Editing Black Lady (section)

=== Preliminaries ===
The game is designed for three to six players, although "four is the usual number." A [[standard 52-card deck]] of [[Anglo-American pattern]] cards is used in which cards [[rank (cards)|rank]] in their normal order, [[ace]]s high. If three play, the {{cards|2s}} is removed, if five play, the two black [[Deuce (playing card)|deuces]] are removed and, if six play, all four deuces are discarded. It was usual practice to play with two decks, one being [[shuffled]] while the other was being [[deal (cards)|dealt]]. Players [[cut (cards)|cut]] for the choice of seats (aces low), lowest becoming the first [[dealer (card player)|dealer]] and choosing a seat first and then others choosing their seats in their order. Players tying must cut again.{{sfn|Foster|1909|pp=349–356}}

Any player has a right to shuffle, the dealer last. Dealer offers the cards to [[pone (card player)|pone]] (to the right) for cutting, before dealing all the cards, clockwise and one at a time, to each player starting with [[eldest hand]] (to the left). The deal always rotates to the left. After the deal, each player [[discards (cards)|discards]] three cards to the left-hand neighbour. Players may not view the cards they receive before selecting their discards.{{sfn|Foster|1909|pp=349–356}}