HOYLE, EDMUND, or EDMOND (1672-1769), the first systematizer of the laws of whist, and author of a book on games, was born in 1672. For the use of his pupils in whist he drew up a Short Treatise (1742) . The laws of Hoyle continued to be regarded as authoritative until 1864, after which they were grad ually superseded by the new rules adopted by the Arlington and Portland clubs in that year (see WHIST). The weight of his authority is indicated by the phrase "according to Hoyle," which, doubtless first applied with reference to whist, has gained cur rency as a proverb. Hoyle died in London on Aug. 29, 1769.