This is our favorite family game, but we play it differently than it is done in America. I think how we do it is an improvement.
(1) Get 4 - 8 people and *2* decks of cards.
(2) Distribute the cards evenly amongst the players (it doesn't matter if some get more than others).
(3) One person lays down some cards face down and announces what they *supposedly* are (e.g. 2 J's).
(4) The next person has 3 choices: (A) they can follow and *claim* to add in more Js (e.g. 2 more J's or 1 more J), or (B) They can call it bullshit, in which case those 2 cards are flipped and if they are a lie, then whatever is on the table goes to the liar, otherwise it goes to the player who called it. Or (C) the player may pass, in which case the next person has the same choices. You may only call the last person who placed his cards down, not anyone else.
(5) When a player is called out, the leadership falls to the person who is proven right and that person may lead with any set of cards they wish.
(6) When everyone passes, then that particular number (in this example J's) is out of circulation and nobody may call it again.
(7) The game ends when one player has finished all his cards (or alternatively until only one person is left).
If I am not mistaken, the American version forces you to play the cards in a particular order and it does not allow a player to pass. But these are important differences.
Ok, so what are the strategies:
(1) Sometimes you can get away with a blatant lie, if the person after you benefits more from seeing the game going than calling you on it.
(2) If you are very much behind, because you objected too much and are now holding 50 cards or so in your hand, you can quickly unload them when you finally get to be in control. I've done it by placing 8 K's on the table. Nobody objected because they knew I had all the kings. They all passed. So then I put in another 8 K's down :) Damn it! Was he lying then or is he lying now? They passed again. So then I put in a 3rd set of 8 K's on the table. Now this was too much and the next person called it. And who do you know, I was telling the truth that time <vbg> You are playing the other players, not the hand you are holding.
(3) You can try to win the control by passing when you have the card. Someone plays an A. Everyone else plays some too. You pass. After a round or two of plys, if it is still going, you place an A on the table. So did you not have it before and this is a lie? Or were you playing them? There is too many cards on the table nobody wants to risk picking them up. If they all pass, the leadership falls to you. If they object and you told the truth, they pick up all the cards *and* the leadership passes on to you. If you lied and they are too chicken to call you, the leadership passes on to you ;) But if they all passed before it got to you, then the leadership remains with the current leader and you real card is out of play and now you have to lie to get it off your hand.
There is a lot more things that can happen, but this post is getting too long already. The bottom line is that this is a game where you are playing the psychology of others rather than the cards you are dealt. It is not a bad training for trading the market based on the psychology. This is how I knew last night that JWN and any other retailer was going to go up even if they missed their numbers...playing the players, not the hand. |
