The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-20
ARoUNDTHE WHIST TABLE.
DIsCUsSION or THE PR0PRIETF OF
PRIVATE CONVENTIONS.

RnI1nCy of the Arguwent C0mnofluH bynteWa
OF whist Signals with Sys'eHis or Roetbafi
e,rpsI.-rhs Matter or Inrerences-Dtsad.
vahtaaea or sticking Closely TO q systern.
The propricty of private conventions seems
ptill to be tho chief topic among whist players,
and several OF tho most prominent are putting
their opinions on record. THE Sun 10 daily In
receipt of letters commencing the stand 1t has
taken against these lodges, and the national
and State organizations have both passed roso-
lutions condemning them.
In spite OF nil that has been said on tho sub
3ect. there arc still some persons who insist that
everything Is fair that can be done with tho
cards. and that no explanations are due to any
one. Tormey thinks 1t would be best to let
every one play as no plcases. and to allow each
team to invent and use any system OF signals
that their ingenuity might doyisc, provided they
did not make the signs with their fingers or by
movements in their chairs.
This agrees pretty closely with Milton Works
old position In the matter, which was supported
by arguments from alleged parallel cases In
nports. illustrations Of which wero given In
Sun on Jan. o. The same theory is presented in
n letter from Charles Esselstyn OF the Hudson
team. which is going the rounds of the press. as
follows:
When Yale and Princeton meet In a football
nqs eSP,nian What ZAP %R. B. ,t &. N4ss.Ss..I meant, and
q he had. Capt. TrSnShard would very pr9 hriG Pty
Enough What a fool affair every football
game would become II the opposing LEANS
a Week before the meeting and when lined up.
surrounded by cheering thousands. the sharp
OF the line, as Yale was about to send her right
s e. ,b back Iett th1SS sIFi a lsd' f tsSsis; p ss aSa
field! Imagine the attractions of the game
g suddenly every Princeton % wS r9'h sin, tOwS nd
cause "2t6.Is.Ss," according to. the code for
warned to Princeton u week before the match.
@Sah II in a ie"F OF Fine the Kick aHS q half Iai back had taken
the ball and gained the goal line with no opposi-
took a flyer" Shades Of football scandals / But
these college men ought to exchange signals II
they arc gentlemen and sportsmen. They ought
not to use private conventions. They ought to
tell the enemy onc-half OF their game: Honor
are committed in thy Manner
Now, why should there be any different rule
IN whist : Why not allow every team ana every
four 10 play their own game uninolested by
and free from the exchange Of type
written s~tatementsi
CD. Alb ought TO profit by 1t: II CD are
quicker II Penetrating the G myster TSo Of h h-.ips
are more acute. Are they TO be given no
reward In no other sport is AN I'D.
n nsTi'f lis e stsSry of TO attack SeR.A'wH Why ~ is s1 it 0 th%t
that which is honorable in other contests is
dlshonorable in whisti II Boston can devise "a
before the afternoon session has seen through
many OF Baltimorc's signals, whose brains are
invenis u set Of signals which helps her to lay
low the minister's from the Hub the next time.
surely inventive genius has been stimulated.
The fallacy of this reasoning must be immedi.
ately apparent to any right-thinking person. but
it is well calculated to deceive those who do not
-. -. - - a; ,1 -ty,a tha
PRINCIPLES upon which the games of football and
whist are based.
1t is generally acknowledged that the art Of
whist play lies chiefly in tho accuracy with
which the players can read tho cards. and that
success in this depends on two things: q knowl-
edge OF the principles upon which the player in
any given position at the table will act under
certain conditions. and the ability to infer that
those conditions exist. These inferences may
be roughly divided into four classes:
First. differences as to the combinations OF
high cards held, as shown by the leads. second
and third hand plays. II the leader follows a
king with a jack, he holds ace. king. queen,
jack. or king, queen. jack. II he follows an
ace with Il queen, he holds ace. queen, jack. II
he follows u queen with a ten. he holds queen,
jack. ten. Sc. If the second hand plays II king
on II small card led, he holds the ace also. or
no more. II he plays n queen. second hand. he
holds ace, king also, or king, or no more. unless
he played in from ace. queen. ten. II he plays a
small card, ii is presumably the owesth he holds
in the suit, and he has no combination Of high
cards from which a high card would be led. II
the third hand plays ace, he has neither king nor
queen; II he plays queen, he has not the jack; IL
he plays King, he has not the queen. and SO on.
Second. differences from the small cards led.
which may be shown by opening with tho
onrth.hpS m which tha alavnn rnln may ha
applied.
Third. differences from the play OF the ad-
yersaries. especially the second hand. based
upon a knowledge of the combinations from
which the second hand would play certain high
cards. Suppose the seven is led: second hand
plays the ten; third hand wins with queen and
returns the ace, original second hand dropping
the deuce. 1t should be evident that he held
jack. ten, two,a and that the original leader holds
the king. Again: The six is led: second hand
plays the three; third hand the ace. and fourth
hand the four. The jack is returned. and the
eight, seven, und five fall. The original leader
must have the king; the queen must be on
ms MS, right, and me nine on MS !, iel1. because send ,b J..
jack would have been covered with the imper-
Fourth. lnferences from the missing small
cards Of the suits. Third hand holds queen.
jack, three. The tiye Is led, TO which the second
seven S"Ha on he jack s'N 1t should be a eerisinty that
the tray and deuce are with the original leader.
and that he also holds the king, the ace being
on his lefs. Neither the leader nor the second
hand can have both ace and king, and with six
cards in the suit the leader would begin with
the ace il he held II.
These differences are open to the whole table.
and they are based OH the natural course OF
play. The moment two players make a private
agreement To depart from this natural course OF
play they make II impossible for the third hand
to rely upon anything but the cards led by his
partner. and deprive him OF three.fourlhs OF the
sources Of information To which he 10 properly
entitle from his knowledge OF the fundamental
principles OF the game. and by which his course
must be guided.
Suppose two players agree that they will not
follow the usual methods OF leading from high
card combinations. but tnat the lead Of a queen
shall show three honors in the suit, counting
the ten rs one. and that the lead OF a jack shall
show Jour trumps. the lead of a ten an aIl.round
etrong hand, play!nga jack. ten. or nine second
hand shall show weakness in trumps. and
holding up IA SMALL card OF an adyersary's suit
sha | show an honor III it. With u lot Of private
signals of that kind. even II Explained in ad.
vance, what becomes OF the natural differences
from the fall of the cards upon which the best
players have spent years OF study OF what
value is the quiukness OF the expert, gained by
long pr~acticei II is like asking a trained musl.
clan TO read music at sight which has been writ
ten In "A transposed key, with every second note