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Our Regency Era Parlour Room
Quadrille
Description by David Parlett based on "Q. Quanti" (1822)
Players.
Four. Each plays for herself in the long run, but temporary alliances may be formed from deal to deal. The turn to deal, the dealing itself, and all the play of tricks, rotate from left to right. Dealer's right-hand neighbour is the "eldest" hand and dealer "youngest".
Cards.
40, consisting of AKQJ765432 in each suit. (Omit ranks 10, 9, 8.)
Hard score.
Each player starts with a number of chips or counters of her own distinctive colour. Surprisingly, Quanti omits to say how many, probably because regular players could purchase proprietary boxes of Quadrille counters in various denominations, so they knew there would be enough of each sort without having to know exactly how many were "enough". The 1752 French book mentioned above specifies each player's full complement as consisting of 10 jettons (counters, small and round), 19 fiches (fish, so called from their shape), and 5 mils or contrats (large and oblong). As each denomination is 10 times higher than the one below, this brought the total to the equivalent of 700 unitary counters. (Per person! No wonder they needed a basket to hold them all in, as illustrated here.)
Structure.
A game is forty deals, or any other multiple of four as agreed in advance.
Deal.
Before each deal, each player stakes one chip to the pool. (Or the dealer stakes four, if preferred.) Deal 10 cards each, face down, in batches of 4-3-3, 3-4-3, or 3-3-4.
Rank of cards.
The ranking order of cards varies as between red and black suits, and as between trumps and plain suits.
The top three trumps are called Matadors and always consist of:
1. Ace, called Spadille
2. The nominally lowest trump (black 2, red 7), called Manille
3. Ace, called Basto.
In a red trump suit the fourth highest is its Ace, called Punto, but it is not a matador. Matadors have special privileges in the play of tricks, as will be explained later.
The trick-taking power of cards,from highest to lowest in each suit, is as follows:
in black trumps: spadille, manille (2), basto, K Q J 7 6 5 4 3
in non-trump black suits: K Q J 7 6 5 4 3 2
in red trumps: spadille, manille (7), basto, punto (A), K Q J 2 3 4 5 6
in non-trump red suits: K Q J 2 3 4 5 6 7
Auction.
Whoever bids highest becomes the soloist, and is designated Hombre. Each in turn, beginning with Eldest hand, may bid or pass. Passing prohibits you from bidding again. The simplest form of the game has only three bids, from lowest to highest:
1. Alliance (announced as "Beg" or "Propose" or "Ask leave"). A bid to win at least six tricks after naming trumps and calling as an ally the holder of a specific King.
2. Solo (or sans prendre). A bid to win at least six tricks after naming trumps and playing alone against the other three.
3. The vole (or slam). As solo, but also undertaking to win all 10 tricks.
A solo overcalls an alliance, but an elder player (one closer to the dealer's right) who bids an alliance may, if overcalled, raise her bid to a solo and so become Hombre by virtue of positional priority.
It is worth noting that, if you play a solo, you can raise your bid to a vole after winning the first six tricks. Therefore, you needn't bid it in advance unless (a) you need to overcall an earlier player's bid of solo, or (b) your vole is absolutely unbeatable, in which case it is worth bidding now because it earns more than if undertaken later. If anyone does bid the vole, every player, including the bidder, must immediately pay three chips into a new pool, consisting of 12 in all, which is to be kept separate from the main stake or pool.
If playing solo, Hombre announces the trump suit and play begins.
If playing alliance, she names trumps and nominates the King of any non-trump suit lacking from her own hand. If (and only if) she holds all three Kings (Note 1) she calls a Queen instead. The holder of the called card automatically becomes the other partner, but says nothing. The partnership may only be revealed when the called card is played to a trick, or when its holder makes some other play that obviously favours the caller. Hombre may call a King she holds herself, whether by mistake or as a bluff. In this case she will, in effect, be playing a solo (secretly), and wins or loses accordingly.
If everyone passes, the game is Forced Spadille. Whoever holds A must play an alliance by calling a King, or a Queen if she holds four Kings. In this case, however, she may (but need not) invite her partner to nominate trumps (Note 2).
Play.
Eldest leads first. Players must follow suit if possible (except when reneging - see below), otherwise may play any card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are played, and the winner of each trick leads to the next.
Reneging.
A player holding a matador need not play it to a trump lead, but may, if lacking lower trumps, instead renege by playing from another suit. However, the lead of a higher matador forces the play of a lower one if its holder has no alternative. For example, if Spadille is led, the holder of Manille or Basto must play it if she has no other trump. Similarly, Manille forces the play of Basto if there is no alternative. Spadille itself, being the highest cannot be forced. Note that forcing applies only if the higher matador is led to the trick, not if played second or third.
Premiers and the vole.
If Hombre in a Solo bid wins the first six tricks straight off, she gains a bonus for "premiers", and may claim her winnings without further play. If, however, she leads to the seventh trick, this automatically raises her bid to the vole. In this event, everyone including Hombre must immediately pay three chips into a new pool, consisting of 12 in all, which is to be kept separate from the main stake or pool. If she then subsequently loses a trick this stake will go to the opponents, but she will still be paid for winning the game and the premiers.
In an alliance, the same rule applies to the partnership if they take the first six between them. Obviously, they must agree whether or not to do so, but they are not allowed to give each other any information as to their cards or likelihood of success. Whoever is on lead should merely say "May I?", and her ally reply merely "Yes" or "No". If after six tricks Hombre does not yet know who her ally is, the latter will naturally reveal herself by either asking or answering that question.
In a Forced Spadille, the vole may not be specifically undertaken and there is no extra payment for winning it. (This presumably also precludes payment for premiers, but none of my sources addresses this point.)
Pay-off for won solo.
Hombre sweeps the pool, plus that for the vole if she won every trick, and receives from each opponent whichever of the following additional payments may apply. (A unit means one quarter of the stake. The stake may be greater than four chips, as it is carried forward when a game is lost.)
For the solo : 4 units
Matadors (3 in Hombre's hand) : 1 unit
Double matadors (3 plus Punto) : 2 units
Premiers (first 6 tricks) : 1 unit
Vole (all 10 tricks) : 2 units
(Note: "Matadors" are paid when Hombre originally held Spadille, Manille, and Basto. Double matadors, for the additional holding of Punto, is of course possible only when a red suit was trump.)
Pay-off for won alliance or forced Spadille.
The stake is divided equally between the allies, who also receive from the opponents, one to one, any of the relevant bonuses listed above. In this case payment for matadors may be for three or four held between the allies, not necessarily in one hand.
Penalties for a lost game.
In a solo, Hombre pays each of the three opponents. In an alliance or Forced Spadille, Hombre pays the appropriate amount to one opponent, and her ally to the other. But there is an exception that applies to an Alliance (though not to a Forced Spadille), namely, that Hombre is obliged to win at least three tricks, and if she fails to do so must alone pay the two opponents on behalf of herself and her ally. This is because the latter was an involuntary partner and could not reasonably have been expected to contribute more than two (Note 3).
There are two degrees of loss. If Hombre wins only five tricks, it is a remise; if four or fewer, it is a codille.
For loss by remise, Hombre doubles the stake - which is carried forward to the next deal - and pays to each opponent the premium for a solo (if applicable) and for any matadors she may have held (either alone or with an ally.)
For loss by codille, Hombre's two or three opponents themselves sweep the pool and divide it between them - unless there are three opponents and the stake is not exactly divisible by three, when it is left in place and carried forward. Hombre then contributes to the pool for the next deal twice the amount that was just taken, and pays to each opponent the amount she would otherwise have received from them (if applicable) for the premium, matadors and the vole undertaken.
Penalties for a lost vole.
A vole undertaken after six tricks, if lost, does not bar Hombre from winning the game stake, the payment for premiers, and any payment for matadors. The stake for the vole itself is taken in equal proportions by her opponents.
For a lost vole announced (i.e. bid in the auction, as opposed to undertaken after winning premiers), Hombre neither wins the game stake nor doubles it, but leaves it to be carried forward to the next deal. Nor does she pay her opponents anything more than the premium of the vole - provided, however, that she won at least six tricks. If she fails even to take six tricks, however, she does pay a remise to the pool (i.e. doubles it) as well as whatever other payments are due for a lost solo. The stake for the vole itself is taken in equal proportions by her opponents.
Notes
1. The sources usually say "four Kings", but this conflicts with the rule that you may not call the King of trumps. Perhaps you may in fact call the trump King if it is the only one you haven't got.
2. Sources do not remark on the conflict of this rule with that forbidding partner's self-declaration. But it makes for an elegant dilemma that the caller should either name trumps, or know her partner immediately, but not both.
3. Quanti argues at length against this rule and reasoning, and proposes an alternative based on whether or not the ally held certain combinations of Kings and matadors.
Three-Card Loo
Description by David Parlett based on "Captain Crawley"(1870)
Players
Up to 17 can play, but Crawley recommends five, six or seven.
Equipment
The cards are 52, ranking AKQJ1098765432 in each suit. Everyone starts with an equal number of chips or counters.
Deal
Whoever cuts the lowest card (Ace low) deals first. The turn to deal and play passes always to the left. The dealer stakes three to the pool. A three-chip pool is a 'single'. When it contains more, left over from the previous deal, it is a 'double'. Deal to each player, and to a spare hand called 'Miss', three cards one at a time. Stack the rest face down and turn the next for trump.
Object
To win at least one trick. A player who takes part and wins none is 'looed', and has to increase the pool.
Announcements
Each in turn announces whether they will play or throw their hand in. Anyone offering to play may exchange their hand for Miss, sight unseen, but may not then drop out or change it back. Only the first player to claim this privilege, starting from the dealer's left-hand neighbour, may exercise it.
If all pass, the dealer wins the pool.
If one exchanges and the others all pass, the exchanger wins the pool.
If just one player before the dealer plays, and does so without exchanging, the dealer may not pass but has a choice of play. He may either play for himself (with or without exchanging), or elect to 'defend Miss'. In this case he still plays, but neither wins nor loses anything. Only the other player wins from or loses to the pool, according to the result.
Play
Eldest hand leads to the first trick, and must lead the trump Ace if held, or the trump King if the turn-up is an Ace. If not, he must still lead a trump if he has more than one, and it must be his highest if he is playing against only one opponent. You must follow suit and head the trick if you can; if unable to follow you must trump and overtrump if you can; and only otherwise may you discard as you please. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump if any are played. The winner of each trick leads to the next, and must lead a trump if held.
Pay-off
Each trick taken earns its winner one third of the pool. A player who is looed pays three to the pool, which is then carried forward as a 'double'.
Optional rules
When the pool is a single, nobody may pass. In Unlimited Loo, one who is looed (a looee? a loonie? or even - in French - a Louis d'or) pays the amount the pool contained at the start of that deal. This is where it starts to mount up.
Loo Notes:
1. Eldest hand is the dealer's left-hand neighbour.
2. To head the trick is to play a higher card of the suit led than any so far played to the trick. Combined with the requirement to trump if unable to follow suit, this means in effect that you must win the trick if you legally can.
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