Preliminaries Three players use a 36-card pack, typical y consisting

of AKQJ76543 in each suit. The game is played for hard score

(coins or counters). The Spanish suits of i clubs, t swords, u cups, O

coins, are equivalent to the French ones of , respectively.

Deal The turn to deal and play passes to the right. It is customary to

shuf le at the start of a game, but not between deals. Each player

antes one chip to the pool. Deal twelve cards each in fours.

Rank and value The top cards in each suit rank and count as

fol ows:

Seven 5

Ace

4

King 3

Queen 2

Jack 1

The Seven is cal ed mal il a. The card-point total is 60, but each

trick also counts 1 point, bringing the total available to 72.

Bidding Each in turn, starting with eldest, must pass or make a

higher bid than any gone before. A player who passes adds a chip

to a pool, and is then out of the auction. The bids are:

Juego (solo). To take at least 37 points in cards and tricks, or

36 if bid by eldest. Scores 2, or 4 in diamonds.

Bola (slam). To win every trick, after first naming a wanted

card and receiving it from its holder in return for any

unwanted card. Scores 8, or 12 in diamonds.

Solo, or Bola sin pedir (no-cal slam). To win every trick

without first cal ing a wanted card. Scores 16, or 20 in

diamonds.

The highest bidder becomes the soloist and announces trumps.

No suit is named while bidding unless the proposed trump is

diamonds, as this always beats the same bid in a dif erent suit.

If al pass, the dealer names trumps, al play for themselves, and

whoever takes most points wins.

Play Eldest leads to the first trick. Players must fol ow suit if

possible, otherwise may play any card. The trick is taken by the

highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are

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

Pay-of The soloist receives the appropriate amount from each

opponentif successful, otherwisehe pays that amount to each

opponent.

Comment Sources do not state what happens to the pool. Probably

it goes to the soloist if successful, who doubles it if not. Nor do they

state the pay-of for the case when al pass and al play alone. It

would be reasonable for whoever takes fewest points to pay 2 to

whoever takes most.

Nor do they adequately detail two optional misère bids. In bola

pobre, the soloist aims to lose every trick after first cal ing a wanted

card in exchange for an unwanted one. Bola pobre sin pedir is the

same, but without cal ing a card. It is unstated where these fit into

the bidding hierarchy, whether they are played with or without

trumps, and how they are valued.

Fifteens (Fünfzehnern)

4 players (or 3), 32 cards

This old German game belongs here by virtue of its 5-4-3-2-1 card-

point system.

Preliminaries Four players each receive eight cards dealt singly

from a 32-card pack ranking AKQJT987. Three may play by

omit ing a suit and playing with 24 cards. Aces count 5 each, Kings

4, Queens 3, Jacks 2, Tens 1, making a total of 15 per suit and 60

in al .

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

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

may play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit

led, and the winner of each trick leads to the next. There are no

trumps. Each player counts the total value of the cards he has won

in tricks, and either pays 1 chip to the pot for each point by which

he fel short of 15, or wins 1 for each point by which he exceeded

that number. An optional rule is that if two players win al the

tricks between them, they divide the pot equal y.

In case this sounds too simple to be true, here’s the inevitable

complication.

Inevitable complication Upon winning the lead, you must not only

continue leading the suit in which you just won the trick (if

possible), but you must also, if possible, start by leading any

winners you may hold in that suit. Only if void of that suit may you

lead from another. The second player to win the lead must also, if

possible, lead his winners of the suit by which he came in. When he

has none of these, he must, if possible, return to the suit of the first

player who won tricks. The same applies again, in that no player

may break into a new suit until he has led from the suit by which

he gained entry, or the previously played suit or suits.

Forced play A King and Queen of the same suit in one hand is a

‘force’ (Zwang). A player holding a force in a suit of which the Ace

has yet to be played may announce ‘force’ upon leading the Queen.

This forces the Ace-holder to play it and win the trick, leaving the

King high. Unless the leader declares ‘force’, the Ace-holder is free

to underplay in hope of winning the King later.

Forty for Kings (Quarante de Roi,

Vierzig vom König)

4 players (or 3), 32 cards

An eighteenth-century game of some interest.

Preliminaries Four players sit ing crosswise in partnerships receive

eight cards each in batches of 3-2-3 from a 32-card pack ranking

KQJAT987. Dealer exposes his last card to establish trumps. Play to

the right.

Cliques Each in turn announces and scores for any cliques he may

hold. A clique is three or four court cards of the same kind. The

scores for four or three of each court, and its individual score when

captured in a trick, are:

four three each

Kings 40 10 5

Queens 20 8

4

Jacks 13 6

3

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

may play any card. (Variant: Some sources say they need not fol ow

suit but may play any card they like.) The trick is taken by the

highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are

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

Score Each partnership scores for al the courts they have captured

and adds these to their score for cliques. Game is 150 points.

Comment Anton (1889) mentions scores of 50, 60, 70 and 80 for

‘valid cliques of five or more’. Presumably these are sequences of

five to eight cards in the same suit.