Portuguese to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature In A 19th Century Novel

Context (referring to a game played in the 19th-century):

—Casada com algum famoso ébrio o jogador de pau, valentão de aguadeiros, distinto cavalheiro, que passa os anos letivos encarcerado nas cadeias de Coimbra...

The only thing I have been able to think of is "stick ball". Is that correct?

Muita Obrigada,

Barbara