This is nearly 2 decades after the question was first raised, so I'm not sure if anyone will get this. Anyway, here is the version that I played many times when I was young (in the 1970's):

1) Each player cuts the cards. Cut again if both cards are the same value. Repeat as needed until 2 cut cards have different values.
2) The person with the highest card has the advantage (it's equivalent to winning the bid in regular whist).
3) The suit of the highest card will be trumps.
4) the cut cards are returned to the deck, with the highest cut card put on the bottom; the non-winning cut card is randomly placed in the deck.
5) starting with the "loser", the players take turns selecting and discarding cards from the deck (cards facing down) in the following manner:
- draw a single card (don't let the other player see it) and decide whether to keep it or discard it (keeping in mind the trump suit determined above)
- draw another card and do the opposite -- i.e., if the first card was kept, the next card must be discarded (the player can look at the card before it is discarded, but the choice must be made before the card can be viewed), and vice versa
-> that is, the player draws 2 cards, keeping one and discarding the other, but the choice of which to keep is made before seeing the 2nd card
- the next player repeats the above, then back to the first player, and so on until all cards are drawn
6) Since the loser of the cut goes first, the winner of the cut will handle the last 2 cards in the deck; because the very last card is known (It is the winning cut card),
this player has the advantage of knowing the value of both cards before making the choice
-> That is, the value of card # 52 is already known when viewing card # 51
7) Each player ends up with 13 cards, also knowing the values of another 13 cards that are out of play. (The loser of the cut also knows the last card, making it a total of 27 cards whose fate is known by this player.)
8) The winner of the cut starts the game, following the normal rules of follow-suit/trump-wins
9) The player with the most packs/tricks wins

Example:
Player 1 cuts a 10 of Hearts; player 2 cuts an 8 of Diamonds
= Hearts are trumps, and the 10 is placed at the bottom of the deck
Player 2 draws card # 1 & decides to keep it (e.g., it is a Heart); the player then draws card # 2 and is forced to throw it away (but Player 2 looks at the card and therefore knows its value)
Player 1 does the same with card #'s 3 and 4; and so on until Player 2's last turn (card #'s 49 & 50)
For card #'s 51 & 52, Player draws a Jack of Hearts for card # 51 and decides to keep it; the 10 of Hearts on the bottom is thrown away (Player 2 knows this and therefore assumes that card # 51 is higher trump than a 10)
Player 1 leads with a card, and Player 2 follows the normal rules (follow suit if possible, otherwise throw down any card desired; the highest card of the original suit wins, unless trumps are involved, in which case the highest trump wins)


On Friday, 22 February 2002 at 08:56:00 UTC+1, David Parlett wrote:

In article <MPG.16df56986...@news.demon.co.uk>, ia...@spamtrap.net (Iain Cheyne)
wrote:

In article <memo.20020221...@ttelrap.cix.co.uk>,
d...@davidparlett.co.uk says...

http://davidparlett.co.uk/orics.html

Make that http://www.davidparlett.co.uk/orics.html

--
Iain Cheyne
Replace 'spamtrap' with 'cheyne' to reply.

Thanks Iain. Sorry about that.
DP

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