Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Ribbon Rule

Lauren tells us how Marie-Antoinette kept people from cheating at her card table.
In an attempt to thwart cheating at her tables, Marie Antoinette placed a ribbon rule on her table.  Cheating players would often claim money they had in front of them had been placed for bet, if the cards happened in their favor.  To stop these cheating players from making such claims during the game, she had a ribbon tied around the table.  The only money that would count as a bet was that which was placed far inside this ribbon.  If the money sat outside the ribbon in front of a player it was not considered in game!
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