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Card Table ProcedureCard play takes place against a backdrop of long established ritual, of traditional procedures, which should be observed for two main reasons. First, they are all rooted in the practical necessity of preventing any player from gaining over her opponents an unfair advantage due to anything other than the lie of the cards and the extent of her skill. Second, their observance is a sign of civility, a gesture to the effect that the player agrees to subordinate her personal interests to those of the group in which she is playing. |
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Players, Partners and Positions Many card games are played by four players in two partnerships of two each, partners sitting opposite each other so as to play alternately instead of consecutively. If partnerships are to be determined at random, it is customary to spread the pack face down across the table and for each to draw one card. Those drawing the two highest ranks become partners against the other two, the one with the highest having choice of seats and the privilege of dealing first. Tied players draw again. When there are not partnerships, the same system is used to determine seats and first deal. The importance of seating may be regarded as a hangover from more superstitious times, in which hard-bitten gamblers still tend to live. In a Dublin bedsit, it is quite useful in determining who gets the only comfy chair. |
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Order The order in which cards are dealt around the table, in which the participants take turns to play, and in which the deal passes from person to person, is normally clockwise (to the left). In games of Spanish, Italian and south Germanic origin it is normally anti-clockwise. The person who comes next after the dealer (i.e., who sits at her left in clockwise games, her right otherwise) is called the eldest (hand) or forehand . In nearly all games it is eldest who leads to the first trick, or otherwise makes the first move, or has priority of some sort over everybody else, and the dealer herself who comes last or has least priority. |
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Game It is important to establish at the outset what constitutes 'game' - that is, at what point play ceases and the group breaks up. In many games this is a part of the rules, which may specify that each deal is a separate event, of that the game ends when one player reaches a target score. If not playing to a target score it is desirable for all players to have dealt the same number of times in order to equalise the advantages of position. In Five Hundred, the target is 500 points for a player or partnership. |
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The Shuffle The purpose of shuffling is to ensure that cards are randomised before being dealt, as the act of playing tends to put them in order. Perfect random is impossible to achieve in a short time, but that is not the point: the object is merely to prevent anyone from memorising the location of any particular card. In any game involving melds or other combinations, especially Rummy or Poker, more thorough shuffling is required than in others. Shuffling cannot be taught in words; it can only be copied from watching others. The rules of shuffling are that any one or more players may shuffle if they wish, but the dealer is entitled to shuffle last. |
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The Cut After shuffling, but before dealing, the dealer should offer the pack to the player on her other side from eldest, by placing it face down on the table before her. This player may then (but is not obliged to) cut the pack by lifting off the top half of the pack and placing it beside the bottom half. Dealer then completes the cut by placing the bottom half on top of the former top half. The purpose of this ritual is to ensure the burial of the former bottom card of the pack, which may have inadvertently become visible during the shuffle. |
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The Deal Cards are dealt from the top of the pack downwards, face down to each player unless otherwise stated, the first to eldest, the second to the player after her, and so on, dealer herself normally receiving the last card of each round. In some games, cards are dealt not one at a time but in batches of two or more at a time to each player, as in Five Hundred. It is bad manners to start picking one's cards up before the deal is complete. |
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Irregularities in the Deal Any irregularity in the deal, such as cards being dealt in the wrong order or the wrong number, or being exposed or even dropped on the floor, must if demanded by at least one player who as not yet picked up her cards, be rectified by gathering the cards in, re-shuffling and re-dealing by the same dealer. This is a recommendation. |
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Play Habits during the play which mark a player as ignorant and uncivilised include saying anything which is not necessary and to the point of the game; saying anything that is necessary in a manner or tone of voice, or with a gesture, which conveys more than it should, especially to a partner; handling or playing cards to the same effect; playing too fast or too slow, especially with signs anguish or excessive deliberation; criticising or questioning another person's play, especially a partner's; foretelling the next cards to be played; and, at the end, explaining how one's success was due to brilliance or failure to bad luck. |
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Irregularities in the Play An irregularity is a move counter to the rules of the game, such as playing out of turn or revoking. The basic principle is that nobody should derive unfair advantage from an irregularity (like the exposure of a wrong card to a partner). Ways of dealing with such irregularities must be left to consensus and common sense. |
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Cheating This interesting subject can only be mentioned in passing. To be effective, cheating must be carried out by a dedicated expert, who will normally either have doctored the pack in some way or be working with the aid of a secret partner - not necessarily one participating in the game. When playing with strangers or Australians for money, assume all persons guilty, until proven innocent, but make no accusations in case you are wrong. If in doubt just make an excuse and leave. |
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Kibitzers Deriving from the German word for 'peewits', possibly because of their twittering, kibitzers are onlookers who tend to offer unwanted advice (dictionary definition). Kibitzers by law should sit down, keep quiet, not fidget, and refrain from distracting or encouraging the players. If problems persist, kibitzers should be set menial tasks to complete, like ordering the next round of drinks, making the tea, or putting out the rubbish. | |
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