Among them, Royal Cassino, where face cards are allocated a higher value (i.e. “What are they playing?” I ask a passerby.Ĭassino (sometimes spelt with only one s) is a basic card-fishing game with several variations with (mostly) the same rules. (Later, I try to copy his Hindu shuffle at home and realize his hands have seen at least a decade more practice.) The game isn’t something I immediately recognize. The cards are shuffled with superhuman speed and dealt. The dealer takes hold of a battered deck of cards – red-backed, a knockoff of Bicycle. I pay – more or less one dollar US – and step closer to the gathering crowd in the middle. My Setswana is limited, but it’s more than enough.
“Ke batla Black.” Setswana for “I want a Black (Label).” Illuminated by the moon and I walk through the maze of tin shacks – the first right, then straight, a short left and another right, following the music to one of the drinking haunts. Coyne © 2017 Gifts for Card Players The sky is overcast and the sun has just started setting over one of South Africa’s many townships.
