The Game of Zinzolin

Zinzolin is a curiosity among card games, in the same way as Francion. Both were invented in the same period at the end of the reign of Louis XV, in the hope of competing with English Whist, Francion in 1765 by the Marquis du Terrail, and Zinzolin in 1769 by Pierre-Joseph Luneau de Boisjermain, who published its rules in a booklet titled Le Zinzolin, jeu frivole et moral, in Amsterdam, at Les Libraires associés.

The book consists of two parts, comprising first the rules, then the somewhat philosophical or societal justification of the specific vocabulary used, focused mainly on relations between men and women. See, for example, the terms vertugadin, which the author links to feminine virtue, and sigisbé, which denotes a lady's escort. The long preface is very probably dedicated to Armand Thomas Hue de Miromesnil, then President of the Parlement of Normandy, in which the author advises him to make himself more sociable by forcing himself to take an interest in games and in those who take part in them. To bring him around to this, he believes that the philosophical facet of Zinzolin should make the task easier for him.

Mainly known for his disputes with booksellers and in particular with the encyclopedist Denis Diderot, the author received from the latter a scathing review of his book on Zinzolin, in which he calls him "a man half mad, half imbecile."

Be that as it may, here are the rules of Zinzolin, which draw a little on Reversis while being, according to its own author, an original game at heart.

One may of course disregard the vocabulary used and substitute modern terms for it.

Zinzolin is played by four with a deck of 52 cards.

Within each of the four suits — spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs — the cards follow this descending order:

Each player has a box of counters and eight chips. Each counter is worth eight chips.

A basket is placed near the dealer, to his right. Before each hand, even if it is not empty, the players each put one of their counters into it. The contents of the basket make up the pool that will be the winner's main prize.

Vocabulary:
- the basket is called the Vertugadin;
- the set of counters placed in it is called the Contingent.

If the Contingent is not won at the end of the first hand it will be doubled on the next hand, and so on — tripled, quadrupled, etc.

3. The Deal

Each player draws a card at random from the deck spread out on the table, face down, and whoever draws the lowest card shuffles the cards, gives them to be cut to the player seated to his left and deals out 12, three at a time, to each player counter-clockwise, starting with the one seated to his right, who will play first — being the first to play a card is an advantage in this game.

The 4 remaining cards make up the stock, which is placed in the middle of the table.

Vocabulary: The counter placed in front of the dealer is called the Rocambole. If the Rocambole is not won at the end of the first hand, it will be doubled on the next hand, and so on — tripled, quadrupled, etc.

Once the deal is finished and the dealer's counter has been put forward, each player in turn, starting with the one seated to the dealer's right, has the option to discard a card from his hand and replace it with the top card of the stock.

There is no obligation to make this discard. The discards end with that of the dealer if he wishes. The four cards resulting from the discards and any cards not taken from the stock are placed by the dealer under the basket, face down.

Once all the players have their final hand in hand after the discards, each in turn examines his cards to see whether he holds one or more declarations.

The possible declarations are of two types:
- three cards of the same rank;
- four cards of the same rank.

Only the three lowest cards are involved in declarations:
- the Aces;
- the Twos;
- the Threes.

In declarations the Aces are each worth 1 chip; the Twos, 2 chips; the Threes, 3 chips.

Vocabulary:
- the Aces, the Twos, and the Threes are called the Sigisbés;
- three cards of the same rank are called a Triangle;
- four cards of the same rank are called a Quarré.

A Triangle of Aces will thus be worth 3 chips; a Triangle of Twos, 6 chips; a Triangle of Threes, 9 chips.

A Quarré of Aces will be worth 4 chips; a Quarré of Twos, 8 chips; a Quarré of Threes, 12 chips.

Every player who has declared one or more Triangles or Quarrés of Sigisbés will be paid for them by the other three in chips, according to their values.

To be paid for it, it is essential to show the declaration or declarations before playing one's first card.

Zinzolin is a trick-taking game. For the first trick, the first to play a card is the one seated to the right of the dealer, and for the following tricks it will be the winner of the previous trick. Play proceeds counter-clockwise.

One is not allowed to revoke, that is, one must follow suit if possible.

However, one may play any card of the suit led.

If all the players were able to play a card of the suit led, the one who played the highest card wins the trick. He keeps it, face down, in front of him and leads for the next trick.

The tricks won by a player are placed folded face down in front of him, but not in a heap. Each trick must be laid on the previous ones crosswise so that their number can be counted at any moment of the hand.

It is the number of tricks taken that will determine the winner of the hand, not their contents.

The player who wins a trick is required to pay the value in chips of the Sigisbés to those who played them.

If the Sigisbés were played as a revoke, for lack of the suit led, then it is those who threw them who must pay their value to the player who won the trick.

Whoever wins the trick by playing a Sigisbé must put its value in chips into the basket, or Vertugadin.

There are 12 possible tricks in a hand, which in this game break down into two groups:

When a player wins the first Equinox by taking the first six tricks, he wins the entire contents of the basket, or Vertugadin. That is to say, the Contingent of counters and any chips from Sigisbés that may be in it. As already mentioned, these chips are paid into the basket by players who won a trick by playing a Sigisbé. Such Sigisbés are said to be gorged (a term borrowed from Reversis).

If the player who won the first Equinox takes a seventh trick, he receives one chip from each of the other three players; for the eighth, two chips; for the ninth, four chips; for the tenth, one counter; for the eleventh, two counters; for the twelfth, six counters. These payments are considered not to be cumulative, and it is solely the number of tricks taken without interruption after the first Equinox that will determine the amount of the payment.

Vocabulary: In old card games, taking every trick was called making the Vole. In Zinzolin, the author preferred the expression making the Zodiac round, which is achieved when one takes all twelve tricks of the hand. In the author's conception each trick corresponds to a sign of the zodiac.

Two scenarios must be taken into account. Either the first Equinox was won, or it was not.

The player who wins the second Equinox takes the contents of the basket, which may contain chips from Sigisbés gorged after the sixth trick.

In addition, if it is the same player who won the first Equinox then he is paid in the manner described in paragraph 6. That is to say that he has made the Vole and thus receives from the three other players six counters.

But if it is another player, then, in addition to any contents of the basket, he receives only four chips from the three other players.

The basket is won by no one, and no payment between players is owed for the tricks taken. The 12 tricks must always be played. Even if neither Equinox can be won, chips for gorged Sigisbés may still be added to the basket.

The counter put forward for the Rocambole by the dealer of the hand is won by the player who took no trick at all. If all the players have taken at least one trick, the Rocambole counter stays in play and will be added to the one placed by the new dealer.

If two players took no trick at all, the Rocambole, single or multiple, is shared equally between these two players.

If three players took no trick at all, it means the fourth made the Vole, or the Zodiac round, by winning both Equinoxes. The Rocambole then stays in play for the next hand.

The game is played over five single rounds and one double round. A round is four hands.

If at the end of the double round the contents of the basket, or Vertugadin, have not been won, play continues at double stakes until they are.

Pierre-Joseph Luneau de Boisgermain, Le Zinzolin, jeu frivole et moral, Les Libraires associés, Amsterdam, 1769