SERGEANT MAJOR

 
It is believed that this game originated in the trenches in Europe during the first World War. I have been unable to confirm or otherwise if this belief is correct. However, it is a nice story and conjures up the image of 3 British Tommys sat round an ammunition box, knee deep in mud, in a trench somewhere in France; with bullets and shells whistling over their heads, whilst they played cards to pass the time before going "over the top." If the story is not true, then it does not detract from the enjoyment of playing Sergeant Major.

This is a game for only three players, although it is not beyond the realms of possibility that someone, somewhere is playing a four or even five handed version. Whether they are playing successfully or interestingly, remains to be seen.

There is no cumulative scoring and therefore no overall winner, unless someone wins all the tricks available and becomes "Sergeant Major;" a very rare occurrence.

Basic whist rules apply. The dealer is selected using one of the many traditional methods but trumps are not selected at this stage.

The dealer deals the cards in the normal fashion giving each player 16 cards. During the course of the deal, the dealer will deal a box of four cards between himself and the player on his right. These four cards must not be dealt consecutively, nor can the first or last cards be used.

At the end of the deal, all transactions (as will be explained later) are completed and the dealer declares the trumps of his choice or no trumps. The dealer then discards four cards from his hand and replaces them with the cards that formed the box. The discarded cards are placed FACE DOWN on the table and NO ONE MAY LOOK AT THEM, NOT EVEN THE DEALER.

It is important that the pre-play sequence is STRICTLY observed, as to do otherwise could mean that one of the players is able to take an unfair advantage over the other players. The player to the left of the dealer leads and the hand is played out. The number of tricks that each player has won is noted and the next hand dealt.

During the course of play of the first hand, the dealer A is obliged to win 8 tricks. The player to the dealer's left, player B is obliged to win 5 tricks and the third player, player C is obliged to win 3 tricks.

For the second hand, the deal passes to the next person on the left and so does the trick making requirement. For the third hand, the deal again passes to the left. For the fourth hand the deal has got back to player A. The trick making requirement rotates with the deal.

 
First

 
 

3 C

  
-----
 
*A 8

 
 
Hand

 
 

B 5
Second

 
 

5 C

  
-----
 
A 3

 
 
Hand

 
 

*B 8
Third

 
 

8 C*

  
-----
 
A 5

 
 
Hand

 
 

B 3
Fourth

 
 

3 C

  
-----
 
*A 8

 
 
Hand

 
 

B 5
* denotes dealer.

At the end of the first or any hand, a player or players may have won more tricks than they were supposed to and conversely a player or players will not have won enough tricks. The player who has won more tricks than needed, will be at an advantage for the next hand. The player who hasn't won enough tricks, will be at a disadvantage for the next hand.

Suppose at the end of the first hand, A had won 9 tricks, (that is 1 extra trick) B had won only 4 tricks (that is 1 less) and C had won 3 tricks. (the right amount)

A therefore, has an advantage of one trick over B and after the deal for the second hand, A will claim ONE card from B.

A will pass to B a low card from his hand and B must return the highest card of that same suit that he has in his hand. All transactions are conducted thus.

If a player receives a card and his hand does not contain any cards of that suit, then the card is returned and the deal is deemed to have been completed.

If a player receives more than one card from any particular player, all the cards must be received at the same time and he deals with the cards one at a time.

If a player receives cards from both the other players, he first attends to the cards from the player who is going for the higher number of tricks.

If a player receives a card, the "asking" card, that is higher than the highest card in his hand, he gains on the deal. The rule is, he must return the highest card of that suit that is in his hand and the card passed to him is not yet part of his hand.

If a player has the advantage of both the other players, he must pass his cards to each player simultaneously.

After passing over a card, the disadvantaged player must place the "asking" card in his hand so that he maintains a hand of 16 cards. He can then attend to the next part of the transaction. If it so happens that he would be returning a card previously received or would be passing to the other player a card previously received, then so be it. After all, the rule is, that a player must return the highest card in his hand.

If the current dealer, after having cards claimed from his hand, picks up his box and a card or cards of a higher value than he passed on is in the box, he must show that/those higher card/s to the player/s concerned, but not to the other player.

To re-cap and illustrate: After the first hand A has won 9 tricks, B has won 4 tricks and C has won 3 tricks.

After the deal for the second hand, A passes to B a card. B returns the appropriate card to A. B now calls trumps, discards 4 cards from his hand and picks up the box to form part of his hand. The game is played out.

After the second hand is played out A has won 6 tricks, (3 extra) B has won 6 tricks (2 less) and C has won 4 tricks. (1 less) A then passes 2 cards to B and at the same time passes 1 card to C. B attends to A's cards one at a time while C is also attending to A's card.

After the third hand has been played out, A has won 6 tricks, (1 extra) B has won 5 tricks (2 extra) and C has won 5 tricks. (3 less) Both A and B pass cards to C but as A is going for 8 tricks in the next hand, C must attend to A's card first.

 
 

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