ALL FOURS, SEVEN-UP, OR OLD SLEDGE.
CARDS. Seven-up is played with the full pack of fifty-two cards, which rank A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2; the ace being the highest, both in cutting and in play.
COUNTERS. Each player or side should be provided with seven counters. As the points accrue, these counters are got rid of by placing them in a pool in the centre of the table. By this method a glance will show how many each side or player has “to go,” that is, how many will put him out.
PLAYERS. Two, three or four persons may play. When three play, the game resembles Cut-throat Euchre, each for himself. When four play, two are partners against the other two, and the partners sit opposite each other. The player on the dealer’s left, or his adversary if only two play, is always spoken of as the eldest or elder hand. The one on the dealer’s right is the pone.
CUTTING. If there are four players, they cut for partners, deal, and choice of seats. The two lowest are partners against the two highest; the highest cut has the choice of seats, and deals the first hand. When two or three play, they cut for seats and deal. In cutting, the ace is high. Ties cut again; but the new cut decides nothing but the tie.
STAKES. If there is any stake, it is for so much a game. Rubbers are never played.
DEALING. Each player has the right to shuffle the pack, the dealer last, and the cards are then presented to the pone to be cut. At least four cards must be left in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer gives six cards to each player, three on the first round, and three more on the second round, turning up the next card for the trump, and leaving it on the remainder of the pack. If this card is a Jack, the dealer counts one point for it immediately; but if any player is found to have an incorrect number of cards, and announces it before he plays to the first trick, the Jack cannot be counted, as it could not have been the proper trump.
In Pitch, or Blind All Fours, no trump is turned. The first card led or “pitched” by the eldest hand is the trump suit for that deal.
MISDEALING. If any card is found faced in the pack, or the pack is proved to be imperfect, the same dealer deals again. If he deals without having the cards cut, or gives too many or too few cards to any player, it is a misdeal, and the deal passes to the next player on the misdealer’s left. If the dealer exposes a card, the adversaries may elect to have the deal stand, or to have a new deal by the same dealer. In Pitch, a misdeal does not lose the deal, because the deal is no advantage.
BEGGING. The deal completed, and the trump turned, the eldest hand looks at his cards, the other players leaving theirs untouched. If the eldest hand is not satisfied, he says: I beg; and the dealer, after examining his own hand, has the option of giving him a point or running the cards. If he decides to give the point, he says: Take it, and the eldest hand immediately scores one for the gift. If the dealer will not give, he lays the trump card aside, and deals three more cards to each player, including himself; turning up another trump. Should this be a Jack of another suit, the dealer scores a point for it at once. Should it be of the same suit as that first turned up, the Jack cannot be scored, as the dealer has declined to have that suit for the trump. When the same suit is turned up a second time, the card is laid aside; three more cards are given to each player, another trump is turned, and so on until a different suit comes up for the trump. If the pack is exhausted before another suit turns up, the cards must be bunched, and the same dealer deals again.