Napoleon or Nap is a straightforward
trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...
in which players receive five cards each and whoever bids the highest number of tricks chooses
trumps
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
and tries to win at least that number of tricks. It resembles a simplified version of
Euchre
Euchre or eucre () is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on e ...
and has many variations throughout Northern Europe. The game has been popular in England for many years, and has given the language a slang expression, "to
go nap", meaning to take five of anything. It may be less popular now than it was, but it is still played in some parts of southern England and in
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
. Despite its title and allusions, it is not recorded before the last third of the nineteenth century, and may have been first named after
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
.
[Parlett (1990), p. 163]
History
Rules for Napoleon, "a very spirited and interesting game", were first published in England in 1876.
[Heather (1876), pp. 155–157.] Another, shorter, rule set appeared in 1882 when it was described as "comparatively new" but "exceedingly interesting" and a "lively and stirring round game".
[''Cassell's'' (1882), p. 866.] However, an 1884 treatise claims that while Napoleon is "neither new nor unknown", its "popularity stands unrivalled" being played by "tens of thousands and yet remaining unchronicled".
[Playfair (1884), pp. v–vi.] The 1885 American Hoyle claims that it is a French modification of
Euchre
Euchre or eucre () is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on e ...
.
[Dick, (1885), pp. 77–78.] Hoffmann, in a very extensive account in 1889, introduces a number of variations, including the higher bid of "Wellington" and the bid of "Misery" to lose all tricks which ranks between three tricks and four tricks.
[Hoffmann (1891), pp. 125–136.] That same year it is described in the French ''Revue Britannique'' as "very popular on both sides of the Atlantic".
By 1897, Napoleon had become the national card game of England, Foster telling us that "few games have become so widely known in such a short time, or have had such a vogue among all classes of society".
[''Foster's Complete Hoyle'' (1897), p. 228.]
By 1982, this "English member of the
Ecarté family" was widely played in pubs although, as Pennycook points out, this was technically illegal if played for money and the publican had not applied for a licence. For a long time Nap was Britain's national five-card game and, although it has declined in popularity, it is still played in parts of southern England and in
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
, Scotland.
[''Nap'']
at pagat.com Pagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world. It has been described ...
. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
Rules
The old game of Napoleon consists simply of five cards dealt out singly with the various players
bidding
Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something.
Bidding can be performed ...
in their turn how many
tricks they think they can make.
Eldest hand
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
, the player to the
dealer's left, has the privilege of bidding first, and then every other player in clockwise order may bid up to the limit, ''Napoleon'', which is a bid to take all five tricks. Whoever bids highest plays alone against the rest and leads to the first trick, the
card led determining the
trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
for that
hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...
. The remaining players then play to the trick in turn and the winner of the trick leads to the next. The cards are not gathered or packed together, but left face upwards on the table in front of their owners, except for the winning card, which must be kept turned face down on the table. Players must follow suit; otherwise may play any card.
[
This is the old simple form of Napoleon, requiring only that the players judge the value of their ]hands
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...
regarding the number of players and any bid that may have been previously made.[
]
Set-up
Nap is best for four to five players using a shortened pack of 28 from 52 cards. If four play, 28 to 32 cards are used, if five, 36 to 40 cards. When six play the dealer deals himself no hand, but pays or receives the same as the other players.
The cards in each suit rank
Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as:
Level or position in a hierarchical organization
* Academic rank
* Diplomatic rank
* Hierarchy
* ...
from high to low (ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
high). The dealer deals five cards to each player. Deal and play are clockwise, and the turn to deal passes to the left after each hand.
Draw
The players cut
Cut may refer to:
Common uses
* The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force
** A type of wound
** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past
** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment
** Cut (ea ...
to determine the dealer for the first deal. The player with the lowest card deals first. The ace ranks below the two for this purpose.
Shuffle and cut
After the shuffle
Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.
__TOC__
Techniques
Over ...
, the pack is cut by the player at the dealer's right. The cut must leave at least four cards in each packet
Packet may refer to:
* A small container or pouch
** Packet (container), a small single use container
** Cigarette packet
** Sugar packet
* Network packet, a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-mode computer network
* Packet radio, a fo ...
.
Deal
Each player receives five cards, dealt in a round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere
* Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...
of three at a time, followed by a round of two at a time.
Bidding for four- or five-player Nap
The bidding starts with the player to dealer's left, and goes clockwise round to end with the dealer. Each player is allowed only one bid and it must be higher than the preceding bid (or a pass).
:The allowed bids are as follows:
* Three - the bidder undertakes to win at least three tricks - most schools tend to not bother especially if money is involved
* Four - the bidder undertakes to win at least four tricks
* Nap - the bidder undertakes to win all five tricks
* Napoleon or Bonaparte - the bidder undertakes to win all five tricks by leading the lowest trump first
* Wellington - the bidder undertakes to take all five tricks by leading the lowest non-trump first
Play
The highest bidder makes the opening lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
, and the suit of this lead becomes trump. The hands are played out in tricks with clockwise rotation. A player must follow the suit led if able. If unable to follow, any card may be played. A trick is won by the highest trump in it; if no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner of the trick leads to the next trick.
Scoring
Napoleon is usually played for stakes. An equal number of chips
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...
is distributed to every player. It is also possible to play for money (as in "Penny Nap", where each trick is worth one penny)[Phillips (1960), pp. 268–269.] A bidder who makes his or her bid, collects from each other player. It matters not if more tricks were taken than announced; the winner is only paid for the number of tricks announced. A bidder who fails to achieve the tricks bid, loses and pays every other player for the number of tricks announced before play.
*Less than 5: in the event of a win, the bidder wins 1 stake from each opponent for each trick announced; if the bidder loses, the bidder pays 1 stake per trick announced to each player.
*Nap: Bidder wins 10 from every player, or loses 5 to every player. Thus, playing Nap against 4 players, the bidder would win 40 chips (10 from every player), or lose 20 chips (the bidder pays 5 to every player).
Penalties
Failure to follow suit to the lead when able is called a revoke
In trick-taking card games, a revoke (or renege, or ) is a violation of the rules regarding the play of tricks serious enough to render the round invalid. A revoke is a violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, and is cons ...
. A revoking bidder must pay all opponents as though the game has been lost. A revoking player must pay the bidder the full amount the bidder would have collected had he or she won. In the last case, the other opponents pay nothing. In every case, play is abandoned and settlement is made at once.
Variations
:Variations allow the following additional bids:
*Two - A bid to win two tricks.
*A joker may be added, counting as the highest trump, or in "Mis", as the only trump.
* Players bet 1 chip each deal in a cumulative pot. The first to bid and win 5 tricks takes the pot.
*After each player receives five cards, the next card is taken to be a floater. Players other than the dealer must bet 1 chip to look at the floater. Players can make bids with or without the floater (without is a higher bid than with).
Mis
Mis, Misère, or Mysery is a bid to lose every trick. It ranks between three and four in the bidding. At Misère, an adaptation from Solo Whist, there is no trump suit.[ The principle is that the bidder has to lose the whole five tricks, while his opponents make it their business to force the player to take a trick.][
At some tables, trumps are recognized, determined in the usual way by the initial lead. However, this feature has doubtless been imported by players unacquainted with the original Misère and the method of playing it.][
]
Wellington
A Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
is also a bid to take all five tricks and overcalls Nap. The bidder must lead with his lowest value trump card when bidding Wellington and the game is worth double. Wellington can only be bid if another player has already bid Nap. It was introduced into the game by "card-sharpers", who, working in collusion, used it to systematically overcall "Mr. Jugging's" Naps, and the unconscious "Mr. Jugging", attracted by the pleasing novelty, introduced this modality among his friends.[
]
Blücher
Blücher is a bid to win all five tricks. It can only be bid after another player has bid Wellington.
Sir Garnet
Sir Garnet consists of a hand in excess of five cards, dealt in the usual way and left on the table. Until this extra hand is appropriated, each player, when it is his turn to bid, has the privilege of taking it up and combining it with his own hand. From the ten cards held, the exchanger then discards five, throwing them away face downwards, and must announce a Napoleon on the remaining cards. The stakes are the same as for an ordinary Nap call.[
]
Variants
Peep Nap
In Peep Nap, an extra card is dealt face downwards on the table, and each player, on his turn to bid, may at his option have a private peep at the card by paying one penny, or higher stake, to the pool. When all have bid, if the winning bidder has "peeped", he or she has the privilege of exchanging a hand card for the table card. In the event of a Nap call, it is a rule to the advantage of the following players to peep also, as, if the bidder uses the peep card, they have thereby a guide as to what suit to save.[
]
Ecarté Nap
Arguably the most interesting form of Napoleon. After the deal, and before any bid, the dealer goes round and serves out fresh cards from the pack in exchange of as many cards as the players wish to throw away from their original hands. For every fresh card, the players pay one stake to the pool. They must not exchange cards more than once in each round, but they can either refuse or buy any quantity up to five. The cards thrown away are not shown and are not used again till the next deal. In view of the extra cards brought into the game, Ecarté Nap should be confined to a table of no more than four players, and for the same reason the bids should be made on much stronger hands than the ordinary Nap.[
]
Seven-card Nap
Each player receives seven cards. There is no exchange of cards and no peep.[Hoyle's Card Games, London 1979, pg. 141 ] Bids of Wellington and Blücher are not permitted. The players may bid anything from three up to the lot (seven tricks). Misère is played at Seven-card Nap and ranks as next highest bid to Nap.
The order of bids with their stakes are:
*Three = stake of 3.
*Four = stake of 4.
*Nap = stake of 10.
*Misère = stake of 10.
*Six = stake of 18.
*Seven = stake of 24.
Scoring
*Misère: Bidder wins 3 from every player.
*Wellington: Bidder wins 10 from every player.
*Blücher: Bidder wins 10 from every player.
Penalties
*Misère: Bidder pays 3 to every player.
*Wellington: Bidder pays 10 to every player.
*Blücher: The stakes are double what they are in Wellington. Bidder pays 20 to every player.
*Sir Garnet: The stakes are the same as on the ordinary Nap call.
*Ecarté Nap: At the same stakes it will be found to be more expensive than the latter game, but a great deal more interesting.
*Seven-card Nap: Players losing nap, misery, six, or seven pay half stakes.
References
Related games
*Ombre
Ombre (, pronounced "omber") or l'Hombre is a fast-moving seventeenth-century trick-taking card game for three players and "the most successful card game ever invented."
Its history began in Spain around the end of the 16th century as a four-pe ...
* Skat
*Euchre
Euchre or eucre () is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on e ...
*Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play.
History
Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...
*Spoil Five
Twenty-five is the Irish national card game, which also underlies the Canadian game of Forty-fives. Charles Cotton describes it in 1674 as "Five Fingers", a nickname applied to the Five of Trumps extracted from the fact that the Irish word ''cúi ...
*Quadrille
The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...
Literature
* _ (1882)
''Cassell's Book of In-Door Amusements, Card Games and Fireside Fun.''
Cassell. First published 1881, later 1886. London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin.
* Arnold, Peter (1995). ''The Book of Card Games''. NY: Barnes & Noble.
* Dick, William Brisbane (1885). ''The American Hoyle''. NY: Dick & Fitzgerald.
* Heather, H.E. (1876)
''Cards and Card Tricks''
London: The Bazaar.
* Professor Hoffmann Angelo_Lewis_.html" ;"title="Angelo_Lewis.html" ;"title="Angelo Lewis">Angelo Lewis ">Angelo_Lewis.html" ;"title="Angelo Lewis">Angelo Lewis (1891)
''The Cyclopaedia of Card and Table Games''
London: Routledge.
* Morehead, Albert, ed. (1988) [1983] ''The Official Rules of Card Games''. 10th ptg. NY: Fawcett Crest.
* Parlett, David. ''The Oxford Guide to Card Games''. Oxford: OUP.
* Pennycook, Andrew (1982). ''The Book of Card Games''. London, Toronto, Sydney, NY: Granada.
* Phillips, Hubert
Hubert Phillips (13 December 1891 – 9 January 1964) was a British economist, journalist, broadcaster, bridge player and organiser, composer of puzzles and quizzes, and the author of some 70 books.
Life
Education and early career
Phil ...
(1960). ''The Pan Book of Card Games''. London: Pan.
* Pichot, Pierre-Amédée (1889). ''Revue Britannique''. Paris: Revue Britannique.
* Playfair, H.G
''The Game of Napoleon and How to Play It''
London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.; Manchester: John Heywood; Glasgow: William Love.
* Routledge, George (1923). ''Hoyle’s Games Modernized''. Rev. by Dawson.
External links
at Pagat.com.
The Cyclopaedia of Card and Table Games
Hoyle's Card Games
{{trick-taking card games
18th-century card games
Trump group
French card games
Year of introduction unknown
Multi-player card games