Singleton → Portuguese.
A singleton is in mancala games a pit containing a single seed or just the single counter in such a hole.
In most two-cycle games a move cannot start from a singleton.
- If the captures are removed from the board, singletons may be moved, if there are no pits which contain more than one counter. Usually the seed can only be played if the following pit is empty.
- If the captures are re-entered on the board, singletons may never be moved. An exception is Kisolo.
In games, in which the first seed is placed into the emptied pit, a singleton is usually moved to the next hole.
In Cenne, an Indian mancala game, a move may not be started with a singleton that was dropped in the last turn.
Other Usage
The word "singleton" was first used in the card game whist to describe a single card of a suit in a hand (1876). In the card game bridge, it is the playing card that is the only card in a suit held in a bridge hand as initially dealt. In poker, it is the only card of its rank.
In mathematics, singleton means a set with exactly one element. For example, the set {0} is a singleton. Note that a set such as {{1,2,3}} is also a singleton: the only element is a set (which itself is however not a singleton).
External References
Copyright
Adapted from the Wikinfo article, "Singelton" http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Singleton_%28mancala%29, used under the GNU Free Documentation License.