thirteen cards are laid down at the right hand of the dealer. No
card is turned up to determine trumps.

Each player then looks at his hand. The eldest hand is that to the
dealer's right. He speaks first. If his cards are bad, and he will
not venture to be Ombre, he says "Pass," and lays a counter down at
his left. If all three players say "Pass," each laying a counter
down, the cards are dealt again. When a player thinks his cards may
win, and is willing to be Ombre, unless he be the third to speak,
and the two other hands have passed, he says "Do you give me leave?"
or "Do you play without taking in?" If the other players say
"Pass," each depositing his counter at his own left hand, the Ombre
begins by discarding from his hand two, three, or more cards that he
thinks unserviceable. He lays them down at his left hand. Then
before he deals to himself from the pack of thirteen left
undistributed the same number of cards that he has thrown out, he
must name the trump suit. In doing this he chooses for himself,
according to his hand, spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds, whichever
suit he thinks will best help him to win. If he has a two of a
black suit, or a seven of a red, he can secure to himself Manille by
making that suit trumps, or there may be reason why another suit
should be preferred.

If the player who proposes to be Ombre has a safe game in his hand--
five Matadores, for example--he names the trump and elects to play
Sans-prendre, that is to say, without discarding. Whoever plays
Sans-prendre, if he win, receives three counters from each of the
other players, and pays three counters to each if he should lose the
game.