Game
Four play, each for himself in the long run, though temporary alliances may be formed from deal to deal. Each should start with an equal number of counters, but never fewer than forty. A 40-card pack is used and cards rank K Q J 7 6 5 4 3 2 in ♠ and ♣ and A K Q J 2 3 4 5 6 7 in ♥ and ♦. The current trump suit, however, has certain peculiarities. The highest trumps ranks downwards and bear names as follows:
- Spadille, ♠A
- Manille, the nominally lowest trump (2♠ ♣ and 7♥ ♦)
- Basto, ♣A
They are called "matadors" and have special powers in play. When a black suit is trump, the fourth highest trump is the King, and so downwards to the 3 (2 being Manille). When a red suit is trump, the fourth highest trump is the Ace, called Punto or Ponto, but it is not considered a matador, and so downwards to the 6 (7 being Manille).
Read more about this topic: Quadrille (card Game)
Famous quotes containing the word game:
“My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly say “I do not play bridge” is allowed to go over in the corner and run the pianola by himself, while the poor neophyte, no matter how much he may protest that he isn’t “at all a good player, in fact I’m perfectly rotten,” is never believed, but dragged into a game where it is discovered, too late, that he spoke the truth.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as most people, being always excited; women, wine, fame, the table, even ambition, sate now & then, but every turn of the card & cast of the dice keeps the gambler alive—besides one can game ten times longer than one can do any thing else.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“He may travel who can subsist on the wild fruits and game of the most cultivated country.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)