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Hallein SBC is the leading skibob club of Austria.
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Hambledon CC was, before the formation of the Marylebone CC in 1787, the finest cricket club in England regularly playing and beating 'all England' teams. The team played its last recorded match in 1793.
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Hamburger SV is an Association Football club in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1887.
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The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian professional football team.
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In card games, a hand is the cards held by a player at any point of the game.
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Hand and Foot is a North American card game related to Canasta, in which each player is dealt two sets of cards - the hand, which is played first, and the foot, which is played when the hand has been used up. There are numerous variations of this game and no standard rules. The most usual version is for four players in partnership.
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In horse riding, a hand-gallop is a slow and easy gallop in which the control of the horse is kept well in hand.
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Handball is a no-contact game, played either out of doors by two opposing teams of 11 a side or indoors by teams of 7 a side or 5 a side. It is played by catching, interpassing and throwing the ball, the aim being to score by throwing the ball into the goal. The ball resembles an Association Football ball in size and weight, and the 11 a side game is played with goals the same as in Association Football.
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In horse racing and various other games and sports, handicapping is a system of equalizing the chances of victory in favour of each of the competitors by allowing certain advantages to an inferior competitor, as, in horse racing, the making the best horses carry heavier weights proportionably to their racing qualities, or, in chess-playing, the stronger player giving up one or more of his men at the beginning of the game.
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Handy-dandy (formerly called handie dandie), also known as handy-bandy, is a children's game in which a small object is shaken between the two closed hands, and then the hands being separated, another player must guess which closed hand contains the small item. Documentary evidence shows the originated prior to the 16th century.
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Happy Families is a card game for three or more players generally thought of as a children's game. The object of the game is to collect complete sets of four, known as 'families'. Either a standard deck of cards can be used, or more usually specially designed cards which have sets of four people such as 'Mr Bun the Baker' and 'Mrs Bun the Baker's Wife'. Players take it in turns to ask any other player for a card which is a member of a set of which the first player has at least one of in his hand. If the player requested has the specified card, they hand it over and the first player continues asking other players for cards in the same manner until a request is unsatisfied, play then passes to the next player. When a player has collected all four members of a set, they place that family down. Play continues until all sets of families have been collected. The winner is then the player with the most families.
During the Second World War the German government produced a military version of the game with cards printed with weapons and troop types which comprised families, such as the Infantry howitzer, Pak 3.7 cm anti-tank gun, mortar and Schweres machine-gun which comprised the 'Heavy Weapons Family'. These sets of cards were distributed to German troops for entertainment on the Western Front during 1944 and 1945.
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Harai-goshi is a sweeping hip throw used in judo.
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Hare and Hounds is a cross-country foot race in which two runners, known as hares, set off a short while before the rest of the runners, known as the hounds, who aim to overtake the hares within the distance appointed for the race. Hare and Hounds is popular in English public schools.
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The Harlem Globetrotters are an American all-black professional basketball troupe formed in 1927. The team tours playing in exhibitions and demonstration matches and have become famous for their ball control skill and nefarious antics on the pitch.
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Harlequin FC is a Rugby Union football club which was formed in 1866 and is one of the surviving founder members of the Rugby Football Union. Harlequins home ground is the Stoop Memorial ground at Twickenham.
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Harrow Football is an 11-a-side team game variation of Association Football played only at Harrow School. It is played with a large flattened ball on a standard rugby pitch marked only with a half- way line.
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The Hart Trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded annually in the National Hockey League of North America to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team. The original trophy was presented in 1924 by David A Hart and was replaced by the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1959.
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A hash is a British cross-country fun run between public houses with beer drinking forfeits.
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The Hawaiian Games were a festival of sport embracing the territory of Hawaii. For three months of the year the population would engage in sports and celebrations to honour the god of sports, Louoi- ka-Makahiki. The competitions took place in over 100 games including index finger wrestling, spear- throwing and surfboard riding. The games were suppressed by American missionaries from 1821 onwards who even banned surfboard riding.
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Hawick RFC is a Scottish Rugby Union football club. It was founded in 1873 and was the first to play a touring side in Scotland.
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Haxey Hood is a derivative of the rule-less football popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The hood, a bale or ball of rope encased in leather, was thrown into the air by a designated 'chief of the Boggons' . The Boggons would try to prevent the other players from taking the hood off the field, which they would try to do and carry it to the next village.
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Hazard is a game at dice played for money. The player is called the caster, and his opponent, who bets with him, is called the setter. The former calls a main, i.e. any number from 5 to 9 inclusive. He then throws with two dice, and wins if he 'nicks'. Five is a nick to 5; 6 and 12 are nicks to 6; 7 and 11 to 7, etc. The caster loses or 'throws out' if he throws aces, or deuce ace (called crabs).
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Heart of Midlothian FC (Hearts) is an Association Football club in Edinburgh. The club was founded in 1873 and was an original member of the Scottish league when it was formed in 1890.
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Hearts (Black Maria) is a trick taking card game in which the object is to avoid winning tricks containing hearts; the queen of spades is even more to be avoided. The game first appeared at the end of the nineteenth century and is now popular in various forms in many countries.
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Henley Royal Regatta is the oldest rowing regatta in Europe and the most famous in the world. It was inaugurated in 1839 at Henley-on-Thames as a direct result of the interest aroused locally by the first Oxford and Cambridge boat race which took place at Henley in 1829.
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The heptathlon is a 7 event athletics discipline.
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Hibernian FC is an Association Football club in Edinburgh. The club was formed by Irishmen in Edinburgh in 1875 and won the Scottish Cup in 1887.
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The High Jump is a standard field event on the programme of all major athletics championships for men and women, and also one of the events in the decathlon and the pentathlon.
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Highgate Diving Club is a diving club in London which was founded in 1928. Members of the club have represented Great Britain in many Olympic, European and Commonwealth games. The club fought for the advancement of diving.
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The Highland Games are a group of British athletics meetings, usually professional, held in the highlands of Scotland from early in the nineteenth century. They perhaps originated from races held among retainers of a local ruler who was dissatisfied with the speed of his messengers.
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Hitch and Kick was a form of High Jump popular in the Border Games. The competitor had to kick an inflated bladder hung from a pulley above him.
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The Hockenheim Circuit is a fast, wooded motor racing circuit near Mannheim. It is the scene of Formula Two races as qualifying rounds in the European Formula Two championship.
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Field Hockey (also known as bandy) is a stick-and-ball game played with hooked sticks and a ball. It is usually played by two teams of 11 a side consisting of a goalkeeper, two backs, three halves and five forwards over a game of two periods each of 35 minutes duration.
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In curling, to hog is to play the stone with so little force that it fails to clear the hogscore.
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Hola is a sort of trick taking game for two or four players, but it is unusual in that a card can only be beaten by a card of equal value, or by a wild card, sevens and twos being wild. The object is to capture aces, tens and the last trick. Hola is a Slavic word meaning 'nakedness'. Hola may be of Polish origin. It is closely related to the Czech game Sedma (seven).
Hola is for two players, or four players in fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite. A standard 52 card pack is used. Aces and tens are worth 10 points each - the other cards have no value. There are also 10 points for winning the last trick. The object is to take as many of the available 90 points as possible by winning tricks containing aces and tens, and winning the last trick. Sevens and twos are wild, and can be used to capture cards of any rank.
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Holani is an ancient form of hockey still played in Turkey. Two teams use rough sticks to hit a wooden cylinder or wedge (the holani) through the opponents goal. There are no other rules, the pitch may be any size, the game has no fixed duration and their is no restriction on the number of players.
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Honda are a Japanese firm of motor vehicle manufacturers. They started making motor-cycles and became prominent in the early 1960s in international racing. More recently they moved into automobile production.
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In card games the honour cards are the jack, queen, king and ace of the suit that is trumps.
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Hood Skittles is an indoor game played using nine pins about six inches tall placed in a diamond formation at thigh-height from the floor on a table. Stitched, leather padded missiles (known as cheeses) are thrown at the skittles from varying distances, usually in the region of three meters.
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Hopscotch is a game now considered a children's game, but which originated as a training exercise in the Roman Army. Hopscotch is played on a court chalked on the ground, of which the precise design varies greatly, but which is basically comprised of numbered squares alternating between a single square and two side-by-side into which each player tosses a stone (the puck) into squares and then proceeds to hop - where a single square occurs - and scotch - landing with both feet one in each of two squares side-by-side - alternately round the course, picking up the stone on the way back. There are various rules, but the basic principle is one of agility, balance and footwork.
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Horse racing is a sport of ancient origin, having been practised among the Greeks and Romans. The institution of horse-races in England belongs to a very remote period. The first regular horse-races, however, did not take place until the reign of James I. The prize then consisted of a gold or silver bell, whence we have the expression 'to bear away the bell.'
The successors of James I down to Queen Anne were all more or less attached to the sport. Under George I horse racing became more and more flourishing, and the sport continued to grow in importance during the remainder of the century. The two most celebrated horses of that period were Flying Childers (foaled in 1715) and Eclipse (foaled in 1764), which long had the reputation of being the fleetest horses that ever ran. The former ran four miles in 6 minutes, 48 seconds, carrying 9 stone. 2 lbs. The latter was never beaten.
None of the English sovcreigns was more devoted to horse racing than George IV. Between 1784 and 1792, while Prince of Wales, he gained 185 prizes, including the Derby of 1788,.
Horse racing was introduced into France from England, and during the reign of Louis XIV, and still more during that of Louis XV, was pursued with the utmost enthusiasm. The French Revolution put an end to it for a time, but the sport was revived by Napoleon. Horse-races, mostly upon the English model, have also been introduced into various other countries.
The principal varieties of horse racing are flat-racing, or racing on level ground; steeple-chasing, or racing over ground not specially prepared for the purpose; hurdle-racing, in which the horses have to leap over obstacles purposely placed in the way; and match trotting. This last kind of race is a favourite one in America, where the best trotting horses are to be found, but in England it is not much practised. Steeple-chases and hurdle-races take place in the winter months, the chief English event of the season being the Grand National Steeple-chase, run over a course of 4 miles 1000 yards at Aintree, near Liverpool.
Formerly all races were what is called weight-for-age races, that is, a specified difference in weight was conceded by the older horses. But it was found that when races were conducted on this plan the best horses came to be known, and the inferior ones withdrew, not venturing to compete with them, so that the race resulted in a walk-over. Hence arose the practice of handicapping, that is, of adjusting as nearly as possible the weight to be carried to the previously ascertained powers of the horse, so as to reduce the chances of all the horses entered to an exact equality. Since the introduction of this practice handicap races became a favourite sport. The principal weight-for-age for two-year-olds was the Middle Park Plate, called the Middle Park Stakes after 1940, first run in 1866 and run over six furlongs; and for the three-year-olds the principal for both colts and fillies are the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby, and St Leger, and, for fillies only, the One Thousand Guineas and Oaks.
The most important handicap races are the Great Northampton Stakes, the City and Suburban and Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom, the Northumberland Plate, the Goodwood Stakes, the Ascot Stakes, the Ebor Handicap (run at York), the Great Yorkshire Stakes (run at Doncaster), the Liverpool Spring, Summer, and Autumn Cups, the Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire, and Newmarket Handicaps (run at Newmarket).
The rules guiding flat-racing in Britain are framed by the Jockey Club, founded in 1750, and whose list of membership formerly included the names of the leading noblemen and gentlemen of the sporting world. A similar body, the Grand National Hunt Committee, govern all steeple-chasing and hurdle-racing events; while the rules of betting are nominally under the control of the Committee of Tattersall's Subscription Rooms. The breeding of thoroughbred horses is often a very profitable business. The pedigrees of all thoroughbred horses are registered in the stud-book, so that if any particular animal is omitted in that register the inference is that its pedigree is not without some blemish more or less remote.
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Horseshoe Pitching is an old English game now popular in the USA in which people toss horse shoes at a near vertical spike, aiming to encircle the spike with the shoe, or get it as close as possible.
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The Hospitals' Cup is a Rugby Union trophy for which the London hospitals compete in an annual knock- out competition dating from 1875.
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Hot cockles was a former Christmas game played in Britain. A blindfolded player knwlt down, and being struck had to guess who had given the blow.
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The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team. They entered the National League in 1962 as the Colt 45s before later becoming the
Houston Astros to identify with Houston's space connections.
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In 2007 a court in the United Kingdom ruled that poker is a game of chance. Quite obviously the judge who sat in judgement was not a poker player. Poker is not a game of chance. Poker is a game of skill. An element of chance exists in every poker round, and this presents a challenge to the players, but taken long term poker is a game of skill and a skilled player will win more than a random player relying upon chance. As such, it is possible to learn the skills required to win at poker, though not every single hand dealt to one.
To win at poker one must consistently do two things: win the most money and lose the least money. It is inevitable, especially in a variation such as Texas Hold Em where one is forced to bet irrespective of the hand dealt, that one is going to lose some hands due to the element of chance. It is therefore essential to minimise the amount that one loses. This is known as playing tight. One might think of it as being boring, or miserly or careful.
Winning the most money in a round of poker usually involves taking a risk, gambling. The most expert poker players gamble least often. One might even say, paradoxically, that great poker players don't gamble. If poker was simply a game of chance, it would be a case of gambling on every hand. Mathematically it has been calculated that relying upon chance, and playing wildly a player might, if lucky, win 40% of the time. This also means they will lose 60% of the time.
Popular are Texas Hold Em poker tournaments where players pay the same stake, receive the same quantity of counters - known as chips - and at the end of the tournament the stake money, perhaps minus a percentage taken by the venue, is paid out proportionately to the winners, the first player receiving the most money, second a smaller amount, third a smaller amount still and depending upon the size of the tournament other losing winners may also receive some money back. If one plays in such tournaments, it is only necessary to be among the winners to make money. Entering twenty tournaments, losing nine and coming first in one may make one feel good, but it is usually more profitable to be placed third in fifteen of the twenty tournaments and lose the other five.
In order to win a hand of poker it is essential to know the rank of the different hands, perhaps most common is for new players to forget that a full house out ranks a flush, or that a straight flush out ranks four of a kind. Pairs are often over valued. A pair of aces may appear very attractive, but it is out ranked by any two pairs, or three of a kind, straight, flush, full house &c. In short, a pair of aces is just a pair!
A lot is made of the mathematics of poker. Knowing and calculating the probabilities of communal cards being dealt which will join with your hand to provide a higher ranked hand. It is not necessary to be able to precisely calculate the odds, but a basic understanding of likelihood is beneficial. Given ten players at a table of Texas Hold Em, twenty cards from the 52 card deck will be dealt. It is quite likely that someone has been dealt at least one ace. If there are just five players at the table, ten cards will be dealt, and the likelihood of someone being dealt an ace is much lower (about 1 in 5). There are numerous tables published showing the odds on various poker hands, suffice to say the chance of drawing five cards straight from a deck and receiving a pair is 42% (about two in every five attempts), three of a kind is less likely at 2.11% (about one in every forty-seven attempts) and a full house has a probability of 0.14% (one in every 694 attempts). In Texas Hold Em these odds are reduced because each player has seven cards from which to make a hand of the five best, and full houses are considerably more common than the odds might imply. Remember also, probabilities are unaffected by what has gone before. One can sit all night and not draw a pair of aces, the likelihood of being dealt a pair of aces next hand is no more likely than it was for any other hand - luck may change, probabilities do not.
After the flop in Texas Jold Em, there are still two more communal cards to be dealt. These cards may assist a player's hand, the number of cards which can make a target hand are known as 'outs'. For example, if a player has a hand consisting of four suited and consecutive cards, there are fifteen cards remaining which can make either a straight or a flush. The likelihood of one of these fifteen cards being dealt after the flop, with two cards still to come, is very likely (0.8 to 1 in the player's favour). If the first card dealt doesn't make the hand, the river might still do it with odds of 2 to 1 against. By contrast, if a player has three of a kind, the chances of being dealt the fourth card after the flop with two cards still to come is very slim. There is just one out (only one card which can make the hand) and the odds of it being dealt are 22 to 1 against, reducing to 43 to 1 against if the turn does not deliver. Dave Scharf, a respected poker player and author, recommends 'when you have doubts, proceed with eight outs. Fold all the rest'. Meaning if you have doubts about your hand winning and there are less than eight cards which could be dealt to help your hand, then cut your losses and fold.
Bluff is often overstated in poker. Psychology is less talked about. Great poker players, known as foxes, know what their opponents have, and play accordingly. One famous poker player famously folded a pair of kings pre-flop when challenged to bet all-in by an opponent. After folding his opponent revealed his hand - he was holding a pair of aces. Bluff can be used in poker, and indeed should be used, but sparingly. Excessive bluff leads to wild play, and that leads to losing a lot of money. Better than bluff is to be able to read the body language of your opponents and gauge an idea of what they are holding. When a poker player views his hold cards, if those cards are high ranked he will frequently experience an adrenalin surge. This surge will frequently cause an involuntary physical reaction, perhaps a sharp intake of breath, a nervous twitch of the eyebrows, pumping of the knee, a smile. The reactions vary to each person, with great poker players suffering the fewest and least obvious reactions the least times. They 'stay cool'. Bluff involves convincing your opponents that you have a better hand than them, when you don't, so that they fold and allow you the pot. Bluffing is a gamble. If you know the opponents don't have a great hand, the chances of winning should they call your bluff are increased. If you know they have a great hand, and they will win if they call your bluff, then don't bluff. Lose as little as possible.
Poker is not about winning pots. It is about winning money. If poker was about winning pots one could simply bet aggressively - bet lots of chips - every hand and encourage the opponents to fold, thereby winning the pot, but without encouraging the opponents to contribute more to it. If, however, one has a very strong hand, then by allowing one's opponents to bet until the very end one can encourage the size of the pot to increase before winning it. The danger with this type of play, known as slow play, is that with cards yet to be dealt it is possible that an opponent may draw a better hand. The typical scenario is being dealt a pair of pocket aces. Before the flop you check, and then on the flop two kings appear. If one of your opponents is holding a king, they have immediately drawn a stronger hand than your two aces. It is a matter of judgement when to bet aggressively, and encourage opponents to fold, and when to play slowly and encourage opponents to bet. Inexperienced players are often amazed at how few hands good poker player play. But by folding your weak hands you are not losing any money, and your opponents are taking each other out.
Sometimes you will be unable to read your opponents body language. Playing on line for example. However, their manner of play may give you some idea as to their hand. A check call may indicate a weak hand, or may be a slow playing bluff. Similarly, a raise may indicate a strong hand, or may be a weak hand hoping to bluff the other players out of the pot. This is particularly likely if the player making the bet is late in the round, the dealer of the player to the dealer's right. At a table of ten players, if the player to the left of the big blind makes a strong bet it is likely that either: they have a strong hand, or they don't know how to play Texas Jold Em. A re-raise, however, is usually a sign of a strong hand or at least of confidence by the player. Be wary of feeling you have to call a re-raise because you have already bet so much. Better to lose what you have already bet, than to throw away even more. If a player is folding almost every hand, and suddenly bets heavily on a hand, it is fairly likely they are a tight player and have now drawn a strong hand.
Similarly, it is not uncommon for players to attempt to 'steal the blinds' by making a bluffing raise pre-flop. If one is the big blind then one is the last player to bet pre-flop and this is a strong position to be in. One can often steal the raise by simply counter-bluffing and re-raising the opponent.
Some basic principals of Texas Jold Em poker playing are:
- You don't win money from good players, only from weak players.
- If in doubt fold.
- Don't feel you have to defend your blind.
- Don't bet just to see the flop.
- Know when to fold. You are never pot committed.
- The lower you get on chips, the tighter you should play.
- Remain disciplined.
- Fold pairs lower than jacks.
- Fold unmatched cards lower than King-Queen or Ace-Jack.
- The more opponents there are at a table, the tighter you play.
- The value of a hand decreases with the number of opponents.
- The value of a hand increases with distance from the dealer (the dealer has the best position, small blind the weakest).
- Never hold drawing hands hoping to draw a straight or a flush.
- Losing some hands is good. It encourages your opponents to bet against you.
- Never reveal your hand unless called.
- Practice. Study. Analyse your mistakes and your opponents mistakes.
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Huddersfield RLC is a rugby league football club founded in 1864 and a founder member of the English Northern Union.
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Huddersfield Town FC is an Association Football club. It was founded in 1908 and elected to the second division of the league in the 1910-11 season.
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In the game of draughts, if a player in a position to capture an opposing piece neglects to do so, his opponent may 'huff' (remove from the board) the piece which should have made the capture, if he so wishes to do so.
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Hunslet RLC is a Rugby League football club. It was a founder member of the English Northern Union.
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Hurdling is an athletics activity with the 110 meters and 400 meters events for men and the 100 meters for women featuring on the programme of all major championships. There are ten flights of hurdles in each event, being 3.5 feet high in the 100 meters event, 2.5 feet high in the 200 meters, 3 feet for the 400 meters and 2. 75 feet high in the women's 400 meters event. The first hurdling event took place in 1850, and was a 3000 meters steeplechase. The first 120 yards hurdles race took place at the Oxford University Sports in 1864.
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Hurling is a fast team game in which teams try to propel a small ball with a broad-bladed stick (caman) between the opposite teams goal posts. The goal posts are 6.4 meters apart with a cross-bar 2.4 meters from the ground.
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