If these values, added, make his bid, he has won his contract, and the other players pay; but if, after counting his melds and dixes, he is short of the points bid, and his opponents refuse to concede the contract, he may play the hand and try to make up the short age from the count of the cards in the tricks he takes. If he feels he cannot make his bid, he does not play, but pays.
If the contractor decides to play, he takes all the cards up from the table, lays three not melded, face down from his own hand, which count as a trick for him. If he fails to lay these cards out, he loses. If he lays a trump he must announce it. He now leads, and the other two are partners against him. In the play of the hand, every player must follow suit or trump. If void both of the suit led and trumps, a player may discard any card on the trick. If trumps are led, each player that follows must play a higher card and win the trick if he can. If void of trumps, he may dis card. The last trick counts ten for the one who wins it. If the number of points made by the value of the cards in the tricks the contractor wins, added to the points in his meld, make the number that he has bid, he collects for the number of points bid, from the players, no matter how many points he has made. If the
bid is 300, and he makes 500 points, he can only collect for 300. If the contractor plays the hand and fails to make his contract, he must pay double.
Each deal is a complete game, and is usually paid for at once by the losers. For convenience, instead of keeping a score, each player usually takes 25 poker chips. At the end of the hand, each player pays 2 chips for any loss under 300, 3 chips for a loss be tween 30o and 34o, 5 chips for a loss from 350 to 39o, To chips for a loss from 40o to 44o, 15 chips from a loss from 450 to 49o, 20 chips for a loss of 50o. These figures are purely arbitrary. Players give any value they wish to each chip. At the end of the sitting, each player owes for the 25 chips he had at the beginning, and collects for all the chips he has won, or pays for all the chips he has lost. (C. L. P.)