The San Francisco call., 1896-11-22
Our Whist EXCHANGES.

We have for several weeks been favored with
| the whist edition OF the Post-Express of
Roches ter, \. Y, and we desire to offer an
apology for not paying the attention to it that
ii so richly deserves The last copy to hand
has no less than six columns of very interest
ing whist matter. on all current topics of the
/ day, and IL also has special feature. r F.
/ Foster, the famous whist expert and author of
/ several valuable books on the game and whist
/ editor of the New York Sun, contributes an
article each week; this alone makes the paper
! most valuable enc for all lovers of whist far
and near. True, Mr.. Foster is sn ardent advo-
! cate OF short suiusm," but that is nothing
/ against him. he viii get over that in time; he
has the best interest OF the game at heart We
wish him and the Post-Express every success
in their new undertaking.
In the current number, Mr.. Foster says:
Probably every whist player has been told st
some time or other that II is q very serious error
10 play strong game with a weak hand. The
books are full OF warnings against such q viola
ton Of principle, and any person who has gwen
the matter serious consideration must have ar
rived nj the conclusion that it OF the seven
deadly sins
Next time you hear this criticism msde use of
just ask the critic tell yop exactly what consti-
tuIes weak or a strong hand. The answer Will
/ probably be that a 5 rong hand is one thai con-
tains strong suits Now the books tell Us that a
long suit Is strong sui: but fhearts were trunps
and you held seven clubs eight high. and six ala
monds seven high both very long sui s. would you
think you had strong hAnds Would you not
gladly exchange sny en- cards in il for the deuce
Of irumFss
The strength of any hand is its probable trick
taking value. Not the number of tricks thar viii
! be taken with IL as The cards happen TO be dis
1 trfbuted that deal, but the average number OF
tricks thai it would take IL the thirty eiSht IN
known cards were distributed a thous and times IN
thousand different ways In estimating the
strength or weakness OF hand, the experienced
player takes into account its trump strength and
/ The manner in which the various high cards in
plain suits are combined with one another; but
even the most expert estimate is only the probable
strength of the hand, for not hand in "A million
is certainty. Let Us suppose tha the heart 8 Is
tnrn ed and that the leader holds the six hirhest
trnmps, the four highest clubs and The three
highest spades. Ii e wou d undoubtedly be willing
10 bet anything thai he would make n slam That
Is the probable value of his hand Yet the PLAYER
who actually held these cards lost the oad trick:
! for he found all the remaining trumps with the
dealer, together with six winning diamonds No
/ matter what he led first or how he PLAYED AFTER.
ward II WAS Impossible fcr the leader 10 nnase
more Than six tricks
THE CALL asked three questions. Mr.. Foster
answers two Of them:
J. We are surprised 20 see the suits in the
/ illustrated hands in the New York Sun men.
fioned in irregular order. Is IL possible ,hs,
the whist editor is unaware Oh the fact thst
the order for nearly forty years has been
spades hearts, clubs and diamondsr
,. Why does not the whist editor of-fha
/ Field OF London catch up with the procession
and use the words North Soutn East and West
in speaking Of players, rather than the unoer-