The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1907-12-20
Bridge Has Its Foibles and Little
Deceptions Like All Other Pastimes.

is in her confidence there are still
many little ways in which she can
help herself. A very common pri :
tice is shutting the cards before cut
ting for partners In such a way that
the third or fourth card from either
end shall be an ace, which Will give
the player drawing il the first deal Of
the rubber AS this is supposed to be
worth odds of 10 to at least It helps
a bit.
Another common practice which
was actually Taught to pupils by a
certain bridge teacher is to press
hard on the pack when spreading It,
because that usually makes the cards
with less ink on them slip more east;
ly than the others. The result is that
the spread pack will have a number
of breaks in Il, and those cards which
have slipped far past the ones below
are usually cards of low denomina-
ton. A knowledge of this fact ena-
bles persons, to get the first deal and
also to get together as partners.
Probably one of the most audac-
ious methods of cheating. for 1t can
be called by no lighter name, is that
adopted by a woman, erroneous can
collation. of scores.
Score Keeper.
IL Is a common practice with some
score keepers to cancel equal sums
during the progress of the game so
as to reduce the labor OF adding up
at the end. IL one side has an item
OF SO scored II can be Cancelled If
items Of is, IL and 6 are simultane-
ously Cancelled on the other side.
A little error such as canceling six
too much or too little will hardly
ever be noticed. especially when pre-
vious cancellations have been made;
and IL II is IL is easy TO smile sweetly
and thank YOU so much for pointing
II out, and how careless of me, etc.
But the steady advantage of from
twelve to thirty points picked up on
every rubber of any length is some
thing that no one can stand against.
Another extremely daring piece OF
cheating. which cannot be tried more
than once in an evening. however, is
TO break a card during the play OF a
hand and then claim a new deal. I'm.
der the rules IL a pack is found TO be
incomplete or imperfect and the i'm
perfection is discovered during the
play of a hand that deal is void. An
imperfect pack is one IN which there
are duplicate or missing cards. OF
cards so torn or marked that they can
be identified by the backs.
When dummy has declared no
trumps and lays down hundred
aces and il looks as II the dealer
we're about TO make a grand stand. il
is about time to mutilate one corner
OF a card and then show IL and insist
that the pack is imperfect. and that
there must be a new deal with anoth-
er pack. A matter OF 22i points is
worth saving.
In addition to all this there are, OF
course many private conventions and
signals with the cards which have
been previously agreed upon between
partners These absolutely defy de-
lection unless the play can be closely
watched for a large number of games
and even then the evidence would be
very doubtful.
IL is bad enough for people to
study out such methods themselves,
but when bridge teachers instruct
their pupils to use such tricks as ro-
tary discards and double entendre
echos, bridge is in a pretty bad way.
No wonder people are taking up skat.
New York Sun.