METHOD OF PLAYING. The player on the dealer’s left begins by leading any card he chooses, and the others must all follow suit if they can. Failure to follow suit when able is called revoking; the penalty for which, under the American laws, is the loss of two tricks; under the English laws, three tricks or points. Any player having none of the suit led may either trump it or throw away a card of another suit, which is called discarding. When it is the dealer’s turn to play to the first trick, he should take the trump card into his hand. After it has been taken up it must not be named, and any player naming it is subject to a penalty, (see Laws;) but a player may ask what the trump suit is. If all follow suit, the highest card played wins the trick; trumps win against all other suits, and a higher trump wins a lower. The winner of the trick may lead any card he pleases for the next trick, and so on until all thirteen tricks have been played.
Cards Played in Error, or dropped face upward on the table, or two or more played at once, are called exposed cards, and must be left on the table. They can be called by the adversaries; but the fact of their being exposed does not prevent their being played when the opportunity offers. Some persons imagine that the adversaries can prevent an exposed card from being played; but such is not the case.
Leading out of Turn. Should a player lead out of turn, the adversaries may call a suit from the player in error, or from his partner, when it is next the turn of either of them to lead. American laws require the call to be made by the player on the right of the one from whom the suit is called. The English laws give the adversaries the option of calling the card played in error an exposed card. If all have played to the trick before discovering the error, it cannot be rectified; but if all have not played, those who have followed the false lead must take back their cards, which are not, however, liable to be called.
Revoking Players cannot win the game that hand, no matter what they score; but they may play the hand out, and score all points they make to within one point of game.
Any player may ask the others to draw cards in any trick, provided he does so before they are touched for the purpose of gathering them. In answer to this demand, each player should indicate which of the cards on the table he played.
In the English game, any player may look at the last trick turned and quitted; in the American he may not.
Taking Tricks. As the tricks are taken, they should be neatly laid one upon the other in such a manner that any player at the table can count them at a glance. There are several methods of stacking tricks; the first shown being probably the best.
When six have been taken by one side they are usually gathered together to form a book; any subsequently taken being laid apart, as they are the only ones that count. It is customary for the partner of the player winning the first trick on each side to gather the tricks for that deal. In some places it is the custom for the partner of the winner of each trick to gather it, so that at the end of the hand each player has tricks in front of him. Although this method saves time, the practice is not to be recommended, as it hinders the players in counting the tricks already gained by each side.