Pips, Paint and Pushka
28 October 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
In one of your archived columns on your website
(http://markpilarski.com) you stated the
following: "In the casinos I have worked in, we
used Bee Playing cards manufactured by the U. S.
Playing Card Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio. When you
cracked the seal of their cards, you faced the
pips and paint of the spade suit directly, not
the hinny side. In order from ace, two through
the king, diamonds, clubs and hearts follow
spades." What exactly did you mean by “pips and
paint.” John P.
Paint, John, is a face card, i.e., a jack, king,
or queen. At a blackjack table, you’ll
occasionally hear a player yell out when he
doubles down with an 11; "Let's see some paint."
A pip is a suit spot (heart, diamond, spade or
club) on the face of a card. Each face card has
four pips; one at each corner (two) just outside
the square border and just under the J, K, or Q
representing the card's rank. The other two are
within the border, alongside each head.
Aces have three pips, one pip directly in the
center of the card and one each just under the A
at each end.
As for the 2-10 cards, each has two more pips
than the number that represents its rank. For
instance, for a 10 of spades, you'll find the
rank total of 10 pips in the center area of the
card, plus one more pip (two total) under the
rank number on each end.
As a former pit boss, to thwart card counters, I
also counted down the deck, but from a distance.
And although from across the pit it can be hard
to distinguish the corner number 5, you can
become quite skillful at reading the pip
patterns on the central part of the 2 -10 cards
with just a little practice.
Dear Mark,
I believe only you could probably answer this
question as you're Polish and you know a thing
or two about gambling. What does the Polish word
"pushka" mean, and how does it relate to
gambling? Stanley G.
A wordsmith I'm not, knowing a thing or two is
questionable, but, Stanley, let me take a whack
at it. Here goes.
The first time I heard the word pushka was while
dealing blackjack; a player used it when we
pushed on an 18. The player said it was Polish
for us having the same hand. Although my parents
spoke Polish around the house, it was only the
curse words related to cleaning my room that I
retained, but I figured encyclopedic mom would
be a good etymological source to clarify pushka.
But no, she said, a push, as in meaning "the
same kind", is rodzaj in Polish. So that didn't
square.
Years later, I actually came across that word
once again, but this time it was related to the
game of poker. A poker dictionary said that a
pushka was an arrangement between two or more
players to share part of the pots they win. But
more specifically, it was defined as a box-like
container where shared chips are placed. Pushka
partners could place a certain amount from each
won pot into the container, and split the
contents later. That dictionary stated the word
pushka supposedly comes from the Polish word for
box via a Yiddish translation.
Well, Stanley, that sort of flies because "box"
in Polish is puszka (but with z in lieu of h);
defined properly, a tin can or a poor box. As
for the Yiddish interpretation of the word, a
quick Google search acquainted me with the fact
that there is a tradition amongst Jews to place
pushka (h instead of z) charity boxes in their
home, office and children's bedrooms, where
individuals can drop coins in on a daily basis.
Of course, Stanley, we all know that casinos
have those same pushka "charity" boxes under
each gaming table. Your hard-earned money finds
its way into those boxes every time you
change-up paper into casino chips.
Na zdrowie ---To your good health.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "Over an infinite
amount of time everyone holds the same cards.
Unfortunately, none of us live to experience an
infinite number of hands." --Russell Fox & Scott
T. Harker, Mastering No-Limit Hold'em
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