Trictrac

Numbering of points

During the four centuries that trictrac has been known to be played,^[20] no system for the numbering of points has become universal.^[21] Three numbering conventions are considered particularly noteworthy:

• That used by Charpentier^[1] and Guiton,^[22] numbering each player's talon where the pieces are arranged at the beginning of each relevé (the space between occurrences of the men being picked up and reset to start—akin to a set in tennis) as T or 0, then 1 to 11;
• That used by Malfilâtre,^[21] numbering each player's talon as 1, then 2 to 12;
• That introduced by Magriel, numbering the current player's talon as 1, then 2 to 12, and progressing boustrophedonically down the other side of the board, ending at the opponent's talon, which is numbered 24. See Backgammon notation.

Confusion between the former and the two latter is liable to introduce off-by-one errors; it is therefore crucial to note that this article uses Guiton's numbering. Absolute point names (q.v.) eliminate ambiguity entirely: the coin de repos is always the coin de repos, irrespective of whether it is numbered "Black's 11", "Black's 12", or "the 12-point".

Other notations have been devised by various authors; their use is now to be regarded as obsolete. Lepeintre^[23] used a system almost identical to Magriel's, save that points are lettered from A to Y (omitting W) rather than numbered; Soumille^[24] used a similar system, but with only the 23 letters of the Latin alphabet (counting I and J, as well as U and V, as one letter each, and omitting W), to which he appended ampersand.

Absolute naming of points

Certain points have been given names:^[19]

• point T: talon (talon);
• point 5: businessman's corner (coin bourgeois, Bürgerwinkel in German);
• point 6: sometimes also called businessman's corner;^[25]
• point 7: Devil's corner (coin du Diable);
• point 10: schoolboy's point (case de l'écolier), Travanet's point^[16], or "the Travanet" (sometimes spelled Travanais);
• point 11: rest corner, grand corner, or "the corner" (coin de repos, grand coin,^[16] or coin).

Points 9, 10, and 11 are together known as jacket, waistcoat, and trousers (habit, veste, et culotte).^[16]

Foregame and aftergame

The men travel a circuit, first along the player's side of the board from the talon to the rest corner, then along the opponent's, or adverse, side from the adverse rest corner to the adverse talon, before being borne off the board. Each half of the route has a name:

• Foregame (jeu ordinaire): the movement of men along the home side of the board from the talon to the rest corner;
• Aftergame (jeu de retour): the movement of men along the adverse side of the board from the adverse rest corner to the adverse talon. As soon as a player moves a man onto the opponent's half of the board, that man is said to have progressed to the aftergame (passer au retour).^[26][19]

As in backgammon and opposite to jacquet, play is contrariwise.

Banner or necktie

The 'pavilion' (pavillon) or 'banner' (étendard) is a small flag that plays the same role as the bredouille but for a whole match. At the very beginning of the match, the flag is placed between the two players' pegs on the talon bar.^[19]

When a player reaches the twelfth hole without the other having scored a single hole, this is called "winning a match-level lurch" (gagne le tour bredouille) or "winning a grand lurch" (gagner en grande bredouille). If the second player wins a hole before the first reaches the twelfth hole, the first is no longer able to win a grand lurch. However, the second player can now do so. To indicate this, the second player replaces his or her peg with the flag and continues to use it instead of the peg. If the second player reaches 12 holes before the first scores a hole again, the second player wins a grand lurch. But if the first prevents the 12-hole run by scoring a hole, the flag is removed and laid next to the board to indicate that neither player can win a grand lurch in that match.^[19]

Instead of a banner, a necktie (cravate) may be used; in this case, the necktie is simply placed around the original peg and travels with it for as long as the grand lurch is in effect. A manufactured necktie comes in the form of a plain washer; in its absence, a pierced scrap of paper or drilled coin can be substituted.

Duration

Trictrac à écrire takes anywhere from a quarter to three quarters of an hour to play per mark. Eight- or twelve-mark matches are most common, but by no means universal: any even number of marks from six to twenty-four is acceptable.

This implies that a trictrac à écrire series may take anywhere from 90 – 270 minutes for a six-mark series to 360 – 1,080 minutes for a twenty-four-mark series. The distribution skews far more towards the upper end than the lower.^[55]

In consideration for such lengths of play, it is not only not unheard of, but in fact routine, to adjourn and resume at a later date—and potentially to do so more than once. It is important to take note of all game state necessary for later resumption.

Marks

A player wins a mark [marqué] by being the first to reach the sixth hole [trou] on that player's own turn. If Alice reaches the sixth hole on Bob's turn because Bob falsely hits her [battu à faux], Alice must stay in [rester] and play on to the seventh hole. The same rule applies after the sixth: the winning hole must be made on the winner's own die. Earlier holes may be made on either player's die.

Reaching the winning hole is not enough. The winner must then keep the holes already won, pick up the game [lever le jeu], and go [s’en aller].

The loser counts their own holes and pays only the difference. If Alice has six holes and Bob has four, Bob loses by two holes.

Each lost hole is worth one round jeton. The winner also receives two jetons as consolation for the mark. The loser marks the lost mark with a jeton for the final match count.

Example: Alice takes three holes, Bob takes four, and Alice then takes three more. If Alice's last hole is made on her turn, she wins by two holes and marks Bob for two.

Obligatory hole

Until someone reaches the sixth hole, the obligatory hole [trou d’obligation], a player may pick up and restart from the talon after any hole made on that player's own turn.

Once either player reaches the sixth hole, whether on their own die or the opponent's die, use these rules:

• If the sixth hole is reached on the opponent's turn, the player must hold until making another hole on their own turn.
• If the sixth hole is reached on the player's own turn, the player may either:
  • go at once and secure the mark; or
  • continue in the same holding [tenue], without pickup [sans lever], to try for more holes.

Bearing off the men [sortie des dames] at a new reprise is allowed, but the player may not mark until another hole made on their own turn gives the right to go. Holes after the sixth are unlimited. After the twelfth hole, start the circuit again and keep holding as long as the position looks profitable.

If the opponent interrupts the run with intermediate holes, even in different reprises, those holes reduce the profit but do not stop the mark from being marked. When the player comes back into play, they must continue without pickup.

A player who has not reached six holes may still mark an opponent who has six or more. To do it, the player must overtake the opponent by one hole, and every hole needed to overtake must be made in the same holding, without pickup.

Example: Alice has four holes and Bob has seven. If Alice now takes a hole, she must continue without pickup until she reaches eight holes, one more than Bob. If Bob adds more holes in the meantime, Alice must beat Bob's new total.

A player who has already overtaken the opponent can still lose by pushing too far. If Alice passes Bob at eight holes but keeps going, and Bob then comes back and reaches nine holes without pickup, with the ninth made on Bob's turn, Alice loses the mark she could have won.

Do-over

A do-over [refait] happens when one player has six or more holes and the other catches up, with the equalising hole made on the catching player's own turn.

If continuing would be dangerous, the catching player may pick up and announce "refait". All holes on both sides are cancelled, the mark starts over, and the consolation is doubled in the proper proportion, whether the mark was ordinary, a petty lurch, or a grand lurch.

Conceding the mark

A player may concede the mark to avoid a larger loss.

Example: Alice has reached the sixth hole or beyond. Bob already had one hole, then comes back and makes two more, the last on his own turn. Bob cannot pick up, cannot overtake Alice, and risks an enfilade or a large loss if he holds. Bob may go instead, paying Alice the excess holes plus the consolation. Alice must respect this decision.

Petty lurch

To score a petty lurch [petite bredouille], all of these must be true:

1. The player takes six consecutive holes, with no opponent's hole between them.
2. The first of those holes is the first hole of the trictrac circuit.
3. The hole that ends the mark is made on the player's own turn. If not, the player must continue to the seventh hole, or farther, until a hole is made on their own turn.
4. The player stops with the holes won and picks up the game.

Up to the sixth hole, the player may pick up after any hole made on their own turn. If they have used that right, the result is a petty lurch with pickup [petite bredouille avec relevé]. If they have not picked up from the first hole through the mark-ending hole, the result is a petty lurch without pickup [petite bredouille sans lever]. Forced holdings caused by false hits [battu à faux] still count as without pickup.

(Note on avec relevé: in trictrac à écrire, a mark [marqué] is won with pickup [avec relevé] when the player has not held throughout and has picked up their men [levé ses dames].)

In a petty lurch with pickup, each hole is worth two jetons and the consolation is doubled. Six holes plus consolation are worth sixteen jetons.

In a petty lurch without pickup, each hole is worth three jetons and the consolation is trebled. Six holes give eighteen jetons, plus six for consolation, for a total of twenty-four.

A petty lurch can be made in arrears [en dernier], after the opponent has already taken holes. Example: Bob has five holes. Alice comes in and makes seven holes under petty-lurch conditions. Alice counts eighteen jetons with pickup or twenty-seven without pickup, but Bob deducts five jetons for the holes he had already taken.

A petty lurch can be carried as far as the eleventh hole of the board [trictrac], inclusive. With pickup, eleven holes are worth twenty-two jetons plus four consolation, for twenty-six total. Without pickup, they are worth thirty-nine total. In arrears, deduct one jeton for each hole the opponent had already taken.

In any petty lurch carried beyond six holes, whether in advance [en premier] or in arrears, every hole from the sixth onward, including the sixth, must be made in the same holding.

A player can lose the petty lurch by pushing too far. Suppose Bob reaches the sixth hole, but keeps holding for a richer result. If Alice then wins a single hole, on either player's turn, and Bob later comes back into play, Bob's first six holes count only as single holes. If Bob eventually has ten holes with that interruption, he is paid only ten jetons, minus Alice's intermediate holes.

The same limit applies to a conceded mark [marqué volontaire]. If Alice interrupts Bob's sequence with one or more holes, then stops to avoid a worse loss, she pays only the simple excess of holes and the consolation at the single rate.

A player who already has a petty lurch but keeps going may suffer one in return [l’essuyer]. Alice must surpass Bob by one hole: if Bob has six holes, Alice must reach seven; if Bob has eight, Alice must reach nine. Since Bob has reached the obligatory hole, Alice's holes must be made from the first hole in the same holding, without pickup. Bob's holes count only as single holes and are deducted from what he owes.

A petty lurch in arrears after a failed petty lurch in advance must be made without pickup. Its value is based on what the first player's lurch would have been worth: double if the first player's holes were made with pickup, and treble if they were made in one holding.

The same rule applies if Bob reached the sixth hole only because he was falsely hit, or if Bob reached later holes from the sixth onward on Alice's die and needed only a hole on his own turn to go. Alice must surpass Bob without pickup, and her petty lurch is double or treble according to whether Bob's holes were made with or without pickup.

Both players can lose their petty lurches by overreaching. Suppose Bob takes eight consecutive holes. Alice enters and takes nine uninterrupted holes. Bob then comes back and makes only two more, bringing himself to ten. Bob marks Alice for one single hole. Both petty lurches are ignored.

If Alice reaches the eighth hole and is tied with Bob but cannot safely surpass him, she may call a do-over instead. The whole mark is annulled.

Grand lurch

A grand lurch [grande bredouille] requires twelve uninterrupted holes, beginning with the first hole of the board. From the sixth hole onward, all holes must be made in the same holding, except for bearing off at the jan de retour. The last hole must be made on the winner's turn. If it is made on the opponent's turn, the player must continue to the thirteenth hole, or farther, until a hole is made on their own turn. Then the player must go.

Because the grand lurch requires no pickup only from the sixth hole onward, a player may pick up after any of the first five holes made on their own turn. A grand lurch can therefore be made with pickup or without pickup.

In a grand lurch with pickup, holes and consolation are counted quadruple. Twelve holes give forty-eight jetons, plus eight consolation, for a total of fifty-six.

In a grand lurch without pickup, holes and consolation are counted fivefold. Twelve holes give sixty jetons, plus ten consolation, for a total of seventy. The rate is fivefold, not sixfold.

After taking the twelfth hole on her own turn, Alice may keep the same holding and begin the circuit again if the position is still strong. When she stops, Bob pays for all Alice's holes at the grand-lurch rate. Twenty holes with pickup are worth eighty-eight jetons; twenty holes without pickup are worth one hundred and ten.

If Bob makes even one hole after Alice has taken twelve or more holes, whether on Bob's turn or Alice's, Alice loses the grand lurch. All her holes, before and after Bob's hole, count only single.

A grand lurch, like a petty lurch, can be made in arrears, with or without pickup. The opponent's earlier holes are deducted.

If the opponent has already reached the sixth hole or beyond, a grand lurch in arrears must be made from the first hole without interruption and in the same holding.

Even then, the grand lurch in arrears is fivefold only if the first player's holes up to the sixth hole, or beyond, were made without pickup. If the first player had picked up, the later grand lurch is only quadruple.

A grand lurch can also be made against a player who has already reached twelve holes and keeps going. Suppose Alice reaches the fourteenth hole. Bob then makes a hole and continues without interruption and without pickup to the fifteenth, surpassing Alice. Alice's fourteen holes count only single. After deducting those fourteen jetons, Alice pays Bob's holes at the quadruple or fivefold rate, according to Alice's missed grand lurch. The consolation uses the same rate.

Sometimes, especially in the jans de retour, a player takes the twelfth hole on the opponent's turn and therefore cannot pick up to mark the grand lurch. The run may continue for several holes, after which the opponent may enter and make a grand lurch. Treat this like the previous case: the later player must surpass the earlier player in the same holding, and the lurch's value is based on what the earlier player's grand lurch would have been worth.

The rule for two failed petty lurches also applies to two failed grand lurches: the mark may be won only as a single mark, even if each player in turn might have marked a grand lurch.

Conceded marks and do-overs work the same way for grand lurches as for petty lurches. On a conceded mark after interruption, the winner receives only the simple excess of holes. On a do-over, when the first grand lurch has failed and the second player cannot safely make the hole needed to surpass, equality of holes supplies the compensation.

The necktie and the banner

A petty or grand lurch in advance with pickup needs no special marker. The opponent has no holes, so the situation is clear when the player takes the first hole and later picks up to go.

A petty or grand lurch in advance without pickup is marked with the banner [étendard]. From the first hole, place the banner on the talon side in one of the board holes [tablier] used for marking games won. It does not matter whether the player is holding voluntarily or is forced to hold by a false hit.

Keep the banner until the end of the mark as long as the opponent does not interrupt and the player continues without pickup. Bearing off at a new reprise does not break it. If the player picks up without being interrupted, remove the banner but keep the right to a lurch with pickup. If the opponent interrupts, remove the banner and give up the lurch.

When a player interrupts the opponent and claims a later lurch with pickup, mark it with the necktie [cravate]. Attach it to the peg from that player's first hole. Remove it as soon as that player is interrupted in turn. If it remains until the mark ends, the lurch with pickup is established.

The necktie was formerly also called the ruff [fraise]. A stainless-steel washer or drilled coin works; the hole only has to fit the peg. If using a coin, use one that matches the coinage used for the point tokens and the point-level lurch marker [la bredouille]. If one doesn't have a washer or drilled coin, a pierced piece of paper is a suitable field expedient; some players prefer this method, despite its inelegance, because the paper travels with the peg.^[56]

If the player who interrupted the opponent does not pick up at the first hole, that player takes both the necktie and the banner. Keep both until the mark-ending hole, as long as there is no interruption and no pickup. If the player picks up without being interrupted, remove only the banner. If the player is interrupted, remove both the necktie and the banner, since the lurch is no longer possible.

In the exceptional cases where a later lurch's value is fixed by an earlier missed lurch, the player takes only the necktie.

A player who fails to take the banner or necktie from the first hole cannot claim it later.

Match settlement

A match of Trictrac à écrire uses an agreed even number of marks, commonly eight or twelve. Half the total number of marks is called complete [complet].

After losing a mark and paying the jetons due for holes, whether single, petty lurch, or grand lurch, the loser marks that mark with a jeton. The box holding the fish [fiches] separates the players' lost-mark jetons. Each player places jetons on the side of the box facing them, in rows of three.

At the end of the match, count each player's lost marks. The player marked more than complete, and therefore marked more often than the opponent, pays four jetons for each excess lost mark.

Example: in a twelve-mark match, Bob is marked (i.e. loses – derived from the French verb marquer) seven times and Alice five times. Bob is marked two marks more than Alice, so he pays Alice eight jetons.

These excess marks are called paris. The terms postilion [postillon] and Swiss [Suisse] refer to marks marked beyond complete. One postilion equals two paris.

In addition to the four jetons per pari, the player marked for more marks pays twenty jetons as the queue of paris.

If both players lose the same number of marks, each is only complete. No paris and no queue of paris are paid.

Each player's starting stake [prise] is twenty jetons.

A player who loses beyond their stake pays the surplus in fish drawn from the box. One fish is worth ten jetons. If Alice has won fish and then starts losing, she pays Bob by returning won fish to the box. If she owes more fish than she has won, for example four fish while holding only one, she returns that one fish and draws three more to settle the rest. The box, first charged to Bob, then passes to Alice; it may pass back again before the match ends.

When the match ends, first determine which player wins jetons from the other. That player takes the lost-mark marker jetons placed on both sides of the box: twelve in a twelve-mark match. If the players are equal, they split these jetons; this is the queue of jetons. For example, equality exists if each player has fourteen jetons left, or if one has one fish and four jetons while the other has twenty-four jetons, since exchanging and returning the fish leaves fourteen jetons each.

Only after that do the players settle the paris. The loser pays four jetons per pari plus twenty jetons for the queue of paris. Thus two paris, or one postilion, cost twenty-eight jetons; four paris cost thirty-six; six paris cost forty-four; and each additional postilion adds eight jetons.

Do not settle the paris before deciding the queue of jetons. Otherwise the queue of paris can wrongly affect the queue of jetons, to which the player winning the paris has no claim.

For easier end scoring, players may price the game by fish instead of by jetons. For example, one fish may be worth 100€. If the loser has six jetons left from the twenty-jeton stake, those six jetons count as a whole fish in that player's favour. If the loser has only four jetons left, they do not count; the player is treated as having lost the full twenty jetons, or two fish. Five jetons are decided double-or-nothing on the highest die.

Scoring with paper and pencil

Players may score without jetons and fish by writing each player's losses in two columns. After the agreed marks are played, add each column. To the column of the player who lost more jetons, add one jeton for each mark for which that player was marked. If the paris are unequal, add the lost paris and their queue to the column of the player who lost the paris. Subtract the smaller total from the larger. The remainder is the true loss in jetons; divide by ten to convert it to fish.

The following example shows how to score without jetons:

Each player leads first on alternate marks. If Alice leads the first mark, she leads every odd-numbered mark. Bob leads every even-numbered mark.

If the match must be postponed, record the essential state like this:

Nature of the game

Trictrac combiné combines two games at once: Trictrac à écrire and twelve-hole trictrac with honours [Trictrac à la partie]. A hole [trou] usually counts for both games at the same time, but the two scores stay separate.

The two games often reward different decisions. When they do, a player may suspend one game and keep playing the other.

Use the rules of Trictrac à écrire above, including the higher payment for lurches made without pickup: a petty lurch [petite bredouille] is treble if made in the same holding [tenue] and double if made after pickup [relevé]; a grand lurch [grande bredouille] is worth five jetons per hole without pickup and four jetons per hole with pickup.

Twelve-hole trictrac with honours [avec les honneurs] can be won single, double, treble, or quadruple:

• Single: the winner reaches the twelfth hole after the opponent has passed the sixth.
• Double: the winner reaches the twelfth hole while the opponent has no more than six holes.
• Treble: the player who takes holes second reaches the twelfth without being interrupted by any new hole from the opponent.
• Quadruple: one player makes all twelve holes before the opponent takes any.

Continuation is added to the twelve-hole game. Without continuation, the twelfth hole ends the game: the winner must pick up and go, and any surplus hole from the same throw is ignored. With continuation, the twelfth hole still wins the honours game, but what happens next depends on whose die made it:

• If the twelfth hole is made on the winner's own turn, the winner may pick up and go, or may continue without pickup if the position is good.
• If the twelfth hole is made on the opponent's turn, the winner must stay in, no matter how risky the position looks.

Holes beyond the twelfth count toward the next honours game. If the winning throw also makes one extra hole, that extra hole becomes the first hole of the next honours game.

Suspending one game

When one game should be protected and the other should be pushed, suspend the game you want to protect. While a game is suspended, play affects only the continuing game. The suspended game keeps its hole count and its current prospects, including rights to double, treble, quadruple, petty lurch, or grand lurch.

A player may suspend a game only after making a hole on their own turn, at a moment when that player would otherwise be allowed to pick up and go. The player is treated as having gone for the suspended game, but remains in the same holding for the continuing game.

A suspension lasts until the first pickup [relevé] by either player after a hole made on that player's own turn. Bearing off the men [sortie des dames] in the return game [jeu de retour] does not count as a pickup.

Suspending Trictrac à écrire has two cases:

1. If the player has reached the sixth hole or beyond, score the à écrire mark at once. Pay the holes, whether single, petty lurch, or grand lurch, and have the opponent mark the lost mark. The rest of the holding affects only the honours game.
2. If the player has fewer than six holes, freeze the à écrire mark where it stands. Any right to a petty lurch is preserved, but it can pay only double: treble requires no pickup through the hole that ends the mark, and suspending à écrire counts as having gone.

Suspending the honours game has only one effect: it freezes exactly where it stands.

The pool [poule] belongs only to the honours game. Its rules are given below.

If a player scores the à écrire mark but keeps playing the honours game, that player stays at the board until the next pickup, then gives way to their partner. With more than two players, the dice belong to the player who remains at the board. With two players, the dice alternate as in Trictrac à écrire.

Pegs and equipment

Because the two games can drift apart, each player needs separate pegs [fichets]:

• a gold peg for Trictrac à écrire;
• a silver peg for the honours game;
• a bimetallic peg [fichet bimétallique] for holes that count for both games at once;
• a black peg for a suspended game.

Use the bimetallic peg whenever the same hole belongs to both games. Keep using it while the two games have the same hole count. Once one game ends, continues alone, or is suspended, replace it with the proper single-game peg.

Example: Alice reaches the sixth hole on her own turn and marks Bob in Trictrac à écrire. The à écrire mark is over, but the honours game is only at the sixth hole. Replace the bimetallic peg with the silver honours peg at the sixth hole. Alice's next hole is the seventh hole of the honours game and the first hole of the next à écrire mark.

When Alice moves the silver peg from the sixth hole to the seventh, the gold peg marks the first hole of the new à écrire mark. The games now advance six holes apart until another ending or suspension changes the gap.

Example continued: Alice marked Bob at the sixth hole. In the next à écrire mark, she marks him at the eighth hole. When that mark reached its sixth hole, the honours game reached its twelfth and ended. The seventh hole of the second à écrire mark became the first hole of the second honours game, and the eighth hole became the second. Alice's first new hole in the third à écrire mark is therefore also the third hole of the second honours game. The honours game now leads by two holes, not six.

If Bob then takes a hole while having no holes in either game, he takes the bimetallic peg. If he makes twelve holes without interruption, he wins the honours game treble and the à écrire game by grand lurch. The bimetallic peg serves through the twelfth hole, the last hole of both games. Since Alice's holes in both games are erased and Bob has no remaining holes in either game, the next mark also begins with the bimetallic peg.

The black peg marks a suspended game. Remove the suspended game's normal peg and put the black peg in that hole. The black peg records the suspended game's state for both players.

If the à écrire mark has already been scored and only the honours game continues, remove the à écrire peg entirely. That mark is not suspended; it is finished, and the next à écrire mark starts after the next pickup. To show this, put the black peg in the last hole on the resting-corner side [coin de repos]. Then mark only the honours game and leave the black peg still.

Sometimes the player who wants to suspend a game has the bimetallic peg, or the opponent has it. The bimetallic peg cannot be exchanged until the player who owns it makes a new hole. For the short interval before that happens, place the suspended game's peg in the hole immediately before the bimetallic peg. When the continuing game next makes a hole, remove both the bimetallic peg and the suspended-game peg. Replace the bimetallic peg with the black peg for the suspended game, and use the continuing game's peg to mark the new hole. The black peg stays put until a pickup brings the suspended game back.

One more case matters. Suppose the suspended game is farther advanced than the continuing game, and the continuing game catches up to the black peg. Example: Bob has three holes in the honours game and five in Trictrac à écrire. He suspends à écrire. Soon after, he takes two honours holes and reaches the fifth hole, where the black peg already sits.

While the two games share that hole, replace the black peg with the bimetallic peg and place the suspended game's peg in the previous hole. As soon as the continuing game advances again, use its own peg for the new hole, put the black peg back where the suspended game remains, and remove the temporary suspended-game peg.

Banner and necktie in trictrac combiné

The banner [étendard] marks a petty or grand lurch made in the same holding, without pickup from the first hole of the mark to the mark-ending hole. After the first hole, if the player chooses or is forced to hold, place the banner in a side-rail hole on the talon side. Keep it there while the player continues without pickup. If the player picks up after a later hole, remove the banner and give up the higher no-pickup rate.

Place the banner immediately after the first hole and before the next dice throw. A player who misses that moment cannot claim the banner later.

The necktie [cravate] is a pierced counter that fits over a peg. It serves both games:

• In Trictrac à écrire, it marks the right to a lurch in arrears [petite bredouille en dernier].
• In the honours game, it marks the right to win treble.

Attach the necktie to the peg immediately after the first hole. Keep it there until the opponent makes a new hole. If the necktie remains on the peg through the twelfth hole of the honours game, the honours game is won treble. If it remains through the final hole of a petty or grand lurch in Trictrac à écrire, the lurch pays two or four jetons per hole, unless the banner was also kept from the first hole; with the banner, the lurch pays treble or fivefold.

The necktie can sit on any of the four pegs. Use these cases as guides:

• If Alice has the bimetallic peg and Bob, who has no holes, takes his first hole second, Bob attaches the necktie to the bimetallic peg. It counts for both games. The same applies if Alice has separate gold and silver pegs but no necktie, and Bob has no holes.
• If Alice begins a new à écrire mark while also having three holes in the honours game, and Bob makes the first hole of the new mark, Bob takes the bimetallic peg with the necktie. The necktie counts only for the honours game, where it marks the treble. It does not count for Trictrac à écrire, because Bob's lurch there would be in advance [bredouille en premier].
• Suppose Alice has three honours holes and no à écrire holes, while Bob has the bimetallic peg with the necktie. If Alice makes a new hole that counts for both games, Bob's necktie comes off because Alice has interrupted his treble in the honours game. Alice now takes the necktie for Trictrac à écrire, because she is aiming at a lurch in arrears [en second = en dernier]. Bob's bimetallic peg now represents only simple holes, though he may still win the honours game double if Alice does not reach the seventh hole.
• Two neckties may be in use at once. Suppose Alice and Bob have both begun the honours game, and Bob has the necktie. Bob makes the first hole of a new à écrire mark and suspends the honours game to protect his necktie. Alice then takes a hole in the continuing à écrire game. Since Bob already has a hole there, Alice must take the necktie for à écrire. Bob keeps one necktie on the black peg for the suspended honours game; Alice uses the other for the continuing à écrire game.
• The same player may need two neckties. Suppose Alice has seven holes with the bimetallic peg, and Bob has two with the bimetallic peg plus the necktie, giving him the right to the honours treble and the à écrire lurch in arrears. Bob suspends the honours game by placing the honours peg in the hole before the bimetallic peg. When Bob later wins a new hole in the continuing à écrire game, replace the bimetallic peg with the black peg, remove the honours peg, and mark à écrire with its proper peg. Because Bob still preserves the necktie right in both games, attach one necktie to each peg.

For Trictrac combiné, have these pieces ready: four pegs for each player, one banner, five neckties, forty jetons, one box of fish for Trictrac à écrire, two boxes of different colours for the honours game, and a basket for the pool.

For convenience, keep the four pegs in side-rail holes on the talon side. Put the banner on the opposite rail so it is visible. Keep the jetons and honours boxes on the talon side; keep the à écrire box and the pool basket on the resting-corner side.

If a game is postponed, record the state like this:

The pool

The pool [poule] concerns only the honours game.

At the start, each player puts two stake fish [fiches d’enjeu] into the basket. Whenever an honours game is lost, it is paid single, double, treble, or quadruple both to the winner and to the basket.

A player draws the pool by winning two honours games in a row.

After winning an honours game, place a contract marker [contrat] of that player's fish colour in front of the basket. If the same player wins the next honours game, that player takes the pool. If the opponent wins instead, remove the first marker and place the opponent's marker by the basket.

The pool keeps growing until someone wins two consecutive honours games. When the pool is drawn, begin a new pool with a renewed stake.

Because the honours game must end with the Trictrac à écrire match, do not begin a new pool during the last mark. This does not prevent a pool from being opened with the first mark; that opening pool belongs to the player who wins that game.

If a pool begun earlier ends during the last mark, and the winner of the last game was not already marked at the pool, the two players have equal rights to it. Divide the pool; if the number of fish is odd, the winner of the last game takes the larger half. If the pool had only just begun, it belongs to the winning basket and contains only the simple stake.

Example progression

This three-mark example shows how the pegs move. Follow it on a board, moving the pegs as listed. Not every special case appears; use the rules above for the missing cases.

The gold peg marks Trictrac à écrire. The silver peg marks the honours game.

First mark. Alice and Bob each put two stake fish, taken from the honours box, into the pool. Alice takes one hole with the bimetallic peg and goes. Bob takes two holes with the bimetallic peg, takes the necktie, and goes. Alice takes three holes and moves her peg from the first hole to the fourth, then goes. Bob gives up the necktie. Bob makes two holes; his peg occupies the fourth hole, and he substitutes the silver peg there. Alice takes two holes, reaches the sixth, marks, and substitutes the silver peg for the bimetallic peg at the sixth hole.

Second mark. Alice takes two holes with the gold peg, takes the banner, and moves the silver peg from the sixth to the eighth hole. Alice takes another hole with the gold peg, reaching the third, and moves the silver peg to the ninth. Bob takes two holes with the gold peg, reaches the fourth, gives up the banner, and goes; with the silver peg he reaches the eighth hole. Bob takes two holes with the gold peg, takes the necktie, removes Alice's banner in order to take it himself, and moves the silver peg from the fourth to the sixth hole. Alice takes two holes with the gold peg, moving it from the third hole to the fifth; the silver peg goes to the eleventh. Bob gives up the necktie. Alice takes two holes with the gold peg, reaches the seventh, marks, and suspends Trictrac à écrire; the silver peg passes from the eleventh hole to the first. Alice wins the honours game, places her contract marker by the pool, and places the black peg in the last hole to show that Trictrac à écrire is suspended. Bob withdraws his two pegs. Alice makes four holes in the honours game, reaches the fifth hole, and picks up. The two games begin together again in the next mark.

Third mark. Bob makes one hole with the bimetallic peg and takes the banner and the necktie. Alice makes two holes with the gold peg and takes the necktie and the banner; the silver peg moves from the fifth to the seventh hole. Bob gives up the necktie. Alice takes two holes with the gold peg, reaching the fourth, while the silver peg reaches the ninth; she goes and gives up the banner. Alice takes three holes with the gold peg, reaching the seventh, and the silver peg reaches the last hole. She wins the honours game single, draws the pool, goes, and marks. Bob picks up the bimetallic peg.

Filling the pool

An unlimited number of players may play this variation. It is most often played, however, where there is a number of players with only one board between them—or when high-stakes betting is the order of the day. Winnings, as well as playing time, are theoretically unlimited.

Lots are drawn for order of play. Thereafter, each player antes up a pre-agreed amount. Matches are then played, to six holes, against the first in line by the second, third, and so on. A player who defeats the first in line becomes, in turn, the first in line. A defeated player must yield his place and ante up again, joining the tail of the line. A player who wins against all of his opponents in succession is reckoned the winner of the tournament. When playing this pool-filling variation of trictrac, there is significant financial advantage to be gained by being last in line, because this place minimises downside exposure.

Example: Alice, Bob, Charlie, Daniel, and Erin play the filling game for an ante of £200, leaving the pot at £1000. They draw lots, yielding the order Charlie, Erin, Daniel, Alice, Bob. Charlie wins against Erin, who must ante £200 again—filling the pot to £1200—and Erin gets behind Bob. Charlie then loses against Daniel. Daniel takes Charlie's old seat (facing Alice next). Charlie must then ante £200, filling the pot to £1400, and get behind Erin. Daniel then wins against Alice, then Bob, then Erin, then Charlie, walking off with £2200 in total.

Suppose now that Alice, having beaten Daniel and Bob, also wins her matches against Charlie and Erin. She will have obviously won the tournament and thus the jackpot; it is equally obvious, though, that Bob will only have lost £200, because he will have anted but once, while Charlie and Erin will have lost £400 each, because they will have paid once to rejoin the queue.

Draining the pool

This variant caps the possible winnings as well as the total playing time; thus, it is well suited to a social setting where conversation takes priority over play (a long run of good luck leads to having to wait one's turn for play—if this space can be filled with something else, all the better). When playing trictrac with a draining pool, each player draws lots for order and, by agreement, the total is determined at the outset; each player then bets an equal portion of this to form the pot. By agreement is also the question of whether or not grand lurch is in effect. In the draining-pool game, winnings are per hole and fixed at five per cent of the total.

The number of holes, on the other hand, is variable. It can be no fewer than six; but it can be as great as the players' estimation of their chances of winning. One may hold on for twelve, twenty, or even thirty holes so long as one's luck holds. Winnings are in terms of the difference between hole scores (multiplied by the five per cent rate given above). The match continues until the pool is drained completely.

When playing the draining game, there is pecuniary advantage to being first in line, because if there is money left over after having gone one, two, or three complete rounds, the first has a greater chance of getting the remainder than the last.

Example: Alice, Bob, Charlie, and Daniel play the draining game, with the order chosen being Bob, Charlie, Alice, Daniel. Suppose that Bob wins ten holes and then goes, with Charlie having won four. If Bob's holes are not in grand lurch (i.e., in uninterrupted or once-interrupted sequence), Bob wins six holes. If Bob's holes are in grand lurch, they are reckoned double, i.e. 10 × 2 = 20 holes. Either way, Charlie's four are subtracted from the result, yielding two in the former case (2 × 5 = 10% of the total) and sixteen in the latter case (i.e., 16 × 5 = 80% of the total). The next matchups are between Charlie and Alice, then between the loser and Daniel, then between the third-game loser and Bob, so long as the depth of the pool does not reach zero.