A revoke proved against the caller himself entails the immediate penalty of the loss of the stakes; that is to say, if a man calls three and revokes, it matters not how many tricks he makes, he must pay (at penny Nap) 3d. to every one of his opponents.
If a card is exposed in the pack or in dealing, or
if there is a mis-deal, or if the pack is shown to be faulty, or if the cards are dealt without being cut, there should be a fresh deal by the same player.
Any player can demand a fresh deal if any one of these faults is committed, but the demand must be made before the hands are looked at; otherwise the deal must stand.
After all the calls have been declared, should a player discover that he has too few or too many cards the game must be played out, and if the number in the superior caller's hand be correct he takes the stakes, if he succeeds in making his call good, but neither receives nor pays if he fails. Should the caller, however, hold a wrong number in his hand, he neither receives nor pays if he wins, but pays if he fails. When a Nap is declared, the game must be played out subject to the above rules, whether the other players have their correct number or not; but, failing a Nap call, the cards must be redealt should any irregularity be discovered before all the players have declared.
There is one rule at Napoleon that has fallen into disuse, and that relates to playing out of turn. It is so common for persons to play valueless or losing cards out of turn without remark, that many people forget that the fortunes of a hand may often be influenced by the premature exposure of the winning card or a trump. A person who, out of his turn, plays a card that obviously influences the game should be subjected to the same penalty as if he had revoked.
The Number of Players.
By far the best Nap table is made up of four players, because then dash and prudence must be pretty well equalised to play well. With three players great risks are commonly run, and with six, failures are so frequent that the game often gets tedious through a monotonous series of "two" calls.
There are so many better games for two players that we need say little about what is called Single Nap. It consists of a series of bluffing calls, experience soon teaching that it is safer to call three or four on a weak hand than to allow your adversary to take the lead.