Seven Up

[Rmhisteach]

Pards & Comrades,

In preperation for the I-600 event I am reading Immortal Captives . On page 169 a sgt. Maj. named busbee 5th N.C. States
"....I was playing a game of seven up with captain John Cowan of Wilmington, for a cracker. It was a common game amoung the prisoners, although stakes are high and the victor had extra luxurious living for the day."

I have played a card game called seven up but it does not invole stakes . I am wondering if anyone has a clue on this game. If it was common we should be doing it .

Rod

[CAWallis]

Re: Seven Up

I performed a quick Google search, and was able to locate the following:

**EDIT: Link removed because it appeared to be "unstable." See below.

It says the game originated in 17th century England, but is also known by the names "all fours, high-low-jack, and old sledge." Is this the same card game you have played?

And, I suppose you could place a wager on any game of chance, and for the Immortals, a lone cracker was valuable commodity.

Hope this helps.

**EDIT: I found these rules after discovering the link I had posted previously did not work correctly. These rules are from http://www.usplayingcard.com/index2.html

SEVEN-UP
(All-Fours, Old Sledge)

Number of Players	Number of Cards	Game Play	Skill Level
2-4	52	Easy - Complex	Luck - Skill

This is an Americanized version of All-Fours, the classic English pub game.
Number of Players. Two or three people can play, or four may play as partners, two against two.
The Pack. The standard 52-card pack is used.
Rank of Cards. A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.
The Draw. From a shuffled pack spread face down, each player draws a card. The player drawing the highest card deals and has his choice of seats. In a partnership game, the players with the two high cards play against those with the two low cards.
The Shuffle and Cut. Any player may shuffle, the dealer shuffles last, and the player to the dealer's right cuts, leaving at least five cards in each packet.
The Deal. The dealer completes the cut and dealsthree cards at a time to each player clockwise, beginning with the player on the left, until each player has six cards. The next card is turned up and placed on top of the undealt cards which form the stock. If the upcard is a jack, the dealer scores 1 point immediately.
Making the Trump. If the player on the dealer's left stands, the suit of the upcard becomes trump, and that player leads first. If he "begs" (proposes to the dealer that three additional cards be dealt to each hand and that a new card be turned up as trump), the dealer may say, "Take it," whereupon the player scores one point for "gift." The gift is always awarded to the player on the dealer's left when he begs and the dealer rejects. The other alternative for the dealer is to "run the cards," accepting the beg by giving three more cards to each player and turning up another card as trump. If this new upcard is of a different suit from the first one, it becomes trump without further option; and if it is a jack, the dealer again scores 1 point. If the second card turned up is of the same suit as the first one, that card and the three cards dealt to each player are laid aside, and the dealer runs the pack again, continuing to do so until a new suit is turned up or until there are not enough cards to go around. In the latter case, there is a new deal by the same dealer.
There may also be a new deal by the same dealer if, when the second trump is turned, any player suggests "Bunch." This means that if no other player insists that the hand be played, the present deal is abandoned, and the cards are shuffled and dealt again.
If the cards have been run, once a trump is decided, each player discards enough cards, face down near himself, to bring his hand down to the original six.
Object of the Game. The goal is to be the first player to get rid of all his chips.
The Play. The player on the dealer's left leads first. Each player, in turn, must either follow suit or play a trump if possible. The winner of each trick leads next. If unable to follow suit to subsequent leads, the player may play any card, and is not required to play a trump.
Scoring. At the start of the game, each player has seven chips, and each time the player scores a point he puts one chip in the pot. In addition to the points for turn of jack and for gift, other points are scored as follows:
High. One point for being dealt the highest trump in play.
Low. One point for being dealt the lowest trump in play.
Jack. One point for winning the trick containing the jack of trumps.
Game. One point for winning in tricks the greatest total in counting cards, each ten counting 10 points, each ace 4, each king 3, each queen 2, and each jack 1. In case of a tie for game, in two-hand play, the non-dealer scores it. In three- or four-hand play, no one scores it.
The first player to get rid of all his chips wins the game. If the winner is not determined until the end of a hand, and two or more players are able to go out, the points are counted in this order: High, Low, Jack, Game. (In some games, 10 points instead of 7 constitute game.)

Irregularities. Misdeal. If the dealer gives any player an incorrect number of cards, he loses the deal, which passes to the player on his left. If the dealer exposes a card, the player to whom it is dealt may decide to let the deal stand or ask for a new deal by the same dealer.
Revoke. The offender cannot score for Jack or Game; each opponent scores 1 point if the jack is not in play and 2 points if the jack is in play.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Seven Up

In the magazine "The Youth's Companion" from February 19, 1863, there is a story about a farmer who is taken in by two cheating gamblers who were playing the game "seven up."

We have an 1864 "Hoyle's" and the game is in there under the name "All Fours" and is also known as "Old Sledge." As the game is described, the players compete for points by taking tricks and trying to obtain certain cards in the tricks they take that count for points. No wagering is discussed.

It could probably be turned into a gambling game by betting on taking tricks or betting on the number of points. However, this last is merely conjecture.

Michael Mescher

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Seven Up

Pards & Comrades,

Both interesting and helpful replies.

I wonder if anyone has played this game it is not the game that I have played.

It sounds like Hearts.

Rod

[Hank Trent]

Re: Seven Up

Here's a period description of how to play the game, and then how to cheat at it.

The book is An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling, by Jonathan Harrington Green, 1845.

http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC03989892&id=_F0PAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc

The description of Seven Up starts on p. 178, under the heading "All Fours." However, when you get to p. 181, the author explains, "According to Mr. Hoyle, the points to be made before the game is concluded are ten; they are now universally reduced to seven; and the game is most commonly called seven up, or old sledge."

By the way, the pun in the title of the book is worth noting. Though I'd expect that most people would see it as a Masonic reference today, my guess is that more people in the early 19th century would be familiar with "arts and mysteries" as part of the wording on actual working apprenticeship contracts.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Seven Up

Hank,

Have you ever played the game?

I think it is worth doing as an activity at Pulaski don't you?

RM

[Hank Trent]

Re: Seven Up

Hank,

Have you ever played the game?

I think it is worth doing as an activity at Pulaski don't you?

RM

Unfortunately, never played it. I'm lousy at learning card games. But you're right, it oughta be happening at Pulaski, and there's no doubt I'd know it, from spending time in the wilds of California if nothing else.

If you bring the cards, I'll guarantee you've got at least one person to play with. Especially if you've got any leftover laudanum from a surgeon's prescription to wager. :wink_smil

When you want to play, hunt me up. (dark brown frock coat, light brown slouch hat, beard same as my avatar).

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Seven Up

Hank ,

That may even be worth getting a new deck broke in for . Because my pards and i usually play Euchre. My deck is unevenly worn and in bad shape. Reguardless i will look you up .

As far as the Laudenum reference. From what the book says many of us should be addicted to Opium.

rm

[Michael McComas]

Re: Seven Up

Sounds like there are multiple ways to bet on this game. You could all ante something and winner takes all, or you could institute a penalty-based system, like Bourré--which I hear is French for "your money or your wife"--where anyone who doesn't get a point for the hand matches the pot.

[Shotgun Messiah]

Re: Seven Up

Mr. Miller if I had known you and your pards were Euchre players.The New Madrid Guards are renown Euchre addicts and would have taken up your wages at Ft Donelson last year instead of singin.. Next time we meet you up for a game or two...
Unfortunatly I cannot go to Ft Pulaski either or I would have been all stoked up to be Capt. Schyler Lowe of Independence,Missouri.. Unfortuantly Real life got in the way...
Curses!! Foiled again!

Warren Hook
New Madrid Guards
WIG

[Old Cremona]

Re: Seven Up

This game gets a mention in several early comic minstrel tunes. In "Charleston Gals," by J. P. Carter, pub. 1844, the protagonist tells us that

Ole Joe swore that he'd stock the cards,
He dar'd me out to square the yards,
Says I, Old Joe you can't fool me,
I play seven up by de Double Rule of three.