posite to each other on the cloth; to which is sewn a long strip of yellow border.

2nd. The couleur and the inverse. If the player be desirous to risk his money on the colour, he must put it on a narrow band, which is situated between the two squares of the Rouge and Noir. If he be determined to try his luck on the inverse, he must place his money on a yellow circle, or rather a collection of circles, situated at the extremity of the table.

There are many tailleurs, who are replaced successively; some of whom deal the cards, and others pay the winners, superintend the play, and overlook the players.

The first parcel of cards played, is usually fo noir, the second for rouge, though sometimes the cards are cut to determine which shall begin. All the terms of this game are French, and that language is commonly used in playing.

The tailleur and croupier being seated opposite each other, with a basket for receiving the cards of every coup after dealing, placed on the middle of the table, one of the tailleurs commences the game, by unsealing before the company six packs of cards, which are regularly counted in their presence; and, after being shuffled, he passes them to another sitting opposite to him; who also shuffles them in his turn by a handful at a time, and hands them to the punter who happens to be on the right hand, who has the privilege to shuffle them if he pleases: they are ultimately transmitted to the tailleur, whose duty it is to deal, and who again shuffles them by a handful at a time. He then puts the six packs together, shuffles them once more, and gets them cut.

The cut is made by presenting a blank card to one of the players, who places it in any part of the six packs of cards that he thinks proper: he cannot, however, cut less than three cards.

The tailleur completes the cut, by putting those cut under the top cards.

This ceremony being over, the punters place on the Rouge, the Noir, the Couleur, or the Inverse, the sum they wish to risk. No individual can put down less than five francs, nor more than twelve thousand at the same time, except in the two following cases; viz:

1st. When the banker agrees to an augmentation of the stake, after a proposition made to him by the playe

2nd. When a player is forced to augment his mass, the consequence of a martingale.

During this interval, the tailleur places before him the cards, of which he takes a handful, and cries out, “Le jeu est fait, rien ne va plus:" that is to say, the deal having commenced, no more money is to be placed on the table than the sum already staked. After those words are pronounced, should any one put money on the table, it will be taken up by one of the tailleurs, and returned to him; for the player putting money down too late can neither win nor lose.

The tailleur now draws a card, which, after showing to the company, he lays on the table: he draws a second; a third, which he places in the same row, right and left, until the number of points on the cards amount to at least thirty-one; so that if he should happen to count only thirty, he must still draw another.

The cards retain their nominal value. The ace counts as one point; the II, two points; the III. three points; the IV, four points; the V, five points; the VI, six points; the VII, seven points; the VIII, eight points; the IX, nine points; the X, ten points; and the court cards ten points each.

The first row of cards, of which the number of points are at least equal to thirty-one, and cannot consequently pass the number of forty, is for the Noir; that is to say, it determines the chance of those who have placed their money upon that part of the cloth where the black mark is; which we have already described as being in the shape of a diamond.

The tailleur immediately afterwards draws in the same manner another row of cards for the Rouge.

If he has counted thirty-six points in the first row of cards, he calls out, in a loud voice, to the players, six, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the word thirty, which would recur too often, but which is well understood; and thirty-five points in the second row of cards, which he also announces in like manner by saying five. He adds, "Rouge gagne," red wins; because it is always the thirty-one points, or those which more closely approach to them, that win. At that moment, the four tailleurs, who are placed opposite each other, gather by the aid of their rakes all the money which is placed on the Noir, and double all that placed on the Rouge, ich is immediately withdrawn by the lucky players.

It now only remains to speak of the money placed on the chances, the Couleur and the Inverse. The first card drawn by the banker determines the couleur. If, then, the first card of the preceding cut drawn by the tailleur is Noir, as it is Rouge which gains, the couleur will lose.

The tailleurs have then a right to draw to the bank all the money which was placed upon the chance of the couleur, and double all the money which was placed upon the chance of the inverse.

To make this better understood, a contrary example may be cited; that is to say, a case in which the Noir and the Couleur win. Let us suppose, that the tailleur turns up for the first row, the king of spades, ten of clubs, seven of diamonds, and four of spades, which count thirty-one, and which he expresses by one, pronounced in a loud voice; and that he next turns up for the second row, the queen of clubs, nine of hearts, nine of spades, and five of diamonds, which count thirty-three, which he expresses by three. Noir wins; since the tailleur has turned up in the first row of cards thirty-one; and, as we have already observed :

1st. That the first row of cards is for La Noir.

2nd. It is the chance of thirty-one, or the point which approaches the nearest to it, that wins.

The tailleur then cries out, "Rouge perd," red loses, and adds, "et Couleur gagne," and colour wins; because the first card turned up is a king of spades, consequently black; and in that case, the colour being black, the colour wins because black wins. If the first card had been the king of diamonds, the colour would have lost because it is the black which has won; which the dealer would have expressed by saying, “Rouge perd et Couleur," the red and the colour loses.

When the dealer has turned up in the second row of cards, which is for the red, the same number he has turned up in the first row for the black, it is what is called un refait; that is to say, that the cut is null, and that the dealer must again turn up other cards. The punter can in this case change his game by playing more, less, or not at all; as he may think proper.

When the points turned up for the black and for the red are thirty-one, half of all the money which may be on the red, or the black, the colour, or the inverse, belongs to the banker,

which half, the punters may either pay, or have their stake moved into the middle semicircles of the colour they then choose, called "la première prison," the first prison, to be deter mined by the next event, whether they lose all or are set at liberty; but if "un refait second trente et un," a second doublet of one-and thirty, should occur in the next succeeding deal, the punters lose only one-half of their remaining moiety, making three-fourths of their original stakes, and are removed into the smallest semicircle, styled "la seconde prison," the second prison, and the next coup determines whether the punter loses all or is to be removed again into "la premiere prison."

Thus if a player had at the first coup one hundred francs, by the first thirty-one turned up he would lose fifty; he has no more then in prison than fifty francs, after the first thirtyone; twenty-five francs, after the second; twelve francs and a half, after the third; and six francs and a quarter, after the fourth.

Happily for the player, it seldom happens, that thirty-one is three or four times successively repeated in favor of the banker.

Punters after winning may paroli, &c. and pursue their luck up to a soixante, as at faro; but as no livrets are used at Rouge et Noir, they cannot make either paix or pont.

At this game a banker cannot refuse any stake not exceed ing his fund; which the punter declares, by saying, “Je va la Banque, Va la Banque, or Va Banque," I aim at the Bank.

Bankers generally furnish punters with slips of card paper, ruled in columns, each marked N or R at the top, on which accounts are kept by pricking with a pin, and when "un refait" happens, the same is denoted by running the pin through the middle line.

Some bankers give up the profit of "le refait" during the first deal.

The odds against "le refait" being dealt, are reckoned 63 to 1, but bankers expect it twice in three deals, and there are generally from 29 to 32 coups in each deal.

For the table exhibiting the odds against winning any nu ber of events successively, vide page 340.

EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS USED AT ROUGE ET NOIR

Banquier, or Tailleur-The dealer.

Fausse Taille-Occurs when the dealer commits a fault, which subjects him to double all the money staked.

To Martingale-Is to play one coup at least more than the stake previously lost. This is the boldest manner of playing at any of the games of chance.

Paroli-Is doubling the stake you have won at the preceding coup. A plan usually adopted by all players.

Paroli et masse en avant-Is double the sum staked the preceding coup, more than the player has risked. If the gamester has played five shillings the first time and has won the second coup, instead of taking up his money, he must add five shillings to his mass, which makes fifteen shillings, and which he risks the second coup: this is called "Faire Paroli et masse en avant." Perhaps this is the safest and best method of playing, especially for a novice. In pursuing this plan it is possible to win; and it is impossible to lose much, provided the first stake does not exceed a crown.

Refait de Trente et un-A coup by which the banquier wins one-half the money staked. It is effected by dealing thirty-one for each colour.

Refait-Occurs when the banquier deals the same sum for both colours, from thirty-two to forty.

Sept et le va-Seven times the amount first staked.

Taille-Is made every time the dealer has turned up all the cards.

Figure The name given to the kings, queens, and knaves. Point-The number which results from the sums of the cards dealt by the banquier.

Punter-Those who play against the banquier.

LA ROULETTE.

The table employed for the Roulette is somewhat in the shape of that used for the game of Rouge et Noir; it is of an oblong square form, covered with green cloth. In the centre is a round cavity usually made of mahogany, and resembling in some degree a punch-bowl. The sides are immovable, and around it are placed at equal distances several bands of copper, which commencing at the top descend