Flush (il Flusso, Le Flux)
Flush is an ancient 3 card gambling game that is first mentioned by Lorenzo de Medici (1449-1492) in a set of poems called "Canti Carnascia Leschi" where the game is mentioned as being in common use among the people of Florence (along with the Venetian game of Basseta). Lorenzo de Medici is said to have written these poems in his youth, so the reference can be dated to around 1470.
Flush or il Flusso as it was known in Italy, is one of 10 games mentioned by the poet Franchesco Berni (1497-1535) in a commentary called "il Capitolo della Gioco Primiera" which was published at Rome in 1526. Berni who spent much of his life at the Papal court refers to:
Basseta, Cricca, Trionfi, Trionfi-piccoli, il Flusso,Trentuno, Noviera, Setiera, Quintiera, Ronfa.
Much of Berni's work is given over to a discussion of Primiera (Primero) which he regarded as the best game of all.
Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576) who lived in Milan refers to both "Fluxus, and "Fluxus Gallicus" in his Latin work "Liber de Ludo Aleae" (1564). He regarded Gallicus Fluxus (French Flush) as the most elegant variation of the game, and supplied some technical details on its method of play:
"Fortunae solius sunt primiera fluxus, qui fit cum tribus chartis: gallicus est pulcherrrimus, nam unum cum figura, vel cum binario efficit 21, qui summas est punctus apud reliqua, plerasque gentes. Sed apud gallos, si adsit aliud unum fiunt viginti unum cum dimidio. Sed tria puncta superant etiam fluxum et est supremum, et pro fluxu et puncto haberi potest. Viginti etiam cum uno puncto alia in charta efficit viginti cum dimidio, et ita habent viginti, viginti cum dimidio, viginti unum, et viginti unum cum dimidio, et viginti duo, qui (ut dixi) superior est fluxui."
(Liber de Ludo Aleae xxv de De Ludis Chartarum )
Translated this reads:
"Solely dependent on chance are Primero and Flush, which is played with three cards: the French game is the most beautiful, for an Ace with a Court card or a 2 makes 21 which is in general the highest point recognised in most countries. But amongst the French, should there be another Ace in hand, it makes 21.5. But three Aces beats even the Flush and is the highest hand of all for it can be counted both as a Flush and an Ace . A point of 20 with an Ace as the other card makes 20.5, and so they have 20, 20.5, 21, 21.5 and 22, which (as I have said) is higher than the flush"
Le Flux or Flush became very popular in France. According to chroniclers, Louis XII (1462-1514) played at Flush within the sight of his troops, and his successor Francis I (1494-1547) was said to have been addicted to the game. It was also the favoured game of Anne of Brittany and her son Charles VIII in the 1490's. A Swiss wood-cut print of the early 16th century shows the Kings of France and Switzerland playing at what is clearly 3 card Flush. According to Ed.S. Taylor's "History of Playing Cards" written around 1865, the game of Flush was still being played in the Charente district of France in the mid 19th century.
Rules of Play
Players - 2 to 10
Deck - In Italy the 40 card deck (8.9.10s removed)
In Spain the 48 card deck ( 10's removed)
In France the 36 card deck (6.5.4.3 's removed)
in England the 52 card deck (standard)
The 36 card deck with the 2's retained is probably the most authentic deck to use for Le Flux . It has the same deck and point structure used for playing the old game of Trappola in Europe and was also the preferred deck for playing Gillet.
Point values - Aces = 11
Court cards = 10
Twos = 10
Other cards = pip value
Method - Players stake to a pool and receive three cards face down. They examine their cards and make bets against each other as to who has the strongest hand. The eldest hand had the option of passing and re-entering the betting. When all are done, those who have not withdrawn and abandoned their stakes then show down their cards. The money is won by the holder of the highest pointed 2 or 3 card flush of 21 points or less. A 3 card flush beat any two card flush. Certain combinations of Aces were special cases which could win the Flush.
Special Cases
A.A.A - A Pair-Royal of Aces is conventionally scored as a winning flush of 22
A. (T+A) A Pair of aces with a court or 2 flush to one of them counts as 21.5
(A+T) An Ace with a Court, or 2 flush is the normal winning high flush 21
A + (20) A two card flush of 20 points + Ace of another suit counts 20.5
All other 2 or 3 card flushes are counted on their pip values, and the highest pointed flush hand wins the stakes. If a 3 card flush exceeded 21, then the highest two cards were counted. In the event of a point tie, the Eldest hand wins the stakes.
Le Flux was displaced in the latter half of the 16th century by a more complex game called Gillet (known as Gile in Italy), which bore a marked resemblance to the game of Post & Pair played in England according to an entry in John Florio's "Italian Dictionary" (1611).
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