FORTY-FIVE, OR FIVE AND TEN.
These names are given to Spoil Five when it is played by two persons only, or by four or six divided into two equal partnerships. There is no pool, as one side or the other must win three tricks every deal. The side winning the odd trick counts five points towards game, or ten points if it wins all five tricks. Forty-five points is game. In another variation, each trick counts five points, and the winners’ score is deducted from the losers’, so that if one side wins four tricks it counts fifteen towards game. When this manner of counting is adopted, the players count out; that is, if each side is 35 up, the first to win two tricks counts out.
Minor variations are sometimes introduced; such as robbing with the King, if the ace is not in play; counting five for the dealer’s side if the ace or King is turned up, etc.
There are no Text Books on Spoil Five; but descriptions and laws of the game are to be found in the “Westminster Papers,” Vol II., and in “Round Games,” by Berkeley.