Betting the Hands. After the last cards have been drawn, the players proceed to bet upon their hands precisely as at Poker. If a player makes a bet or raise which no one will call, he takes the pool, and then shows his hand and demands payment for the combination he holds. It is very unusual for a player to stifle a hand at Ambigu, as he would at Bouillotte. If a call is made, the players in the call show and compare their cards, and the best hand wins the pool. Only the player who wins the pool can demand payment for combinations held.
TEXT-BOOKS ON POKER.
- Draw Poker, by John W. Keller, 1887.
- Round Games, by Baxter-Wray, 1891.
- Complete Poker Player, by John Blackbridge, 1875.
- Proctor on Draw Poker, 1883.
- Schenck’s Rules for Draw Poker, 1872.
- The Poker Book, by Richard Guerndale, 1888.
- The Gentlemen’s Handbook of Poker, by J.W. Florence, 1892.
- Poker Rules in Rhyme, by Geo. W. Allen, 1895.
- Science of Draw Poker, by David A. Curtis, 1901.
- Poker, Brentano’s Pocket Library Series, by R.F. Foster, 1897.
- Practical Poker, with complete laws, by R.F. Foster, 1905.
- Treatise on Poker, by E.P. Philpots, 1904.
- Poker probabilities, by Alleyne Reynolds, 1901.
- The Game of Draw Poker, Mathematically Illustrated, by H.T. Winterblossom, 1875.
THE EUCHRE FAMILY.
This family embraces four of the best known and most popular games in the world, each of which has been considered the national game in its own country: Écarté in France; Napoleon in England; Spoil Five in Ireland; and Euchre in America.
It has always been the custom to trace the origin of Euchre to a variety of Triomphe, or French Ruff, probably introduced to America by the French of Louisiana; and to claim Écarté as its cousin, and the French survivor of the parent game. In the opinion of the author, both the game and its name go to show that Euchre is of mixed stock, and probably originated in an attempt to play the ancient Irish game of Spoil Five with a piquet pack. “Euchre” is not a French word, but the meaning of it is identical with “Spoil Five”; both names signifying that the object of the game is to prevent the maker of the trump from getting three tricks. In the one game he is “spoiled;” in the other he is “euchred.” In the old game of Triomphe, in Écarté, and in the black suits in Spoil Five, the order of the court cards in plain suits is the same, the ace ranking below the Jack. But in Euchre the Jack ranks above the ace when the suit is trumps, exactly as it does in Spoil Five. In the latter game the five is the best trump; but as there is no five in a piquet pack, that trump was probably disregarded, leaving the Jack the best. Taking up, or “robbing” the turn-up trump, is another trait common to both Spoil Five and Euchre.
Spoil Five and Triomphe are mentioned in the earliest works on card games. Triomphe can be traced to 1520, when it was popular in Spain; and the origin of Maw, the parent of Spoil Five, is lost in the mists of Irish antiquity. It was the fashionable game during the reign of James I.
The old Spanish game of Triomphe, now obsolete, seems to have undergone several changes after its introduction to France. At first it was played either by two persons, or by two pairs of partners. If one side had bad cards, they could offer to abandon the hand, and allow the adversaries to count a point without playing. If the adversaries refused, they were obliged to win all five tricks or lose two points. It was compulsory to win the trick if possible, and to trump, over-trump, or under-trump if the player had none of the suit led. This peculiarity survives in the games of Rams and Loo, which also belong to the euchre family.