What the Hell is a Whist Marker?

Now that you know what a Whist Counter is (if you need a review, click here), you might be wondering what the difference is between a Whist Counter and Whist Marker. So many people do. Well, relax, there isn't any difference. The terms are used interchangeably. Like many Americans, I prefer the term Whist Counter for the arbitrary reason that when I think about keeping track of who is winning a game I count my points as opposed to marking my score -- as the British tend to say.

The counters that I collect, both the Goodall and De La Rue types (click here for an explanation of the difference), evolved from earlier chips and tokens made of tortoise shell, ivory and mother-of-pearl. These were also called whist counters (or markers) because they were used to keep track (in a non-mechanical way) of who was winning at whist.

not part of my collection

Dr. W. Poole, an early whist authority, describes the scoring process in his book, "Whist" (George Bell & Sons, London, 1889) as follows: "The ordinary points are usually marked by round 'counters, and the 'game points' by oblong ones; the counters of the two parties being of different colors."

Thus each side counts (or marks) their scores using five big counters and three small ones. On the counters that I collect (mainly the Goodall type) there are also five big ones and three little ones. The big pegs represent games and the small pegs flip up to represent tricks taken -- three tricks make a game.

These mechanical counters were an big improvement over the mother-of-pearl chips. Instead of placing three oblong fish and two round chips on the table to mark that you had won three games and taken two tricks, you just flipped up three fat pegs and two skinny ones on your wooden device. This made for a less crowded card table, considering that your opponents (whist was played in pairs) also had to put out quantities of fish and chips (?) to mark their score.

However the Goodall type counter and its De La Rue competitors did not appear until the late 1880s. Prior to then there were round devices to count game points that were also known as Whist Counters or Markers. These were numbered to nine (or ten if you use the zero), so we know that they were developed for the game of Long Whist, which was played to nine or ten points.

There's not a lot of documentation regarding whist counters (see What the Hell Is A Whist Counter?), but R.C. Bell in his "Board and Table Game Antiques," dates the counter above to 1820, which is supported by the furniture and clothing styles of the participants.

By the middle of the 19th Century, the faster, livelier game of Short Whist, played to Five Points, had pretty much supplanted Long Whist. Though they didn't count tricks, long whist counters continued to be used to count to the five points of short whist -- such as this design, which was registered in 1860. They have even found interesting modern uses.

not part of my collection

To make matters a little more confusing, there were metal tokens that were called whist markers and counters. These were used to score the game according to Hoyle's rules in which four tokens could be used to count nine points. I really have no idea how this miracle worked, but maybe Laurent (more about him later) can explain it to you.

not part of my collection

Whist Markers (or Counters) should never be confused with Bezique Markers (or Counters), which are for a different game entirely!

Now that the Whist Counter/Whist Marker mystery is cleared up, you are ready for an even deeper mystery --

Click The Great Peg Count Controversy to continue.

Don't care? Running to catch a train? Click here to go directly to the collection.

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