Pointless College Stories: Out on a Limb, VII
I mentioned a couple of card games which were stories onto themselves. Here's one:
This two player game was taught to me by Daube and is apparently a variant of Casino. It is a very obscure variant because I have done research since then and have yet to find it mentioned anywhere.
In the beginning each player is dealt six cards. Four card are then turned face up in the middle. Any jacks that show up here are placed on the bottom of the deck and replaced.
Play then alternates starting with the player opposite the dealer. Cards played will take anything in the middle that adds up to it... kings take all kings and queens take all queens showing. Aces count as one. For example you have a field that looks like so (Edit: First field list caused logical errors- A, 2, 3, 7):
A, 2, 4, 7
A player could throw an ace and take just the ace... or throw a 6 and take the 2 and the 4. Throwing a 10 would enable the player to take the A, 2, 7. If you had a 7, it would take everything on the board and be counted as a bossita. If the card played cannot take anything, it stays in the field.
Jacks will take everything in the field but are not counted as bossitas.
As stated before bossitas are when a player clears the field without playing a jack. Only one player can have bossitas at a given time so say Player A has one and then Player B gets one, it causes Player A to cancel his.
Play continues in rounds of six card until the deck is exhausted (no additional cards are dealt from the deck into the field after the first four).
Points:
Most cards- 3
Aces - 1 point each
Jacks - 1 point each
Good 10 (10 of Diamonds)- 3
Good 2 (2 of Clubs)- 2
Bossitas (if any) -10
Games go until one player breaks 100.
Now, Daube is probably the most passionate card player I have come across. This is emphasized by the fact that he otherwise comports himself with a cavalier nonchalance worthy of any Mantid I know. Anyway, our games were pretty energetic with either of us trying to call bossitas or complaining about the terrible cards or talking smack about their lead.
In fact, there were a few instances where he was so confident in his margin that he would make bets against losing. This led to me witnessing him hitting on a squirrel on a campus bench (a pretty smooth effort in my opinion), as well as an exit sign he purloined for me from the dormitory (which I still have on prominent display I might add).
After a while, we even tried to integrate the calling mechanism into a variant called reverse bossita where the idea was not to take points. Calling an impending bossita was the only way not take the extra points.
Since then, I have had difficulty finding opponents with the same level of play. I recall one time down at Zeno's where I was already a pitcher into the night and Zaphod had asked to play a game because he had missed it. It was pretty drunk at that point and therefore easily distracted and I still crushed him with little effort.
That is not to say there isn't a good opponent out there. Squid's brother, Scurvy Pete, has a fair degree of acumen and the games we play do remind me of old times. However, those games are few and far between these days.
This two player game was taught to me by Daube and is apparently a variant of Casino. It is a very obscure variant because I have done research since then and have yet to find it mentioned anywhere.
In the beginning each player is dealt six cards. Four card are then turned face up in the middle. Any jacks that show up here are placed on the bottom of the deck and replaced.
Play then alternates starting with the player opposite the dealer. Cards played will take anything in the middle that adds up to it... kings take all kings and queens take all queens showing. Aces count as one. For example you have a field that looks like so (Edit: First field list caused logical errors- A, 2, 3, 7):
A, 2, 4, 7
A player could throw an ace and take just the ace... or throw a 6 and take the 2 and the 4. Throwing a 10 would enable the player to take the A, 2, 7. If you had a 7, it would take everything on the board and be counted as a bossita. If the card played cannot take anything, it stays in the field.
Jacks will take everything in the field but are not counted as bossitas.
As stated before bossitas are when a player clears the field without playing a jack. Only one player can have bossitas at a given time so say Player A has one and then Player B gets one, it causes Player A to cancel his.
Play continues in rounds of six card until the deck is exhausted (no additional cards are dealt from the deck into the field after the first four).
Points:
Most cards- 3
Aces - 1 point each
Jacks - 1 point each
Good 10 (10 of Diamonds)- 3
Good 2 (2 of Clubs)- 2
Bossitas (if any) -10
Games go until one player breaks 100.
Now, Daube is probably the most passionate card player I have come across. This is emphasized by the fact that he otherwise comports himself with a cavalier nonchalance worthy of any Mantid I know. Anyway, our games were pretty energetic with either of us trying to call bossitas or complaining about the terrible cards or talking smack about their lead.
In fact, there were a few instances where he was so confident in his margin that he would make bets against losing. This led to me witnessing him hitting on a squirrel on a campus bench (a pretty smooth effort in my opinion), as well as an exit sign he purloined for me from the dormitory (which I still have on prominent display I might add).
After a while, we even tried to integrate the calling mechanism into a variant called reverse bossita where the idea was not to take points. Calling an impending bossita was the only way not take the extra points.
Since then, I have had difficulty finding opponents with the same level of play. I recall one time down at Zeno's where I was already a pitcher into the night and Zaphod had asked to play a game because he had missed it. It was pretty drunk at that point and therefore easily distracted and I still crushed him with little effort.
That is not to say there isn't a good opponent out there. Squid's brother, Scurvy Pete, has a fair degree of acumen and the games we play do remind me of old times. However, those games are few and far between these days.