ALL FOURS, SEVEN-UP, OR OLD SLEDGE.
CARDS. Seven-up is played with the full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.
COUNTERS. Each player or side should be provided with seven counters. As the points accrue, these counters are got rid of by placing them in a pool in the centre of the table. By this method a glance will show how many each side or player has “to go,” that is, how many will put him out.
PLAYERS. Two, three or four persons may play. When three play, the game resembles Cut-throat Euchre, each for himself. When four play, two are partners against the other two, and the partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer’s left, or his adversary if only two play, is always spoken of as the eldest or elder hand. The one on the dealer’s right is the pone.
CUTTING. If there are four players, they cut for partners, deal, and choice of seats. The two lowest are partners against the two highest; the highest cut has the choice of seats, and deals the first hand. When two or three play, they cut for seats and deal. In cutting, the ace is high. Ties cut again; but the new cut decides nothing but the tie.
STAKES. If there is any stake, it is for so much a game. Rubbers are never played.
DEALING. Each player has the right to shuffle the pack, the dealer last, and the cards are then presented to the pone to be cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three on the first round, and three more on the second round, turning up the next card for the trump, and leaving it on the remainder of the pack. If this card is a Jack, the dealer counts one point for it immediately; but if any player is found to have an incorrect number of cards, and announces it before he plays to the first trick, the Jack cannot be counted, as it could not have been the proper trump.
In Pitch, or Blind All Fours, no trump is turned. The first card led or “pitched” by the eldest hand is the trump suit for that deal.
MISDEALING. If any card is found faced in the pack, or the pack is proved to be imperfect, the same dealer deals again. If he deals without having the cards cut, or gives too many or too few cards to any player, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes to the next player on the misdealer’s left. If the dealer exposes a card, the adversaries may elect to have the deal stand, or to have a new deal by the same dealer. In Pitch, a misdeal does not lose the deal, because the deal is no advantage.
BEGGING. The deal completed, and the trump turned, the eldest hand looks at his cards, the other players leaving theirs untouched. If the eldest hand is not satisfied, he says: I beg; and the dealer, after examining his own hand, has the option of giving him a point or running the cards. If he decides to give the point, he says: Take it, and the eldest hand immediately scores one for the gift. If the dealer will not give, he lays the trump card aside, and deals three more cards to each player, including himself; turning up another trump. Should this be a Jack of another suit, the dealer scores a point for it at once. Should it be of the same suit as that first turned up, the Jack cannot be scored, as the dealer has declined to have that suit for the trump. When the same suit is turned up a second time, the card is laid aside; three more cards are given to each player, another trump is turned, and so on until a different suit comes up for the trump. If the pack is exhausted before another suit turns up, the cards must be bunched, and the same dealer deals again.
The dealer’s partner and the pone are not permitted to look at their cards until the eldest hand and the dealer have decided whether to stand or run the cards. Among strict players, if a person looks at his hand before the proper time, the adversaries score a point. The object of this rule is to prevent the possibility of any expression of satisfaction or disapproval of the turn-up trump.
No second beg is allowed, but when only two play, if either player is dissatisfied with the new trump he may propose to bunch the cards. If the proposition is agreed to, the cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer. If three play, the dealer must give a point to both adversaries if he refuses to run the cards, although only one begs. The dealer cannot give a player enough to put him out.
DISCARDING. When the cards have been run, the usual practice is to discard all superfluous cards, each player reducing his hand to six, with which he plays. In some clubs it is the rule to keep all the cards if only nine are in each hand, but to discard down to six if two or more rounds were dealt after turning the first trump.
OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The object in Seven-up is to secure certain points which count towards game. As its name implies, the game is won when a player has put up seven of his counters, each of which represents a point. There are six different ways of making these points, and it is possible for one player to make five of them in one deal; but he cannot by any possibility make seven. The following count one point each:
1st. Turning up the Jack of trumps.
2nd. Being given a point by the dealer.
3rd. Holding the Highest trump.
4th. Holding the Lowest trump.
5th. Winning a trick with the Jack of trumps in it.
6th. Making the majority of the pips that count for what is called Game.
Turning the Jack is entirely a matter of chance, and should not occur more than once in thirteen deals. If a Jack is turned every few deals, you may be sure that unfair methods are being used. Nothing is more common among advantage players than turning up Jacks every few deals.
Begging is resorted to by a player who holds no trumps, or such indifferent ones that it is very unlikely they will be either High or Low. If he has anything better, such as very high or low cards in other suits, such a hand is called, “a good hand to run to,” and the player begs, hoping the new trump will better fit his hand. If he has nothing better in other suits than in the turn-up, it will still be slightly in his favour to beg, unless he has trumps enough to give him some hopes of making the point for Game. It is a fatal error to beg on good cards, and gamblers have a saying that he who begs a point to-day, will beg a stake to-morrow.
High and Low count to the player to whom those cards are dealt, and there is no chance to alter the fortunes of the deal except by begging and running the cards. These two points may both be made by the same card, if it is the only trump in play; because High is counted for the best trump out during the deal, and Low for the lowest, no matter what the cards are.
Catching the Jack, or saving it, is one of the principal objects of the game, and as a rule a player holding the Jack should lose no opportunity to save such a valuable counting card. On the other hand, a player holding higher trumps will often have to use good judgment as to whether to lead them to catch the Jack, if it happens to be out; or to keep quiet until the last few tricks, when if the Jack is not out, such trumps may be useful to win cards that count for Game.
The Game is generally known as the gambler’s point, because it is the only point that must be played for in every hand, and its management requires more skill than all the others put together. The cards that count for Game are the four honours and the Ten of each suit. Every ace counts 4; every King 3; every Queen 2; every Jack 1; and every Ten 10. After the last card has been played, each player turns over the tricks he has won, and counts up the pip value of the court cards and Tens that he has won. Whoever has the highest number counts the point for Game. For instance: Two are playing. The elder hand has taken in an ace, two Kings and a Jack, which are collectively worth 11. The dealer has taken in a Queen and a Ten, which are worth 12; so the dealer marks the point for Game. If both players have the same number, or if there is no Game out, which rarely happens, the non-dealer scores Game. If three play, and Game is a tie between the two non-dealers, neither scores. The non-dealer is given the benefit of counting a tie for Game as an offset to the dealer’s advantage in turning Jacks. When no trump is turned, as in Pitch, no one can count Game if it is a tie.
METHOD OF PLAYING. The eldest hand begins by leading any card he pleases. If a trump is led, each player must follow suit if able. When a plain suit is led he need not follow suit if he prefers to trump; but if he does not trump, he must follow suit if he can. If he has none of the suit led he may either trump or discard. This rule is commonly expressed by saying that a player may follow suit or trump. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of the trick takes it in, and leads for the next one, and so on until all the cards have been played. The tricks themselves have no value except for the court cards and Tens they contain.
As High, Jack, and Game are always counted by the player holding those points at the end of the play, there can be no question about them: but serious disputes sometimes arise as to who played Low. The best method of avoiding this is for each player, as the game proceeds, to announce and claim the lowest trump which has so far appeared, and instead of giving it to the current trick, to leave it turned face up in front of him if it is of no counting value. For instance: Four are playing, and a round of trumps comes out, the six being the lowest. The player holding it announces: “Six for Low,” and keeps the card face up in front of him until some smaller trump appears. It often happens that a player holds a 7 or 8, and having no idea that it will be Low, takes no notice of it. At the end of the hand it is found that both the 7 and 8 are out, the 7 being Low, and the holders of those two cards get into an argument as to which card each of them held.
SCORING. The last card played, the various points for High, Low, Jack, (if in play), and the Game are claimed, and the player or side holding them puts a counter in the pool for each. The side first getting rid of its seven counters wins the game. If both sides make points enough to win the game on the same deal, High goes out first, then Low, then Jack, and then Game. As already noticed, one card may be both High and Low; the Jack may be High, Low, Jack; and it is even possible, if there is no other trump or counting card in play, for the Jack to be High, Low, Jack, and the Game.
In the variety known as All Fives, the score is kept on a cribbage board, and part of it is pegged as the hand progresses. A player winning a trick containing any of the following cards in the trump suit pegs them immediately:—For the trump ace, 4 points; for the King 3; for the Queen 2; for the Jack 1; for the Ten 10, and for the Five 5. After the hand is over, all these cards are counted over again in reckoning the point for Game, the Five of trumps counting 5. Sixty-one points is game.
IRREGULARITIES IN PLAY. The most serious error in Seven-up is the revoke. If a player does not follow suit when able, it is a revoke unless he trumps the trick. A player holding two small trumps and the Ten of a plain suit, may trump both the ace and King of that suit instead of giving up his Ten. But if on the third round the Queen is led, and he cannot trump it, he must play his Ten if he has no other card of the suit.
The only points affected by the revoke are Jack and Game. If the Jack is not in play, there is only one point that can be affected by the revoke, the score for Game; and the revoke penalty is one point, which the adversary may add to his own score, or deduct from the score of the revoking player. The adversary may also score the point for Game if he makes it; but it cannot be scored by the revoking player; who may mark only High or Low if he holds either or both of those points.
If the Jack is in play, two points may be affected by a revoke. The player in fault cannot score either Jack or Game, and the penalty for the revoke is two points; in addition to which the adversary of the revoking player may score either or both Jack and Game if he makes them.
The revoking player cannot win the game that hand, no matter what he scores, but must stop at six. A revoke is established as soon as the trick in which it occurs has been turned and quitted, or a card has been led or played to the next trick.
Exposed Cards. When four play, all exposed cards must be left on the table, and are liable to be called by the adversaries if they cannot be previously got rid of in the course of play. All cards led or played out of turn are exposed, and liable to be called. If two or more cards are played to a trick, the adversaries may select which shall remain; the other is exposed.
METHODS OF CHEATING. Few games lend themselves more readily to the operations of the greek than Seven-up. Turning Jacks from the bottom of the pack; setting up the half-stock for the beg; dealing oneself more than six cards, and dropping on the tricks already won those counting for Game; getting the A J 10 and 2 of a suit together during the play of a hand, and then shifting the cut to get them on the next deal, turning up the Jack; marked cards; strippers; wedges; reflectors; these and many other tricks are in common use. Those who are not expert enough to deal seconds or shift cuts will sometimes resort to such trifling advantages as abstracting one of the Tens from the pack, so that they may know a suit from which a small card can always be led without any danger of the adversary’s making the Ten. One very common swindle in Seven-up is known as the high hand, which consists in giving the intended victim the A K J 10 9 2 of trumps, and then inducing him to bet that he will make four points. No matter how skilful the player may be, he will find it impossible to save both Jack and Game.