1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Piquet

PIQUET, a game at cards, probably a development of ronfa, a game mentioned by Berni in 1526; la ronfle (included in Rabelais's list, c. 1530) may be regarded as the same game. The point at piquet was anciently called ronfle. The Spanish name of the game was cientos (centum, a hundred). Piquet was played in England under the name of cent, or sant, probably as early as 1550 (contemporaneously with the marriage of Mary to Philip of Spain). About the middle of the 17th century (shortly after the marriage of Charles I. to Henrietta Maria of France) the name cent was dropped in England, and the French equivalent, piquet, adopted. It is played by two persons, with a pack of thirty-two cards—the sixes, fives, fours, threes and twos being thrown out from a complete pack. At one time the partie was the best of five games of a hundred up (a player not obtaining fifty losing a double game). But now the partie is generally determined in six hands, the player making the largest aggregate score being the winner. The number of points won is the difference between the two scores, with a hundred added for the game. If, however, the loser fails to make a hundred in six hands, the number of points won is the sum of the two scores, with a hundred for the game. Piquet played in this way is called Rubicon Piquet.