Conduct of the game

Shuffling

The pack should be thoroughly shuffled after every hand. Owing to the nature of the game,cards of the same suit are often played together.Thus : A has a sixième major in spades; B, a sixième minor in hearts. A puts down his sixième, and says, "Play six cards." B has no spade, and plays his sixième minor. A then, seeing he cannot win another trick, lays down the remainder of his sorted hand; on these cards B places the remainder of his sorted hand. Each scores seven in play. If the cards are now taken up together and are not well shuffled, the consequence will be that,when this pack is dealt again, the sixièmes will be pretty equally divided between the players, and the cards in the stock will run in suits; or if the pack is so cut that one of the sixièmes is at or near the bottom, those cards will form the major part of the stock. Even if the cards are moderately shuffled,the cards will have a tendency to keep together in suits, as any one may convince himself by giving an ordinary shuffle to a sorted pack, and then turning it face upwards.

Dealing

The player who cuts the higher card should elect to deal. There is a slight advantage in having the first deal. The player who deals first is elder hand in the last deal of the partie, and is therefore the attacking hand when he has the best opportunity of discarding, or of playing, to the score.

Management of the stock

After dealing, count the cards in the stock (and see Laws 10, 11, 12, 39, 40, 41, 42, and 43). Place the stock face downwards on the table, in one packet (Law 9). Some dealers separate the stock into packets of three and five. The elder hand should always object to this, as, if he takes up a card he is not entitled to see (which he might readily do if the packets happen to be separated wrongly), he can reckon nothing that deal.

Taking up the hand

On taking up your hand, count that it contains the right number of cards; if not, announce the fact (and see Laws 11, 38, 39), While counting and sorting your cards, look for carte blanche.

Your next step is to decide on your discard. (See Discarding)

Taking in

Having discarded, you proceed to take in.When taking in, always count that you leave the full number of cards for the younger hand, the penalty for mixing one of his cards with your hand being that you can reckon nothing that deal; and this even if there is an erroneous deal,and there are not the right number of cards in the stock. The best method is to draw the stock towards you, at the same time spreading it slightly, when you can easily count the stock before taking up a card.

The younger hand, before taking in, should also count that the proper number of cards are left in the stock; if too many are left, and the younger hand mixes one of his opponent's cards with his hand, he can reckon nothing that deal.

Calling and showing

Before calling your hand, you should ascertain what remains good against you, or what there is equal. If necessary, examine your discard for this purpose.

When a point or sequence is called, which is good or equal, it is a safe plan, especially for novices, to show it; because a player who voluntarily shows anything, which he claims to be good or equal, is liable to no penalty for miscalling (Law 55).

If you are not in the habit of showing what you call, and have put out a card of your point, which is nevertheless allowed to be good or equal, and the absent card may make a difference to your adversary in playing the cards, you should inform him of the value of the card you do not call. For example: You are younger hand, and have discarded the king of spades. You have taken in spades, and your point, which is good, is ace,knave, ten, eight of spades. When calling the point, you should say "Thirty-nine in spades, and I do not reckon the king". Your adversary will then know, as he is entitled to know, and as he could know if he asked to see your point, that he need only keep one guard to his queen when playing the cards.

You would be equally entitled not to reckon the king, if you had it in hand, and wished to conceal your strength, in hopes of persuading your opponent to unguard his queen when playing the cards. But as calling without showing draws special attention to the absence of the king, it seems preferable always to show your point, and to say nothing about what you do not reckon. In the case supposed, put ace, knave, ten, eight of spades on the table, and say, "Good for four", and let your adversary think what he pleases about the king.

As a matter of etiquette, if, under such circumstances, you do not show your point, and do not announce that the king is out, your adversary would have just cause of complaint at not being informed. If he is misled by your ignorance of this point of etiquette, the only reparation you can make is to offer to play the cards again.

If you have, or might have, two points of the same counting value, it is also your duty to declare which of them you claim as good or equal Thus : You have king, queen, ten, eight of one suit, and might have ace, queen, ten, seven of another. If thirty-eight is good or equal, you should say, "In spades", or "In hearts", or as the case may be, without waiting to be asked in which suit your point is. If younger hand, you need not announce the suit until the elder has led a card.

Similar observations apply to sequences and trios.

If you call a trio, allowed to be good, when you might hold a quatorze of the same rank, as three kings when you might hold four, you should state which king you do not reckon,e.g. "Three kings, not reckoning the king of diamonds". Many players omit to say which card of a quatorze they do not reckon, and wait to be asked. In that case, you should enquire which card of the quatorze your adversary does not reckon; but you should not put the question until he has played a card (see also, Case IV.).

The question should be in this form, "Which do you not reckon ?". You must not assume that a card is out merely because it is not called;and your adversary is not bound to admit that he has not called a card (whether by inadvertence or design) which he holds in his hand.

If the question is put in another form, e.g. "Which king have you put out ?" and the adversary has not put out a king, but holds four, having called three, he is entitled to reply, "I do not reckon the king of spades", or of the suit in which he deems it best to conceal the king from you. Or, he may simply answer, "King of spades". In giving this answer, he assumes, as he is entitled to do, that you have asked him the regular question. He leaves it doubtful whether he has a king out or not; and all Piquet players understand his reply in that sense (see Case XVI.).

Many players have a habit of referring to the discard while the hand is being called. It is better to avoid this, as, by your consulting the discard, a shrewd adversary may gain a clue to a card you have rejected, or may be reminded of a miscall. Thus, he calls three queens, and you, having no queen in hand, immediately look at your discard. If you find a queen there, your opponent will probably conclude that you were looking for the fourth queen; if you do not find a queen there, and there has been a miscall, your adversary is reminded that he might have four queens, while he is in time to rectify his error.

Playing the cards

During the play of the cards, the opponent is entitled to be informed as to all the cards you have in hand, which have been reckoned as good or called as equal.

The question is usually put in this way, "How many of your point ?" or, "How many of your quint?" or as the case may be. Sometimes, however, it takes this form, "How many clubs?" or as the case may be.

Suppose you hold three clubs, and have only called two of them. You are entitled to reply, "Two that I have called", or, "Two of my quint", or simply, "Two". This is understood by all Piquet players as leaving it doubtful whether you have a third club, and not necessarily that you have discarded one. The information should be only as to cards called for the purpose of scoring, or of preventing an adverse score. The enquirer is bound in effect to say "How many of so and so have you that you have called ?" (See Cases XV and XVI)

It is disputed whether a player, who has the wrong number of cards in hand, may cover his mistake by intentionally playing too many or too few to his adversary's lead. In strictness, the cards should be played one by one; but, for the sake of convenience the leader frequently puts down a number of winning cards together. If, on doing this, he says " Keep three (or four) cards", or as the case may be, it seems only reasonable that the second to play should be at liberty to do as he is bid, and to keep the number specified. He is not bound to count the cards led by his adversary, with whom the initial irregularity rests. But, if the second to play is told to play so many cards, the case is different, and he ought not knowingly to play any other number. He must then submit to the consequences of his blunder. Some players think that even in the first instance, the wrong number of cards should not be played with intention. This is a question of ethics, which can only be decided by the custom of the card table. No rule has ever been laid down. It is believed, after consultation with several players of repute,that the general custom is as here stated. The leader can always protect himself by counting the cards played.

Another undecided point in playing the cards, which often occurs, is this: At the end of a hand the leader says "All the others are yours". As a matter of fact, they are not yours, you having discarded a winning card. What is your proper course?

In the opinion of players well qualified to judge, you should make no reply to such an observation. If your adversary then proceeds to play his cards, you must play to them in the usual way, and let him win such tricks as he can. If he throws down his hand, and you have discarded a winning card, and therefore cannot win the remaining tricks, you should request him to play the cards one by one. Such a request is, no doubt, equivalent to informing your adversary that you have a winning card out, and the consequence may be somewhat disastrous to you. This is a misfortune which cannot be helped.

Scoring

During the calling and the play of the hand, always keep in mind your adversary's score as well as your own, as, even among the most honourable players, mistakes sometimes occur. If you observe that your adversary is reckoning too much, correct him at once.

After the play of the cards, call both your own and your adversary's scores aloud as you record them; your adversary should do the same,or should admit your call to be correct.

At the end of the partie, similarly compare the total before entering it on your scoring card (and see Law 74).