DOCSLIB.ORG

Social Card Games Sample

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Social Card Games Sample Social card games Ken Hutton © 2021 Ken Hutton. https://kenhutton.uk ISBN 978-1-9168759-1-3 Other available formats: • eBook: ISBN 978-1-9168759-0-6 Fonts are from the TeX Gyre colection – Bonum for the title on the cover and title page, Heros for other headings and Pagella (with Heros’ quote marks) for the main text. The main software used to create this book was: • GraphicsMagick and the GNU image manipulation program (GIMP) – for cover design and processing illustrations and score sheets. • The Vim text editor – to write and edit the content, markup and filter programs. • GNU Awk – to process the ebook’s xhtml and to convert it to ConTeXt. • epubcheck and Info-zip’s zip – to test and put together the ebook. • ConTeXt and pdfTeX – to generate the pdf for print. • git – to keep a record of edits and – if necessary – revert changes. • Guix system, Linux, GNU Make, Bourne-Again SHell (bash) and Coreutils – to stick all the other software together and make it work. All of that is Free Software, so thank you to everyone who has contributed to those projects and to the Free Software community at large. Contents Preface . 8 Introduction . 10 Shuffling the pack . 13 Packtopack ....................................... 13 The overhand shuffle . 14 The Indian shuffle . 15 Playing in turn . 16 Snap (2–10 players) .................................... 16 Packs, packets and piles . 17 Tricks ............................................ 18 French deck . 18 Capture games . 19 General rules for capture games . 20 Snapping . 20 Battle . 21 Slapjack (2–10 players) ................................. 22 Beggar thy neighbour (2–10 players) .................... 22 Snip snap snorem (2–10 players) ......................... 23 Ranks and suits . 24 Red cards and black cards . 24 High cockalorum (2–10 players) ........................ 25 Hands, pitches, rounds and matches . 26 Spoons (2–13 players) .................................. 27 Dealing the cards . 28 Elder and Younger Hands . 29 Fishing games . 29 Bundles (2–4 players) .................................. 30 Squiffy dancer (2–12 players) ........................... 31 Order of suits . 33 Cuckoo (2–12 players, or more) ........................... 34 Cheat (2–6 players) .................................... 36 Drawing from the stock . 38 Melding runs and sets . 38 Pairs, prials and mournivals . 39 The rummy family . 39 Conquian (2 players) .................................. 40 Go fish (3–6 players) ................................... 43 Happy families (3–6 players) .......................... 45 Open, blind and hole cards . 45 Boneface (1–5 players, or more) ........................... 46 Trick taking games . 48 Trumps ............................................. 50 Deciders and rubbers . 51 Seven card whist (2–7 players) .......................... 51 Brag melds . 53 Stop the bus (2–8 players) ............................... 54 Knockout whist (3–7 players) ........................... 55 Keeping score . 57 A basic score sheet . 57 Rounds and match points . 58 Honours and penalties . 60 Special cards . 61 Shoot the moon (3–10 players, or more) .................... 61 Never-ending space race (a league for even more players) . 63 Fixed partnerships . 63 Partnership whist (4 players in fixed partnerships) . 64 Basic rummy (2–6 players, 3–4 best) ........................ 65 Some alternative rules . 67 Block rummy (2–6 players) ............................ 68 Seven rummy (2–5 players, 3 best) ......................... 68 Zero sum game . 71 Counters . 71 Account sheet . 72 Gambling . 73 Laugh and lie down (3–6 players) ....................... 74 A five player pitch . 75 Pitches with 3, 4 or 6 players. 77 Cribbage board . 78 Pegging scores . 79 Tally sheet . 80 Cribbage (2–4 players) ................................. 81 Fixed partnerships (4 players) .......................... 86 Fishing for Tens (2–4 players) .......................... 86 Trick brag (3 players) ................................. 90 Contracts . 91 Oh hell (3–7 players) .................................. 91 Scratch scoring . 93 Oy vey scoring . 93 Blind don (2 players) .................................. 94 Traditional scoring . 96 Leagues . 97 Sum-run-set (2–5 players) ............................. 101 Fixed partnerships (4 players) . 104 League play (4–5 players) ............................ 104 Gin rummy (2 players) ................................ 104 League play (3–7 players, or more) . 107 Widow ............................................ 108 Quinto (4 players in fixed partnerships) . 108 Original scoring . 111 League play (4–5 players in varying partnerships) . 111 Duo’s compendium (2 players) . 111 League play (3–7 players) ............................ 114 Two pair’s compendium (4 players in fixed partnerships) . 115 Disloyalty compendium (4–5 players in varying partnerships) 115 Shedding games . 115 Pinhead (2–12 players) ................................ 116 Burden compendium (3–5 players) . 121 Rhapsody (2–12 players, or more) . 122 Never-ending rhapsody (2–12 seats, players come and go) . 124 Poker melds . 126 Wild cards . 127 Liar poker (2–8 players, or more) . 127 Compendium in the woods (2–8 players) . 131 Own trumps (2–4, 4 best) .............................. 132 Panjpar (2 players) ................................... 134 Liverpool rummy (3–5 players) . 137 Temporary alliances . 140 Plantagenet (5 players with temporary alliances) . 141 Auctions . 147 Bigwig (3 players with temporary alliances) . 147 Solo whist (4 players with temporary alliances) . 152 Big two (4 players) ................................... 154 Trump ranks . 157 Player rank . 157 Hundred (4 players in fixed partnerships) . 158 Tractors and set flushes . 162 Big three (3–4 players, 3 best) . 163 Looking for friends (5–12 players with temporary alliances) . 166 Index . 174 PREFACE Preface This book began as a recovery project after a chest infection and I’m a little surprised to find it finished and very nearly ready to publish – even if it has taken a little over two years. It may never have gotten this far if the world hadn’t become sick just as I was recovering. It’s April 2021 now and in England the Covid restrictions are easing but the pandemic is still very much a fact of everyday life. We can visit friends and family a little more but I have a while to wait before I can get close enough to my friends to play card games again. Two of my nephews will be over on Thursday though, maybe I’ll see if they want to play snip snap snorem. Publishing a book today is a scary prospect – am I really going to make two years wages out of this? There are so many options and so many people ready to assure you that the money you spend on their services will be worth it. The reality seems to be that things are changing so much right now that even experienced professionals can’t be sure they are giving the right advice. So I feel like I’m betting two years wages on the roll of a dice – and I don’t like to gamble. The process so far has been about 50% pleasure and 50% pain. Pleasure from the creativity, the problem solving and the reminiscences brought about by thinking about the people I have played these games with. Pain from fear of failure and the laborious restructuring that comes from one of two causes. I made some poor decisions early on like working on the print version first and not considering the ebook from the start – it turns out it’s much easier to convert html to TeX than to go the other way. I also had some bright ideas later on, like abandoning my attempt to categorise the games and arrange them in chapters. It took about a fortnight to figure out what PREFACE order to put the games in so that new ideas are instead presented between the games, one or two at a time. Who knew the graph theory I learned with the Open University would come in handy here?.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Samuel Beckett and Fyodor Dostoevsky
    Metaphysical Comedy: Samuel Beckett and Fyodor Dostoevsky PhD English Literature Ekaterina Gosteva May 2019 I confirm that this is my own work and the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the connection between Beckett’s comedy and Dostoevsky’s novels in the light of René Girard’s theory of metaphysical desire. While focusing on Beckett’s prose of the 1930s, this study begins with the typology of laughter in Watt. ​ ​ With the help of this passage (employed as a critical tool), the subject of Beckett’s comedy is preliminarily defined as ‘The Unhappy Consciousness’. In Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, this term is stated with regards to the functions of laughter ​ as a negative response to a threat from a hostile phenomenal world. ‘The risus purus’, which Beckett celebrates as ‘the laugh of laughs’, reveals itself as a satirical attack at Kant’s rational cosmology and Hegel’s phenomenology. A further investigation into this structure provides a link between the genre of comedy in general, Beckett’s comic form and Girard’s theory of mimetic desire, based on the works of Cervantes, Flaubert, Stendhal, Proust and Dostoevsky. The works of these novelists allowed René Girard to articulate a concrete theorization of desire, which binds together literary and anthropological questions. Beckett’s engagement with Dostoevsky remains a blind spot in Beckett studies. Although as early as Proust, Beckett attempted to link Proust and Dostoevsky as the ​ ​ writers whose technique he defined as ‘negative and comic’, the scarcity of his critical comments on Dostoevsky has been an obstacle for scholars trying to identify and analyse their relationship.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    37_599100 bindex.qxd 8/31/05 8:21 PM Page 353 Index basics of card games. See Ninety-Nine, 143–148 • A • also card games; cards Oh Hell!, 137–138 Accordion, 22–26 deck of cards, 10 Partnership Auction aces around, 205, 222 etiquette for playing, 17 Pinochle, 220–221 Alexander the Great (La playing a game, 14–17 Setback, 227–228 Belle Lucie), 31–35 preparing to play, 11–14 Spades, 163–169, 171 all pass (in President), 255 ranking card order, 11 big blind (in Poker), 285 allin (in Poker), 287 selecting a game, 17–19 Black Jack (Switch), American Contract Bridge Beggar My Neighbor (Beat 108–110 League (Web site), 185 Your Neighbor Out of Black Maria, 199 American Cribbage Con- Doors), 45–47 Black Peter card, 57 gress (Web site), 252 beggars (in President), 256 Blackjack Animals, 49–50 beginning to play. See basics aces and going high or announcement, 13 of card games low, 276–277 ante, 112, 285, 302 Benny (Best Bower), 154 betting in Casino auction (in Bridge), 13, 185 bets Blackjack, 271–272 Auction Pinochle anteing up (in Poker), 285 betting in Social bidding, 211–212, 213–214, bidding versus, 13 Blackjack, 265–266 218–219 calling (in Poker), 286 card values, 264 conceding your hand, 219 opening (in Poker), Casino Blackjack, 271–277 dealing, 212 294–296 croupiers, shoes, banks, discarding, 214–215 out of turn (in Poker), 288 pit bosses, 271 kitty, 212, 215–216 seeing (in Poker), 286 dealing in Casino Black- melds, 214–215 Bid Whist, 133–134 jack, 272–273 scoring, 216–218 bidding dealing in Social Black- strategies for play, betting versus, 13 jack, 263, 264–265 218–219 blind nil, 164, 167–168 doubling down, 275 Authors, 53–54 defined, 13 five or sixcard tricks, 269 dropping, 214 kibitzer, 271 listening to, 348 naturals, 267, 268 • B • for nil (zero), 164, origin of, 265 166–169, 171 paying players, 268 balanced hands (in COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL overbids, 214 selecting banker/ Spades), 166 safe, 214 dealer, 263 banker (in Blackjack), shooting the moon, Social Blackjack, 263–270 263–264, 266, 268, 271 196–197, 230, 234 splitting cards, 266, banking card games.
    [Show full text]
  • A Fast Mental Poker Protocol
    J. Math. Cryptol. 6 (2012), 39–68 DOI 10.1515/jmc-2012-0004 © de Gruyter 2012 A fast mental poker protocol Tzer-jen Wei and Lih-Chung Wang Communicated by Kwangjo Kim Abstract. In this paper, we present a fast and secure mental poker protocol. The basic structure is the same as Barnett & Smart’s and Castellà-Roca’s protocols but our encryp- tion scheme is different. With this alternative encryption scheme, our shuffle is not only twice as fast, but it also has different security properties. As such, Barnett & Smart’s and Castellà-Roca’s security proof cannot be applied to our protocol directly. Nevertheless, our protocol is still provably secure under the DDH assumption. The only weak point of our protocol is that reshuffling a small subset of cards might take longer than Barnett & Smart’s and Castellà-Roca’s protocols. Therefore, our protocol is more suitable for card games such as bridge, most poker games, mahjong, hearts, or black jack, which do not require much partial reshuffling. Keywords. Mental poker, DDH assumption. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 94A60, 68M12. 1 Introduction 1.1 Mental poker Mental poker is the study of protocols that allow players to play fair poker games over the net without a trusted third party. There are very few assumptions about the behavior of adversaries in mental poker. Adversaries are typically allowed to have a coalition of any size and can conduct active attacks. The main challenge is to design a secure mental poker protocol that is fast enough for practical needs. Numerous mental poker protocols have been proposed ([4,5,10–12,17,18,20,25,26,28,30,34–36]) and many of them are provably secure, but all commercial online poker rooms are still based on client-server architec- tures.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of Rummy Games: Expected Waiting Times and Optimal Strategies
    ANALYSIS OF RUMMY GAMES: EXPECTED WAITING TIMES AND OPTIMAL STRATEGIES CHRISTOPHER FINKLE A SENIOR RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE OF STETSON UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE STETSON UNIVERSITY 2017 Contents 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Background and Objective . 2 1.2 Games of the Rummy Family . 3 1.3 Expected Value and Expected Time . 4 1.4 Existing Literature . 6 2 A Computational Approach 6 2.1 The Combinatorial Explosion of Rummy . 6 2.2 The Strategy of Dynamic Programming . 7 2.3 Introduction of Simplifying Assumptions . 8 2.4 The Bellman Equation . 10 2.5 Modifying the Bellman Equation to Describe Rummy . 11 2.6 Iterating Over the Set of Hands . 12 3 Three-Card Rummy 14 3.1 A Combinatorial Implosion . 14 3.2 Results . 16 3.2.1 Analysis of Results for 3-Card Rummy with Aces Low 16 3.2.2 Analysis of Results for 3-Card Rummy with Aces High or Low . 18 3.2.3 Analysis of Results for 3-Card Continuity Rummy . 19 4 Four-Card Rummy 21 4.1 Combinatorial Regrowth . 21 4.2 Analysis of Results for 4-Card Continuity Rummy . 21 5 Approximation and Least Upper Bounds 23 5.1 An Illustration of the Bounding Process . 23 5.2 Implementation of the Approximation Algorithm . 24 5.3 Approximation of 3-Card Rummy with Aces Low . 26 5.4 Approximation of 4-Card Rummy with Aces Low . 29 5.5 Approximation of 4-Card Rummy with Aces High or Low .
    [Show full text]
  • The Penguin Book of Card Games
    PENGUIN BOOKS The Penguin Book of Card Games A former language-teacher and technical journalist, David Parlett began freelancing in 1975 as a games inventor and author of books on games, a field in which he has built up an impressive international reputation. He is an accredited consultant on gaming terminology to the Oxford English Dictionary and regularly advises on the staging of card games in films and television productions. His many books include The Oxford History of Board Games, The Oxford History of Card Games, The Penguin Book of Word Games, The Penguin Book of Card Games and the The Penguin Book of Patience. His board game Hare and Tortoise has been in print since 1974, was the first ever winner of the prestigious German Game of the Year Award in 1979, and has recently appeared in a new edition. His website at http://www.davpar.com is a rich source of information about games and other interests. David Parlett is a native of south London, where he still resides with his wife Barbara. The Penguin Book of Card Games David Parlett PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia) Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
    [Show full text]
  • Kid Friendly Card Games Beyond Go Fish
    Kid Friendly Card Games Beyond Go Fish SPOONS: you need a standard deck of cards with no Jokers, spoons-one fewer than there are players, good for any number of players. Objective: The winner is the last player remaining. How to Play: Arrange the spoons in a small circle in the center of the table and deal four cards to each player. Each player tries to make four of a kind. The dealer takes a card off the top of the deck to have five cards in his hand, removes one and passes it facedown to the left. Each player discards to the person on his left. The last player places his discard into a trash pile. Cards are picked up and passed quickly around the table until someone gets four of a kind and takes a spoon from the center. Once the player with four of a kind takes a spoon, anyone can take a spoon. The player left without a spoon is out. If at any time the draw cards run out, pause to reshuffle the trash pile and keep going. Remove one spoon at the start of each hand so that there is always 1 fewer spoons than players. The fun part: The player who reaches four of a kind first has a variety of ways he can take the first spoon. A sneaky pull exposes those paying too close attention to their cards. A demonstrative grab leads to a wild free-for-all. Either way, it's hilarious. SNAP: use a standard deck of cards. Objective: Be the last player with cards to win.
    [Show full text]
  • The Comic in the Theatre of Moliere and of Ionesco: a Comparative Study
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1965 The omicC in the Theatre of Moliere and of Ionesco: a Comparative Study. Sidney Louis Pellissier Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Pellissier, Sidney Louis, "The omicC in the Theatre of Moliere and of Ionesco: a Comparative Study." (1965). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1088. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1088 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66-744 PELLISSIER, Sidney Louis, 1938- s THE COMIC IN THE THEATRE OF MO LI ERE AND OF IONESCO: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. Louisiana State University, Ph.D., 1965 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE COMIC IN THE THEATRE OF MOLIHRE AND OF IONESCO A COMPARATIVE STUDY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Foreign Languages btf' Sidney L . ,') Pellissier K.A., Louisiana State University, 19&3 August, 19^5 DEDICATION The present study is respectfully dedicated the memory of Dr. Calvin Evans. ii ACKNO'.-'LEDGEKiNT The writer wishes to thank his major professor, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Opponent Hand Estimation in the Game of Gin Rummy
    PRELIMINARY PREPRINT VERSION: DO NOT CITE The AAAI Digital Library will contain the published version some time after the conference. Opponent Hand Estimation in the Game of Gin Rummy Peter E. Francis, Hoang A. Just, Todd W. Neller Gettysburg College ffranpe02, justho01, [email protected] Abstract can make a difference in a game play strategy. We conclude In this article, we describe various approaches to oppo- with a demonstration of a simple deterministic application of nent hand estimation in the card game Gin Rummy. We our hand estimation that produces a statistically significant use an application of Bayes’ rule, as well as both sim- advantage for a player. ple and convolutional neural networks, to recognize pat- terns in simulated game play and predict the opponent’s Gin Rummy hand. We also present a new minimal-sized construction for using arrays to pre-populate hand representation im- Gin Rummy is one of the most popular 2-player card games ages. Finally, we define various metrics for evaluating played with a standard (a.k.a. French) 52-card deck. Ranks estimations, and evaluate the strengths of our different run from aces low to kings high. The object of the game is to estimations at different stages of the game. be the first player to score 100 or more points accumulated through the scoring of individual hands. Introduction The play of Gin Rummy, as with other games in the In this work, we focus on different computational strate- Rummy family, is to collect sets of cards called melds. gies to estimate the opponent’s hand in the card game Gin There are two types of melds: “sets” and “runs”.
    [Show full text]
  • Card Games to Play7
    Card Games to play7 Great Classic Card Games for Children Many classic card games are appropriate for young children, and the simplest can be played by kids as young as 3 years old. | Source 1. Memory (Concentration) • Ages: 3+ • Players: 2–4 How to Play 1. Deal out all the cards facedown on the table. 2. Players take turns to flip over 2 cards. If they flip over a pair that matches, they win the pair and get to have another go. If not, the next player takes a turn. 3. If you are playing with a standard set of cards, you can either allow matching the same number and same colour card or just the same value. 4. At the end, the player with the most cards wins. Variations You can also play Memory as a one-player game. Use a timer to try and get as many pairs as possible in 3 minutes. Try and beat your own score (or someone else's). 2. Snap • Ages: 3+ • Players: 2–6 (best with 3 or more) How to Play Play Snap with traditional playing cards, or buy a set of themed Snap cards. Themed Snap can be especially fun for children, and you can choose a theme to suit their interests (or to teach them numbers, maths or specific words). 1. Deal out the cards around all the players so each player has a pile of cards which they place facedown. 2. The first player turns over the card at the top of their pile and starts a pile in the centre.
    [Show full text]
  • Haitian Creole – English Dictionary
    + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary with Basic English – Haitian Creole Appendix Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo + + + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary with Basic English – Haitian Creole Appendix Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo dp Dunwoody Press Kensington, Maryland, U.S.A. + + + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary Copyright ©1993 by Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Authors. All inquiries should be directed to: Dunwoody Press, P.O. Box 400, Kensington, MD, 20895 U.S.A. ISBN: 0-931745-75-6 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 93-71725 Compiled, edited, printed and bound in the United States of America Second Printing + + Introduction A variety of glossaries of Haitian Creole have been published either as appendices to descriptions of Haitian Creole or as booklets. As far as full- fledged Haitian Creole-English dictionaries are concerned, only one has been published and it is now more than ten years old. It is the compilers’ hope that this new dictionary will go a long way toward filling the vacuum existing in modern Creole lexicography. Innovations The following new features have been incorporated in this Haitian Creole- English dictionary. 1. The definite article that usually accompanies a noun is indicated. We urge the user to take note of the definite article singular ( a, la, an or lan ) which is shown for each noun. Lan has one variant: nan.
    [Show full text]
  • 501 Grammar & Writing Questions 3Rd Edition
    501 GRAMMAR AND WRITING QUESTIONS 501 GRAMMAR AND WRITING QUESTIONS 3rd Edition ® NEW YORK Copyright © 2006 LearningExpress, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 501 grammar & writing questions.—3rd ed. p. cm. ISBN 1-57685-539-2 1. English language—Grammar—Examinations, questions, etc. 2. English language— Rhetoric—Examinations, questions, etc. 3. Report writing—Examinations, questions, etc. I. Title: 501 grammar and writing questions. II. Title: Five hundred one grammar and writing questions. III. Title: Five hundred and one grammar and writing questions. PE1112.A15 2006 428.2'076—dc22 2005035266 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Third Edition ISBN 1-57685-539-2 For more information or to place an order, contact LearningExpress at: 55 Broadway 8th Floor New York, NY 10006 Or visit us at: www.learnatest.com Contents INTRODUCTION vii SECTION 1 Mechanics: Capitalization and Punctuation 1 SECTION 2 Sentence Structure 11 SECTION 3 Agreement 29 SECTION 4 Modifiers 43 SECTION 5 Paragraph Development 49 SECTION 6 Essay Questions 95 ANSWERS 103 v Introduction his book—which can be used alone, along with another writing-skills text of your choice, or in com- bination with the LearningExpress publication, Writing Skills Success in 20 Minutes a Day—will give Tyou practice dealing with capitalization, punctuation, basic grammar, sentence structure, organiza- tion, paragraph development, and essay writing. It is designed to be used by individuals working on their own and for teachers or tutors helping students learn or review basic writing skills.
    [Show full text]
  • CASINO from NOWHERE, to VAGUELY EVERYWHERE Franco Pratesi - 09.10.1994
    CASINO FROM NOWHERE, TO VAGUELY EVERYWHERE Franco Pratesi - 09.10.1994 “Fishing games form a rich hunting ground for researchers in quest of challenge”, David Parlett writes in one of his fine books. (1) I am not certain that I am a card researcher, and I doubt the rich hunting-ground too. It is several years since I began collecting information on these games, without noticeable improvements in my knowledge of their historical development. Therefore I would be glad if some IPCS member could provide specific information. Particularly useful would be descriptions of regional variants of fishing games which have − or have had − a traditional character. Within the general challenge mentioned, I have encountered an unexpected specific challenge: the origin of Casino, always said to be of Italian origin, whereas I have not yet been able to trace it here. So it appears to me, that until now, it is a game widespread from nowhere in Italy. THE NAME As we know, even the correct spelling of the name is in dispute. The reason for writing Cassino is said to be a printing mistake in one of the early descriptions. The most probable origin is from the same Italian word casino, which entered the English vocabulary to mean “a pleasure-house”, “a public room used for social meetings” and finally “a public gambling-house”. So the name of the game would better be written Casino, as it was spelled in the earliest English descriptions (and also in German) towards the end of the 18th century. If the origin has to be considered − and assuming that information about further uses of Italian Casino is not needed − it may be noted that Italian Cassino does exist too: it is a word seldom used and its main meaning of ‘box-cart’ hardly has any relevance to our topic.
    [Show full text]