Also called Flower Howell.
With the normal Howell the board movement is very orderly and the player movement usually requires the use of a guide card. The endless Howell simply reverses this process, so that the players move in an orderly fashion and each board requires a schedule.
The tables are numbered from 1 to N and the pairs are assigned numbers in some orderly manner. The N-S pair at table 1 remains stationary throughout the movement, while the N-S pairs move up 1 table at each change and the E-W pairs move down 1 table. When the E-W pairs reach table 1 they switch to N-S at table 2 after playing as E-W at table 1. The N-S pairs swivel to E-W at the highest numbered table after playing at that table as N-S (hence it is known as the swivel table).
If the number of boards being played on each round is not less than the number of tables in the movement, then the boards can be shared throughout the movement on each round (for example 4 table Howell playing 4 boards per round). Duplication of boards also can be used to overcome this problem.
On the other hand the boards can be selected from a centre table according to a schedule given to each table. When the starting set of boards is known for a table the boards then can be played in order at that table. For example in a 4 table Howell, table 2 might start with set 3 and on subsequent rounds the boards played are sets 4, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2.
Consider the 4 table endless Howell.
Player starting positions
8-1 7-2 6-3 5-4
Board sets round 1
1 3 5 2
Generally speaking these movements are not balanced, though they can be balanced by switching one or more tables so that the players are required to swap directions at that table whenever they play there. (This is only perfect for even tables again, as board switching is needed with odd numbers of tables).
As the assignment of pair numbers is not important, they are not shown in the following schedules. The board sets (the starting set at each table) and the table at which the pairs should switch (in brackets) are shown.
4 tables
1 3 5 2 (none)
5 tables
1 4 2 5 2 (note share) (3)
6 tables
1 6 2 5 10 4 (3)
7 tables
1 11 9 5 13 8 12 (3, 5, 6, 7)
8 tables
1 7 11 2 8 12 9 3 (5, 6, 7, 8)
9 tables
1 13 9 5 17 15 11 16 7 (2, 7)
10 tables
1 8 13 7 17 11 18 15 6 9 (5, 8, 9, 10)
11 tables
1 19 15 12 8 11 13 7 16 14 21 (2, 3, 4)
12 tables
1 13 8 6 21 23 17 14 12 22 9 4 (3, 4, 7, 9)
13 tables
1 7 9 25 20 14 19 3 6 11 2 4 17 (2, 4).
