SPOIL FIVE
SPOIL FIVE, sometimes called Forty-five, is an excellent game of the Euchre family, sometimes regarded as the national card game of Ireland. It calls for a show of skill and is usually played for stakes.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Any reasonable number may play, but the game is best for five or six.
CARDS
Spoil Five is played with the full pack of 52 cards, but that it is rarely, if ever, played outside its native Ireland may be ascribed to the eccentric order of the cards. The 5 of the trump suit is always the highest trump, the Jack of the trump suit is the second highest, and the Ace of hearts the third highest.
Thereafter, if a black suit is trumps the cards rank in the order Ace, King, Queen,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10 and if a red suit is trumps in the order Ace (if diamonds are trumps), King, Queen, 10,9,8,7,6,4,3,2.
In plain suits, the black suits rank in the order King, Queen, Jack, ace, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10; the red suits in the order King, Queen, Jack, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2, ace (except in hearts). It is concisely expressed as ‘highest in red; lowest in black’, but even with this help it is all rather involved.
Five cards are dealt to each player either in bundles of two then three, or three then two. The next exposed card to determine the trump suit.
THE PLAY
A pool is formed to which every player contributes an agreed amount, and it is usual to fix a maximum and, after the first deal, only the player whose turn it is to deal contributes to the pool. The object of the game is to win three tricks, or to prevent another player from winning them.
The player on the left of the dealer leads to the first trick. thereafter the winner of a trick leads to the next. The rules of play are precise and peculiar to the game:
If the card turned up to denote the trump suit is an Ace, the dealer may rob. He may, that is, exchange the Ace for a card in his hand, but he must do so before the player on his left leads to the first trick.
Any player who has been dealt the Ace of the trump suit may exchange any card in his poker hand for the turn-up card, but he need not do so until it is his turn to play.
If a trump is led a player must follow suit if he can, but the 5 and Jack of the trump suit and the ♥ A are exempt from following suit to the lead of a lower trump. It is called reneging.
It means that the 5 of the trump suit need not be played if the Jack of the trump suit need not be played if the ♥ A is led; if, however, the 5 of the trump suit is led no trump can renege.
If a plain suit is led a player may follow suit or trump as he chooses, but he must not discard from another plain suit if he is able to follow suit or trump. If a player misdeals the deal passes to the next player.
The player who wins three tricks takes the pool; if no-one wins three tricks (a spoil) the deal passes to the next player. When a player has won three tricks the hand ends and the deal passes, unless the player who has won them declares ‘Jinx’.
This is an undertaking to win the remaining two tricks. Play then continues and if he fails to win the two tricks he loses the pool; on the other hand, if he wins the two tricks No-Trumps only does he take the pool but the other players each pay him the amount that they originally contributed to the pool. In the four-handed game illustrated overleaf, South deals and turns up the ♦ 9.
West leads the ♦ J. North may renege the ♦ 5, but it would hardly be good play not to use it to win the second highest trump, so he plays it. East, who holds the ♦ A, robs by exchanging the ♣ 8 for the ♦ 9 and, of course, plays it.
West, who started with the hope of a jinx, is now not so sure that he will win even three tricks./ his prospects, however, improve when South , perforce, plays the ♥ A
North leads the ♣ J, East plays the ♣ 5, South the ♣ 7, and West wins with the 2 ♦. West leads the ♠ K, North plays the ♠ 6, and East sees the possibility of himself winning three tricks. He trumps with the ♦ A, and South plays the ♠ 9.
With any luck East should be able to win the last two tricks with the ♠ J and ♠ 5.
As it happens, however, East’s play has enabled West to win three tricks, because when East leads the ♠ J, West wins the ♦ 3 and the last trick with the ♠ 2.