HONOURS. In any call in which there is a trump suit, the A K Q and J of trumps are honours, and may be counted by the successful bidder if he carries out his proposal. If the single player, or a caller and his partner have all four honours dealt them, they score as for four over-tricks; if three, as for two over-tricks. Honours do not count for the adversaries under any circumstances.
In bidding on a hand, it must be remembered that although honours will count as over-tricks in payments, they cannot be bid on. If a player has nine tricks and two by honours in his hand, he cannot bid eleven. If he bids nine and fails to make so many, he cannot count the honours at all. It is growing less and less the custom to count honours in America.
A player making a bid can be compelled to play it; but it is usual to allow him to pay instead of playing, if he proposes to do so, either because he has overbid his hand or for any other reason.
METHOD OF PLAYING. No matter who is the successful bidder, the eldest hand always leads for the first trick, and the others must follow suit if they can, the play proceeding exactly as in Whist. Tricks should be carefully stacked, there being the same penalties as in Boston for calling attention to the score. The methods of playing misères and spreads have already been described in connection with Boston. When piccolissimo is played, the moment the single player takes more than one trick the hands are thrown up, and the stakes paid.
REVOKES. The rules governing these and cards played in error, are the same as at Boston. In piccolissimo, the penalties are the same as in misère.
PAYMENTS. If the caller succeeds in winning the proposed number of tricks, he is paid by each of his adversaries according to the value of his bid, as shown in Table No. 1. Over-tricks if any, and honours, if played, are always paid at the uniform rate of five white counters each. If the caller fails, he must pay each adversary the amount he would have won if successful, with the addition of five white counters for every trick that he falls short of his proposal. For instance: He bids nine hearts, and wins six tricks only. He must pay each adversary 115 white counters.
TABLE No. 1.
| No trump. | The trump being | Extra tricks. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♣♠ | ♡ | ♢ | |||
| Boston, five tricks | 10 | 20 | 30 | 5 | |
| Six tricks | 30 | 40 | 50 | 5 | |
| Little misère | 75 | ||||
| Seven tricks | 50 | 60 | 70 | 5 | |
| Piccolissimo | 100 | ||||
| Eight tricks | 70 | 80 | 90 | 5 | |
| Grand misère | 150 | ||||
| Nine tricks | 90 | 100 | 110 | 5 | |
| Little spread | 200 | ||||
| Ten tricks | 110 | 120 | 130 | 5 | |
| Grand spread | 250 | ||||
| Eleven tricks | 130 | 140 | 150 | 5 | |
| Twelve tricks | 150 | 160 | 170 | 5 | |
| Slam, thirteen tricks | 400 | 450 | 500 | ||
| Spread slam | 600 | 700 | 800 | ||