or Basette, a game with cards, said to have been invented by a noble Venetian, for which he was banished. It was first introduced into France by Signior Justiniani, ambassador of Venice, in 1674. Severe laws were made against it by Louis XIV. to elude which they disguised basset under the name of pour & contre, that is, "for and again," which occasioned new arrests and prohibitions of parliament. The parties concerned in it are, a dealer or banker; his assistant, who supervises the losing cards; and the punter, or any one who plays against the banker.

Besides these, there are other terms used in this game; as, 1. The fesse or face, which is the first card turned up by the tailleur belonging to the pack, by which he gains half the value of the money laid down on every card of that sort by the punters. 2. The couch, or first money which every punter puts on each card; each person that plays having a book of 13 several cards before him, on which he may lay his money, more or less, at discretion. 3. The paroli; which is, when a punter having won the first stake, and having a mind to pursue his good fortune, crooks the corner of his card, and lets his prize lie, aiming at a sept et le va. 4. The maje; when having won the first stake, the punter is willing to venture more money on the same card. 5. The pays; when the punter having won the first stake, be it a shilling, half-crown, guinea, or whatever he laid down on his card, and not caring to hazard the paroli, leaves off, or goes the pay: in which case, if the card turn up wrong, he loses nothing, having won the couch before; whereas, if it turn right, he by this adventure wins double the money staked. 6. The alpieu; much the same with paroli, and used when a couch is won by turning up or crooking the corner of the winning card. 7. Sept et le va, the first great chance or prize, when the punter, having won the couch, makes a paroli, and goes on to a second chance; so that if his winning card turns up again, it comes to sept et le va, which is seven times as much as he laid down on his card. 8. Quinze et le va is the next higher prize, when the punter having won the former, is resolved to push his fortune, and lay his money a second time on the same card by crooking another corner; in which case, if it comes up, he wins fifteen times the money he laid down. 9. Trent et le va is the next higher prize, when the punter, crooking the fourth corner of his winning card, if it turn up, wins 33 times the money he first staked. 10. Soixant et le va is the highest prize, and entitles the winner to 67 times his first money; which, if it were considerable, stands a chance to break the bank: but the bank stands many chances first of breaking the punter. This cannot be won but by the tailleur's dealing the cards over again.

The rules of the game of basset are as follow: 1. The banker holds a pack of 52 cards, and having shuffled them, he turns the whole pack at once, so as to dis- cover the last card; after which he lays down all the cards by couples. 2. The punter has his book of 13 cards in his hand, from the king to the ace; out of these he takes one card, or more, at pleasure, upon which he lays a stake. 3. The punter may, at his choice, either lay down his stake before the pack is turned, or immediately after it is turned, or after any number of couples are drawn. 4. Supposing the pun- ter to lay down his stake after the pack is turned, and calling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. the places of those cards which follow the card in view, either immediately after the pack is turned, or after any number of couples are drawn. Then, 5. If the card upon which the punter has laid a stake comes out in any even place, except the first, he wins a stake equal to his own. 6. If the card upon which the punter has laid a stake comes out in any even place, except the second, he loses his stake. 7. If the card of the punter comes out in the first place, he neither wins nor loses, but takes his own stake again. 8. If the card of the punter comes out in the second place, he does not lose his whole stake, but only one half; and this is the case in which the punter is said to be fixed. 9. When the punter chooses to come in after any number of couples are drawn, if his card hap- pens to be but once in the pack and is the last of all, there is an exception from the general rule; for though it comes out in an odd place, which should entitle him to win a stake equal to his own, yet he neither wins nor loses from that circumstance, but takes back his own stake.

This game has been the object of mathematical cal- culations. M. de Moivre solves this problem: to esti- mate at basset the loss of the punter under any circum- stance of cards remaining in the stock when he lays his stake, and of any number of times that his card is re- peated in the stock. From this solution he has formed a table showing the several losses of the punter in what- soever circumstances he may happen to be. From this table it appears, 1. That the fewer the cards are in the stock, the greater is the loss of the punter. 2. That the least loss of the punter, under the same circumstan- ces of cards remaining in the stock, is when his card is but twice in it; the next greater when but three times; still greater when four times; and the greatest when but once. The gain of the banker upon all the money adventured at basset is 15s. 3d. per cent.

Basset (Peter), a gentleman of a good family, was chamberlain, or gentleman of the privy-chamber, to King Henry V., a constant attendant on that brave prince, and an eye-witness of his most glorious actions both at home and abroad; all which he particularly de- scribed in a volume intitled, The Acts of King Henry V., which remains in MS. in the college of heralds.