MACAO: Similar to Blackjack, this page, with cards valued by their spots, from ace, 1, up to nine, 9. Tens and face cards (J, Q, K), 0. Players bet and each is dealt one card; if a seven, he collects the amount he bet from the dealer; if an eight, he collects double; if a nine, triple, unless the dealer’s card is higher, when he collects on the same terms from every player with a lower card. If the dealer’s card is under seven, any players under seven may call for more cards, hoping to approach nine without going over. Any that does go over is “bust” and pays the dealer, who then can draw cards for himself in an effort to beat any others who drew extra cards. In case of ties, bets are off. All cards are dealt face up.

MA FERGUSON: Poker. See this page, this page.

MARRIAGE: A game played like Sixty-six, this page, but with an added bonus of 60 points for holding the ace and ten of trumps; and 30 for the same in another suit; also 20 extra points for taking the last six tricks. Each deal constitutes a complete game.

MATCH ’EM: Poker. See this page.

MATRIMONY: An old English game played by any number of players—up to two dozen!—and a fifty-two-card pack. A simple layout is also required, marked with these divisions: matrimony (any K and Q); intrigue (any Q and J); confederacy (any K and J); pair (any pair); and best ( A). Each player puts up a specified number of chips, distributing them among the sections as he wishes. Each is then dealt two cards; one face down, the other face up. Any player receiving the A face up immediately takes all the chips, not only from “best” but from every other section. If the A does not appear, each player, beginning at the dealer’s left, turns up his downcard; and if his two cards form any combination named, he collects the chips from that section. The A has no value as a downcard. Any chips not won remain for the next deal, which moves to the left, with players putting up the same number that they did before, so that some very sizable pots are often built before the A appears as an upcard, to take all.

MAW: The earliest form of Five Cards, which later developed into Spoil Five. See Spoil Five, this page.

MEDIATOR: A variation of Tresette, this page, without melds or regular partners, in which a player may play alone for added stakes.

MEMORY: Another name for Concentration, this page.

MENAGERIE: A juvenile game, best with a dozen or more players. Each takes the name of a wild animal—from antelope to zebra!—and cards are dealt around until they run out. Each player holds his packet face down, and, starting at dealer’s left, each turns a card face up in front of him. When two match in value (as Q and Q), each player calls the “animal name” of the other. First to call wins the other’s face-up cards and places them face down beneath his own packet. Play resumes where it left off, and whenever a player has dealt all his cards face up, he turns the packet over and begins again. Winner is the player who eventually garners all the cards.

MEXICANA or MEXICAN CANASTA: A three-pack form of Canasta, this page, with six jokers (152 cards), with thirteen dealt to each player. After his opening meld, a player can draw thirteen cards from the pack, adding them to his hand; but in team play, only one member can do so. In one accepted mode of scoring, a canasta of seven counts 1000, but a player cannot match a seven when it is an upcard. To go out, a team must have two or more canastas, with a red three to go with each.

MEXICAN STUD: Five- or seven-card stud, involving a special mode of play. See this page.

MEXICAN WILD: A wild version of Mexican stud with five cards. See this page.

MICHIGAN: A modern game of the “stops” type, played with a standard fifty-two-card pack, with cards running in ascending value, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. A special requirement is a “layout” consisting of four cards from another pack, usually the J, Q, K, A, which are laid face up as “pool” or “boodle” cards. Each player puts four chips on these in whatever way he wants, as four on one, two on two, etc.

The pack is dealt singly to from three to seven players, with an extra hand at dealer’s left, until cards run out, as an added card in a hand does not matter. The dealer may exchange his hand for the extra hand—or “widow”—laying his own hand face down; or he may auction the widow to the highest bidder, beginning at his left, if anyone wants it. The first player then places his lowest card in any suit face up in the center of the table and follows with others of that suit in ascending sequence (as 4, 5, 6) until he strikes a gap, when the turn moves to the next player and so on, until play reaches the ace or is stopped by a missing card. The player then begins a new sequence with his lowest card in another suit; if all are reduced to the suit just played, the player who was stopped can resume it when the turn comes around to him.

Whenever a duplicate of a boodle card is played, either in proper sequence or as the player’s lowest card in that suit, the player collects all the chips that were placed on the corresponding card in the layout. When a player “goes out” by being the first to get rid of his final card, he collects one chip from each player for each card that player holds. If any chips remain on a boodle card, they stay there as a bonus for the next deal, which moves to the left, unless it is previously agreed that they are to be taken by the player who goes out.

Additional Boodle Cards and Combinations may be used on the layout, as the J and the 10, which function like the regular boodle cards; or two cards in sequence, as 10 J, which one player must hold and play in order to collect. A layout combination of 7–8–9 means that by playing a card of each value during one deal, a player collects, regardless of the suits or the order in which the three cards are played. Other combinations are optional, such as winning on a layout of 10 J Q, by playing two of those three cards. At the finish of a game, any chips still left on boodle cards are divided among the players.

MICHIGAN RUMMY: A transitional form of Rummy, this page.

MIKE: Stud poker with all cards dealt face down. See this page.

MISS MILLIGAN: A form of Solitaire. See this page.

MISTIGRIS: An old name for Joker Poker. See this page.

MONTE: Another name for Three-Card Poker. See this page.

MONTE BANK: A money game in which the dealer draws two cards from the bottom of the pack and turns them face up; then two from the top, which are turned face up. Players bet on either pair and the banker-dealer turns the entire pack face up, revealing the bottom card, which is termed the “gate.” If a pair shows a card of the same suit as the gate, the dealer pays off that pair; if not, he collects. Cards are gathered, pack is shuffled, and the deal repeated.

MONTE CARLO: A form of Solitaire. See this page.

MORTGAGE: Poker. See this page.

MUGGINS: A name applied occasionally to Cribbage, this page, when played with a penalty for an oversight; also to various simple games.

MULTIPLE KLONDIKE: Klondike played by three or more persons; procedure as in Double Solitaire, this page.

MUSTACHED JACKS or KINGS WILD: Poker. See this page.

MY BIRD SINGS: A simple game with up to a dozen players. Each is dealt a hand of four cards; and if the first player finds that his are all one suit, he announces, “My bird sings,” shows his cards, and wins the deal. Otherwise, he passes an odd card face down to the player on his left; if he can show four of one suit, he makes the announcement and wins; otherwise he passes a card along; and so on and on, until one player gains a “flush” of four. Deal moves to the left, and the game continues until one player gains a specified total of wins. Variants are played under similar titles with different numbers of cards, one popular name being My Ship Sails.