Building. A player may have in his hand two cards, the lower of which, if added to a card on the table, would build up its value to that of the higher card still in the player’s hand. For instance: A player holds a 9 and 2, and there is a 7 on the table. He may place the 2 on the 7, announcing the total value; “Nine,” which will notify other players that those two cards cannot be separated; but he cannot take them in until it again comes round to his turn to play, because he is allowed to play only one card at a time, and he has played his card in making the build.
Should any other player following him hold a 9, he would be entitled to take in this build, but he could not separate the two cards forming it. A player holding either a 7 or a 2 could not touch either of the cards in the build, because they are no longer a 7 and 2, but a 9, for all practical purposes.
Increasing Builds. If any player held an Ace and a 10 in his hand, he could increase the 9 build to a 10 build, by putting his Ace on the 7 and 2, and announcing the total value, “Ten.” Any following player would then be unable to win the build with anything but a 10, and the player who originally built it a 9 would lose it unless he also held a 10 in his hand. Should the build remain a 9 until it came round again to the player who originally built it, he could then take it in with his 9, or he might himself increase it to 10, if he had an Ace and a 10 in his hand; but in order to do this the player must have in his hand the cards to win both the original and the increased builds. A player holding in his hand a 10, 3 and 2, but no 8, could not build a 5 on the table to an 8, and afterward advance it to 10. He must have the 2 3 8 and 10 all in his own hand to do this.
Some players imagine that a player cannot increase his own build in this manner, even if he has both the cards for the first and last build; but there is no reason why a player should be denied a privilege which is freely granted to his adversary. If any player can legitimately make or increase a build, all may do so, provided they have the proper cards.
Double Builds. When two cards of the same denomination, or two builds of the same value are put together as one, they cannot be increased. For instance: A player holds 7 and 3, and there are upon the table a 5 2 and 4. He places his 3 on the 4, and gathers the 5 and 2 together, announcing the build as “Two Sevens.” This cannot be increased to 8, 9, or 10 under any circumstances, and nothing but a 7 will win it.
Pairs may be doubled in the same manner. If a player has two Nines in his hand, and there is one on the table, he may build on the latter with one of his own, announcing, “Two Nines,” which will prevent any player from building either of them to 10, and will entitle the builder to take in both cards with his third Nine when it comes round to his turn. Should any other player at the table hold the fourth Nine, he could of course take in the build.
It is necessary to distinguish between building and combining. In combining cards, those already on the table are gathered together; in building, or increasing a build, a card must be played from the hand. If one player has made a build of any description, it cannot be interfered with or increased except by other cards from a player’s hand, those from the table not being available. For instance: One player has built a 5 by combining two Aces on the table with a 3 from his hand. On the table are also a 2 and 4 and a following player holds a 9 and 7. He cannot use the deuce on the table to increase the build from 5 to 7, nor the 4 to increase it to 9; because that would not be building from his hand; but if he held the 4 and 9 in his hand, he could build on the 5.
The simple rule to be remembered is that no combination of cards once announced, and left on the table, can be changed, except by the addition of a card from the hand of some player.
Taking In. Any player who has made a build is obliged either to win it, when it is next his turn to play, or to win something else, or to make another build. For instance: He has built a 5 into a 9 with a 4, and holds another 4; if another 5 appears on the table before it comes to his turn to play, he may build that into a 9 also, with his other 4, announcing, “Two Nines.” Or if some player should lay out a 4 he could pair it and take it in, leaving his 9 build until the next round. In the same way a player may increase or win another player’s build instead of taking in his own. An opponent’s build may be increased by cards from the hand only.
In the four-handed game, partners may take in one another’s builds, or may make builds which can be won by the card declared in the partner’s hand. For instance; One player builds an 8, and his partner holds Little Cassino. If there is a 6 on the table, the Cassino can be built on it, and “two Eights,” called, although the player has no 8 in his own hand; the 8 already built by his partner is sufficient. If a player has built a 9 which has been taken in by an adversary, he still holding the 9 he built for, his partner may build for the declared 9 in the same way.