HAZARD

—is, beyond a doubt, the most fashionable and fascinating GAME ever yet invented for the expeditious and instantaneous transfer of immense sums from one hand to another. It is a GAME of CHANCE; and, when fairly played, is the FAIREST upon which a stake can possibly be made, from one guinea to a THOUSAND, or to any amount whatever; the winning or losing of which is decided with so much rapidity, that the adventurer can never be more than a few moments in suspense, although he may be many years in REPENTANCE. Hazard is the game of nocturnal celebrity, by which the best estates have been impoverished, and immense property destroyed: it is played with a box and pair of dice, and is of considerable antiquity, as noticed by Shakespeare in Richard the Third, whom he has made to say,

The person holding the BOX is called the Caster, who having been set as much money by the surrounding company (or any individual) as he proposes to throw for, and the STAKE or STAKES being deposited within a centrical circle upon the table, he then throws the dice from the BOX, and whatever number appears upon the surface is termed "the MAIN;" and so vociferated loudly by a person called the Groom Porter, who stands above the rest, and whose business it is to call the main and chance, furnish fresh dice when demanded, and to receive the money for a box-hand when due. So soon as the main is declared, which, in fact, is the number by which the Caster's opponents must abide for themselves, the Caster throws a second time, and this number is called the chance, being his own chance against the main previously thrown; and so named, because it is the number of the MAIN of the PLAYERS against the chance of the individual who is the Caster, and makes stakes against the whole, or any part of the rest.

The main and chance being proclaimed by the Groom Porter, odds are generally laid between the throws (upon the termination of the event) according to the numbers opposed to each other, and according to the scale by which all bets upon the game are regulated, and strictly observed. The Caster may, or may not, engage in any of these bets, which he very frequently does, as a hedge (or fence) to his own stakes, when the odds are six to four, or TWO to ONE, in his favour: at any rate, he continues to throw the dice in succession, till either the main or chance appears: if the main is first thrown, those who "set the Caster" draw their money; the Caster is then said to have "thrown out," and passes the box to his next neighbour: on the contrary, should he have thrown his own chance first, he is then the winner, and of course not only draws all the money he staked and betted, but continues to HOLD the BOX, and throw a "new main" for any sum he wishes to be set, in which a Caster is never known to be disappointed.

When a Caster has thrown in (that is, has won) three times in succession, it is termed "a BOX HAND," and he then pays half a guinea to the Groom Porter, for the privilege of playing, the use of box and dice, negus, &c. provided for the accommodation of the company. The box continues in the Caster's possession so long as he continues to throw in, (paying an additional half guinea every third time of winning;) but the first time he loses, he resigns the box to the player sitting next to him, unless he requests, and is permitted to renew his own play, which is then called taking "a back hand." There are more minute distinctions, as well as a fixed table of the odds during the play; but they are too long for insertion; and could not be so clearly comprehended by theory, as understood by practice.