Macao (card game)

Last updated

Macao is an old, European gambling card game played with French playing cards that is related to Baccarat. It was first mentioned in 1783 and may have originated in Hungary or Italy. [1] It was described as being popular with the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 19th century, [2] although the game was later banned as a game of chance. [3]

Contents

Overview

Macao may be a forerunner of Baccarat. It is a gambling game using cards that resembles others of its genre such as Onze et Demi, Vingt Un, Trente Un or Siebzehn und Vier. The idea of Macao is also used in a dice game of the same name, Macao.

Play

The following rules are from Meyer: [4]

Each punter is dealt a card by the banker; additional cards may be 'bought'. The Ace counts as one point, Tens and court cards as nought, and the remaining cards count their pip value. The aim is to acquire nine points or as close as possible to nine points, in one's hand cards as quickly as possible.

If a player's first card is a Nine, this is a großer Schlag and wins double, unless the banker also has a großer Schlag in which case the banker collects a double stake from all players except for the punter who also had a nine, who just loses a single stake. An Eight as first card is called a kleiner Schlag.

Whoever goes bust (verkauft), i.e. ends up with more than nine points, immediately loses his stake. If the banker goes bust, all players win if they have nine or fewer points. If a player has more points than the banker, he wins a single stake; if he has fewer, he loses his stake. If a player has the same number of points as the banker, the number of cards is the decider. Whoever has fewer cards wins; if both points and cards are the same, the banker always wins.

Differences between Macao and Baccarat

In Macao a player may 'buy' as many cards as possible; but if he exceeds nine points, he loses immediately. In some variants of Baccarat the player may only draw one card. If a player exceeds nine points in Baccarat only the one place counts, i.e. a player can get worse by buying, but exceeding nine points does not necessarily mean the loss of the game.

In Macao all the punters receive cards; in Baccara chemin de fer, however, only one punter gets a card and in Baccara banque only two punters (one in each half of the table).

Literary Reception

In Arthur Schnitzler's novella, Spiel im Morgengrauen, the game is named "Bakkarat" at one point, but it is clear from the clues in the novella that it is in fact the game of Macao. [5]

Related Research Articles

Baccarat Gambling card game

Baccarat or baccara is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup has three possible outcomes: "player", "banker", and "tie". There are three popular variants of the game: punto banco, baccarat chemin de fer, and baccarat banque. In punto banco, each player's moves are forced by the cards the player is dealt. In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices. The winning odds are in favour of the bank, with a house edge no lower than around 1 percent.

Brag (card game)

Brag is an 18th century British card game, and the British national representative of the vying or "bluffing" family of gambling games. It is a descendant of the Elizabethan game of Primero and one of the several ancestors to poker, the modern version just varying in betting style and hand rankings. It has been described as the "longest-standing British representative of the Poker family."

Mini-baccarat is a smaller, lower-stakes version of punto banco baccarat. Mini-baccarat is different in that it is generally lower limits, the player does not get to pick up the cards, and that the table is smaller in size. Mini-baccarat is popular in many casinos, especially among Asian gamblers.

Glossary of card game terms List of definitions of terms and jargon used in card games

The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, but apply to a wide range of card games. For glossaries that relate primarily to one game or family of similar games, see Game-specific glossaries.

Elfern, also known as Eilfern, Figurenspiel or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten in a Piquet pack or the Ace, King, Ober, Unter and Ten in a Skat pack. Elfern is at least 250 years old and a possible ancestor to the Marriage family of card games, yet it is still played by German children.

Bauerntarock

Bauerntarock also called Brixentaler Bauerntarock or Brixental Tarock, is a point-trick card game played in the Brixental, Austria. It may have originated in the 19th century as an adaptation of the 54-card Tapp Tarock game onto the cheaper and smaller 36-card German deck. Another possibility is that it was adapted from the 78-card Taroc l'Hombre game as the ratio of trumps to non-trumps is almost the same. It uses the Skat Schedule found in popular regional games such as Jass and Schafkopf. It is closely related to Bavarian Tarock, Württemberg Tarock, and especially Dobbm. Like Bavarian Tarock and Tapp, Brixental Bauerntarock and Dobbm do not belong to the true tarot games, but have adopted rules from Tapp Tarock. The most fundamental difference between these games and true tarot games is in the use of German or French decks instead of true Tarot playing cards.

Zwicken

Zwicken is an old Austrian and German card game for 4 to 6 players, which is usually played for small stakes and makes a good party game. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks.

Binokel

Binokel is a card game for two to eight players that originated in Switzerland as Binocle, but spread to the German state of Württemberg, where it is typically played with a Württemberg pattern pack. It is still popular in Württemberg, where it is usually played in groups of three or four as a family game rather than in the pubs. In three-hand games, each player competes for himself, while in four-hand games, known as Cross Binokel (Kreuzbinokel), two teams are formed with partners sitting opposite one another. The game was introduced to America by German immigrants in the first half of the 20th century, where it developed into the similar game of Pinochle. Binocle was still played in Switzerland in 1994. In south Germany, the game is sometimes called by its Swabian name, Benoggl.

Wallachen

Wallachen is an Old Bavarian card game which used to be very popular in eastern Bavaria. Although, by 2012, it had become a rarer sight at pub tables, there have been more recent moves to revive it. Wallachen is a relatively simple three-hander that is easy to learn. As a result, like Grasobern, it has a relatively relaxed character without the mental demands of Schafkopf or the psychological stress of Watten.

Tempeln

Tempeln, also known as Meine Tante – Deine Tante, and its 32-card version, known as Naschi Waschi, German Pharaoh, Stoß or Süßmilch, are very simple historical, German, gambling card games played with French or German playing cards. They differ from the more complex Basset and Faro in that they omit aspects such as lappé, paroli, etc.

Silesian Lottery, also called Card Lottery (Kartenlotterie), Card Tombola (Kartentombola), Großes Los, Grüne Wiese or Bullermännchen, is a simple, German, game of chance and gambling card game, that is played with two packs of 32 Bavarian-pattern or French-suited playing cards.

Blind Hookey

Blind Hookey, also known as Dutch Bank, Banker and Broker and Honest John, is a simple game of chance using playing cards. The game is popular in Germany where it is known as Häufeln, Bockspiel or Päckchen wenden, after the little packets of cards used.

Polish Bank

Polish Bank, Polski Pachuck, Grundehrlich, Polish Red Dog or Stitch, is a gambling game using playing cards which resembles Häufeln and Mauscheln. The game is recorded as early as 1836 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire where it was banned on the grounds of being purely a game of chance or hazard.

Blüchern

Blüchern is a simple gambling card game for any number of players that is played either with a pack of 52 French playing cards or with a pack of 32 French or German playing cards.

Twenty-One (card game)

Twenty-One, formerly known as Vingt-Un in Britain, France and America, is the name given to a family of popular card games of the gambling family, the progenitor of which is recorded in Spain in the early 17th century. The family includes the casino games of blackjack and Pontoon as well as their domestic equivalents. Twenty-One rose to prominence in France in the 18th century and spread from there to Germany and Britain from whence it crossed to America. Known initially as Vingt-Un in all those countries, it developed into Pontoon in Britain after the First World War and blackjack in Canada and the United States in the late 19th century, where the legalisation of gambling increased its popularity.

Letzter Stich

Letzter Stich is a card game for 3 or 4 players in which the aim is solely to win the last trick. It originated in Germany and the names mean "last trick" respectively. A game of this name is mentioned as early as 1839 and it may be related to Swedish Femkort. In 1967, Gööck describes it as being suitable for children, yet having a "surprising wealth of interesting game situations." It should not be confused with Letzter, a reverse game where the aim is to lose the last trick and which has additional complexities.

Husarln Card game, an Austrian variant of Hungarian Tarok

Husarln ("Hussar") is a mid-20th century, three-hand card game of the Austrian branch of the Tarot family. It is a 42-card variant of Illustrated Tarock and appears to be a close Austrian relative of the 42-card Hungarian tarock card games. The game is dominated by the distribution of Tarocks, giving it a "brisk and energetic feel" that is reflected in its name. It is also known as Block Tarock, although that name was given to a quite different and older game.

Drużbart

Drużbart or Druzbart is an extinct Polish card game of the Bruus family. The game is descended from the oldest known card game in Europe, Karnöffel, a fact testified by its unusual card ranking and lack of a uniform trump suit.

Pontoon (card game)

Pontoon, formerly called Vingt-Un, is a card game of the banking family for three to ten players and the "British domestic version of Twenty-One," a game first recorded in 17th-century Spain, but which spread to France, Germany and Britain in the late 18th century, and America during the early 19th century. It is not, as popularly supposed, a variant of Blackjack nor is Pontoon derived from Blackjack, but both are descended from the early British version of Vingt-Un. In Britain, it first became known as Pontoon during the First World War, the name apparently being a soldier's corruption of its former French name. The games has no official rules and varies widely from place to place. It is a popular family game, but also widely played by children, students and in the armed forces. In 1981, Pontoon was the 3rd most popular card game in Britain after Rummy and Whist. It has been described as "an amusing round game and one which anyone can learn in a few minutes."

Onze et demie, also Onze et demi, is an historical German banking game for any number of players and a close relative of Vingt et un.

References

  1. Zollinger 1997, p. 302.
  2. Lentner 1855, p. 111.
  3. Perles 1891, p. 312.
  4. Meyers Konversationslexikon von 1908
  5. Schnitzler 1927.

Literature