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.
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