BEZIQUE. 



89 



ably weighted, and accepts it is pretty certain 

 t<> come to shorter odds than it was backed 

 for. After its owner has accepted, it may be 

 assumed that the price will not be more than 

 fifty to one, which the maker of the bet will 

 lay to the same person, so that he may himself 

 stand to win tifty pounds to nothing! That is 

 hedging." Further, if the horse becomes a 

 favorite, and attains the price of say ten to one, 

 the bettor may lay off or hedge twenty-five 

 pounds more, in which case he is said to 

 "stand on velvet." In other words, he is sure 

 to win in any event, hence the turf proverb, 

 ' Xo bet is good until it is well hedged to." 



BEZIQl'E (bay-zeek), a game with cards. 

 Sometimes it is spelled tazique. The word 

 seems to be naturally derived from the Span- 

 ish besico, a little kiss, in allusion to the dis- 

 tinctive feature of the game, as hereinafter de- 

 scribed, namely the " marriage " of the queen 

 and the knave. Murray gives it as a corrup- 

 tion of the French, lesigue, a game at cards. 

 Bezique, in its present form, is a revival, with 

 modifications, or perhaps a combination of 

 several old games possessing certain features 

 in common. Chief among these is " mar- 

 riage," and among the others are "brusquem- 

 bille," ' Thomme de bron," " briscan " or 

 "brisque," and ''cinq cents." ' Brisque" 

 bears the closest likeness to bzique, and is, in 

 fact, nearly identical save that it is played 

 with a double pack and with certain features 

 rendered necessary by the introduction of ad- 

 ditional cards. The following rules and direc- 

 tions govern the game in America, and ar.? 

 substantially identical with those accepted 

 elsewhere. They are, in the main, rules as 

 laid down by " Cavendish " (Henry Jones), the 

 recognized English authority on the game : 



In be"zique two packs of ordinary playing cards are 

 used, but oefore snuffling all cards' below the denomi- 

 nation of seven are rejected, as in euchre, and the re- 

 maining 64 cards (32 in each pack) are cut as usual. 

 The game may be played by two, three, or four persons. 



Two-handed' B&ique". Th'e dealer deals eight cards 

 to himself and his adversary as follows : three to his 

 adversary, three to himself, then two to each, and 

 again three to each. 



The cards rank as follow: Ace. ten, kins, queen, 

 knave, nine, ei^ht, seven. In case of ties the leader 

 wins. Trumps win other suits. 



The objects of the play are : 1. To promote in the 



hand various combinations of cards which, when df- 



. entitle the holder to certain scores as given in 



the table ; -2. To win aces and tens ; 3. To win the 



so-called last trick. 



After dealing, the cards remaining undealt are 

 called the "sU'ck." They are laid on the table a 

 little to one side, and the top card is turned up for 

 trumps, and laid near the stock, and the stock cards 

 are slightly spread so that they can be readily taken 

 by the players as the game pr< 



The non-dealer plays any card out of his hand. 

 The dealer plays a card to i't, the two constituting' a 

 "trick." He need not follow suit, nor play a card 

 that wins the trick. If, however, he wins the'trick by 

 playing a higher card or trumps it (which he in 

 although holdingin his hand a card of the suit 'led \ 

 he has to lead. Whoever wins the trick has the next 

 lead ; but, before playing, each player draws one 

 card from the stock, the winner of the trick drawing 



the top card, the other plaver the card next it; by 



this means the nuinWr of the cards iu each hand fs 



This alternate playing 



a cardund drawing u card continues till all the stock, 



including the trump card (Lrencrally exchanged for 



which is taken up last. : L The 



t' play then are as heivinalter prescribed. The 



tricks are left face upward on the table until the end 



of the hand ; they have no value except for the aces 



and tens that they contain. 



Declaring. A ''declaration" can only be made by 

 a player immediately alter winning a trick, and be- 

 fore drawing a card 'from the stock. The declaration 

 is eifected by placing the declared cards face upward 

 on the table, where they remain. Though left on the 

 table, they still form part of the hand, and can be 

 played to a trick just the same as if thev bad not been 

 declared. Each score is marked at the time of de- 

 claring. 



Players are not bound to declare unkss they like, 

 although they may win a trick and hold scoring 

 cards. 



A card can not be played to a trick and be declared 

 at the same time. 



It is optional to declare or exchange the seven of 

 trumps after winning a trick with some other card. 

 When declared the seven need not be shown unless 

 asked for. When exchanged the seven is put in the 

 place of the turn-up card, and the turn-up is taken 

 into the player's hand. The card taken in exchange 

 for the seven can not be declared until the player ex- 

 changing has won another trick. 



Any number of combinations may be declared to 

 one trick, provided the same card is not used twice 

 over. Thus, a player having declared four kinas, 

 and holding two or 'three queens matching as to suit 

 may, after winning another trick, marry them all at 

 the same time. But, if a player holds king and queen 

 of spades, and knave of diamonds, he must not put 

 down the three cards to score marriage and bezique. 

 He must first score one combination" say bezique ; 

 then, alter winning another trick, he may place the 

 king on the table and score marriage. 



In declaring fresh combinations one or more cards 

 of the fresh combination must proceed from the part 

 of the hand held up. For instance : a player having 

 sequence in trumps should first declare marriage in 

 trumps, and then, having won another trick, he can 

 declare the sequence by adding the sequence cards. 

 If he incautiously shows the sequence first, he can 

 not afterward score marriage of the king and queen 

 on the table. 



The same card can be declared more than once, 

 provided the combination in which it afterward ap- 

 pears is of a different class. Thus : suppose spades 

 are trumps, the queen of spades can be declared in 

 marriage of trumps, in sequence, and in four queens ; 

 but a king or queen once married can not be married 

 again, nor can a card having taken part in a set ot 

 four take part iu another set of four, to make four 

 aces, kings, queens, or knaves : nor can one bezique 

 card be substituted for another to form a second sin- 

 gle be'zique. 



Table of Beaque Scores. Each seven of trumps, de- 

 clared or exchanged, counts 10 ; king and queen of 

 uny suit ( marriage i. when declared, count '-'0; king 

 and queen of trumps (royal marriage), when de- 

 clared, count 40 ; queen 'of spades and knave of 

 diamonds (called be'ziquc '), when declared, count 40 ; 

 queen of spades and knave of diamonds, declared 

 twice in one deal by the same player (called double 

 bezique ), count 500. 



The above score is in addition to the forty, if, per- 

 haps, already scored for single bezique. 



In order to entitle to double be'ziquc, all four cards 

 must be on the table at the same time, and unplayed 

 to a trick. If all four are declared together, only 

 500 can be scored, and not 54' X 



Any four aces, whether duplicates or not, when 

 declared, count 100 ; any four kings, whether dupli- 



