QUESTION:
I was wondering, in a 4 hand game... tied 8 to 8. When do I bid 3?
- Susan in Wyoming
ANSWER: Susan: A great question with so many answers! Let me go over one scenario...let's say you are the dealer and you are playing a TEAM GAME (remember no Gent's hand....see advanced tutorial under "Video Tutorials") and the person to your left bids two (remember we have to bid to win!!), that is a great bid by that person as she is forcing your teammate, bidding second and sitting across from you, to bid three....but the critical bid it the third bidder...if that person does not bid three, no matter what the hand, you the dealer can "take" for two and have an easier time of 1) not riding, and 2) getting 3 and getting to 11 which wins the game! So that third bidder is going to bid three and then , you the dealer are going to take for three, unless you think the third bidder is bluffing! In a more advanced answer I will one day explain how to tell if people are bluffing! Great question Susan and we are so glad the game is spreading like wildfire, no pun intended today in very dry weather, in Wyoming that great state with great freedom loving gun laws and no state income tax. Blessings, Steve Laffey
I was wondering, in a 4 hand game... tied 8 to 8. When do I bid 3?
- Susan in Wyoming
ANSWER: Susan: A great question with so many answers! Let me go over one scenario...let's say you are the dealer and you are playing a TEAM GAME (remember no Gent's hand....see advanced tutorial under "Video Tutorials") and the person to your left bids two (remember we have to bid to win!!), that is a great bid by that person as she is forcing your teammate, bidding second and sitting across from you, to bid three....but the critical bid it the third bidder...if that person does not bid three, no matter what the hand, you the dealer can "take" for two and have an easier time of 1) not riding, and 2) getting 3 and getting to 11 which wins the game! So that third bidder is going to bid three and then , you the dealer are going to take for three, unless you think the third bidder is bluffing! In a more advanced answer I will one day explain how to tell if people are bluffing! Great question Susan and we are so glad the game is spreading like wildfire, no pun intended today in very dry weather, in Wyoming that great state with great freedom loving gun laws and no state income tax. Blessings, Steve Laffey
QUESTION:
Hello Steve,
I have a question about playing a three hand game. My wife and I have a daughter and we play often. She is an only child. When we play I have difficulty knowing when to bid with king high. What are the odds that the ace won't be in play? They win more than they should....Thanks. Love the website! ALBERT G from 30332
Of course Albert...thanks for chiming here at HIGHLOWJACK.COM . Let's go thru this..52 cards, 9 dealt out to three players...9 times 3=27 . 27/52=52% of the cards are played...so on average of the 27 cards 1/4 are of the trump suite...27/4=6.75...so let's round to 7...with three players who are going to need on average 11 more cards (we will get back to 6 cards and have 18 cards and 18-7=11) . We will not add in the small chance that one player at the beginning was dealt 7 cards of one suit and that suit became trump!
Now remember we are using the same deck and not replacing cards so the math is easier. If 11 additional cards are to be dealt before play begins...that means on average 27 +11=38 cards will be dealt...so the probability of the ace of the trump suit being in the hands of the players = 38/52=73%.
Remember there are four points to get....you want to bid three without the ace..about 3/4 of the time the king will be high so you the your bid is based on so many things....bidding three in a three hand game is a function of many things, including the present score, where you stand in the bidding order, how many other trump cards you have to withstand the ace coming out, etc...
I usually write the equation as B(3,3)=As+Qt+Sn+...
and I could go on but let's put it this way...with a king high, to bid three, you better have the Jack and the 2 of trump along with some other trump...or the Jack and so many other Trump that you can get low...and hold onto the jack....
Super Albert and I hope this helps with that prodigious young lady you are bringing up well!
Question:
In a recent High Low Jack game a member of the bidding team reneged, i.e., he failed to follow suit in the second trick when a trump was led, then played the trump in the next (third) trick.. This was clearly accidental with no intent to cheat. This led to a very heated "discussion" about how to deal with it. The bidding team felt that it should incur a loss of 3 (which was the bid). The opposing team felt the bidding team should incur a loss of 3 AND get 3 points as well.
I have tried checking the rules, but cannot find anything that addresses such a situation. Can you provide guidance?
Thank you Bruce from Zip Code 29486
Bruce: This is a great question from the people of the great State of South Carolina! Things like this occasionally happen, even to the best of us....I have seen it happen when some people, usually over the age of 40, are not wearing there reading glasses! This is why, before a game, I always announce certain rules that are sort of "soft rules" that people either rarely see or can be handled in one or more ways. For Example, we do not play "gents hand" in a 4-way, nine card, game. Also, I announce that a misdeal means forfeiture of the dealer's deal and we skip to the next person to deal. In this case if it was not announced prior to the game, I would simple call it another form of "Misdeal" and then 1) if the person or person's team was dealing, I would move to the next person to deal, and 2) if the person or team that made the simple mistake was the not the dealing team, I would just re-deal immediately.
Very good question Bruce and I am glad that the game is spreading like wildfire throughout the South. As you can see from the other articles, including "Greatest Matches" , South Carolina is one of my favorite places to play. Please keep up all the historical statues in that great state!
Hello Steve,
I have a question about playing a three hand game. My wife and I have a daughter and we play often. She is an only child. When we play I have difficulty knowing when to bid with king high. What are the odds that the ace won't be in play? They win more than they should....Thanks. Love the website! ALBERT G from 30332
Of course Albert...thanks for chiming here at HIGHLOWJACK.COM . Let's go thru this..52 cards, 9 dealt out to three players...9 times 3=27 . 27/52=52% of the cards are played...so on average of the 27 cards 1/4 are of the trump suite...27/4=6.75...so let's round to 7...with three players who are going to need on average 11 more cards (we will get back to 6 cards and have 18 cards and 18-7=11) . We will not add in the small chance that one player at the beginning was dealt 7 cards of one suit and that suit became trump!
Now remember we are using the same deck and not replacing cards so the math is easier. If 11 additional cards are to be dealt before play begins...that means on average 27 +11=38 cards will be dealt...so the probability of the ace of the trump suit being in the hands of the players = 38/52=73%.
Remember there are four points to get....you want to bid three without the ace..about 3/4 of the time the king will be high so you the your bid is based on so many things....bidding three in a three hand game is a function of many things, including the present score, where you stand in the bidding order, how many other trump cards you have to withstand the ace coming out, etc...
I usually write the equation as B(3,3)=As+Qt+Sn+...
and I could go on but let's put it this way...with a king high, to bid three, you better have the Jack and the 2 of trump along with some other trump...or the Jack and so many other Trump that you can get low...and hold onto the jack....
Super Albert and I hope this helps with that prodigious young lady you are bringing up well!
Question:
In a recent High Low Jack game a member of the bidding team reneged, i.e., he failed to follow suit in the second trick when a trump was led, then played the trump in the next (third) trick.. This was clearly accidental with no intent to cheat. This led to a very heated "discussion" about how to deal with it. The bidding team felt that it should incur a loss of 3 (which was the bid). The opposing team felt the bidding team should incur a loss of 3 AND get 3 points as well.
I have tried checking the rules, but cannot find anything that addresses such a situation. Can you provide guidance?
Thank you Bruce from Zip Code 29486
Bruce: This is a great question from the people of the great State of South Carolina! Things like this occasionally happen, even to the best of us....I have seen it happen when some people, usually over the age of 40, are not wearing there reading glasses! This is why, before a game, I always announce certain rules that are sort of "soft rules" that people either rarely see or can be handled in one or more ways. For Example, we do not play "gents hand" in a 4-way, nine card, game. Also, I announce that a misdeal means forfeiture of the dealer's deal and we skip to the next person to deal. In this case if it was not announced prior to the game, I would simple call it another form of "Misdeal" and then 1) if the person or person's team was dealing, I would move to the next person to deal, and 2) if the person or team that made the simple mistake was the not the dealing team, I would just re-deal immediately.
Very good question Bruce and I am glad that the game is spreading like wildfire throughout the South. As you can see from the other articles, including "Greatest Matches" , South Carolina is one of my favorite places to play. Please keep up all the historical statues in that great state!