Glossary
S
Schmear:
A defensive play in Pinochle.
Schmeiss:
Agreement to abandon a deal in Klob.
Schneider:
To fall short of half the needed points in Skat.
Schwarz:
Failure to take any tricks in Skat.
Score:
Total tricks or points won by player or team.
See:
To call a bet in Poker.
Serve:
A type of deal.
Set:
Lose a bid; also, a meld of three or more cards in Rummy.
Set back:
Lose a score or go in the hole.
Settlement:
Balancing up of scores, particularly with chips involved.
Short game:
A game in which only part of the pack is dealt.
Short suit:
Any suit in a hand with less than an average number of cards; particularly, the shortest suit.
Short Whist:
A game of Whist played for only 5 points.
Show:
Meld or lay down cards often for scoring purposes.
Showdown:
Disclosure of all hands, particularly in Poker.
Shuffle:
Mix the cards of a pack.
Shutout:
Keep opponents from scoring. In Bridge, to pre-empt.
Shy:
Owing chips to a pot.
Side:
A team.
Side bets:
Private bets among individualplayers, particularly in Poker.
Side card:
Highest card not forming part of a combination in a Poker hand. Example: I-I-A-7-3 would be a pair of jacks with an ace as side card, defeating J-J-K-Q-9, with only a king as side card. Also any card of an ordinary suit in a trump game.
Side pot:
A special pot in Table Stakes
Side strength:
High cards other than trumps.
Side suit:
Any suit except the trump suit.
Signal:
Conventional bid or play in partnership game.
Simple game:
One played at the lowest bidding level, particularly in Skat.
Singleton:
In Whist or Bridge, a lone card of a suit in the hand as originally dealt.
Sixty queens:
Four queens in Pinochle, scoring 60 points.
Skeet:
A freak Poker hand, containing 9-5-2 with two other values between.
Skip or skip straight:
A freak Poker hand with alternating values, as K-J-9-7-5.
Skunked:
Badly defeated, particularly when held scoreless.
Slam:
Taking twelve or thirteen tricks in Bridge.
Smear:
Same as schmear.
Space:
An opening gained by removal of a pile of cards from a Solitaire layout.
Spades:
A score of 1 point for making the most spades in Cassino.
Spades double:
A popular rule giving a spade bid double value in Pinochle.
Spadilla:
The highest trump
Q in German Solo.
Spadille:
The highest trump
A in Ombre.
Spin:
Short for "spinado."
Split:
In Blackjack, to separate two cards of equal value and play each as an individual hand.
Split openers:
To discard part of an opening combination in Draw Poker, usually one of a pair. Example: Holding K-Q-J-J-10, a player would discard one jack, hoping to fill a straight, consisting of A-KQ-J-10 or K-Q-J-10-9.
Spot card:
Any card other than an ace or a face card; an ace, when ranked as low, may be regarded as a spot.
Spread:
To spread out cards on the table, either as a meld or as a showdown, or to prove that the hand is a sure winner.
Squeeze:
A series of plays in Bridge that force an opponent to discard a winning card.
Squeezers:
Modern playing cards, with an index at each upper left corner.
Stack:
A pile of chips or counters.
Stake:
The amount of chips that a player is willing or able to expend during a game.
Stand:
To agree upon a turned-up card as trump; or to play out a deal or put required chips in a pot.
Standard pack:
Fifty-two cards in the majority of games; varying numbers in others.
Stand pat:
To play a hand as dealt in Draw Poker, without drawing any cards.
Stay:
To call in Poker.
Stock:
Portion of pack not yet dealt.
Stop:
Interruption of play in certain games.
Stop cards:
Black threes and wild cards in Canasta that prevent the next player from taking up the discard pile.
Stopper:
A card high enough to keep an opponent from winning an entire suit in Bridge and some other games.
Straddle:
In Poker, to follow a blind bet with a blind raise.
Straight:
In Poker, a sequence of mixed suits, as Q-J-10-9-8.
Straight flush:
A Poker sequence in one suit, as
29-8-7-6-5.
Striped straight:
A freak Poker hand with cards alternating red and black when arranged in descending order, as
J
7
6
4
2.
Stripped pack:
A pack with some of the low cards removed, used in Poker games to produce stronger hands when the game is short of players.
Suits:
The four distinctive groups of a Standard pack:
.
Sweep:
To take 1 point in Cassino by clearing the board.
Sweeten:
To add a new ante or put extra chips in a pot.
System:
Any recognized or established bidding method in Bridge and certain other games.
T
Tableau:
An old term for a Solitaire layout.
Take:
To agree to play with the turned-up trump in Klob.
Take in:
To win a trick. In Cassino, to gather the leftover cards.
Takeout:
In Bridge, to make a bid at variance with a partner’s bid.
Takeout double:
An informatory double in Bridge.
Take up:
The dealer’s privilege of exchanging a card for the trump card turned up in Euchre; also to pick up the discard pile in Canasta and certain forms of Rummy.
Tap:
To announce an intention by tapping on the table, such as forgoing the privilege of cutting the pack, or passing a chance to bid. In Poker, a player taps when he bets all his remaining chips in Table Stakes.
Team:
A partnership.
Tenace:
In Bridge or Whist, honor cards with a gap between, as A-Q (major) or K-J (minor).
Tenth card:
A card counting for 10 in Cribbage; namely, K, Q, J,10.
Third hand high:
A customary procedure in Whist, where the third player puts his highest card on a trick. Applicable to other games.
Three of a kind:
In Poker, a holding of three cards of the same value.
Throw in:
To throw a hand face down as unplayable, particularly in Draw Poker.
Throw off:
To make a discard.
Tierce:
A three-card sequence in Piquet.
Tiger:
A freak Poker hand, the same as cat; also a symbol used to advertise a Faro game.
Touching:
In Bridge, two suits next to each other in value.
Trail:
To lay down an odd card in Cassino.
Trash:
Worthless cards.
Trick:
Cards played singly by each player, forming a group that one player wins.
Trick score:
Points for tricks bid and won in Bridge, going below the line on the scoresheet.
Tricon:
French term for three of a kind.
Tripleton:
Only three cards of a suit in a Bridge hand as originally dealt.
Triplets:
Three of a kind.
Trips:
Nickname for "triplets."
Trump:
Modern name for Triomphe.
Trump:
Card of a special suit that ranks higher than the others; also, to play a trump card on another suit.
Trump suit:
The suit named as trump.
Twice around:
A Cribbage game of 121 points as scored on a special board.
Twist:
To draw or substitute added cards at the end of a Poker hand, in hope of improving holdings before the showdown.
Two pair:
A Poker hand with two pairs of different values, with an odd card, as K-K-4-4-8.
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