In a previous post we discussed simple, honest card counting as a basic element of any card game, including Kardball. We presented it as a mental technique, not something you write down on paper as each card is played.
Videogate
Yet cameras are rolling during any accomplished sporting event, capturing every maneuver and tactic in pictures. Coaches and staffers review these images, convert them into various kinds of data, then analyze the results to critique themselves or discover weaknesses in their opponents.
One famous case went too far: a New England Patriots staffer videotaped an opponent's signals during a game and used the information against them.
Turning Now to Kardball
Suppose a Kardball team were to write down card counts on their own crib notes. At a glance they could tell if all the Kings were played, or one Ace is left, or no sixes are accounted for. Would this provide an unfair advantage? Or would it simply make the game more competitive? Would it slow the game down? Make it less — or more — enjoyable? Would a team need a support staff of video producers and analysts in order to decide if they should pitch a seven or a five?
Fortunately, We're Not That Serious
As long as a few guys and maybe gals can gather around a dining room table with a case of PBR, some BBQ chips, peanut M&M's, venison sausage sticks, homemade peanut butter bars, some funky plum brandy they got in Poland, a cheesehead cowboy hat, a dog that's blind in one eye, some smelly hunting parkas .... wait, start over ....
As long as a few guys and gals can gather for a friendly game of Kardball on a weekend, this shouldn't be an issue. We will worry about creating a rule about written card counts when the game goes professional.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Home Run Rallies
With at least two outs remaining, a smart Kardball batter will swing at a matching card at the first opportunity. The result is always good: either (1.) the defense has no Ace, so the batter scores on a home run; or (2.) the defense is forced to play an Ace to stop the home run and make the out.
Challenge Question for those of you in our Kardball Correspondence Course: Why is this strategy best used only when there are at least two outs remaining? (Answer below.)
Swing Your Rally Towels!
One long ball deserves another. Whether the previous poke made a score, or it forced out an Ace, either way you're likely to have a weakened defense, and swinging at any matching card now should be all gravy.
It's amazing how long these rallies can continue. We have often seen six or more successive home runs mark the scoreboard against a naked, Aceless defense.
Time for Relief?
The spanking won't end without some great pitching.
In Baseball (which Kardball is not), a manager might change pitchers in this kind of situation. Bench the Candy Man. Bring out the Ice Man.
In Kardball (which Baseball is not), there's really nobody to replace a spooked pitcher with, except his teammates in the outfield who have already pitched in a different inning (or will). Devising some kind of house-rule gambit that involves replacing cards might have some effect, but seems a little arbitrary to us.
Anyways, let your house rule prevail here. And in the meantime, let the rally towels fly!
Challenge Question for those of you in our Kardball Correspondence Course: Why is this strategy best used only when there are at least two outs remaining? (Answer below.)
Swing Your Rally Towels!
One long ball deserves another. Whether the previous poke made a score, or it forced out an Ace, either way you're likely to have a weakened defense, and swinging at any matching card now should be all gravy.
It's amazing how long these rallies can continue. We have often seen six or more successive home runs mark the scoreboard against a naked, Aceless defense.
Time for Relief?
The spanking won't end without some great pitching.
In Baseball (which Kardball is not), a manager might change pitchers in this kind of situation. Bench the Candy Man. Bring out the Ice Man.
In Kardball (which Baseball is not), there's really nobody to replace a spooked pitcher with, except his teammates in the outfield who have already pitched in a different inning (or will). Devising some kind of house-rule gambit that involves replacing cards might have some effect, but seems a little arbitrary to us.
Anyways, let your house rule prevail here. And in the meantime, let the rally towels fly!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Counting and Discounting Cards
Poker schmoker. Blackjack schmackjack. Hearts schmarts. Euchre schmucre. Those aren't different games, they're all the same game and the game is counting cards.
Kardball Schmardball
It's hard to increase your odds of winning above 1:2 if you don't keep track of which cards have been played, and which should have been but weren't. This is simply basic card gamesmanship.
If you can't pay attention to card counting, you might as well train a chimp to turn over a random card whenever you tap on a small, brightly-colored drum. (Wait ... what?)
Is It Illegal?
No, but keeping a card-playing chimp might be, in some states, without the proper permits. Even in casinos (schmasinos), experienced gamblers are expected to use some kind of mental technique to keep track of known and unknown cards in order to improve their game. Organized schemes involving multiple people, or outright cheating are of course grounds for expulsion (or a mob hit) ... but illegal? No.
What to Count
The most important cards to track are aces, twos, threes and fours, because they are involved in the majority of the thirty-seven plays of Kardball. After that, the prime numbers.
For example, if your outfield has three threes, and a batter bats a three against a Queen, you know there are no more threes on the table.
If you follow a batter who doubled with a two off an eight, you should assume the defense does not have a four. Maybe we should call this discounting?
And How
Lord knows you can't remember every card played, so try dividing up responsibilities. Let each teammate count just two card values, for example aces and Jacks, twos and fours, threes and Kings. At any point in your inning, take a reading (discreetly, of course) from your own side.
Kardball Schmardball
It's hard to increase your odds of winning above 1:2 if you don't keep track of which cards have been played, and which should have been but weren't. This is simply basic card gamesmanship.
If you can't pay attention to card counting, you might as well train a chimp to turn over a random card whenever you tap on a small, brightly-colored drum. (Wait ... what?)
Is It Illegal?
No, but keeping a card-playing chimp might be, in some states, without the proper permits. Even in casinos (schmasinos), experienced gamblers are expected to use some kind of mental technique to keep track of known and unknown cards in order to improve their game. Organized schemes involving multiple people, or outright cheating are of course grounds for expulsion (or a mob hit) ... but illegal? No.
What to Count
The most important cards to track are aces, twos, threes and fours, because they are involved in the majority of the thirty-seven plays of Kardball. After that, the prime numbers.
For example, if your outfield has three threes, and a batter bats a three against a Queen, you know there are no more threes on the table.
If you follow a batter who doubled with a two off an eight, you should assume the defense does not have a four. Maybe we should call this discounting?
And How
Lord knows you can't remember every card played, so try dividing up responsibilities. Let each teammate count just two card values, for example aces and Jacks, twos and fours, threes and Kings. At any point in your inning, take a reading (discreetly, of course) from your own side.
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