CARDS. Spoil Five is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards. The rank of the cards varies according to the colour of the suit, and the trump suit undergoes still further changes, the heart ace being always the third best trump. In the plain suits, the K Q J retain their usual order, the King being the best. The rank of the spot cards, including the aces of diamonds, clubs, and spades, is generally expressed by the phrase: Highest in red; lowest in black. That is to say, if several cards of a suit, not including a King, Queen or Jack, are played to a trick, the highest card will win if the suit is red; and the lowest if the suit is black. This will give us the following order for the plain suits, beginning with the highest card in each:—
| No change. | Highest in red. | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♡ | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||
| ♢ | K | Q | J | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | A | |
| Lowest in black. | ||||||||||||||
| ♣ | K | Q | J | A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| ♠ | K | Q | J | A | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
In the trump suit the same order of cards is retained, except that four cards are always the best trumps. These are the Five, Jack, and ace of the suit itself, and the ace of hearts, the latter being always the third best. This gives us the rank of the cards as follows, when the suit is trump:—
| No change. | Highest in red. | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♡ | 5 | J | ♡ | A | K | Q | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||
| ♢ | 5 | J | ♡ | A | ♢ | A | K | Q | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Lowest in black. | |||||||||||||||||
| ♣ | 5 | J | ♡ | A | ♣ | A | K | Q | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| ♠ | 5 | J | ♡ | A | ♠ | A | K | Q | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
COUNTERS. Spoil Five is played with a pool, for which counters are necessary. One player should act as banker, and the others should purchase from him, each beginning with 20 counters. Coins may take the place of counters, shillings being the usual points.
PLAYERS. Any number from 2 to 10 may play; but 5 or 6 is the usual game.
CUTTING. This is unknown at Spoil Five. The players take their seats at random, and one of them deals a card face up to each in succession. The first Jack takes the first deal. Some note should be made of the player who gets the first deal, as the rules require that when the game is brought to an end the last deal shall be made by the player on the right of the first dealer.
THE POOL. Before play begins each player deposits one counter in the pool, and to this amount each successive dealer adds a counter until the pool is won, when all contribute equally to form a new one. In some places it is the practice for each successive dealer to put up for all the players, whether the pool is won or not. This simply makes larger pools.
DEALING. Any player has the right to shuffle the pack, the dealer last. The cards are then presented to the pone to be cut, and as many cards as there are players must be left in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives five cards to each player; two on the first round and three on the next, or three and then two. After all are helped, the next card is turned up on the remainder of the pack, and the suit to which it belongs is the trump for that deal.
MISDEALING. If there is any irregularity in the deal which is not the dealer’s fault, such as any card except the trump found faced in the pack, or the pack found imperfect, the same person deals again. But if the dealer neglects to have the pack cut, or deals too many or too few cards to any player, or exposes a card in dealing, or does not give the same number of cards to each player on the same round, or counts the cards on the table or those remaining in the pack, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes to the next player on the misdealer’s left. In some places the misdealer is allowed to deal again if he forfeits two counters to the pool.