45s!

[mmcirvin]

A friend attempted to teach us this weird game a while back--though the version she played, I think, had low cards ranking higher for all four suits, not just the black ones. I didn't exactly catch on.

Its popularity, in the US at least, turns out to be intensely local:

The game is most popular in greater Taunton, Massachusetts, Lawrence, Massachusetts and greater Haverhill, Massachusetts.[4] Forty fives tournaments are becoming more popular. In New England, the New England Academy of 45s holds occasional tournaments in Plaistow, New Hampshire.

Wow, the sensation has spread as far as Plaistow!!

Comments

[piehead.livejournal.com]

My preferred local trick-taking card game is Euchre.

[spatch]

"Now look here, son, this kind of trick-taking game may play well down in Haverhill, but this is Plaistow, mister, and-- well, whadya know? Ladies and gentlemen! I move to make Forty-Fives the Official Game of Plaistow! All in favor, wave your hands about and cheer but don't look directly at the camera!"

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

There is, I am sure, an untold story behind the alleged popularity in Taunton, which is not in the Merrimack Valley at all.

[sneakums.livejournal.com]

Back in Ireland my friends and I used to play 110 at lot at the pub.