NAPOLEON, OR NAP.
This is one of the simplest, and at the same time most popular of the euchre family. Few games have become so widely known in such a short time, or have had such a vogue among all classes of society. So far as the mere winning and losing goes, the result depends largely upon luck, and skill is of small importance. Except in a long series of games the average player has little to fear from the most expert.
CARDS. Napoleon is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being highest in play; but ranking below the deuce in cutting.
COUNTERS. As each deal is a complete game in itself it must be settled for in counters, to which some value is usually attached. One player is selected for the banker, and before play begins each of the others purchases from him a certain number of counters, usually fifty. When any player’s supply is exhausted, he can purchase more, either from the banker or from another player.
In many places counters are not used, and the value of the game is designated by the coins that take their place. In “penny nap,” English coppers are used in settling; sixpences in “sixpenny nap,” and so on. In America, nickel and quarter nap are the usual forms.
PLAYERS. Any number from two to six can play; but four is the best game. If five or six play it is usual for the dealer to give himself no cards.
CUTTING. The players draw from an outspread pack to form the table, and for choice of seats. A lower cut gives preference over all higher; the lowest cut has the first choice of seats, and deals the first hand. Ties cut again, but the new cut decides nothing but the tie.
In some places the players take their seats at random, and a card is then dealt to each face upward; the lowest card or the first Jack taking the deal.
DEALING. Any player has a right to shuffle the cards, the dealer last. They are then presented to the pone to be cut, and at least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning at his left, the dealer gives each player in rotation two cards on the first round, and three on the next; or three on the first and two on the next. No trump is turned. In some places the cards are distributed one at a time until each player has five; but the plan is not popular, as the hands run better and the bidding is livelier when the cards are dealt in twos and threes. The deal passes to the left, each player dealing in turn.
MISDEALING. A misdeal does not lose the deal in Napoleon, because the deal is a disadvantage. For this reason, if any player begins to deal out of turn, he must finish, and the deal stands good. If any card is found faced in the pack, or is exposed by the dealer; or if too many or too few cards are given to any player; or if the dealer does not give the same number of cards to each player in the same round; or if he fails to have the pack cut, it is a misdeal, and the misdealer must deal again with the same pack.
BIDDING. Beginning on the dealer’s left, each player in turn bids for the privilege of naming the trump suit, stating the number of tricks he proposes to win, playing single-handed against the three other players, and leading a trump for the first trick. In bidding, the trump suit is not named, only the number of tricks. If a player proposes to win all five tricks he bids nap, which is the highest bid possible, and precludes any further bidding, except in some of the variations which will be described later on. If a player will not make a bid, he says “I pass,” A bid having been made, any following player must either increase it or pass. If all pass until it comes to the dealer, he is bound to bid at least one trick, and either play or pay. The hands are never abandoned except in case of a misdeal.
In some places a misère bid is allowed, which outranks a bid of three tricks, and is beaten by one of four. There is no trump suit in misère, but the bidder, if successful, must lead for the first trick.
Any bid once made can neither be amended nor recalled, and there is no second bid.
METHOD OF PLAYING. The player bidding the highest number of tricks has the first lead, and the first card he plays must be one of the trump suit. The players must follow suit if able, but need not win the trick unless they choose to do so. The highest card played of the suit led wins the trick, and trumps win all other suits. The winner of the trick leads again for the next trick, and so on, until all five tricks have been played. After the first trick any suit may be led.
The bidder gathers all tricks he wins, stacking them so that they may be readily counted by any player at the table. One of the other side should gather all tricks won by the adversaries of the bidder. A trick once turned and quitted cannot again be seen. In some places they have a very bad habit of gathering tricks with the cards face up, turning down one card only. This always results in numerous misdeals, on account of cards being continually found faced in the pack.
The hands are usually abandoned when the bidder succeeds in his undertaking, or shows cards which are good for his bid against any play. If it is impossible for him to succeed, as when he bids four and the adversaries have won two tricks, the hands are thrown up, because nothing is paid for under or over-tricks. Players should show the remainder of their hands to the board, as evidence that no revoke has been made.
IRREGULARITIES IN HANDS. If a player, before he makes a bid or passes, discovers that he holds too many or too few cards, he must immediately claim a misdeal. If he has either made a bid or passed, the deal stands good, and the hand must be played out. If the bidder has his right number of cards and succeeds, he must be paid. If he fails, he neither wins nor loses; because he is playing against a foul hand. If the bidder has more than his right number of cards he must pay if he loses; but wins nothing if he succeeds. If he has less than his right number of cards, he is simply supposed to have lost the trick for which he has no card to play.
PLAYING OUT OF TURN. If any adversary of the bidder leads or plays out of turn, he forfeits three counters to the bidder, independently of the result of the hand, and receives nothing if the bid is defeated. If the bidder leads out of turn, the card must be taken back, unless all have followed the erroneous lead, in which case the trick is good. There is no penalty if he plays out of turn.
REVOKES. When a revoke is detected and claimed, the hands are immediately abandoned, and the individual player in fault must pay all the counters depending on the result. If he is the bidder, he pays each adversary; if he is opposed to the bidder, he pays for himself and for each of his partners. In England it is the rule to take back the cards and play the hand over again, as at Écarté, the revoking player paying all the stakes according to the result. This is often very unfair to the bidder, and leads to endless disputes as to who held certain cards which have been gathered into tricks. Sometimes the difference between a seven and an eight in a certain player’s hand will change the entire result.
PAYMENTS. If the bidder succeeds in winning the specified number of tricks, each adversary pays him a counter for every trick bid. If he bid three tricks, they pay him three counters each; four counters each for four tricks bid; and the value of three tricks for a misère. If he fails to win the specified number of tricks, he pays each adversary; three counters if he bid three tricks, or a misère; four if he bid four. Any player bidding nap, and succeeding in winning all five tricks, receives ten counters from each adversary; but if he fails, he pays only five to each.
When penny nap is played, the settlement being in coin, it is usual to make naps win a shilling or lose sixpence, in order to avoid handling so much copper.
SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD PLAY. In calculating his chances for success in winning a certain number of tricks, the player will often have to take into consideration the probability of certain cards being out against him. This will vary according to the number of players engaged. For instance: If four are playing, and the bidder holds K Q of a plain suit, the odds against the ace of that suit being out against him are about 2 to 1. As it would be impossible for any person to remember all the jeux de règle for three tricks at Napoleon, each must learn from experience the trick-taking value of certain hands. Trump strength is, of course, the great factor, and the bidder should count on finding at least two trumps in one hand against him. Nap should never be bid on a hand which is not pretty sure of winning two rounds of trumps, with all other cards but one winners. One trick may always be risked in a nap hand, such as A Q of trumps, or a King, or even a Queen or Jack in a plain suit; the odds against the adversaries having a better card being slightly increased by the odds against their knowing enough to keep it for the last trick.
If the bid is for three tricks only, tenaces, or guarded minor honours in plain suits should be preserved. After the first trick it will sometimes be advantageous for the player to get rid of any losing card he may have in plain suits. It is seldom right to continue the trumps if the bidder held only two originally, unless he has winning cards in two plain suits, in which case it may be better to lead even a losing trump to prevent a possibility of adverse trumps making separately.
In playing against the bidder, leave no trick to your partners that you can win yourself, unless a small card is led, and you have the ace. In opening fresh suits do not lead guarded honours, but prefer aces or singletons. If the caller needs only one more trick, it is usually best to lead a trump. If you have three trumps, including the major tenace, pass the first trick if a small trump is led; or if you remain with the tenace after the first trick, be careful to avoid the lead.
Discards should indicate weakness, unless you can show command of such a suit as A K, or K Q, by discarding the best of it. This will direct your partners to let that suit go, and keep the others. It is usually better to keep a guarded King than a single ace. The player on the right of the bidder should get into the lead if possible, especially if he holds one or two winning cards. These will either give his partners discards, or allow them to over-trump the bidder.
In playing misères, it is better to begin with a singleton, or the lowest of a safe suit. An ace or King two or three times guarded is very safe for a misère, as it is very improbable that any player will be able to lead the suit more than twice; and if the bidder’s missing suit is led, the high card can be got rid of at once.
In playing against a misère, discards are important, and the first should be from the shortest suit, and always the highest card of it. A suit in which the bidder is long should be continued, in order to give partners discards. More money is lost at Napoleon by playing imperfect misères than in any other way.
Variations. The foregoing description applies to the regular four-handed game; but there are several variations in common use.
Better bids than “nap” are sometimes allowed, on the understanding that the bidder will pay double or treble stakes if he fails, but will receive only the usual amount if successful. For instance: One player bids Nap, and another holds what he considers a certainty for five tricks. In order not to lose such an opportunity the latter bids Wellington, which binds him to pay ten counters to each player if he fails. Another may outbid this again by bidding Blucher, which binds him to pay twenty to each if he loses, but to receive only ten if he wins. In England, the bidder, if successful, receives double or treble stakes for a Wellington or a Blucher, which is simply another way of allowing any person with a nap hand to increase the stakes at pleasure, for a player with a certain five tricks would of course bid a Blucher at once, trebling his gains and shutting off all competition at the same time. This variation is not to be recommended, and benefits no one but the gambler.
Pools. Napoleon is sometimes played with a pool, each player contributing a certain amount, usually two counters, on the first deal. Each dealer in turn adds two more; revokes pay five, and leads out of turn three. The player who first succeeds in winning five tricks on a nap bid takes the pool, and a fresh one is formed. If a player bids nap and fails, he is usually called upon to double the amount then in the pool, besides paying his adversaries.
Purchase Nap; sometimes called Écarté Nap, is a variation of the pool game. After the cards are dealt, and before any bids are made, each player in turn, beginning on the dealer’s left, may discard as many cards as he pleases, the dealer giving him others in their place. For each card so exchanged, the player pays one counter to the pool. Only one round of exchanges is allowed, and bids are then in order. A player having once refused to buy, or having named the number of cards he wishes to exchange, cannot amend his decision. Any player winning five tricks on a nap bid takes the entire pool. This is a very good game, and increases both the bids and the play against them.
Widows. Another variation is to deal five cards in the centre of the table, face downward, the dealer giving the cards to the widow just before helping himself in each round. Any player in his proper turn to bid may take the widow, and from the total of ten cards so obtained select five on which he must bid nap, discarding the others face downward.
Peep Nap. In this variety of the pool game one card only is dealt to the widow, usually on the first round. Each player in turn, before bidding or passing, has the privilege of taking a private peep at this down card, on paying one counter to the pool. The card is left on the table until the highest bidder is known, and he then takes it into his hand, whether he has paid to peep at it or not. He must then discard to reduce his hand to five cards. If a player bids nap it usually pays those following him to have a peep at the down card in case the bidder should retain it in his hand.