Fishing card game
Cassino The Great Cassino Origin England Type Fishing Family Matching Players 2–4 (2 best) Skills Tactics Cards 52 ♣ Deck French-suited pack Play Clockwise Playing time 10-15 min. Chance Medium Related games Skwitz • Tablanette • Zwickern
Cassino, sometimes spelt ♣ Casino, is an English card game for two to four players using a standard, 52-card, French-suited pack.[1] It is the ♣ only fishing game to have penetrated the English-speaking world.[1] It is similar to the later Italian game of Scopa and ♣ is often said, without substantiation, to be of Italian origin. Cassino is still played today in Madeira, probably due to ♣ English influence.[2]
History [ edit ]
Although Cassino is often claimed to be of Italian origin, detailed research by Franco Pratesi has ♣ shown that there is no evidence of it ever being played in Italy and the earliest references to its Italian ♣ cousins, Scopa and Scopone, post-date those of Cassino.[3] The spelling "Cassino" is used in the earliest rules of 1792 and ♣ is the most persistent spelling since,[4] although German sources invariably use the spelling "Casino" along with some English sources.
Likewise an ♣ origin in gambling dens appears unlikely since a casino in the late 18th century was a summer house or country ♣ villa; the name was not transferred to gambling establishments until later.[5]
In fact, as "Cassino", the game is first recorded in ♣ 1792 in England[4] where it appears to have become something of a fashionable craze,[3] and certainly well known enough for ♣ Mrs. Scatter to declare "I do long for a game of Cassino" in Frederic Reynolds' 1797 comedy, Cheap Living.[6][a] At ♣ that stage, the court cards had no numerical value and could only be paired, and there was no building; that ♣ did not appear in English rules until the second half of the century.[7] The counting cards were the Aces and ♣ two special cards known as the 'Great Cassino' (♦10) and 'Little Cassino' (♠2).[4] As the game developed, further counters were ♣ added.
One country to follow hard on English heels was Austria-Hungary where, as early as 1795 in Vienna and Prague, rules ♣ were published that incorporated English terminology such as "sweep" and "lurch."[8] Initially the rules followed those in English sources, but ♣ as early as 1810, a markedly different variant appeared in which the court cards, Aces and Cassinos became far more ♣ potent. The courts were given values of 11, 12 and 13 respectively, the Aces could be valued at 14 as ♣ well as 1, the Great Cassino at 10 or 16 and the Little Cassino at 2 or 15.[9] This elaboration ♣ of the Cassino went unnoticed in its country of origin and across the Atlantic, apart from a fleeting observation in ♣ 1846 by Lady Sarah Nicolas in 1846 who recounts that "the game of Cassino is thus played in some parts ♣ of Germany:- Great Cassino takes sixteen. Little Cassino – fifteen. Every Ace – fourteen. King – thirteen. Queen – twelve. ♣ Knave – eleven."[10]
Rules continued to be published in German until at least 1975,[11] but the game seems to have waned ♣ in Germany and Austria towards the end of the 19th century.
However, while the game began to fade away in England, ♣ it was in America that Cassino gained its second wind in the second half of the 19th century, initially due ♣ to new moves such as building and calling and, later, through several interesting new variants that emerged, including what became ♣ Royal Cassino, in which court cards were given a numerical value as in German Cassino such that they could capture ♣ two or more cards, and Spade Cassino, in which players scored for the most Spades, and Diamond Cassino, in which ♣ three cards are dealt instead of four. Royal Cassino is mentioned as early as 1894 when we learn that a ♣ passenger on a line from New York to London played the game with a doctor and his wife[12] but its ♣ rules first appear in English Foster's Complete Hoyle of 1897.[13] Cassino was eventually eclipsed by Gin Rummy.[3]
By the early 20th ♣ century, Cassino itself was obsolete everywhere, but two successors were emerging. Zwickern, a north German variant, introduced up to 6 ♣ Jokers as special cards and grew so popular that bespoke packs were made for it. Today the game is still ♣ played in a few villages in Schleswig. Tablanette, another apparent variant in which the Kings, Queens, Knaves and Tens are ♣ also counters, appeared in the late 19th in a German source[14] and later featured in one of Hubert Phillips' games ♣ compendia in 1939. It does not seem to have caught on, although it may have gained more traction in its ♣ various eastern European forms.[15]
English Cassino [ edit ]
These classic rules emerged in 1792 and remained largely unchanged until the mid-19th ♣ century. The following are based on Long:[4]
The game is for two players using a standard pack. The dealer deals four ♣ cards each and four to the table, placing the rest face down as the stock. Non-dealer plays the first card ♣ and aims to capture as many cards from the table as possible that match the card played. For example, if ♣ the table cards are 6–9–3–9–J, by playing a 9, a player may capture the 6 and 3 in combination as ♣ well as two 9s. If a player is able to clear the table (later called a sweep) this scores 1 ♣ point. Captured cards are placed in a trick pile, face up, by the player who took them. A player unable ♣ to capture anything must trail (add) a card to the table.
The players play cards alternately and when the first hand ♣ of four is exhausted, the dealer deals four more cards each from the stock, but none to the table this ♣ time. Play continues in this way until the stock is exhausted and the players have played their last hand of ♣ four. Any cards left on the table are claimed by the last player to take a trick, unless the last ♣ card played is a court card in which case its holder claims any remaining cards. In neither case does this ♣ score a point.[b]
At the end of the hand, score as follows:
Feat Points Most cards 3 Great Cassino ( ♦ 10) ♣ 2 Little Cassino ( ♠ 2) 1 Most spades 1 Each Ace 1 Each sweep 1
Thus there are 11 points ♣ in the game plus the bonus points for sweeps. If players tie on cards or spades, no point is awarded. ♣ The lower score is deducted from the higher and the winner scores the difference. Game is 11 points; if the ♣ loser has less than 6, he or she is lurched and loses double.
Three-Handed Cassino [ edit ]
Only the scoring differs. ♣ After totalling their points the two lower scores are combined and deducted from the highest score e.g. if A score ♣ 8, B 2 and C 1, A scores 8 - (2 + 1) = 5 game points; but if A ♣ has 5, B 4 and C 2, A scores nothing.
Four-Handed Cassino [ edit ]
There are two teams of two and ♣ they follow Whist rules for cutting for places, dealing and scoring the games singly or double. They play a rubber ♣ i.e. the best of 3 games.
American Cassino [ edit ]
In 1864, William Brisbane Dick, alias "Trumps", published the first rules ♣ that included the feature of "building up", whereby players were allowed to place a card on an existing table card ♣ and, by announcing their combined value, fix the build at that value. In 1867, however, Dick published an even more ♣ elaborate set of rules that included "calling" for the first time. The rules were based on research that included testing ♣ and approval by "the best players in this city".[c] The following is a summary of those rules:[17]
Overview [ edit ]
The ♣ game is played by two, three, four or six players with a 52-card pack. Four play as two pairs.
Deal [ ♣ edit ]
Players cut for deal and the player with the lowest card deals first. Ties 'cut over' and Aces are ♣ low. Dealer gives each player four cards, singly, eldest hand first. Four cards are dealt to the table either regularly ♣ as he deals or in packets of two, three or all four. After the first four hand cards are played, ♣ the dealer deals another four each, singly, but none to the table, and this continues until all cards have been ♣ played out.
Play [ edit ]
Eldest hand leads a card and then each player in turn plays one card which may ♣ be used for:
Capturing. The played card may capture all table cards either by pairing – taking cards of the same ♣ rank – or by combining – taking cards that, in combination, add up to the value of the played card.
Sweeping. ♣ If a player captures all the table cards, this is a sweep and scores 1 point. The next player must ♣ trail a card.
Calling. A player with 2 or more cards in hand of the same rank as one or more ♣ table cards, may play one of them and call their rank e.g. "Fives". An opponent may only capture the card ♣ by pairing, but may not build on that card or capture it as part of a combination.
Building. Simple Build. A ♣ player may build by placing a hand card on a table card and announcing the total, thus fixing the value ♣ of the build, e.g. Andrew holds 5 and 3, and there is a 2 on the table; he places the ♣ 3 on the 2 and calls "Five". The cards of the build cannot now be taken separately but must be ♣ capturing by pairing with a 5 or as part of a combination where the build counts as 5. Multiple Build. ♣ A player may build on an opponent's build provided that player has a hand card matching the new total. Players ♣ may not build on their own build in succession, but only alternately on the same build. Second Build. Players may ♣ make a second build on a different card or make any other legal play before taking up the first build. ♣ Build and Call. A player with more than one card that matches a build may play it onto the build ♣ and call their values e.g. "Eights". This then counts as a call and fixes the value of both build and ♣ played card. The player must then capture both by playing the remaining card on a later turn.
Trailing. A player unwilling ♣ or unable to do any of the above must trail a card i.e. add it to the existing table cards, ♣ face up.
Scoring [ edit ]
Points are scored at the end of each hand as in classic English Cassino, but instead ♣ of game being 11 points, each deal is a complete game and the player or team with the most points ♣ wins.
Variants [ edit ]
Twenty-one Point Cassino [ edit ]
Twenty-one Point Cassino appears for the first time in print in Dick's ♣ 1880 Modern Pocket Hoyle where he says that "Cassino is now very generally played for a fixed number of points ♣ (usually twenty-one)". The first player to the target score wins and the points are scored as soon as made. Sweeps ♣ are not turned down "as in the single deal game" but scored as they are taken. A player who erroneously ♣ claims to have won loses the game.[18]
Royal Cassino [ edit ]
Royal Cassino appears for the first time in Foster's Complete ♣ Hoyle (1897), however the concept of giving values to the court cards was a Austro-German invention of the early 19th ♣ century. The only difference from standard American Cassino is that Jacks are now worth 11, Queens 12 and Kings 13, ♣ so that, for example, a Queen can capture and Ace and a Jack or a 7 and a 5.[19] In ♣ a variation recorded by David Parlett, the Ace is worth 1 or 14 as desired.[20]
Spade Cassino [ edit ]
Also making ♣ its first appearance in 1897 was the "interesting variation" of Spade Cassino in which every spade scored a point except ♣ for the ♠J which scored 2. This replaced the usual score for "most spades" and gave 24 points per hand, ♣ excluding sweeps. Game is 61 and hence it is scored on a cribbage board, all points being pegged as they ♣ are made apart from "most cards" which is pegged at the end.[19]
Diamond Cassino [ edit ]
Diamond Cassino is a recent ♣ variant that has been described as a "cross between Cassino and Scopa". Only 40 cards are used, the courts being ♣ removed. Players are dealt three cards each, and four cards are dealt to the table. Game is 11 up and ♣ players get 1 for most cards, 1 for most diamonds, 1 for the ♦7, 2 for all four 7s, 6s ♣ or As, and 1 for each sweep.[21]
Draw Cassino [ edit ]
In Draw Cassino, first called Royal Draw Cassino,[22] players draw ♣ a replacement card each time they make a play, so that they always have four cards in hand (until the ♣ end), rather than being dealt cards in discrete rounds of four. It is a two-player game.[20]
Related games [ edit ]
There ♣ are a number of other European fishing games in the same family as Cassino.
Callabra [ edit ]
In this "fast and ♣ simple forerunner of Cassino", each player is dealt three cards, and five are dealt to the table. Players may trail ♣ or take cards from the table, if they have cards which match the cards on the table, or if they ♣ have two cards which add up to a card on the table and equal the table card's value. In this ♣ game, Jacks are worth eleven points, Queens are worth twelve points and Kings are worth thirteen points. Game ends when ♣ a player finally clears all the cards from the table.[23]
Tablanette [ edit ]
Tablanette is said to be of Russian provenance. ♣ In this game, each player has six cards, and a player with a jack may use it to clear the ♣ whole table. At the end of a round, players score points for holding the most cards, and extra points if ♣ they are holding picture cards.[24]
Diloti [ edit ]
In this Greek fishing game,[25] players are dealt 6 cards. Matching face cards ♣ must be captured, so that no two face cards of the same value can ever be together in the pool. ♣ The scoring differs most notably in that there is no special suit, and sweeps are very valuable:
Higher number of cards: ♣ 4
10 of diamonds: 2
2 of spades: 1
Each ace: 1
Each sweep (Xeri): 10 (!) extra points
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ ♣ edit ]
^ According to Pratesi, at that stage, sweeps were not part of the rules, but Long admits 1 point ♣ for a clearing the table, although this is not included in his summary table which may explain why Pratesi thought ♣ it was absent. ^ [16] but only hinted at in Long. The rule about a court card played last clearing ♣ the table is explicit in later rules, e.g. Jones (1796)but only hinted at in Long. ^ Presumably New York where ♣ the rules were published.
References [ edit ]
