MAKING THE TRUMP. The trump suit must be named by the dealer or his partner, after they have examined their cards. The dealer has the first say, and he may either select cayenne or any of the other suits; or he may announce grand, playing for the tricks without any trump suit; or he may call nullo, playing to take as few tricks as possible, without a trump suit. If the dealer makes the choice, his partner must abide by it; but if he has not a hand to justify him in deciding, he should leave the selection to his partner, who must decide one way or the other.
The considerations which should guide players in their choice are the scoring possibilities of their hands, in tricks and in honours. As in Whist, the first six tricks taken by one side do not count; but each trick above that number counts one, two, etc., by cards. There are five honours in the trump suit in Cayenne; A K Q J 10; and the partners holding the majority of them count 1 for each honour that they hold in excess of their opponents, and 1 in addition, for honours. For instance: If A-B have three honours dealt them, they must have one more than their adversaries, and 1 for honours; entitling them to score 2. If they have four, they have 3 in excess, and 1 for honours, a total of 4. If they have five, they count 6 by honours.
At the end of the hand the points made by cards and by honours are multiplied by the value of the trump suit. This value varies according to the suit which is cayenne, which is always first preference. If cayenne is also the trump suit the points made by cards and honours are multiplied by 4. If the trump suit is the same colour as cayenne, the multiplier is 3. If it is a different colour the multiplier is 2 or 1, according to the suit. The rank of the suits as multipliers will be readily understood from the following table:—
| If Cayenne is | ♡ | ♢ | ♣ | ♠ | If trumps, multiply by 4. |
| Second color is | ♢ | ♡ | ♠ | ♣ | If trumps, multiply by 3. |
| Third color is | ♣ | ♣ | ♡ | ♡ | If trumps, multiply by 2. |
| Fourth color is | ♠ | ♠ | ♢ | ♢ | If trumps, multiply by 1. |
Better to understand the importance of considering this variation in value when making the trump, it should be noticed that although the game is 10 points, several games may be won in a single hand, as everything made is counted, and any points over 10 go to the credit of the second game. If more than 20 points are made, the excess goes on the third game, and so on. Another important point is the great value attached to honours, and the maker of the trump should never forget that he can better afford to risk his adversaries winning 2 by cards with a trump in which he has three honours, than he can to risk a trump in which they may have three honours, and he can probably win only the odd trick.
A further element may enter into his calculations, the state of the score. Tricks count before honours, and if he feels certain of making, by cards, the few points necessary to win the rubber, he may entirely disregard the honours.
With such a hand it would be better to play without a trump, and to announce a grand, in which there are neither trumps nor honours, and every trick over the book is multiplied by 8. Two by cards at grand is worth more than two by cards and two by honours with any trump but cayenne.
There is still another resource, to announce nullo, in which there is no trump, and the object of the players is to take as few tricks as possible. In nullo, every trick over the book counts for the adversaries, and is multiplied by 8. A peculiarity of nullo is that the Ace of each suit ranks below the deuce, unless the player holding it wishes to declare it higher than the King. In the latter case he must announce it when he plays it, and before his left-hand adversary plays to the trick.