The Penguin Book of Card Games: Everything You Need to Know to Play Over 250 Games (133 page)

four of a kind, or to notice when somebody else has done so.

Each player now takes one card from his hand and passes it face

down to the player at his left. Everyone does this together, not one

by one in turn.

Repeat this process until one player gets al four of a rank in his

hand. He then, as slyly and quietly as possible, lays his hand of

cards face down on the table and rests one finger wisely against his

nose. Anyone who notices him doing so also puts his cards down

and rubs his nose, even if he hasn’t got four of a kind. Eventual y,

everybody wil notice what’s going on and do the same thing. The

last player to do so is the donkey, or pig, or triceratops, or

whatever.

Don’t forget…

Play to the left (clockwise) unless otherwise stated.

Eldest or Forehand means the player to the left of the dealer

in left-handed games, to the right in right-handed games.

T = Ten, p = players, pp = in fixed partnerships, c = cards,

† = trump,

= Joker.

15 Fishing games

Given a number of cards face up on the table and a number of cards

in your hand, can you play a card from the hand that matches one

or more of those on the table? If so, you play it, take them, and add

them to your pile of winnings. If not, you’l have to add another

card to those on the table for the next player to ‘catch’.

This is the pat ern of games widely played in China under the

general title ‘Fishing’. They resemble trick-taking games to the

extent that the aim is to capture cards: it’s the method that dif ers.

Whereas trick-taking is the commonest form of card-capture in the

West, the reverse is the case in the East. Fishing games are also

widely played in the Middle East and round the shores of the

Mediterranean, being especial y popular in Turkey, Greece and

Italy. Only one of them, Cassino, has regularly formed part of the

western repertoire, though it is by no means the easiest to learn or

the most exciting to play. The fact that it is often presented as an

arithmetical y ‘educational’ game for children can’t have done much

for its image. A bet er starting-point is the Italian national game of

Scopa, for two, or its partnership equivalent, Scopone. Once you get

the hang of this family, you’l find more elaborate variations to

enjoy.

Cassino

2-4 players, 52 cards

There are two kinds, sorts, descriptions, species, manners, classes, natures and qualities of Casino. As you love me, child, avoid that which contains but a single S.

G. A. Sala, Lady Chesterfield’s Letters to her Daughter (1860)

Cassino is the only member of the Scopa family to have penetrated

the English-speaking world, and that in America rather than Britain,

possibly brought thither by Italian immigrants in the nineteenth

century. There it seems to have been heavily elaborated by the

addition of single and multiple ‘builds’, a feature absent from its

first recorded description in Piggot ’s Hoyle of 1797, where it more

resembles Scopa in relative simplicity. Though spelt in English with

a double ‘s’ from the outset, it has recently become fashionable to

favour the spel ing Casino, for no particularly useful or sensible

reason.

PreliminariesUp to four can play, but the game works best for two.

From a 52-card pack deal two to each opponent, two to the table,

two to the dealer, then the same again so everyone has four. Turn

the four table cards face up in a row. Place the rest of the pack to

one side. When everyone has had four turns and run out of cards,

deal another four each in batches of two, and so on throughout the

game. No more cards are dealt to the table, however, at any time.

ObjectTo capture cards, especial y spades, Aces, Big Cassino ( T)

and Lit le Cassino ( 2). Each player’s captured and capturing cards

are stored face down in a pile on the table in front of him.

PlayEach in turn, starting with eldest, plays a card to the table to do

one of the fol owing:

1. Capture one or more table cards by pairing. For example, an

Ace captures one or more Aces, a Jack one or more Jacks, and

so on.

2. Capture one or more table cards by summing. For example, a

Ten captures two or more cards total ing ten, a Nine two or

more cards total ing nine, and so on. Court cards have no

more cards total ing nine, and so on. Court cards have no

numerical value and are therefore never involved in summing.

3. Build a combination that the player can capture on a

subsequent turn (provided no one else captures it first). For

example, with two Sixes in hand and two on the table, play a

Six to the table, put al three Sixes together, announce

‘Building sixes’, and capture them with the fourth Six on the

next turn. Or: with 2-3 on the table and 4-9 in hand, build the

Four to the 2-3, announce ‘Building nine’, and capture al

these with the Nine on the next turn. Note that a build can be

captured only as a whole: none of its component cards can be

captured individual y. An existing build can be extended, but

in a non-partnership game it is not permissible to make a

build for which one does not hold an appropriate capturing

card. A build maybe captured by another player, whether an

opponent or a partner. In the partnership game, you may

increase builds made by your partner without yourself holding

a capturing card, provided that it is evident from his

announcement that he can capture on the next turn. (Example:

He plays a Four to a Three and announces ‘Building seven’.

You may play a Seven and announce ‘Building sevens’, even if

you do not hold another Seven yourself.)

A possible source of confusion in building cards must be avoided

by clearly announcing the total. For example, a player may add a

Three from his hand to a Three on the table. If he announces

‘Building threes’, the two cards may be captured only with a Three

(by multiple pairing). But if he announces ‘Building six’, the build

may be captured only by a Six. Furthermore, the build of six could

be increased by the addition of another card to make a higher

build, but the build of Threes could be increased only by the

addition of another Three.

A card played from hand may make as many captures as

possible, whether by pairing or summing. Capturing al the cards

on the table is cal ed a sweep. This is a scoring feature and is

indicated by leaving the capturing card face up in the winnings

pile.

pile.

A player who neither captures nor builds must simply trail a card

by playing it face up to the table and leaving it there as an

additional table card – though, if it can capture a card, it must.

When one player makes a sweep, the next in turn has no option but

to trail.

Ending and scoringWhen al cards have been played from hand and

none remain in stock, the player who made the last capture adds to

his won cards al the untaken table cards, but this does not count as

a sweep unless it is one by definition.

Players then sort through their won cards and score 1 point for

each sweep, Ace and Lit le Cassino ( 2), and 2 points for Big

Cassino ( T). For taking most spades add 1 point, and for taking

most cards 3 points. The 3 for cards is not counted in the event of a

tie. The game ends at the end of the deal on which a player or side

reaches a previously agreed target score, typical y 11 or 21.

GameThere are several dif erent ways of scoring for game. (a) Each

deal is a complete game and the higher score wins. (b) The first

player or side to reach 11 points wins a single game, doubled if

done in two deals, or quadrupled if in one deal, the loser’s score

being subtracted to determine the margin of victory. If both exceed

10, the higher score wins, but if tied there is no pay-of . (c) Game is

21 up. If tied, the winner is the side with the majority of cards, or,

if stil tied, of spades.

VariantsWhen two play, sweeps may be ignored.

Some players al ow a court card to capture only one card or three

by pairing, but not two, as the consequent invulnerability of the

fourth prevents any sweeps from being made. (Which may not

mat er if sweeps are not counted anyway.)

It may be agreed that play ends the moment someone makes a

capture that brings his score to the target.