BÉZIQUE, OR SIXTY-FOUR-CARD BINOCLE.
There are two forms of Bézique in common use; the ordinary game, which will be first described, and the variation known as Rubicon Bézique, which is to Bézique proper what Railroad Euchre is to Euchre.
CARDS. Bézique is played with two packs of thirty-two cards each, all below the Seven being deleted, and the two packs being then shuffled together and used as one. It is better to have both packs of the same colour and pattern, but it is not absolutely necessary. The cards rank, A 10 K Q J 9 8 7; the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.
Pull-Up Bézique Marker.
COUNTERS. Special markers are made for scoring at Bézique; but the score may easily be kept by means of counters. Each player should be provided with four white, four blue, and one red, together with some special marker, such as a copper cent or a button. The button stands for 500 points, each blue counter for 100, the red for 50, and the white ones for 10 each. At the beginning of the game the counters are placed on the left of the player, and are passed from left to right as the points accrue, exchanging smaller denominations for higher when necessary. Many persons find it more convenient to peg the game on a pull-up cribbage board, starting at 21, counting each peg as 10 points, and going twice round to the game hole.
STAKES. Bézique is played for so much a game, 1,000 points up; or for so much a point, the score of the loser being deducted from that of the winner. When a partie of five games is agreed upon, it is usual to have an extra stake upon the odd game, and when three games have been won by the same player, the partie is at an end. It is usual to count it a double game if the loser has not reached 500 points.
PLAYERS. Bézique is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. They cut for choice of seats and deal, the player cutting the highest card having the first choice, and electing whether or not to deal himself. In cutting, the cards rank as in play, and the ace is the highest. If a player exposes more than one card, he must cut again.
DEALING. The cards are thoroughly shuffled, and presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The cards are then dealt three at a time for the first round, two for the next, and three for the last, each player receiving eight cards. The seventeenth is then turned up for the trump. If this card is a Seven, the dealer scores 10 points for it at once. The trump card is laid on the table by itself, the remainder of the pack, which is called the stock or talon, is slightly spread, to facilitate the process of drawing cards from it, and to be sure that none of the cards remaining in the undealt portion are exposed. In sixty-four-card Binocle twelve cards are sometimes dealt to each player.
Misdealing. A misdeal does not lose the deal, but in some cases a new deal is at the option of the adversary. If the dealer exposes a card belonging to the adversary or to the stock, the pone may demand a new deal; but if either player exposes any of his own cards, the deal stands good. If too many cards are given to either player, there must be a new deal. If too few, the pone may claim a fresh deal, or allow the dealer to supply the missing cards from the top of the stock, without changing the trump card. If any card but the trump is found faced in the pack, there must be a new deal. If a card faced in the stock is not discovered until the first trick has been played to, the exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its position. If a pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which the error is discovered is void, but all previous cuts or scores made with that pack stand good.
METHOD OF PLAYING. The pone begins by leading any card he chooses, to which his adversary may play any card he pleases. A player is not obliged to follow suit, nor to trump; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the stock is exhausted, after which the method of play undergoes a change. If a player follows suit, the higher card wins the trick, and if identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two Jacks of clubs, the leader wins. Trumps win plain suits. The winner of the trick takes in the cards, turning them face down; but before he leads for the next trick he has the privilege of announcing and scoring any one of certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After, or in the absence of any such announcement, and before leading for the next trick, he draws a card from the top of the stock and places it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His adversary draws the next card, so that each player restores the number of cards in his hand to eight. This method of drawing from the stock is open to many objections, and in France the pone always draws first, no matter who wins the trick.
All combinations announced and scored must be laid face upward on the table; but the cards still form part of the player’s hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted.
OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The reasons for winning or not winning certain tricks will be better understood in connection with the description of the various combinations that count toward game, and the manner of scoring them.
Brisques. The aces and Tens of each suit are called brisques, and count ten points each towards game. Except for the purpose of getting or keeping the lead, there is no object in winning any trick which does not contain a brisque. Every brisque taken in should be scored at once by the player winning the trick; 10 points for an ace or Ten; 20 points if there are two such cards in the same trick.
A player holding or drawing the Seven of trumps has the privilege of exchanging it for the turn-up trump, and scoring 10 points at the same time; but he must make the exchange immediately after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. Should the turn-up card be a Seven, or one exchange have already been made, the exchange can still be made and scored. He cannot score the Seven and make a declaration at the same time.
DECLARATIONS. The combinations which may be announced and scored during the play of the hand are divided into three classes: Marriages and Sequences; Béziques; and Fours of a kind. Only one combination can be scored at a time, and it must be announced immediately after the player holding it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from the talon. If he draws without announcing, it is equivalent to saying he has no declaration to make. Having drawn his card, even if he has not looked at it, he cannot score any declaration until he wins another trick.
The combinations and their values are as follows:—
| CLASS A | |
|---|---|
| King and Queen of any plain suit, Marriage | 20 |
| King and Queen of trumps, Royal Marriage | 40 |
| Sequence of five highest trumps, Sequence | 250 |
| CLASS B. | |
| Spade Queen and diamond Jack, Bézique | 40 |
| Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double Bézique | 500 |
| CLASS C. | |
| Any four Aces | 100 |
| Any four Kings | 80 |
| Any four Queens | 60 |
| Any four Jacks | 40 |
The four court cards in class C may be all of different suits, or any two of them may be of the same suit.
A great many misunderstandings arise with respect to the manner and order of making declarations, most of which may be avoided by remembering the following rules:
The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must make his announcement before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that there is no card to be drawn, no announcement can be made.
Only one declaration can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be won for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored. This does not prevent a player from making two or more announcements at the same time, but he can score only one of them.
A player cannot make a lower declaration with cards which form part of a higher one already made in the same class. For instance: Marriages and sequences belong to the same class. If the sequence has been declared, a player cannot take from it the King and Queen and score a marriage; neither can he add a new Queen to the King already in the sequence, and announce a marriage; because the higher combination was scored first. But if the marriage is first announced, the A 10 J may be added and the sequence scored, after winning another trick.
Cards once used in combination cannot again be used in combinations of equal value of the same class. For instance: Four Kings have been declared, and one of them afterward used in the course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and announce four Kings again. A marriage in spades has been declared, and the King got rid of in play. A new King of spades will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A bézique has been scored, and the Jack got rid of in play; a new Jack of diamonds will not make another bézique with the old Queen.
Some judgment is necessary in making announcements, the question of time being often important. Suppose hearts are trumps, and the winner of the trick holds double bézique, sixty Queens, and a royal marriage:—
He cannot lay all these cards down at once, and claim 600 points. Neither can he lay down four Queens and two Jacks, and score 560; nor four Queens and a King and score 100. He may announce them if he chooses to expose his hand in that manner, but he can score only one combination, and must win a separate trick to score each of the others. It would be better for him to select some one of the combinations, and declare it, waiting until he won another trick to declare the next one. A beginner would be apt to declare the highest count first, 500 for the double bézique; but under the rule which prevents a player from making a declaration which forms part of a higher one of the same class already made, he would lose the 40 points for the single bézique. It would be better to declare the single bézique first, scoring 40 points for it, and after winning another trick to show the other bézique, scoring 500 points more for the double combination. A player is not allowed to score 40 for the second bézique, and then 500 for the two combined; because if new announcements are made in the same class, at least one new card must be added from the player’s hand when the announcement is made, even if it is not scored until later.
Double Declarations. It frequently happens that a player is forced to make two declarations at the same time, although he can score only one of them. For instance: A player has announced and shown four Kings, one of them being the King of spades. On winning another trick he shows and scores bézique. One of the bézique cards forms a marriage with the spade King, and as the combinations belong to different classes, both may be scored, although the same card is used in each; but the player cannot score the second combination until he wins another trick. Under such circumstances it is usual to declare both combinations, scoring the more valuable, and repeating the one left over until an opportunity arises to score it. In this case the player would say: “Forty for bézique, and twenty to score.” If he lost the next trick he would continue to repeat at every trick: “Twenty to score,” until he won a trick.
A player having a score in abeyance in this manner is not obliged to score it if he has anything else to announce. A player with twenty to score might pick up the sequence in trumps before he won another trick, and he would be very foolish to lose the chance to score 250 for the sake of the 20 already announced. If he had time, he would probably declare: “Royal Marriage, forty, and twenty to score.” On winning another trick he would add the A 10 J of trumps, and announce, “Two-fifty in trumps, and twenty to score,” still carrying on the small score for a future opportunity.
A player may lay down and score eighty Kings, and afterward sixty Queens, the remaining Kings forming marriages. In such a case he would score the sixty points first, and declare the two or three marriages remaining. In the same manner he may have announced four Kings, and after playing away two of them, leaving two Kings of spades, he may declare double bézique, and claim the two marriages “to score.” In all such cases it must be remembered that the cards declared must still be on the table when the time comes to score them. If, in the case just given, one of the cards forming either of the marriages was got rid of in the course of play, that marriage could not afterward be scored, although it had been properly announced. If the stock is exhausted before the player with a score in abeyance can win another trick, the score is lost.
It is often very important for a player to know how much time he has to score. When the talon is spread it is comparatively easy to judge how many more tricks remain to be played. The English laws allow a player to count the stock, the French do not. A trick once turned and quitted cannot again be seen, and the players are not allowed to count the number of tricks they have won.
The last card of the stock is taken by the player winning the trick, and the turn-up trump goes to his adversary.
The Last Eight Tricks. When the stock is exhausted, the players take back into their hands all the cards remaining of the combinations which have been laid on the table. The winner of the previous trick then leads any card he pleases, but his adversary must now not only follow suit, but must win the trick if he can, either with a superior card of the same suit, or with a trump. The same rule applies to all the remaining tricks. Brisques still count for the winner of the trick containing them, and should be scored as soon as made. The winner of the last trick of all scores ten points for it immediately, in addition to any brisques that it may contain.
Irregularities in Play. If a player leads out of turn, and his adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, the trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, the card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty.
If a player has too many cards after playing to the first trick, his adversary may either claim a fresh deal or may compel him to play without drawing from the talon, until the number of cards in his hand is reduced to eight; the player with too many cards not being allowed to make any announcements until he has his right number of cards. If a player has too few cards, his adversary may either claim a fresh deal, or may allow him to make good the deficiency by drawing from the stock.
After the stock is exhausted, any player failing to follow suit or to win a trick, when able to do so, may be compelled to take back his cards to the point where the error occurred, and to replay the hand. In France he is penalised by counting nothing from that point on, either for brisques or for the last trick.
Irregularities in Drawing. If a player has forgotten to take a card from the talon, and has played to the next trick, his adversary may elect to call the deal void, or to allow him to draw two cards next time.
If a player has drawn two cards from the stock, instead of one, he must show the second one to his adversary if he has seen it himself. If he has not seen it, he may put it back without penalty. If he draws out of turn, he must restore the card improperly drawn; and if it belongs to his adversary the player in error must show his own card. If both players draw the wrong cards there is no remedy.
If the loser of any trick draws and looks at two cards from the stock, his adversary may look at both cards of the following draw, and may select either for himself. If he chooses the second card, he need not show it.
If, on account of some undetected irregularity, an even number of cards remain in the stock, the last card must not be drawn. The winner of the trick takes the last but one, and the loser takes the trump card.
Irregular Announcements. Should a player announce four of a kind, having only three; as, for instance, laying down three Kings and a Jack, and declaring four Kings, his adversary can compel him not only to take down the score erroneously marked, but to lead or play one of the three Kings. A player may be called upon to lead or play cards from any other erroneous declarations in the same manner; but if the player has the right card or cards in his hand, he is permitted to amend his error, provided he has not drawn a card from the stock in the meantime.
SCORING. It is better to score all points as soon as they are made. The game is usually 1000 points. Some players do not count the brisques until the last trick has been played, but the practice is not to be recommended. Scores erroneously marked must be taken down, and the adversary may add the points to his own score.
Suggestions for Good Play will be found in Binocle.