The dealer continues distributing the cards until each player has a total of six cards. The dealer then removes the bottom card from the remainder of the deck and places it face-up in the center of the table to designate the Trump suit for the hand.
What does "…for the hand" in last sentence mean?
Best Answer
In most card games, one round of play is called a “hand”. When some condition of play applies only to a single round of play, the condition is valid “for the hand”.
In this case, when the dealer turns up the bottom card, it designates ‘trump’ for the current round of play - that is, it “designates trump for the hand”.
One round of play - one hand - is what you appear to be calling one "game cycle". For example, a game of Cribbage lasts until one player scores 121 points, but a hand of Cribbage is one deal of cards to each player, plus the subsequent play, until the next deal.