Property of a Lady

Propert of a Lady is a card game.

History

The origins of Property of a Lady are unclear. It is in essence descended from the numerous games of chance such as drum roll, particularly popular amongst soldiers in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

The modern-era birth of the game is generally considered to have taken place around the turn of the twenty-first. It was quite possibly invented in Norwich, although London, Cardiff and Birmingham have all laid claims to its creation. The game itself has several slight variants, and remains predominantly played in the United Kingdom. The game has grown during recent years, enjoying particular popularity amongst students. Much of its success can be attributed to the recent poker boom.

While to some it is a glorified child's game, considered much akin to snap to others Property of a Lady is a fairly well-established member of the card-playing family.

Rules

A fairly recent version of an old simple formula, Property of a Lady involves between in general 2-6 players although more can play.

Each card scoring respectively:

Ace = 1two = 2three = 3four = 4 five = 5 six = 6 seven = 7 eight = 8 nine = 9ten = 10Jack = 11queen = 12kings = 13

The winner is determined by tallying the numerical values of the three cards. eg. a typical hand of 5, 7 and ace would result in a total score of 13. While an ace, 9 and king would beat this with a tally of 23.

This numerical rule is broken only three times when a player wins:

1. straight flush (three cards is numerically ascending order, in suite). This beats any numerical combination.

2 A hand of three Aces known as a 'suave' or sometimes as a 'Rielly'. Probably drawn from 'Rielly. Ace of Spies'

3 A 'royal flush' which in this case involves only the three picture cards Jack, Queen, King. This is the highest possible hand in Property of a Lady.

As these hands are extremely rare most games come down to a simple equation of numbers. When any of these three 'suave' hands are produced, it is common for all players to shout 'property of a lady'.

Should two or more players be level, a playoff card can be used. Each of the tied players draws a fresh card, with the highest-scoring winning. This is increasingly common with games involving more players.

The highest possible hand is a 39 (three kings) while the lowest is a 4 (two aces and a two)

When gambling in Property of Lady, money may be wagered either on the overall outcome, the outcome of each card, or both. In common with most other card games, it is usual to start with a small and big blind and to keep raising it every so often.

Owing to its nature being entirely chance, Property of a Lady is often more suited to those new to card games.