Don’t think you can sandpaper a ball without injuring it. It takes an expert mechanic to true up a lignum-vitæ ball.
Don’t lay a lignum-vitæ ball away DRY, if you don’t want it to crack.
GENERAL LAWS, FOR ALL CARD GAMES.
Very few games have their own code of laws, and only one or two of these have the stamp of any recognised authority. In minor games, questions are continually arising which could be easily settled if the players were familiar with a few general principles which are common to the laws of all games, and which might be considered as the basis of a general code of card laws. The most important of these principles are as follows:—
Players. It is generally taken for granted that those first in the room have the preference, but if more than the necessary number assemble, the selection must be made by cutting. A second cut will then be required to decide the partnerships, if any, and the positions at the table, the latter being important only in games in which the deal, or some given position at the table, is an advantage or the reverse. The usual method of cutting is to spread the cards face downward on the table, each player drawing one. In some games the cards are thrown round by one of the players.
Shuffling, Cutting and Dealing. In all games in which the cards are shuffled at all, each player has the right to shuffle, the dealer last. In English speaking countries the cards are always cut by the player on the dealer’s right, who is called the “pone.” In cutting to the dealer in any game there must be as many cards left in each packet as will form a trick; or, if the game is not one of tricks, as many cards as there will be in any player’s hand; four, for instance, at Whist, and five at Poker. The cards are always distributed to each player in rotation from left to right, and each must receive the same number of cards in the same round. In games in which the cards are dealt by two and threes, for instance, it is illegal to give one player two and another three in the same round.
Misdeals. In all games in which the deal is an advantage, a misdeal loses the deal; but in all games in which the deal is a disadvantage, or some position is more advantageous than that of the dealer, such as the “age” at Poker, a misdeal does not lose the deal. The only exception to this rule is in Bridge, in which there are no misdeals, and Cribbage, which has a fixed penalty.