POPULAR CARD GAME

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 5, 6 July 1939, Page 24

POPULAR CARD GAME

"NOCK AND KIRBY"

ORIGIN WAS AT SYDNEY

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, June 17.

Bridge and poker players throughout the world are familiar with the game of "Nock and Kirby," but few are aware of the fact that it originated in Sydney during the war.

The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Sir Norman Nock, revealed the secret of the game, although only under presseure because of a fear that a popular game might be adversely affected by a misunderstanding that his firm was seeking to gain publicity.

"I have told the story on occasions! to close friends," Sir Norman said, j "but I have hesitated to make it pub-j lie. I have always thought that it! would be a shame to spoil a good game—and one I have played often in many parts of the world—by linking it i with trade." When assured that an explanation of the game's origin would be of widespread interest and should not affect the game's popularity, Sir Norman Nock gave the solution. "I first came across the game in San Francisco in 1922," he said. "I was staying at a hotel and was invited to play bridge. At the end of the game someone suggested a 'Nock and Kirkby.' We each put in a certain amount and proceeded to play five hands of show poker. The first four were the 'Nocks,' and the last, for half the original kitty, was the 'Kirby.'

"In 1924 I was staying at Cannes, in the south of France, when someone asked me to have a game of 'Nock and Kirby.' Since then I have encountered the game in other parts of the world. I was intrigued by the fact that the game had the same name as my firm, and I made a thorough inquiry. I asked a friend of, my father, a retired sea captain living in England, about it, and he was able to supply the solution.

"It appears that during the war my firm had a number of contracts for the i provision of supplies for troopships leaving Sydney. The orders were so heavy that we became notoriously late with our deliveries. The game of 'Nock and Kirby' was invented by four | ship's officers who were affected byj delay. j "They played what they called 'Nocks' —each time contributing an amount \o a kitty—until the watch.an-; nounced tJie'arriva! of our firm's lorry.! Then they would play a final hand for the kitty. This they called the j 'Kirby.' Apparently the game was then introduced among the troops on' the ship, and became very popular as a finale to any poker school. Today it is very popular among bridge players, and it has been apparently spread throughout the world by travellers from Australia."