Italian Game of "Morra"

I grew up watching a lot of Morra played on Truesdale. Denise did some research for the game and it is detailed below. Seemed like a lot of drinking occured with the games, doubt that had much to do with its popularity? ~Dom

Morra is a hand game that goes back thousands of years to ancient Roman times and is still popular in Italy today. In the Bible, it may have been referred to as "casting lots." In ancient Rome, it was called micatio, and playing it was referred to as "micare digitis"; literally, "to flash with fingers." As time passed, the name became Morra. The game was so common that in ancient Rome that there was a proverb used to describe an honest person: "Dignus est quicum in tenebris mices," which means, "He is a worthy man with whom you could play micatio in the dark."

There are two styles of play. Northern Italians play sitting while Southern Italian players stand and use their whole body and extend their arms to flash their fingers. The purpose of the game is to sharpen the mind while enjoying the company of friends. In the most popular version, players throw out a single hand, each showing zero to five fingers, and call out loud their guess at what the sum of all fingers shown will be. If one player guesses the sum, that player earns one point.

In another version one person is designated the "evens" player while the other is labeled "odds". Players hold one hand out in front and count together to three (sometimes chanting "Once, twice, thrice, SHOOT!" or "One, two, three, SHOOT!") On three, both players hold out either one or two fingers. If the sum of fingers shown by both players is an even number, then the "evens" player wins; otherwise the "odds" player is the winner. Since there are two possible ways to add up to three, both players have an equal chance of winning.

Apparently some variations of Morra involve money. The winner earns a number of dollars equal to the sum of fingers displayed. This might explain why some of the Uncles looked happy and others not so much!