Patience (card game)

“ As the possessor of the old maid card is, at the end, the loser of the game, each one who gets it does all in her power to induce the next player to take it. As the cards get fewer and fewer the excitement grows and grows. ”

“ PERNICIOUS NATURE OF CARD PLAYING. Card playing is a game of chance, and because it is a game of chance it has its tricks. It encourages tricks; its devotees measure their success at the table by their ability through devious and dark ways to win. It creates a spirit of cunning and devises hidden and secret means, and cheating at cards is almost synonymous with playing at cards. ”

“ Never play for higher stakes than you can afford to lose without regret. Cards should be resorted to for amusement only; for excitement, never.
No well-bred person ever loses temper at the card-table. You have no right to sit down to the game unless you can bear a long run of ill-luck with perfect composure, and are prepared cheerfully to pass over any blunders that your partner may chance to make.
If you are an indifferent player, make a point of saying so before you join a party at whist. ”

“ Women, wine, fame, the table, — even ambition, sate now and then; but every turn of the card and cast of the dice keeps the gamester alive: besides, one can game ten times longer than one can do any thing else. I was very fond of it when young, that is to say, of hazard, for I hate all card games, — even faro. ”

“ Smart play it is, sometimes seventy, ay, a hundred Naps, on a game; and such players too!—fellows that sit for ten minutes with a card on their knee, studying your face, watching every line and lineament of your features, and reading you, by Jove,—reading you like a book. All the false air of ease and indifference, all the brag assurance you may get up to conceal a "bad hand," isn't worth sixpence. They laugh at your puerile efforts, and tell you "you are voled" before you've played a card. ”

“ Skill in the game consists in remembering the line following the one read and rapidly finding the card on which it is written. Especially must each one watch his own and pick it up before it is seized by another. If an opponent is nimble he snatches the card from the careless player, giving several from his own hand, and the one who is first able to match and discard all of his cards wins the game. The players usually range themselves on opposite lines and play against each other. ”

“ Now I propose that this be a game of pure luck. We get a new pack of cards, shuffle them, cut, then you pull one card and I another. Ace high. The highest takes the pot. Best two out of three. Do you agree? ”

“ The second card follows the first instantly, and all thus are kept busy with hand and tongue without a moment's delay or rest, as the name of each card follows its predecessor at once, and the confusion that is made causes shouts of laughter as the game goes merrily on, until the company feel well acquainted, and are ready to join with spirit in some harder game. ”

“ A player needs to be always on the alert; without casting any sly glances at the cards held in the hands of the others, he may, by his own observation and diligence, know exactly the strength or weakness of each player.
"My son," once said a keen, shrewd business man, "don't attempt to play cards unless you have four eyes;" and certainly the player who cannot with his mind's eye see what cards the other players have, as well as those in his own hand, will never be much more than an indifferent player.
No silly trifling conversation should be carried on during the game. ”

“ After a hand has been played, it may be discussed to the common benefit; but the bore who is continually blowing up his partner to show his superior knowledge, together with the player who interrupts the game to discuss the play, should be ostracised from the card-room. Superiority of skill is shown by the play of the cards, not by mannerisms.
It is often difficult to refrain from showing pleasure at the accomplishment of a desired purpose, but undue elation is most aggravating to the adversaries. ”

“ When there are more than four players, five cards instead of six must be given to each by the dealer, the flushes and sequences being, of course, smaller in comparison. Before attempting to play, a thorough knowledge of the rules must be acquired, and also great care and prudence must be exercised throughout the whole game, in order to ensure success. ”

“ As soon as one player has lost all his or her cards, the game stops and everybody glances through his or her pack to see who possesses the wish card, the nine of hearts. The lucky individual is then given the slip of paper on which his wish is written and must read it out loud. ”

“ Attend to the game, and play as though your hand consisted of twenty-six instead of thirteen cards. In the second round of a suit, win the trick when you can, and lead out for your partner's high cards as soon as possible. Touch only the card you intend to play. Retain a high trump as long as you can, to bring back your strong suit. With a weak hand, always try to secure the seventh or odd trick to save the game. Attend to the score, and play as if the whole fortune of the game depended on yourself. ”

“ Card-playing has a tendency of the most dangerous description, especially to the youthful. Let a young man become expert in this game, and fond of engaging in it, and who does not see he is liable to become that most mean and despicable of all living creatures—a GAMBLER. Confident of his own skill as a card-player, how long would he hesitate to engage in a game for a small sum? He has seen older ones playing—perhaps his own parents—and he can discover no great harm in doing the same thing even if it is for a stake of a few shillings. ”

“ Thus, a gambler by temperament, he never touched a card, feeling, as he himself said, that his position did not allow him to "risk the necessary in view of the superfluous." Yet he would pass entire nights before a card-table, watching with feverish anxiety the rapid changes of the game. The anecdote of Count St. Germain's three cards had struck his imagination, and he did nothing but think of it all that night.
"If," he said to himself next day as he was walking along the streets of St. Petersburg, "if she would only tell me her secret—if she would only name the three winning cards! ”

“ When you advise the beginner to throw away a high card instead of a two spot, the situation appears to him hopeless; he fails to realise that at times high cards have little value, and, to obtain the lead, honours and even smaller cards must be properly protected.
When opposed to the dealer, it should be your aim both to protect your hand and to give your partner information. As the eldest hand, your opening lead indicates strength or weakness ”

“ Whichever succeeds in saying it first takes, not only the snap card of the other player, but all the cards he has already turned up, and also those he has himself turned up. The cards he wins must be placed at the bottom of his own pack.
The one who succeeds in winning all the cards wins the game. It is necessary to be very attentive and very quick if you want to be successful at this game. ”

“ Sometimes after hard practice I can succeed in not hating anything for as much as an hour."
I dealt eight more cards and became, to outward seeming, I hope, absorbed in the new aspect of the game.
"Perseverance will be rewarded," she said kindly. "You can't expect to learn it all at once."
"You might try not to make it harder for me."
Again had I been a third person of fair discernment, I believe I should have sworn that I caught in her eyes a gleam of hardened, relentless determination; but she only pointed to a four of hearts which I was neglecting to play up.
"Why not play the game to win?" ”

“ And in such a game as whist en deux in which all the cards are dealt, and each player knows exactly the strength of his opponent, the whole thing depends on calculation, and consequently is not so attractive. It would be a game of chess with cards but for its inferiority in variety and combination.”400 Lazarus goes on to say why chance is indispensable in card games—namely, because, as there is no such thing as space combination, the monotony would be wearisome, and continued playing well-nigh impossible. ”

“ This game is easy and interesting when used as a solitaire, but when two or more players are pitted against each other and bent on preventing the score of the opponent, it will be seen that there is a great deal of “play,” for there are so many cards left in the Widow that the game is uncertain until its finish, as a card that is most desirable may never turn up, and, therefore, there is much chance as well as skill in the baby prodigy. ”

“ Shuffle well those cards and deal them more carefully, one by one.
Val. Again, I increase the stakes.
Tam. Didn’t I predict that I shouldn’t have such a chance in my hands again to-day? I am always most unfortunate. Why do I so much as even look at a game?
Cast. This, indeed, is not playing. It is afflicting ourselves. Is it recreating ourselves and refreshing our minds, to get worried like this? Play ought to be play, not torment.
Manr. Be a little patient; don’t throw your cards away. You are getting into a panic! ”

“ To be able to use proper judgment in ridding yourself of cards that you fear may block your partner’s suit, you should thoroughly understand the leads, and above all things, you should have perfect confidence that your partner has made the correct one. Remember that a high card led against a “no-trump” declaration indicates great strength or great length, and that you can rarely lose more than one trick by throwing your own high card on the one led by your partner; whereas a failure to unblock will often occasion the loss of several cards in your partner’s hand. ”

“ I'd rather take the chance of guessing what all of his five cards are than to engage in the perspiring business of trying to figure out the horrible possible value of the one blind card, especially if the four cards he has exposed are capable of being amplified into a hand of the topper kind by the addition of that bit of pasteboard in the pit. I can't get away from the impression that it's like putting all of your money in one bet to play stud. Now, there's a good deal to the game of draw besides mere bluffing. ”

“ Speaking of card players, observe the gaze of anguish on the outpost. He dashes ahead, grabs two facing seats and sits in one with a face contorted with anxiety for fear that the others will be too late to join him. As soon as a card game is started there are always a half dozen other men who watch it, following every play with painful scrutiny. It seems that watching other people play cards is the most absorbing amusement known to the commuter. ”

“ Thus the game goes on until one of the players is left without cards, who retires as out. The rest of the players proceed in the same way until another is out, then another, and so on, until at last two players only are left to end the struggle. ”

“ No matter how often the game is played (provided the cards are re-shuffled) the unexpected always happens, and it is usually so absurd as to be quite too much for a room all ready for laughter. The number of blanks in the story should be equal to the number of cards, and in order that the story may run on smoothly it is well for the next player always to glance at his top card just before his turn, so as to bring it out readily and naturally. The following story, which makes provision for nearly fifty cards, should be found serviceable until a better and more personal one is written. ”

“ I exclaimed, pointing with a trembling but triumphant finger at the cards. "You see! I am beaten now, in this game that seemed easy up to the very last moment. What could I hope for in a game where the cards fell wretchedly from the very start? If I hoped now, I'd be a hopeless fool, indeed!"
"'THAT WILL DO,' I SAID SEVERELY. 'REMEMBER THERE IS A GENTLEMAN PRESENT.'"
"Are you sure you know how to play this game?" ”

“ In dealing, you may not play a card from any row until that row is complete. After dealing each row, pause and examine the tableau, playing and marrying all suitable cards, and refilling vacancies, both in the rivers and helps, with cards from the pack. In filling up vacancies in the rivers, those in the uppermost rows must first be refilled.
After the entire pack is exhausted, the skill of the player will be required. The four packets of help cards may now be increased to eight. ”

“ It is only where the stakes are small that the leisurely players, idly fingering the fallen cards, return in fancy to certain points—to this trick trumped or that chance missed, playing the game over again. But when the result is great it overshadows the game, and all men's thoughts fly to speculation on the future. How will the loser meet his loss? ”

“ While a simple game of cards in itself may be harmless, it is a fact that by immoderate repetition it ends in an infatuation for chance schemes, in habits of excess, in waste of precious time, in dulling and stupor of the mind, and in the complete destruction of religious feeling. These are serious results, evils that should and must be avoided by the Latter-day Saints. Then again, there is the grave danger that lurks in persistent card playing, which begets the spirit of gambling, of speculation and that awakens the dangerous desire to get something for nothing.—Improvement Era, Vol. ”

“ If the bold player wins, and we think the chances are in his favour, the quieter ones, no matter how safe their own declarations may be, must necessarily lose, and vice versâ so that we have, not only the numberless possible combinations of the cards to consider, but also the temperament and position of those engaged in each game. ”