SPECULATION  , a

round game of cards at which any reasonable number can play . Each player contributes a stake to the pool, the dealer staking double . Three cards are dealt face down-wards to each player; the top card of those left is turned up for trumps . Each player, beginning with the player on the dealer's left, turns up a card; if it is not a trump, or is a lower trump than the trump-card, the next player turns up one of his cards, and so on till a higher trump than the trump-card appears, the values being reckoned as at whist . The holder may sell this card to the highest bidder, or retain it . The turning-up proceeds till a still higher trump is found, but the holder of the original highest does not turn up till his card is beaten . The new card may then be sold . The dealer may not turn up till the trump-card has been beaten . The holder of the highest trump when all the hands have been exposed takes the pool . If the ace of trumps is the trump-card, the dealer takes the pool; if it is turned up during play, the hand is, of course, at an end . Variations of the game allow the purchase of unseen cards or hands, or of the trump-card, even before it is turned up . The cards used in one deal are not dealt again till the whole pack has been gradually dealt out; they are collected and shuffled by the " pone "—the player on the dealer's right—to be used when the pack is exhausted .