Monday 17 December 2012
Christmas
Tuesday 11 December 2012
…And so once again, Christmas!
To all you people out there that occasionally drop by to see what I’m up to, well I’d like to wish you a Happy Christmas / Holiday season. Goodness only knows how much I really need the break this year. It’s been a rollercoaster-kind-of-year with never a dull moment, and for once dull really looks attractive.
I am the first to advocate the belief that the only constant in life is change, but at times the rate of change can really wear you down to the bones. Yet enough gloom, be it far from me to add to all the hullabaloo that’s making the internet and social circuits in relation to the Mayan calendar. Oh yes baby, the world’s supposedly going to come to an end (again) on the 21st of December 2012!
At times I try to put myself in the shoes of that Mayan genius who came about with a neat way of compartmentalizing time into manageable cycles. Cycles that came to an end and were perennially renewed at the dawn of the next one. I figured that just as programmers way back opted to represent the year with just two ciphers, causing all the mayhem that was the Y2K bug, in much the same way this Mayan inventor opted to use cycles of a precise pre-ordained length. A length so huge that it seeing it end would be a once in several generations experience.
We humans tend to thrive on identifying patterns in whatever we do in life. Patterns offer us the false reassurance that we can somehow predict future outcomes. We do this in the most disparate situations. To be fair pattern matching can save you a lot of time, and in most cases they do turn out to be valid predictors of future happenings. Yet patterns never quite explain or predict the unexpected, the moment when happenings happen out of synch, foiling even the most reassuring of predictions.
For anyone who dabbles with a bit of gambling and probability, this concept is not new. We are fully aware that to assume that a pattern will persist over any given span of time, is itself a dangerous path. Any bet should ideally be hedged such that if losses are incurred they are small but that if winnings come along they are sufficiently profitable to justify the original gamble. Professional gamblers, those that do not become unnecessarily cocky about their abilities at the table, know that the best course of action in the long term is to always make decisions with positive expectation and to throw away those situations with negative expectation. Doing this does not guarantee winnings, but it does guarantee pulling the breaks on any losses that periodically will be incurred.
Back to the Mayans, well they were the quintessential gamblers, they had to gamble with nature, praying that their actions will lead to good crops and full stomachs. They had to gamble with sickness, hoping that certain actions and remedial activities would keep the community healthy. They gambled with territorial wars, hoping that their next battle would not impact negatively upon their burgeoning empire. Their calendar was their way of seeking out patterns to help them face the unknown in much the same way that probability and statistics help the player seek patterns that will turn his choices and decisions into sure winners.
That’s just about all I had in mind to share for now. Hope you will have a splendid time, enjoy the holidays, find time for friends you have not spoken to in a while and don’t stuff your faces too much or you will regret it in January!
Sunday 25 November 2012
An Early Christmas Present
A while back I asked a friend of mine to come up with a simple poker timer I could use for home tournaments. the result was this Google app which does precisely what you would expect from it. you can pre-arrange up to 10 levels of blinds and even include coffee breaks at pre-determined intervals. This is by far not one of the most complicated out there, nor does it make concessions for buy-ins since this was envisage more for free-roll type tournaments.
Still if you would like to use it, please just go ahead. To customise the blinds however you need to be logged on with a valid Google email account if you don’t have one already (unlikely ) then go grab yourself an account and give this little application a spin or two.
Image 1 - The Configuration screen
Image 2 - The Timer in action
Also and why you’re at it visit the Axelia.eu website which will give you some further ideas in as to whom put this little practical application together in he first place.
Until next time!!
Saturday 17 November 2012
A word or two on Backgammon
I have always had this thing about games of imperfect information; games were chance plays a significant role but is not the sole arbiter of who eventually wins the gaming contention. Backgammon is one such game.
My fascination with backgammon began when I was a young boy snooping around a now out-of-business games shop that stood along the Sliema promenade. Back then I think it must have been the curious pattern of triangular designs, spread out evenly on either end of the cardboard playing surface, or perhaps that mysterious dice that had multiples of two printed on each of its six faces. Not knowing the rules, my young mind raced and hypothesized ways in which that cube could be used within the context of that mysterious game.
Some years later, having set aside some pocket money for my first board I actually bought the game, one produced by Spears’s games, a company that was eventually bought out by Mattel in 1994. It was a good set, the cardboard surface very well made and folded into three. The dice were all strictly of wood and the “Doubling cube” (that mysterious dice featuring multiples of two on each of its six surfaces) was slightly larger, with red ciphers clearly painted on each face. The rules inside were also quite clear, even though they failed to address any strategic element that truly epitomizes the game’s strengths.
I recall playing my first games with my sister but we never quite got over the idea of knocking blots off the board and onto the bar. For those not so familiar with backgammon, blots are single checkers you might have occupying any one of the 24 points on the backgammon surface. As singletons, these checkers are very vulnerable and can be knocked off the board if your opponent lands one of his pieces on that same point. The only way to avoid having your checkers knocked off is to make sure you leave as few blots as possible by doubling up on any point with a single checker.
Yet back then, as kids we never quite got over the idea of having our pieces knocked off, so more often than not we argued. To stymie the arguments, we adopted an unwritten rule, whereby you could not knock blots off the board, because it wasn’t nice to do so! That rule did not help at all with my appreciation of the game as it reduced it squarely to a race.
Backgammon matches have a way of developing into three distinct types, or perhaps combinations of these same types. For instance you could have a game were hitting blots for advantage is frequently facilitated by favourable rolls of the dice, others that favour a quick race around the board with the first to bear-off all checkers winning the game. Yet still a further third type, would see you making point after point, reducing the match into a positional blocking game. Obviously you will have combinations from the aforementioned types, but you never really know how a game will proceed until you roll the first few rounds.
I will not delve to deeply on strategy over here, though I will spare some time on the history of this incredible game. You see backgammon is considered one of the oldest games ever invented by man. Excavations in Iran have revealed that the game was in existence over there as from 3000 BC. Obviously there were no Doubling cubes in those games, that had to wait till the 1920’s.
The ancient Romans too had games remarkably similar to Backgammon; one in particular called “Ludus duodecim scriptorium” which translates to “The game of twelve lines” was particularly popular. Another game called Tabula meaning “table” was a game mentioned by Emperor Zeno of Byzantium and which very closely resembles what backgammon looks like today. Players however rolled three dice and not two as is the custom nowadays.
The “Jeux des tables” or “Game of tables” which can be considered as the true direct precursor of modern backgammon, was first played in France during the 11th century where it became very popular among gamblers. As a result its popularity suffered following a royal decree issued by Louis IX which made it illegal to play the game. Funnily enough, or predictably perhaps, prohibition did little to curb the spread and popularity of the game. By the 18th century backgammon had become significantly established in countries such as England, where Edmund Hoyle wrote a reputable book called “A short treatise on the game of Backgammon” in 1743.
Modern Backgammon puts a lot of emphasis on the skill factor of the game while also conceding that there will always be a luck element epitomised by the rolling of the dice. It is also quite normal these days to see dice cups introduced into games in order to reduce the chances of cheating. Basically players cannot roll dice with their hands but must resort to rolling the dice in the cup and onto the gaming surface.
While Backgammon is played competitively in a number of tournaments held around the world, it never moved away from its gambling roots. You will still find players immersed in games of backgammon where the winner will win an agreed amount of money wagered before the start. If then the game is tied to the number of points scored, then the wagers will fluctuate depending on whether or not the doubling cube is used during the game or not.
Yet whether played for fun or financial gain, playing backgammon is a rewarding experience for all those who play it. Which is why I strongly recommend this game to anyone who loves a challenge and would like to try something new and yet so old!
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Happy Halloween
…and it’s finally here, my latest video blog features fantasy and especially gothic playing cards from the likes of Bicycle and Fournier. Most Definitely some of the most impressive and jaw dropping artwork out there! Judge for yourselves!
Monday 16 July 2012
The Eternal Appeal of Games of Chance
This is not unlike a surfer waiting for the right wave in order to perform his favourite surfing manoeuvre. There would be myriad diverse waves racing towards the shore, but only one coupled with a surfer’s skill will result in an outstanding performance. It is also important to realise that even the best surfer or athlete or card player, achieve excellence by learning from their many failures not by winning. Indeed winning consistently comes much later.
Monday 9 July 2012
You’ve been BourrĂ©d!!
Bet you never been told that before! Well neither have I to tell you the truth, but in my quest to fetch some of the more unique card games in existence, I came across this trick-taking, gambling game which goes by the name of Bourré. From what I have read this game is of French origin (based on an even older Spanish game called Burro or Donkey) made popular among the Cajun communities of the southern United States.
Interesting however, according to some newsfeeds, this game has grown to be quite popular in some American home games when people grow a bit bored of playing poker. It’s very straight forward as trick-taking games go and rather fast-paced since you only have 5 tricks per hand and just one draw or pass stage at the very beginning.
Number of players
Picking from various sources, the ideal number of players for this game would be five to seven players. More would make dealing out replacement cards complicated and less would reduce the fun factor of the game.
Ante and dealing
Players agree on an ante to place in a common pot at the start of a hand and then the designated dealer, who can be chosen using any randomisation process, deals out exactly 5 cards face down, to all players. However the last card the dealer deals to himself, he deals face up to determine the trump suit. If that up-card is an Ace then the dealer must always play and cannot pass (fold).
Pass or Draw stage
Once the cards are dealt, then all players are allowed to exchange anything between zero to all cards in hand. In turn they indicate verbally the number of cards they wish to exchange or stand pat.
The Trick-taking stage
The game proceeds to the play phase. The first trick is led by the first active player to the dealer’s left. As with most trick-taking games, this first player holds no obligation to play a trump card but any player thereafter must play a card in the suit of the card led if they can, and only subsequently play a trump card if they can. A player may only play “any card” to a trick (i.e. neither in the suit led nor a trump) if they hold cards in neither the suit led nor trumps.
Winning and pay-offs
The pot is won by the player who normally wins three tricks minimum, but it is possible to win the pot with only two tricks if the other players win one trick or none at all. If a player wins no tricks at all then he has been Bourréd and must pay a penalty to the pot equal to the sum in the pot at the time.
Interestingly if a player is caught reneging, that is that he could have played a card in the suit led by did not, or a card in the trump suit but did not, then that player too will have to pay a penalty equal to the total present in the pot at the time.
There are also some obligations on a player who has what is called a cinch hand, or a sure hand of three tricks he cannot possibly lose. For example let’s say a player has AKQ of trump, it is highly unlikely that he will lose any of these three tricks. In this instance, the player is obliged to play the highest trump first, followed by the second highest etc.
Some other considerations
…and there you have it! BourrĂ© is relatively straight forward as trick-taking games go, but the pot can grow sensibly if hands end repeatedly in draws, or ties and penalties start to pile up (say from BourrĂ©d players). Some prefer to pose a limit to the possible win from a pot, say if an ante is set to $1 and there are 5 players, then the winner can only take up to $5 from that pot for any given hand. The rest remains in the pot. There are various ways in which this can be regulated. What is then left in the pot at the end of a session could then be split up say 50-30-20 among the top three players at a table. Also as with other gambling games, one could resort to playing table-stakes to cap any losses to just what was brought to the table at the start of a session.
In Conclusion
BourrĂ© feels like a simple yet fun gambling game that can promise some interesting hours of gameplay. Some may prefer to include it as part of a Dealer’s choice setup, where it would be blended in with other exotic poker variations like Badugi or Chinese Poker.
Thursday 21 June 2012
A positive outlook.
Considering that my last blog entry was the 8 of May, I thought it would be good to touch base with all that is my blog and maybe share some of the things that happened to me since my last posting. Yet dear readers for once I won’t be moping over stuff, for once I want to be positive about things.
Yours truly is still in-between homes so to speak, still residing at a temporary residence, but now I am also the owner of a new home after a gruelling 8 months plus of negotiations, heartbreak and endless hours of frustration. Obviously there will be work that needs to be done before I can actually set foot into the place, but I’m not currently daunted by the prospects.
As far as my card collection, I am now officially the proud owner of 102 distinct packs (twin deck sets count as one in my collection if they were boxed together). My latest acquisition came courtesy of my cousin Natasha who brought me a pack of Iceland themed cardamundi deck. Each card has a different scene from Iceland making it quite a keeper as far as collections go.
I also bought two bridge-size twin packs from Piatnik, the Symphony and the Opti Deck. These two decks have similar picture cards (K, Q, and J) but then the Opti Deck for instance has large indexes. Additionally the Opti Deck has a nice gold finish which makes it a rather luxurious deck, whereas the Symphony has this more subtle scheme of browns on the reverse or back sides of every card.
My most recent deck must be the “Steam Punk” deck from Bicycle. The card faces themselves are regular, with the exception of the Joker cards and the Ace of Spades, which have been uniquely designed to reflect the "Steam Punk” motif. The tuck box itself is also a quaint bronze in colour and very stylishly designed, as would be expected from a Bicycle deck.
However I think I cannot really end this blog without a reference to the WSOP 2012 currently underway in Las Vegas. Thanks mostly to pokernews.com I am following the progression of the various tournaments as they are being played there. I was personally quite happy for Phil Helmuth Jr. who finally managed to score his 12th WSOP bracelet in a non-Holdem event. This was a big deal for the guy who so far had only managed to score victories in Holdem events. Last year he came close by coming 2nd in two distinct events, but for Phil close, ain’t close enough, which is why this year he was back giving it all he had, to finally secure that elusive 12th bracelet.
My other favourite poker star, Daniel Negreanu, has not faired to well so far but I am sure he will more than make up for this slump with some deep runs in the near future, and who knows, another bracelet to add to his collection. Also the incredible Phil Ivey has done what I think few have ever achieved in WSOP history he has made 5 final tables in just this year’s WSOP alone! He is the goods! What astonishes me is that so far he has not even bothered to write any books on the subject and I am sure that if he were to do so, no one would dispute his authority and most probably his materials would sell faster than a publication by any of the world’s top authors on the subject. Ivey is the quintessential poker Grandmaster, a guy with instincts as razor sharp as his focus during play.
My only regret is that we don’t get ESPN locally so basically I totally miss on any poker coverage this network offers its viewers. I am also a bit miffed that the GO network does not offer any poker channels in its line-up whereas Melita Cable do. Still currently GO are the overall better deal when it comes to Digital Terrestrial TV, might consider investing in a satellite solution who knows ;-).
That’s all for now, hope to be able to get back with more news, updates and reviews soon. Until then...shuffle up and deal!
Sunday 6 May 2012
Spades
Spades comes from a family of games known as trick-taking games with similarities to the game of Bridge. However Spades lacks the complexity of scoring one finds in both standard Bridge as well as Contract Bridge. Spades can however serve as an excellent introduction to Bridge while being a great game in itself.
Spades can be played with two or more players though it really comes into its own when played with four players in pairs called partnerships. Partners sit opposite each other at the table. A standard deck of cards (no jokers) is used with Spades always acting as the trump suit, more about trump suits later.
First things first, what is a trick? Well when playing a trick, players selectively play one card from their hand to the table. In Spades any non-spade card will do since spades can be used only when one player runs out of one of the other suits “led”. Regardless the highest card in the suit that is led wins that trick, unless obviously a player plays any Spade. Spades trump any other suit regardless of rank. The best way to explain this is with an example.
John, Jim, Janet and Jane decide to play Spades. The boys will be playing against the girls so each partnership or team sit opposite one another at the table.
Choosing the Dealer
First they need to decide who goes first, so Jim (the owner of the deck of cards) shuffles the deck and then invites his pals to pick one card each. The player showing the highest ranked card will be the first dealer. However in this instance both Jane and John pick a Jack, what to do! Well in Spades this is not a problem in such cases suits are taken into consideration since they are ranked, highest to lowest, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. In this case it’s John with his Jack of hearts which beats Jane’s Jack of Clubs, so John will be the first dealer!
Dealing the Cards
John now takes the deck of cards, shuffles and deals out thirteen cards (13X4=52) to all players one at a time starting with the player to his immediate left. Dealing is clockwise. This is where the game comes into its own. It is now time to bid! This is where the game becomes interesting! Players, having examined their holding, make an educated guess on the number of bids they could potentially win in that hand.
| John (D) |
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Janet |
| Jane (goes first) |
| Jim |
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Table 1- Relative positions of players
The Bid
Jane goes first, she knows that the bid should ideally be spot on, since if a player under-bets (bets less than what she/he effectively wins) repeatedly her partnership will eventually suffer a penalty as shall be seen later. On the other hand over-betting means Jane will get a negative score for her partnership and THAT is definitely not desirable. Since cards rank (highest to lowest) A,K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2 if Jane holds a number of high cards, say Aces through Jacks in more than 1 suit, then she stands a higher chance of winning a given number of tricks. However Jane must also take into consideration the number of spade suited cards she owns, since those she does not own could harm her attempts at winning the tricks she needs to fulfil her bid.
The Nil Bids
Jane may actually decide that her hand is so bad that she simply doesn’t stand a chance to win a single trick. If successful the partnership will score an additional 100 points. Obviously the downside is that the partnership loses 100 points if this bid is not honoured. However this time round Jane notices she has a couple of Kings and two Aces…one of which the Ace of spades, so she thinks she’ll be on the mark if she opts to bids that she will win 3 tricks.
First trick
With everyone having settled and noted his or her bid for the hand, Jane kicks off by playing the A©. Jim knows this trick is already as good as lost so he opts to play the smallest heart in his hand 3©. Janet is obviously quite happy with Jane winning her first trick, she plays her smallest heart 2© and the game passes on to John who concludes the trick by playing the K©. Jane sweeps the trick she has just won off the table concluding that trick. She will now open the next having won this one.
Breaking Spades
Some tricks later, Jim opens with a 3§. He does not really have anything decent to play and spades have not been broken yet so he cannot use them as of yet. Janet replies with a 5§, the only club suited card she has left. John has run out of clubs, rules state that if you cannot play a card in the lead suit (clubs in this case), then any suit goes. John is tempted to play his Kª but wait a minute, the Aª has not reared its ugly head and Jim has not indicated he has it in his hands. John decides to forfeit this trick and player 7¨ instead. Lo and behold, Jane slams the Aª as the concluding card on the trick, breaking spades. John is understandably relieved because his Kª would not have stood a chance this time round. On the other hand Jim is quite happy about how things turned out because now he has several spades in his deck begging to be played.
The strength of the spades suit as the trump suit in this game is expressed mostly when a lowly 2ªtrumps say a K¨ J¨ 9© once spades have been broken. This is why at times it pays to play certain card combination because once you effectively deplete cards from one suit from your hand; you increase the flexibility with which you can play what trumps you might have left in your hand. Keeping a mental track of cards played is also an important skill to master in this game.
IMPORTANT – A player must always play a card in the led suit if he can. If a player fails to do so and is caught then the partnership loses the game outright or suffers a 3 trick penalty if the bad play was a genuine mistake. Repeat offenders lose the game.
Other possible bidding types
We have already seen that a player can call a Nil Bid if he feels that he does not stand a chance to win a single trick. If both players claim the same both calling a Nil bid, then the partnership is said to have declared a Double Nil bid (see scoring table later on). The craziest types of bidding in my opinion are the blind bids. A player may Blind Bid if he declares say that he will win 3 tricks without having even looked at the cards. If he achieves this stunt he scores more points for the partnership. There are also such things as Blind Nil bids and Double Blind Nil bids but I think these are definitely bids for the gamblers and not for players who genuinely embrace the strategic aspect of the game. However there is still a situation where such bids might be played out of desperation. For instance if a partnership stand dangerously behind in terms of points it may decide to opt for such outrageous bidding to accrue the points it would otherwise not be able to win.
Bid Made | If Bid is met | If player takes fewer | If player takes more |
Nil | 100 | Does not apply | -100 |
Blind | 100 | -100 | 0 |
Blind Nil | 200 | Does not apply | -200 |
Double Nil | Wins the Game | Does not apply | -200 |
Double Blind Nil | Wins the Game | Does not apply | -400 |
Table 2 - Blind and Nil bids, scores and penalties
Bags
Not taking Cartier or Gucci here, bags are what a player scores when he under-bets or underestimates the number of trick he or she bid for. Say for instance that Jim bid that he would win 4 tricks. During the course of the hand however he effectively wins 5 tricks. What this entails is that when it comes to scoring, Jim will earn 51 points 5X10 points for honouring his contract plus 1 extra point for the extra trick. However Jim also earns what is called 1 bag for the partnership. When the partnership collectively scores 10 bags, it will lose 100 points! Partnerships should therefore keep close tabs on the number of bags they win while not being afraid to make overtricks if that trick prevents the opposing faction from attaining their contracted bids for example.
Keeping Score
The score Sheet should be clear and easy to understand. It should have columns for the tricks bid and tricks one as well as a place where to jot down any bags made. The following example is not a definite way to do this but it offers all the desirable features listed above.
PLYR 1 | PLYR 2 | PSHIP | BAGS | SCR | PLYR3 | PLYR4 | PSHIP | BAGS | SCR | ||||||
B | W | B | W | B | W | X | X | B | W | B | W | B | W | X | X |
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However as you will have noted the score column applies for the “partnership” as would be the total “bags” obtained by the same partnership.
Example score sheet
| PARTNERSHIP A | PARTNERSHIP B | ||||||||||||||
| PLYR 1 | PLYR 2 | PSHIP | BAGS | SCR | PLYR3 | PLYR4 | PSHIP | BAGS | SCR | ||||||
| B | W | B | W | B | W | X | X | B | W | B | W | B | W | X | X |
H1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | +61 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | +10 |
H2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | +50 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 | +61 |
H3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | +60 | Nil | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | -60 |
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The above example score sheet offers some of the possible outcomes for a hand of spades.
Hand H1 - In the first hand (H1), we find that Player 1 bid 3 tricks winning 3, while player 2 bid 3 while winning 4 tricks. Together, the partnership bid for 6 tricks while effectively winning 7. This means that the partnership “A” honoured its contracted 6 bids plus made 1 bag. Their score would be 10 points for each of the 6 tricks, plus 1 for the bag for a total of 61. Partnership “B” saw a situation where player 3 bid and won 4 tricks while player 4 bid 3 but won only 1 trick. So how did this partnership fair? Player 3 scored 40 points for his contract while player 4 scores -30 for his. So, overall the partnership only won 10 points.
Hand H2 – In the second hand player 1 bid 3 and won 3, while player 2 bids 2 and won 2. Partnership “A” won a straight 50 from this hand. Partnership “B” saw player 3 bid and win 3 tricks while player 4 bid 3 but won 4 tricks. In this instance the partnership bid for 6 tricks over all but won 7. This scores a total of 61 points, 60 for the 6 tricks won and 1 for the bag.
Hand H3 – This is an interesting hand in that in the case of partnership “A”, player 1 bid 4 but won 3 tricks, while player 2 bid 2 but won 3 tricks. Together, this partnership bid and won 6 tricks honouring the overall contract hence even though player 1 did not honour his contract, the partnership still wins 60 points. Partnership “B” saw player 3 place a Nil bid which if successful would have earned the partnership 100 points. However in this instance player 3 won 2 bids meaning his side scores -100 for the failed bid. However player 4 bid and won 4 tricks for a total of 40 points. So for this hand the partnership will earn a negative 60 (-100+40=-60).
As I have noted time and time again I am not normally a fan of trick-taking games but this particular variation offers several elements of strategy while keeping matters fairly simple. I would also advise anyone who might be interested in playing this game to get his hand on a good introduction to the game possibly one with a number of examples that actually highlight the strengths and weakness of playing certain cards in certain situations. Just to get you started have a look at this book called The complete Win at spades available from Amazon UK.
Until next time!