NAP

formally Napoleon card game introduced in England in the 1880s. Using a 52-card deck, two to seven may play (five is best), with each player being dealt five cards. The player to the dealer's left declares, or bids, the number of tricks he can win against the rest (usually more than one trick must be declared), or else he passes. The next player has the option of declaring to make more tricks than the previous bid or passing, and so on, all round. There is only one round of bidding. If all hands pass, the dealer bids 1. The player who bids highest tries to make his bid, and the others try to prevent him. The highest bidder leads, his first card led determining the trump. A bid of 5 is known as Nap. If the bidder fulfills the contract, he collects chips equal to the number bid from each player. If he loses, he pays that many. A nap bid, however, is worth 10 if accomplished but costs only 5 if it fails. Variations include Wellington (bidder doubles the stakes) and Blcher (triple the stakes), which are both bids of 5. Sometimes a player declares misre; that is, he proposes to take no tricks. This ranks as a declaration between bids of three and four. The player declaring misre pays a double stake if he takes a trick and receives a single stake if he takes none.