Playing card

“ It is a good trick to spring upon a company casually if you have practiced it beforehand. A playing card is balanced on the tip of the forefinger and a penny placed on top immediately over the finger end, as shown in the sketch. With the right hand forefinger and thumb strike the edge of the card sharply. If done properly the card will flyaway, leaving the penny poised on the finger end. ”

“ The dealer's left-hand player begins by playing any card he likes, choosing one, if possible, that is one of a sequence, so that he may have the opportunity of ridding himself of, perhaps, several cards at once. Any other player having the next higher card in sequence plays it, then another, until either a king, a seven of diamonds, or some other stop card is played. ”

“ Any person playing with less than four cards must abide by the loss, and should a card be found under the table, the player whose number is deficient is to take the same.
Each person plays one card at a time, with which he may not only take, at once, every card of the same denomination on the table, but likewise all that will combine therewith; as, for instance, a ten takes not only every ten, but also nine and ace, eight and deuce, seven and three, six and four, or two fives; and if he clear the board before the conclusion of the game, he scores a point. ”

“ When the talon is exhausted, the combinations that have been made are taken into the owner's hand, and the last eight cards belonging to both players are disposed of the same way as in Whist, the second player following suit, and heading the trick, if he can possibly do so, either by trumping or playing a higher card. ”

“ Always choose, in preference, cards from the herring-bone or bars, as on the removal of the herring-bone the success of the game mainly depends, and if a bar is removed, the available card on the herring-bone replaces it, thus releasing the next. (Rules II and III.)
Having played and refilled all spaces, proceed to deal out the entire pack, playing all suitable cards, and refilling spaces; the unsuitable cards forming the talon. In forming the foundations, one card at a time may be exchanged from the ascending to the descending sequence, and vice versâ. ”

“ If the third hand play before the second, the fourth has a right to play before his partner; or if the fourth hand play before the second or third, the cards so played must stand, and the second be compelled to win the trick if he can. If a player lead out of his turn, or otherwise expose a card, that card may be called, if the playing of it does not cause a revoke.
[Calling a card is the insisting of its being played when the suit comes round, or when it may be played.] If a player trump by mistake, he may recall his card, and play to the suit, if the card be not covered ”

“ One card is enough, as you are really playing six cards to everyone else's five. This card will make a 'straight' of a 'flush' sometimes; or, very often, will give you 'two pair' or 'three' of a kind. If you are very expert, you can play the machine on your own deal ”

“ It is not our purpose to historically trace the evolution of cards—this is a subject beyond the reach of the present article—but a look farther afield will give us evidence that during the last three centuries there has been a constant adaptation of cards to purposes which take them beyond their intention as the instruments for card playing only. ”

“ THE origin of Playing-cards and their inventor is still a subject of speculation, and will probably remain forever undiscovered. Almost every country in Europe has through her scholars laid claim to having been the first to use cards ”

“ The mediæval games were gradually superseded by a new contrivance, that of playing-cards, which were introduced into Western Europe in the course of the fourteenth century. It has been suggested that the idea of playing-cards was taken from chess—in fact, that they are the game of chess transferred to paper, and without a board, and they are generally understood to have been derived from the East. Cards, while they possessed some of the characteristics of chess, presented the same mixture of chance and skill which distinguished the game of tables. ”

“ In Germany, hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns were generally adopted; in Spain, swords, cups, batons, and coins prevailed as devices for cards.
Various materials have been adopted in the production of playing cards. At South Kensington Museum, besides cards printed from etched steel and copper-plates, wood blocks, and by lithography, we find a pack of silk embroidered cards. A pack of white metal engraved cards were shown at this institution, if we remember rightly, some year or so ago. ”

“ Most of the playing cards of Persia are also round, and are similarly decorated by the same means. About a dozen years ago round playing cards were patented in America as a novelty, in ignorance of the fact that cards of that shape had probably been in common use in the East, centuries before the discovery of that great and inventive country! ”

“ But to how many of those to whom playing cards as a means of recreation are familiar is it known what may be found on the cards? Yet upon these "bits of painted cardboard" there has been expended a greater amount of ingenuity and of artistic effort than is to be found in any other form of popular amusement. ”

“ The pack of thirty-two selected cards, as in the foregoing method, is taken, shuffled and cut; then the four aces are taken out, the significator, or the person for whom the dealer is acting, and anything he wants to know about—such as money, then the ten of diamonds would be selected; if about a man, any king; if about a woman, any queen; if about business, the ten of clubs. These are shuffled after having been withdrawn, without cutting, and the nine of spades, which is the disappointment card, is also added to the aces, etc., in all seven cards, laying them face downwards on the table. ”

“ Performer lifts flower-pot, with fingers inside pressing against pocket, and shows it apparently empty. “And here, in the other flower-pot” (lifts it and shows the four cards lying together on table) “are all four Kings. One more score to black. You didn’t see the cards go? Of course you didn’t; because they fly horizontally, like the aeroplanes, and they go so fast that they get there almost before they have started.”
SYMPATHETIC CARDS
Preparation. Card mat loaded with two cards of different denomination, say the queen of clubs and the knave of diamonds, taken from the pack. ”

“ The cards must be arranged in sets, as soon as they have been picked up off the table. If a player has only two cards of one set, he must hand an isolated card to the player on his right, who takes it, if it is of any service to him, and, in his turn, hands one of the cards in his hand to his neighbour on the right. ”

“ Despite what many wise card players maintain, a deck can be stacked in the shuffle—if there are not more than three, or at the most four, players; but in a half-dozen riffles of the cards I can put a good hand at the bottom and deal it at will though the eyes of twenty men are on me. ”

“ but this need for excitement of the will manifests itself very specially in the discovery and support of card-playing, which is quite peculiarly the expression of the miserable side of humanity. ”

“ Spread the cards a little, and fling them into the air, clutching at them with the right hand as they descend, and at the same moment bring the chosen card to the tips of the fingers. The effect to the spectators will be as if you actually caught it among the falling cards.
This feat also may be performed without the aid of a long card, and without the necessity of forcing a card. In this case, as in the pocket-picking trick, you make the pass as soon as the card is returned to the pack, in order to bring it to the top, and palm it; then offer the pack to be shuffled. ”

“ Second Method.—Proceed as above, but instead of opening the pack to get sight of the card, bring it secretly to the bottom by the pass, and offer the cards to be shuffled, holding them at the upper end between the thumb and first and second finger of the right hand, and slanting from you at an angle of 45°, as in Fig. 15. As the faces are towards you, you have a full view of the card. Even if it should suggest itself to the audience that you are able to see the bottom card, as they are not aware that the chosen card is now in that position, there is nothing to excite their suspicion. ”

“ Especially does the player watch his own cards, and if he finds there the end of the poem, the beginning of which has just been read, he must pick it up before any one sees it and lay it aside. If some one else spies the card first, he seizes it and gives to the careless player several cards from his own hand. ”

“ There are fifty cards in the pack, composed of five different suits; namely, Faces, Flags, Eagles, Stars, and Shields, “the honour cards being called the upper ten.”
The directions for dealing, cutting, etc. are given, and are exactly the same as those in common use among all card-players, be they bent on gambling or only on innocent amusement.
The publisher goes on to state that “many things will serve for counters, as kernels of corn, or coffee, or old cards cut up. For those who prefer something better the publisher of these cards has provided an ample supply at a small expense.” ”

“ When the second card is laid down, the player calls out the sum of the pips on the two cards played, and so on until all the cards are played, or until neither player can play without passing the number thirty-one. If one player has a card or cards that will come in and the other has not, he is at liberty to play them; at the six-card game he must play as long as they can come in, and he can score runs or make pairs, &c., with them. If one player’s cards are exhausted, the adversary plays out his own, and can score with them. ”

“ As the number of cards in the three hands is twenty-one and six are open on the table, the undealt cards also number twenty-one; and as every player matches or throws down a card in his hand and opens one of the pile, the last card of the last player is played when the last of the pile is turned up. ”

“ Each plays, and, after one card all round is played, its place is supplied by a new deal of one card to each. Every card of the trump-suit takes any card of the other suits. Each player takes as many counting-cards as he can, and, at the end of the game, he who counts the most wins,—the account being made according to the value of the cards, as stated above. ”

“ The bet is, that, although you saw the cards, you cannot tell which is which as they lie back upwards. The rapidity with which the cards are moved renders certainty in naming the right card an impossibility. The gaming begins sometimes by the entrance of the man called the player, who has pocket-knives to sell, and offers them to the company. If nobody will purchase a knife, he offers to raffle one by the cards. If the kid and his flat decline to play, some other members of the company accept the challenge. ”

“ The above delusive offer to show “how it’s done” can be equally well adapted to many other tricks, and never fails to create amusement.
A Card having been thought of, to make such Card Vanish from the Pack, and be Discovered wherever the Performer pleases.—This trick should be performed with twenty-seven cards only. You deal the cards, face upwards, in three packs, requesting one of the company to note a card, and to remember in which heap it is. ”

“ Thus, by using a card which, unknown to the audience, has two faces—e.g., is an ace of hearts on the one side, and an ace of spades on the other—and placing such card in one side of the open box, you have only to close the box with that side uppermost, or to turn over the box as you place it on the table, to transform the card just shown into a different one. ”

“ The cards are shuffled and dealt round, four each, and the game is for each player to complete a set of four. You do not, as in [Pg 80] "Old Maid," select one from the cards that are offered, face downward, but each player hands whatever card he likes to the next player, who is bound to accept it. Directly a player has a set of four complete he lays the cards on the table, either very stealthily or with a bang, whichever he likes. ”

“ The player looks at the ten face cards and throws out any aces. Then he builds up suits, as far as he can, by resting a card of opposite color, and of one degree lower in value, on some other card. Thus, a red goes on a black, a black on a red, a queen on a king, a two on a three, and so on. When the shifting of cards causes a file to have no face card in it, then the uppermost non-face card may be turned over, ready for being used. ”

“ Two players then take in their hands the two packs of cards, which must be shuffled, and each one cut by the left-hand neighbour. One of them then deals a card, face downwards, to each player, and these are called the lots. On each lot the players all place as many counters as they like, after which a card to every one is given from the other pack, and these second cards are called tickets. ”

“ Holding ace, ten, and a small one, your partner leading the nine of the suit, pass it; for if he holds an honour you make two tricks, counting your ace for a certain trick.
With king, queen, or queen and knave, and another play one of the high cards in all cases when you are second hand. With an average remainder of trumps and good cards, having one certain loser, throw it away at your first opportunity; it may enable your partner to make his second best of the suit. When your partner does not trump a winning card you may be quite sure that he means you to play trumps. ”