Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/642

620 ÉCARTE (French, écarté, separated, discarded), a game at cards, of modern origin, probably first played in the Paris saloiis, in the first quarter of the 19th century. It is a development of a very old card game called la triomphe, or French-ruff (Academic des Jeux, various editions ; Cotton and Seymour, Compleat Gamester, various editions; and Paul Boiteau D Ambly, Les Cartes a jouer, Paris, Hachette, 1854). Ecarte&quot; is generally played by two persons, but a pool of three may be formed, the player who is out taking the place of the loser, and the winner of two consecutive games winning the pool. At French ecarte (but not at English) bystanders who are betting may advise the players, by pointing to the cards they desire them to play, and the loser of the game goes out and one of the rentrants takes his place, unless the loser is playing la chouette (i.e., taking all the bets that are offered), when he does not have to resign his seat if he loses. A pack of cards is used from which the small cards (from the two to the six both inclusive) are removed. The players cut for deal, the highest having the choice. The dealer gives five cards to his adversary and five to himself, by two at a time to each and by three at a time to each, or vice versa. The eleventh card is turned up for trumps. If it is a king, the dealer scores one. The non-dealer then looks at his cards If satisfied with them he plays, and there is no discarding ; if not satisfied he proposes. The dealer may either accept or refuse. If he accepts each player discards face downwards as many cards as he thinks fit, and fresh ones are given from the undealt cards or stock, first to complete the non-dealer s hand to five, then to complete the dealer s. Similarly, a second proposal may be made, and so on, until one player is satisfied with his hand. If the dealer refuses the hand is played without discarding. If the non-dealer announces that he holds the king of trumps, he scores one ; and similarly, if the dealer holds the king and announces it, he scores one. The non-dealer, being satisfied with his hand, leads a card. The dealer plays a card to it, the two cards thus played forming a trick. The winner of the trick leads to the next, and so on. The highest card of the suit led wins, the cards ranking king (highest), queen, knave, ace, ten, nine, eight, seven. Trumps win other suits. The second to play to a trick must follow suit if able, and must win the trick if he can, whether by trumping or otherwise. The scores are for the king (as already explained), and for the majority of tricks. The player who wins three tricks scores one for the point; if he wins all five tricks, he scorns two for the vole. If the non-dealer plays without proposing, or the dealer refuses the first proposal, and fails to win three tricks, the adversary scores two, but no more even if he wins the vole. The game is five up.

—The following hints, which merely touch on the elements of the play, may be of service to beginners:—

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