BINOCLE.

The word Binocle is spelt in many different ways, all of which, are, however, phonetic equivalents of the correct one. The word is probably derived from the French word “binage,” which was the name given to the combination known as “binocle,” and which seemed a better term than “cinq cents” as the game was no longer 500 points up. In all German works on card games the name is spelt as we give it; but the pronunciation of the initial “b” in the German is so near that of “p,” that “Pinocle” is nearer the correct spelling than any other form. There is no authority for the introduction of the “h,” which has led some persons to think the word a compound of “bis” and “knochle,” and has given rise to the forms: binochle, pinochle, pinuchle, pinucle, penucle, penuchle, penuckle and pinuckel, all of which may be found in various works on card games.

CARDS. Binocle is played with two packs of twenty-four cards each, all below the Nine being deleted, and the two packs being then shuffled together, and used as one. The cards rank A 10 K Q J 9, the Ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.

COUNTERS. The game is 1000 points, and is usually scored with counters, each player being provided with four white, worth 10 each; four blue, worth 100 each; one red, worth 50, and a copper cent or a button, which represents 500. These counters are placed on the left of the player at the beginning of the game, and are moved over to his right as the points accrue. The game is sometimes kept on a cribbage board, each player starting at 21, and going twice round to the game-hole, reckoning each peg as 10 points.

STAKES. Binocle is played for so much a game of 1000 points, and the moment either player either actually reaches or claims to have reached that number, the game is at an end. If his claim is correct, he wins; if it is not, his adversary takes the stakes, no matter what the score may be.

PLAYERS. Binocle is played by two persons, one of whom is known as the dealer, and the other as the pone. They cut for the choice of seats and deal, and the player cutting the higher card may deal or not, as he pleases. It is usual for the player having the choice to make his adversary deal. A player exposing more than one card must cut again.

DEALING. After the cards are thoroughly shuffled, they are presented to the pone to be cut. At least five cards must be left in each packet. The dealer then distributes the cards four at a time for three rounds, giving to his adversary first, and then to himself. The twenty-fifth card is turned up for the trump. If this card is a Nine, the dealer claims dix, and counts ten for it immediately. The trump card is laid aside, and 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 stock are exposed. The trump is usually placed face up under the last card of the stock.

In Sixty-four-card Binocle, the Sevens and Eights are added to the pack. There are then two ways to play: If eight cards are dealt to each player, the game is simply Bézique, except for some minor details relating to the combinations and their value. These are usually disregarded, and the regular game of Bézique is played. If twelve cards are dealt to each player, the game is the same as the one about to be described, but with eight cards added to the pack, and the Seven taking the place of the Nine for dix.

Misdealing. If the dealer exposes a card belonging to his 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, and the error is discovered before the dealer plays to the first trick, there must be a new deal. If either player has too few cards, the pone may demand a new deal, or may allow the dealer to supply the deficiency from the top of the stock. If any card is found exposed 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 by the dealer, the exposed card must be turned face down, without disturbing its position. If the pack is found to be imperfect, the deal in which it is discovered is void; but all previous scores and cuts made with that pack stand good. In all misdeals the same dealer deals again.

METHOD OF PLAYING. After the trump is turned, the pone begins by leading any card he pleases. The second 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 the second player follows suit in any trick, the higher card wins. Trumps win plain suits. If identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two club Jacks, the leader wins.

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 then draws the next card, so that each player restores the number of cards in his hand to twelve. This method of playing, announcing, and drawing from the talon is continued until the stock is exhausted. The A 10 K Q J of each suit have certain counting values, which will be described further on.

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.

Irregularities in Play. If either 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 may be taken back without penalty.

If at any time it is discovered that a player has too many cards, his adversary may either claim a fresh deal, or may compel him to play without drawing from the talon until the number of his cards is reduced to twelve. The player with too many cards is not allowed to make or score 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 allow him to make good the deficiency by drawing from the stock.

Any player looking at any but the last trick turned down, forfeits his entire score for “cards.”

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 it was his adversary’s card, he must show his own card also. 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 draw the wrong cards there is no remedy, and each must keep what he gets. 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, which his adversary has not seen, 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.

OBJECTS OF THE GAME. The aim of each player is to reach 1000 points before his adversary, and the one first reaching that number, and announcing it, wins the game. Points are scored for dix, melds, the last trick, and for cards, which are the counting cards in tricks won.

Melds. The various combinations which are declared during the play of the hand are called melds, from the German word melden, to announce. These melds are divided into three classes: a, Marriages and Sequences; b, Binocles; and c, Fours. Only one combination can be announced at a time, and it must be melded immediately after the player holding it has won a trick, and before he draws his card from the stock. If he draws without announcing, even if he has not seen the card drawn, he cannot meld anything until he wins another trick. The melds 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
The five highest trumps, Sequence,150
CLASS B.
Spade Queen and diamond Jack, Binocle,40
Two spade Queens and diamond Jacks, Double Binocle,80
King and Queen of spades, and diamond Jack, Grand Binocle,80
CLASS C.
Four Aces of different suits,100
Four Kings of different suits,80
Four Queens of different suits,60
Four Jacks of different suits,40
Eight Aces,200
Eight Kings,160
Eight Queens,120
Eight Jacks,80

The third meld in class B is not often played in America. The count for it is the same, 80 points, whether the marriage in spades is the trump suit or not. It will be observed that the court cards in class C must be of different suits in Binocle, whereas, in Bézique, any four court cards may be declared. The following rules govern all classes of declarations:—

The player making the declaration must have won the previous trick, and must meld before drawing his card from the stock. When the stock is exhausted, so that no cards remain to be drawn, no further announcements can be made.

Only one meld can be scored at a time, so that a trick must be made for every announcement made, or the combination cannot be scored, and a fresh card must be played from the hand for every fresh meld. This is a very important rule, and little understood. Suppose a player holds four Kings and four Queens. The total count for the various combinations these cards will make is 220: two plain-suit marriages, 20 each; royal marriage, 40; four Kings, 80; and four Queens, 60. As only one combination can be scored for each trick won, and as the player must lay down at least one fresh card for each successive meld, it is evident that if he begins with the 80 Kings, and then marries each of them in turn, when he comes to the fourth Queen he will have to sacrifice the 20 for a marriage in order to score the 60 for the four Queens. He cannot score both, or he will not be complying with the rule about the fresh card from the hand for every meld. That is why four Kings and four Queens are never worth 240, but only 220.

A player cannot meld cards which have already been used to form higher combinations in the same class; but he may use cards melded in lower combinations to form more valuable ones in the same class, provided he adds at least one fresh card from his hand. The principle is that cards may be added to melds already shown, but they cannot be taken away to form other combinations in the same class. For example: Royal marriage has been melded and scored. The player may add to this the Ace, Ten, and Jack of trumps to make the sequence, which is a more valuable combination in the same class. But if the first meld is the sequence, he cannot take away from the sequence the card or cards to form a marriage. A new Queen added to the King already in the sequence will not make a marriage; because it is not the Queen that is added to the sequence, but the King that is taken away.

The same rule applies to the binocles. If a player has scored double binocle, he can not afterward take away two cards to meld a single binocle; but if the single binocle has been melded and scored first, he may add two more cards, and score the double binocle. He cannot score the second single, and then claim the double, because some new card must be added to form a new meld in the same class.

If four Kings are melded and scored, the other four may be added later; but if the eight Kings are first melded, the score for the four Kings is lost.

Cards may be taken away from one combination to form less valuable combinations in another class. For instance: Four Jacks have been melded; the diamond Jack may be taken away to form a binocle with the spade Queen. If spades are trumps, and the sequence has been melded, the Queen may be taken away to form a binocle, because the binocle is in a different class of melds; but the Queen cannot be used to form a marriage, because the sequence and the marriage are in the same class. As there are three classes, one card may be used three separate times. The spade Queen, for instance, may be used in a marriage, in binocle, and in four Queens, and these melds may be made in any order.

Cards once used in combinations cannot again be used in melds of equal value belonging to the same class; and combinations once broken up cannot be re-formed by the addition of fresh cards. For instance: Four Kings have been melded, and one of them has been used in the course of play. The player cannot add a new King to the three remaining, and meld four Kings again. A marriage in hearts has been melded, and the King played away. A new King will not make another marriage with the old Queen. A binocle has been melded, and the Jack has been played; another Jack will not make a new binocle with the old Queen.

Double Declarations. When a player makes a meld containing certain cards which will form a counting combination with other cards already on the table, it is called a double declaration, that is, a meld in two different classes at the same time. For instance: A player has melded and scored four Kings, and on winning another trick he melds binocle. Two of the cards on the table form a marriage in spades, and as the marriage is in a different class from either of the other melds, he may claim it and score it; but if he does, he will lose the score for the binocle, being prevented by the rule about a fresh card from the hand for each individual meld. The only way to secure both scores would be to meld the marriage first, and afterward to lay down the Jack and meld the binocle.

Time. On account of the number of combinations possible, and the fact that there are only twelve tricks to be played before the scores for announcements are barred, it frequently happens that a player has not time to score everything he holds. He is allowed to count the cards remaining in the talon, provided he does not disturb their order, and it is often important to do so toward the end of a hand.

Scoring Dix. If a player holds or draws the Nine of trumps, he has the privilege of exchanging it for the turn-up card, and scoring ten points for dix. The exchange must be made immediately after winning a trick, and before drawing his card from the stock. Should the turn-up be a Nine, the exchange may still be made and scored; and if one player has already exchanged a Nine for the turn-up, the second Nine may still be exchanged for the first, and scored. A player cannot score dix and any other combination at the same time. For this reason a player whose time is short will often forego the dix score altogether unless the trump card is valuable.

Irregular Melds. If a player announces a combination which he does not show, such as fours when he has three only, which he may easily do by mistaking a Jack for a King, 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 other erroneous declarations in the same manner, but if he has the right card or cards in his hand, he may amend his error, provided he has not drawn a card from the stock in the meantime.

The Last Twelve Tricks. When the stock is exhausted all announcements are at an end, and the players take back into their hands all the cards upon the table which may remain from the combinations declared in the course of play. Should a player take up his cards before playing to the last trick, he may be called upon to lay his entire hand on the table.

The winner of the previous trick then leads any card he pleases; but for the last twelve tricks the second player in each must not only follow suit, but must win the trick if he can, either with a superior card or with a trump. 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 from that point on. The penalty for the revoke varies in different places, but the general rule is for the revoking player to lose his entire count for “cards.”

The winner of the last trick scores ten points for it; and the players then turn over the tricks they have taken, and count their score for “cards.”

Cards. The five highest cards in each suit count toward game for the player winning them. The Ace is worth 11 points, the Ten 10, the King 4, the Queen 3, and the Jack, 2, no matter what the suit may be, so that there are 240 points for cards to be divided between the players in each deal. It is usual for only one to count, the other checking him, and taking the difference between the total and 240. Cards are not scored as the tricks are taken in, but after the hand is over and the 10 points have been scored for the last trick.

From this it might be imagined that no notice was taken of the counting value of the cards taken in during the play. Early in the game this is true; but toward the end each player must keep very careful mental count of the value of his tricks, although he is not allowed to make any note of it, nor to score it. When either player knows, by adding his mental count to his score for melds and dix, that he has made points enough to win the game, he stops the play by knocking on the table. He then turns over his tricks and counts his cards, to show his adversary that he has won the game. Even if both have enough to go out, the player wins who knocks first, provided his count is correct. If the player who knocks is mistaken, and cannot count out, he loses the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be.

If neither knocks, and at the end of the hand both players are found to have points enough to put them out, neither wins the game. If the game is 1000 points, it must be continued to 1250. Should both reach that point without knocking, it must be continued to 1500. If neither knocks, and only one has enough points to put him out, he wins the game on its merits.

SCORING. The game is usually 1000 points. All scores for dix, melds, and the last trick, are counted as soon as made; but the players are not allowed to keep any record of the score for cards, nor to go back over their tricks to refresh their memory. Any player going back further than the last trick turned and quitted, forfeits his entire score for cards. The player first correctly announcing that he has reached 1000 points, wins the game, no matter what his adversary’s score may be; but if the announcement is incorrect, he loses the game.

Should a player score more than he is entitled to; as, for instance, scoring 80 for four Queens, his adversary may take down the superfluous score, 20 points in this instance, and may add it to his own score for a penalty.

CHEATING. Apart from the usual weapons of false shuffles, strippers cut to locate or pull out the binocle cards, and the opportunities always offered to the greek when the cards are dealt three or four at a time, the bézique family of games are particularly adapted to the use of marked cards. These will show the philosopher the exact value of both the cards in the next draw, and will enable him to vary his play accordingly. It is for this reason that in France the top card of the stock is always drawn by the same player, no matter which wins the trick. In Rubicon Bézique, a person should be very familiar with the movements peculiar to dealing seconds before he ventures to play in a public café, or he may find his adversary with the most astonishing run of repeated combinations, and will be rubiconed almost every game.

Never play with a man who cuts the pack with both hands, watches the cards closely as he deals, or looks intently at the top of the stock before he plays to the current trick. Players who have a nervous affection which makes them pass over too many counters at once will also bear watching. Colour blindness may lead them to take over a blue instead of a white in a close game.

SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. The general principles of play are much the same in all the Bézique family of games.

It is usually best to give your adversary the deal, because the first lead is often an advantage, especially if the turn-up is valuable, and you have a dix, or if you want to make the trump in Rubicon Bézique.

It is seldom right to make the trump unless you have one or two of the sequence cards with the marriage.

The Lead is a disadvantage unless you have something to declare, or there is a brisque in the trick, or you can get home the Ten of a plain suit. The Tens are of no value in plain suits except as brisques, for they enter into no combination with other cards except in Penchant, Cinq-cents, and Rubicon. If the trick is of no value, or you have nothing important to declare, get rid of your small cards, and lead them when you do not want to retain the lead. The lead is sometimes necessary to prevent your adversary from declaring, especially toward the end of the hand. If you have led a brisque and won the trick, it is better to lead another brisque in the same suit than to change.

Aces are better leads than Kings or Queens, for the court cards can be married, and you may never get 100 Aces. Kings are better leads than Queens, especially if the Queens are spades. Jacks are better than either, but the Jack of diamonds should be kept as long as possible. If you have to decide between two combinations, one of which you must sacrifice, lead that which is of the smallest value, or the least likely to be restored. For instance: If your adversary has shown one or two Kings, but no Ace, and you have three of each, you are more likely to get 100 Aces than 80 Kings.

If you hold duplicate cards, especially in trumps, play the one on the table, not the one in your hand.

Brisques. Beginners often overlook the importance of brisques. Every time you allow your adversary to take in a brisque which you might have won, you make a difference of twenty points in the score. While you are hugging three Aces, waiting for a fourth, your adversary may get home all his Tens, and then turn up with your fourth Ace in his hand.

Discarding. It is usually best to settle upon one of two suits or combinations, and to discard the others, for you cannot play for everything. Having once settled on what to play for, it is generally bad policy to change unless something better turns up.

Your adversary’s discards will often be a guide as to the combinations he hopes to make, and will show you that you need not keep certain cards. For instance: If a binocle player discards or plays two heart Kings, it is unlikely that he has either of the Queens, and you may reasonably hope for 60 Queens; but it will be impossible for you to make anything out of your Kings but marriages. In Bézique, where Kings may be of the same suit in fours, you will have a slightly better chance for 80 Kings on account of your adversary’s discards, because he certainly has no more, as he would not break up three Kings.

Declaring. It is often a nice point to decide whether or not you can afford to make minor declarations while holding higher ones in your hand. In Rubicon many players will give up the trump marriage if they have the sequence, especially with a good chance of re-forming it several times with duplicate cards. The number of cards in hand will often be the best guide. In Rubicon, if you held trump sequence and double bézique, it would be better to declare the sequence first, and to lead the card you drew. One of the trump sequence on the table would then be free to regain the lead and declare the double bézique; but if the bézique was declared first, the sequence might have to be broken into to regain the lead. With a plain-suit sequence and four Aces, declare the Aces first. They will then be free to win tricks for the purpose of making other declarations.

It is seldom right to show the bézique cards in other combinations, and four Jacks is a very bad meld, because it shows your adversary that he cannot hope for double bézique. By holding up bézique cards, even if you know they are of no use to you, you may lead your adversary to break up his hand, hoping to draw the card or cards you hold.

Trumps. Small trumps may be used to advantage in winning brisques, but you should keep at least one small trump to get the lead at critical periods of the hand, or to make an important declaration. It is bad policy to trump in to make minor declarations, unless your time is short. It is seldom right to lead the trump Ace, except at the end of the hand, or when you have duplicates, but leading high trumps to prevent an adversary from declaring further is a common stratagem, if you know from the cards in your hand, and those played, that your adversary may get the cards to meld something of importance.

The Last Tricks. Before you play to the last trick, give yourself time to note the cards your adversary has on the table, and compare them with your own, so that you may play the last tricks to advantage. If you wait until after playing to the last trick, he may gather up his cards so quickly that you will be unable to remember them. At Rubicon it is not always advisable to win the last trick. If your adversary is rubiconed in any case, you may add 100 points to your own score by giving him the 50 for the last trick, which may put him across the line into another hundred.