METHOD OF PLAYING. The pone takes up and examines his nine cards. If he finds himself without King, Queen or Jack of any suit, he immediately shows his hand to the dealer, and marks fifty points for carte blanche. Whether he has carte blanche or not, he begins the play by leading any card he pleases. If the dealer has carte blanche, he must show and score it before playing to the first trick. Players are not obliged to follow suit, nor to trump; but may renounce or trump at pleasure until the stock is exhausted, after which the method of play undergoes a change. Until the first marriage is declared and scored there is no trump suit. If the second player in any trick follows suit, the higher card wins. Trumps win plain suits. If identical cards are played to the same trick, such as two club aces, the leader wins.
The tricks are left face upward on the table until an ace or Ten is played, for tricks not containing either of these cards are of no value. When an ace or Ten is played, the winner of the trick gathers in all the cards that have accumulated, and turns them face down in front of him. These counting cards are called brisques, and if a player neglects to gather the brisques he wins, his adversary may do so when next he wins a trick, whether the trick he wins contains a brisque or not; the fact that there is a brisque on the table is sufficient.
Declaring. The winner of any trick, before leading for the next trick, has the privilege of announcing and scoring any one of certain combinations that he may hold in his hand. After, or in the absence of any such announcement, and before leading for the next trick, he draws one card from the top of the stock, and places it in his hand, without showing or naming it. His adversary then draws the next card, so that each restores the number of cards in his hand to nine. This method of playing, announcing, and drawing is continued until the stock is exhausted.
If a player who has already announced carte blanche finds that the first card he draws from the stock is not a King, Queen or Jack, he shows it to his adversary, and scores another fifty points for another carte blanche. This may be continued until he draws one of those cards. Carte blanche cannot be scored at all unless held before a card is played; that is, it must be dealt to the player originally.
All combinations announced and scored must be left face upward on the table, but the cards still form part of the player’s hand, and may be led or played at any time, although they must not again be taken in hand until the stock is exhausted.
The first marriage announced and scored, no matter by which player, makes the trump suit for that deal; but a player with a marriage on the table is not obliged to announce it if he does not wish to make that suit the trump.
Irregularities in Play. If a player leads out of turn, and his adversary plays to the lead, whether intentionally or otherwise, the trick stands good. If the adversary calls attention to the error, the card led out of turn may be taken back without penalty.
If, after playing to the first trick, one player is found to have more than his right number of cards, the English rules say that the game is to be immediately abandoned, and the adversary of the player in error is to add 1300 points to his score at the time the error is discovered, together with all the points already scored by the player in error; but the latter amount must not exceed 900.
The same penalties are enforced if one player has too many cards and the other too few; but in the latter case the hand is played out, the player not in fault scoring all he can.
If both players have more than their right number of cards, the deal is void. If either has less than his proper number, his adversary having the right number, the deal stands good, and there is no penalty except that the player with the right number of cards wins and scores for the last trick. If both have less than the right number, the deal stands good, and the actual winner of the last trick scores it.