CASSINO.
This is a very old and always popular game, which has lately been much improved by the introduction of the variations known as Royal and Spade Cassino, the latter especially being a very lively game. Like Euchre, Cassino is eminently respectable, and is one of the few games of cards that are unhesitatingly admitted to the domestic circle.
Cards. Cassino is played with a full pack of fifty-two cards, which have no rank in play, their pip or face value being the only element of importance. In cutting for positions at the table, or for partners in the four-handed game, the Ace is the lowest card, the others ranking upward to the King in the order of their sequence.
Markers. When a certain number of points is agreed on as a game, the score may be kept with counters, on a sheet of paper, or on a cribbage board. If each hand is a game in itself, it is settled for immediately, either in counters or in money.
Players. Any number from two to four may play, each for himself, or four may play two against two, partners sitting opposite each other. The players on the dealer’s right and left are known as the pone, and the eldest hand respectively.
Cutting. The players draw from an outspread pack for positions at the table, the lowest card having the choice and dealing the first hand. If the first cut does not decide, those tying must cut again. If a player exposes more than one card he must cut again. The ace is low.
Stakes. Cassino may be played for so much a game, or so much a point; and it may be agreed that the game shall be a certain number of points, or shall be complete in one deal, or that the player making the majority of points on each deal shall score one, and the one first making a certain number in this manner, such as five, shall be the winner. If points are played for, the lower score is usually deducted from the higher, and the difference is the value of the game. It is sometimes agreed that if the winner has twice as many points as his adversary, he shall be paid for a double game.
Dealing. After the cards have been properly shuffled they must be presented to the pone to be cut, and he must leave at least four in each packet. Beginning on his left, the dealer distributes four cards to each player in two rounds of two at a time, giving two to the table just before helping himself in each round. No trump is turned, and the remainder of the pack is left face downward on the dealer’s left. The four cards dealt to the table are then turned face up, and the play begins. After the four cards given to each person have all been played, the dealer takes up the remainder of the pack, and without any further shuffling or cutting, deals four more cards to each player, two at a time, but gives none to the table. These four having been played, four more are dealt in the same manner, and so on, until the pack is exhausted, after which the deal passes to the left in regular rotation.
Irregularities in the Deal. If the pack is proved to be imperfect, or if a card is found faced in the pack there must be a fresh deal by the same dealer. If a player deals out of turn, he must be stopped before the cards on the table are turned face upward.
A misdeal loses the deal. It is a misdeal if the pack has not been cut, or if the cards are shuffled after the pack has been properly cut; or if the dealer deals a card incorrectly, and fails to remedy it before dealing to the next player; or if he deals too many or too few cards to any player or to the table.