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Craps

no comment Posted by Nicolae

Craps

Craps (previously known as crabs) is a casino dice game, which is especially popular in the USA. Craps is a simplification of the Old English game hazard. Players wager money against the casino on the outcome of one roll, or of a series of rolls of two dice.

Craps can also be played in less formal settings and is said to be popular among soldiers. In such situations side bets are less frequent, with one or several participants covering or “fading” bets against the dice.

The players take turns rolling the dice, and they all bet on the same roll, regardless of who is rolling. The player rolling the dice is called the shooter. The first roll of a new round is called the “come-out roll.” All bets are based on the total of both dice together, or on the specific combination of the roll.

Craps features a plethora of bets, but the most fundamental is the “pass line” wager, which nearly all players make. On a come-out roll, the pass line bettors win when either a 7 or 11 is rolled. A 2, 3, or 12 loses, and is called “craps”. When any other number (4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10) is rolled it’s called the point. Once a point has been set, the pass-line bettor wins if the point is rolled again, and loses if a 7 is rolled first (“seven-out”). After a seven-out the dice pass to the next shooter for a new come-out roll.

The opposite of a pass line bet is the “don’t pass” bet, which wins on a come-out roll of 2 or 3, loses on 7 or 11, ties on 12, and goes to the point round when any other number is rolled. In the point round the don’t pass bet wins if a 7 is rolled and loses if the point is rolled. People who bet on the don’t pass are called wrong bettors, while those who bet on the pass are called right bettors, only because most craps players make the pass line bet instead of the don’t pass bet.

A casino craps table is run by four casino employees: a boxman who guards the chips, supervises the dealers and handles coloring out players; two base dealers who stand to either side of the boxman and collect and pay bets; and a stickman who stands directly across the table from the boxman and announces the results of each roll and then collects the dice with an elongated wooden stick. He is also in charge of managing the bets made on the center of the table (hardways, yo, horn, etc). For clarity, the number 11 is referred to as “yo” so as not to be confused with the number 7.

A new shooter, who must bet the table minimum on either the pass line or the don’t pass line to play, is presented five dice by the stickman and picks two.

The dealers will usually insist that the shooter roll with one hand and that the dice bounce off the wall surrounding the table. These requirements are meant to retard cheating attempts by players switching the dice or making a “controlled shot.” If a die leaves the table, the shooter will usually be asked to select another die from the remaining three but can request using the same die if it passes the boxman’s inspection. This requirement is used in an effort to reduce cheating the game by players substituting loaded dice for the regulation dice.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

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Published under Craps guidesend this post
March 31st, 2009

Cho-han bakuchi

no comment Posted by Nicolae

Cho-Han Bakuchi (or Cho Ka Han Ka, or simply Cho-Han) is a traditional Japanese gambling game using dice.The game uses two standard six-sided dice, which are shaken in a bamboo cup or bowl by a dealer. The cup is then overturned onto the floor. Players then place their wagers on whether the sum total of numbers showing on the two dice will be “Cho” (even) or “Han” (odd). The dealer then removes the cup, displaying the dice. The winners collect their money.

Depending on the situation, the dealer will sometimes act as the house, collecting all losing bets. But more often, the players will bet against each other (this requires an equal number of players betting on odd and even) and the house will collect a set percentage off winning bets.

The game was a mainstay of the bakuto, itinerant gamblers in old Japan, and is still played by the modern yakuza. In a traditional Cho-Han setting, players sit on a tatami floor. The dealer sits in the formal seiza position and is often shirtless (to prevent accusations of cheating), exposing his elaborate tattoos.

Many Japanese films, especially chambara and yakuza movies, have Cho-Han scenes. The character Zatoichi is a noted fan of the game.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Published under Dice games Guidesend this post
February 11th, 2009

Strategy and the meta-game for Button Men

no comment Posted by Nicolae

dice4

Not all Button Men are evenly matched against one another. Though designers attempt to balance a Button Man’s strengths and weaknesses, necessarily it happens that some arrangements of die sizes and skills are more likely to win games than others. Buttons that are exceptionally powerful (or that have problematic special abilities) may be declared not to be “tournament legal” by Cheapass Games, meaning that tournament organizers should consider disallowing those buttons. Most illegal buttons are rare or promotional ones with unusual die skills or special rules. All buttons that have not been licensed from Cheapass (including all of those that exist only on the Button Men Online web site) are illegal by default.

Button Men Online maintains statistics on the hundreds of thousands of games that have been played on the site. Among tournament legal Button Men, win percentages range from the mid-teens to the high sixties.

Therefore, part of the strategy of the game is to begin by selecting a relatively powerful button. However, buttons may be stronger or weaker when playing against other buttons with certain characteristics. For example, a button with small Poison dice might be powerful in general because it has fewer dice worth positive points for its opponent to capture. However, a button with large Shadow dice might be powerful against that button specifically because it can allow the round to end with the Poison and Shadow dice unable to capture each other, and therefore still counted towards their owners’ scores.

Swing and Option dice help to offset buttons’ natural strengths and weaknesses by ensuring that a button’s number of sides need not be exactly the same from one round to the next. Tournament organizers may also choose to minimize the importance of the “meta-game” of button selection (usually with the idea of shifting importance to the players’ skill) by somehow penalizing stronger buttons, or by enforcing random button selection.

However, chance plays a large role in Button Men; it is always possible for a 20-sided die to roll a 1 at an inopportune time. Among tournament legal buttons, at least, no match-up is impossible for either side to win. Inevitably it happens that a weaker Button Man or a less skilled player will claim some improbable victories due to lucky die rolls. This effect is offset somewhat, however, by the rule that a player must win three rounds to win a game.

Articles on Cheapass’ “official fan site” discuss questions of strategy such as choosing the optimal size for Swing or Option dice (including a mathematical formula for how many sides the “larger” Button Man must keep in order to win), and determining which capture to make to have the best chance of protecting one’s remaining dice.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Published under Button Mensend this post
January 16th, 2009

Button Men gameplay

no comment Posted by Nicolae

Dice

After selecting their buttons, players assemble their dice. Most buttons have five dice, but some have more or fewer, and in certain cases the number of dice may change over the course of the game. The size—that is, number of sides—of most dice is specified and unchangeable, but most buttons have at least one Swing or Option die, which means that the player has a choice of sizes to use for that die. Swing dice, represented by letters like variables in algebra, may have any size within a certain range of integers: for example, an X Swing die may have any whole number of sides between 4 and 20, including odd numbers. Option dice, represented by two numbers separated by a line or slash, give the player a choice of only two sizes: for example, an Option 8/12 die may have either 8 or 12 sides, but no other number. Die sizes typically range between 1 and 30, and any fair random number generator may stand in for a “die” of a non-standard size. For example, a two-sided die is easily simulated by a tossed coin, and a coin plus an eight-sided die can serve as a sixteen-sider: if the coin lands heads, add 0 to the value on the eight-sider; if tails, add 8.

Conceptually, small dice represent speed, and large dice represent strength.

Players select the size of their Swing and Option dice in secret, and reveal them after selection is complete. Then all dice are rolled and arranged in size order in front of their owners. The player with the die showing the lowest value takes the first turn. In the case of a tie for the lowest value, the next lowest value is considered. If all dice are tied, the round ends in a draw, and is replayed. The right to take the first turn is called initiative. Some dice have special skills that change their effect on initiative.

Starting with the player who gained initiative, players take turns using their own dice to attack and capture their opponent’s dice. Most dice can participate in either of the two basic types of attack:

  • Power: In a power attack, one attacking die captures an opposing die that is showing a value lower than or equal to its own.
  • Skill: In a skill attack, one or more attacking dice capture an opposing die that is showing a value equal to the sum of their values.

After an attack is made, the captured die is added to the capturing player’s score pile. All dice that participated in the attack are rerolled. The player’s turn ends, and his opponent’s begins.

A player may not pass his turn unless he is unable to make a legal attack. When both players pass consecutively (which usually, but not always, happens because one player is out of dice), the round ends and scores are counted.

Each player scores the size, in points, of each captured die in his score pile, plus half the size of each of his dice that remained uncaptured (some die skills can alter this total). The player with the higher total wins the round. Usually it is the case that the player who captured more dice wins the round. However, when there is a large difference between the number of die sides each player owns, it may be possible for one player to lose all of his dice and still win the round.

Between rounds, players may, if they wish, change the size of their Swing and Option dice to any other size in the allowed range. In tournament play, only the losing player may do so.

The first player to win three rounds wins the game.

Die skills

Dice in Button Men can be assigned one or more of over 30 official and unofficial die skills, which may augment, reduce, or simply alter their abilities. Usually, die skills are assigned only to some of the dice on a button, so that the player can only use those skills while those dice remain in play. In a small number of cases, however, special skills (other than die skills) are assigned to a button rather than to its dice, so that its player can always use them.

Some common die skills and their meanings are:

  • Focus: At the beginning of each round, the player who does not win initiative may, at his option, reduce the values showing on one or more of his Focus dice, if and only if he gains the initiative by so doing. His opponent may then respond by doing the same with her own Focus dice. The players continue “focusing” in this manner until one of them is unable to or chooses not to. Any Focus dice that were “turned down” as part of a successful bid for initiative are considered “dizzy” and may not participate in an attack during their owner’s first turn.
  • Shadow: Shadow dice may not make power attacks. Instead, they make shadow attacks, in which they capture any die showing a value between their current value and their maximum value, inclusive. For example, a ten-sided Shadow die showing a value of 8 could capture any die showing an 8, 9, or 10. Shadow dice can participate in skill attacks as normal.
  • Poison: Poison dice attack normally but are scored differently. At the end of the round, instead of adding the number of sides of a Poison die to their scores, players subtract half the number of sides on any Poison die they captured, and the full number of sides on any Poison die of their own that remained uncaptured.
  • Stinger: When making a skill attack, Stinger dice may be counted as if they were showing any number between 1 and the value they are actually showing. Thus, a normal six-sided die showing 3 and an eight-sided Stinger die showing 6 could combine to capture any die showing a number between 4 and 9, inclusive. As a trade-off, Stinger dice are not considered when determining initiative.

Dice can have more than one skill assigned to them, but some skills contradict one another. For example, a Focus Stinger die could never be used for its Focus skill, since its owner could never gain initiative by reducing the value showing on a die that does not count towards initiative.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Published under Button Mensend this post
November 16th, 2008

Button Men

6 comments Posted by Nicolae

Dice

Button Men is a dice game for two players, invented by James Ernest of Cheapass Games and first released in 1999.Games are short, typically taking less than ten minutes to play. Each player is represented by a button of their choice. Buttons are metal or plastic discs, about 2–2.5 inches (about 5–6.5 centimeters) in diameter, with a pin on the back that can be used to fasten them to clothing. They bear the name and illustration of the combatant (the “Button Man”) whose role the player is assuming. They also indicate the number, size, and skills (if any) of polyhedral dice to be used by the player.

Button Men is a game designed for fan conventions and other public venues. It can be played almost anywhere on short notice (provided the dice are at hand), and games are quick to complete. Buttons are meant to be worn on clothing, bags, or other accessories, advertising that the wearer has a button to play with and is open to challenges. Buttons also frequently advertise something else, such as a company, a webcomic, or another game. The Sluggy Freelance set of buttons, for example, features characters from that comic, and the BRAWL set features characters from another Cheapass game. In 2000, Button Men Online won the Origins Awards for Best Abstract Board Game of 2000 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game 1999 .

Button Men can easily be extended simply by creating more buttons. It has continued to be so extended since its inception; as of 2004, over 200 buttons have been printed. Many are by now out of print, though many others are still available, primarily via purchase from the Cheapass Games web site. Companies other than Cheapass must pay a licensing fee to use the Button Men artwork in distributing their own buttons.

Button Men Online, a website developed by Dana Huyler and officially endorsed by Cheapass Games, allows users to play games over the internet via a web-based interface with e-mailed notifications. Button Men Online features most of the printed buttons, an additional 250+ “buttons” that exist only on the site, and a random button generator. In 2003, Button Men Online won the Origins Award for Best Play-by-mail game of 2002.

Links

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Published under Button Mensend this post
October 21st, 2008

Boxcars

3 comments Posted by Nicolae

Stone dice

Boxcars is the outcome of rolling the dice in a game of craps and getting a 6 on each die. The pair of 6 pips resembles a pair of box cars on a freight train. In modern parlance, it refers to such a roll in any game involving 6 sided dice which are marked with pips. The probability of this roll is 1 in 36, or about 2.8%. One of the 4 bets on any common craps table. It is on the ‘high side’ of the horn bet in which the player can either bet on the 2,3,11, or 12. When the player throws in money and calls out “midnight” or “Boxcars”, the dealer will usually ‘book’ the bet as a bet on the 12, so as to not create confusion.Also called Midnight.

Related terminology

In some role-playing games, especially ones where a roll of 3 six-sided dice is a standard action-resolution mechanism, a roll of three “six”s is often referred to as a freight train. In roll-low systems (such as GURPS), where a roll of 18 represents a critical failure, or in In Nomine, where a roll of 6 6 6 represents infernal influence on events, it is referred to as a “Freight Train from Hell.”

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Video: Craps (Craps (previously known as crabs) is a casino dice game. Craps is a simplification of the Old English game hazard. The game involves predicting what numbers will be rolled on a pair of dice. The objective is to bet whether the Shooter will roll a winning combination. The Shooter is a person who throws the dice. The first roll of the dice in a craps round is called the “come out roll”. The opening bet in craps, which is placed just before the come out roll, is called the “pass line bet.” Pass line bets win if the shooter’s come out roll is 7 or 11, and lose when the come out roll is 2 (snake eyes), 3 (cross eyes), or 12 (box cars). If 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 are rolled on the come out roll then that number becomes “the point”. Once the point has been established a plastic disc (the puck) is placed on the table over the box for the number rolled as the point is “4, 5, six, 8, nine, or 10″. )

October 16th, 2008

Big and small

4 comments Posted by Nicolae

Three dice for Big and small

Big and small is a dice game of pure luck. It is a popular gambling game in China and is still offered in some casinos in Asia, notably in Macau. A variation is the common casino game Sic bo.

Rules

The game is played with three dice. Traditionally, the dice are placed on a plate, covered with an inverted bowl and the plate and bowl are then shaken together. After gamblers place their bets, the banker uncovers the bowl, pays the winners and the game continues on to the next round. In modern casinos the dice are shaken mechanically, and the outcome is keyed into a computer which automatically lights up the winning zones on the table.

The game is called “Big and Small” because the main bets are on “high points” (big) or “low points” (small). Other bets are also offered:

Name of Bet Winning Criterion Dividend Odds of Occurrence House Advantage
Big (大) Dice Total: 11 to 17
Player loses if “Alls”
1 to 1 48.61% 2.78%
Small (小) Dice Total: 4 to 10
Player lose if “Alls”
1 to 1 48.61% 2.78%
All 1 (圍一) All 1 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
All 2 (圍二) All 2 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
All 3 (圍三) All 3 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
All 4 (圍四) All 4 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
All 5 (圍五) All 5 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
All 6 (圍六) All 6 1 to 180 0.46% 16.7%
Any Alls (全圍) All x 1 to 30 2.78% 16.7%

This is a game in which no skill is required on the players’ part, and the house always has an advantage.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

September 19th, 2008

Casino games

4 comments Posted by Nicolae

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/strip.jpg

Games available in most casinos are commonly called casino games. In a casino game, the players gamble casino chips on various possible random outcomes or combinations of outcomes. Casino games are available in online casinos, where permitted by law. Casino games can also be played outside of casinos for entertainment purposes, some on machines that simulate gambling.

House advantage

Casino games generally provide a predictable long-term advantage to the casino, or “house”, while offering the player the possibility of a large short-term payout. Casino games often include an illusion of control, in which the player must make choices. However, in most cases it is not mathematically possible for a player to eliminate his or her inherent long-term disadvantage (the house advantage) in a casino game.

The player’s disadvantage is a result of the casino not paying winning wagers according to the game’s “true odds”, which are the payouts that would be expected considering the odds of a wager either winning or losing. For example, if a game is played by wagering on the number that would result from the roll of one die, true odds would be 6 times the amount wagered since there is a 1 in 6 chance of any single number appearing. However, the casino may only pay 5 times the amount wagered for a winning wager.

Categories of casino games

There are three general categories of casino games:

Table games

Table games are played on a large table covered with a printed felt layout and may contain seating locations for players, with a dealer and other casino employees located on one side of the table (known as the “pit”) and players located on the opposite side. Table games may be played with cards, dice, or other gaming equipment.

Gaming machines

Gaming machines, such as slot machines, are usually played by one player at a time and do not require the involvement of casino employees to play.

Random number games

Random number games are based upon the selection of random numbers, either from a computerized random number generator or from other gaming equipment. Random number games may be played at a table, such as Roulette, or through the purchase of paper tickets or cards, such as Keno or Bingo.

Common table games

Cards

Asian stud
Baccarat
Blackjack
Casino war
Caribbean Stud Poker
Chinese poker
Faro
Four card poker
Let It Ride
Mambo stud
Pai gow poker
Red dog
Spanish 21
Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker
Three card poker
Two-up

Dice / Tiles

Craps
Pai Gow
Sic bo
Chuck-a-luck

Random numbers

Big Six wheel
Roulette

Common random number games (non-table)

Bingo
Keno

Common gaming machines

Slot machine
Video Lottery Terminal
Video poker

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

September 9th, 2008

Bau cua ca cop

4 comments Posted by Nicolae

Bau cua ca cop

Bau cua ca cop is a Vietnamese gambling game using three dice. The six sides of the dice, instead of showing numbers one through six, have pictures of a fish, prawn, crab, rooster, calabash gourd and stag. Players place wagers on a board, betting on which pictures will appear. (The game is similar to the English dice game Crown and anchor).

Bau cua ca cop is often played at Tet (Vietnamese New Year).

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

September 4th, 2008

Battle dice

no comment Posted by Nicolae

The Silver Surfer figure

What it is

Marvel battle dice is a game that uses small figures, which are placed inside dice, and then rolled. There are currently 69 of these figures from the first Set, and can be purchased in battle booster packs, or the starter set.

Purchasing

The figures can be purchased in booster packs (listed above), or in the starter sets. The booster packs contain 3 random battle figures, and also comes with one battle dice. The starter set comes with 6 figures, two of which are secret figures. There are also battle dice launchers, which are large sized versions of the Fantastic Four’s Thing (comics), and The Hulk.

The Game

The game works by placing the figures (approximately 1″ inch) in the battle dice, which have certain attributes by popping the dice open. When the dice are rolled, the player with the lower dice roll goes first. They select an attribute on the character, and use them to battle the other figure(s). Then the attributes take place, and so on and so forth, and the player with a certain roll wins, etc. Currently, there are 23 different dice. The attributes are: Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Durability, Energy, and Fighting Skills. Attributes are measured on a 0-6 scale, 6 being the highest. Characters are ranked points; in most tournaments teams cannot exceed 30 points making figures like Dark Phoenix too expensive to use. A comprehensive explanation can be found at any of the first two links in the links section.

Marvel Set 1

In January Playmates released the first set consisting such characters as: Captain America, Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, Professor X, Psylocke, Dark Phoenix, Apocalypse, Cyclops, Sentinel, Magneto etc. There are also “Clear” forms of the characters that “re-arrange” their abilities. Three characters were left out of production and are currently tournament prizes: She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Red Skull. The only other promotional characters from Set 1 are Stealth Wolverine and Spider-Man.

Marvel Set 2

In July Playmates will release the second series. This set includes the popular Galactus, Phoenix, Storm, Pyro, Scarlet Spider, Vision, Juggernaut, Omega Red, Scarlet Witch, Electro, Green Goblin, Kingpin, etc.

DC Set 1

The first DC Set will be released in the Fall and includes characters like Starfire and Superman.

Links

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

August 17th, 2008

Mahjong equipment

no comment Posted by Nicolae

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-majiang2.jpg Basic equipment: chips, tiles and dice.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-mahjonghousehongkong.jpg Mahjong houses provide a convenient venue for Mahjong old hands. This is a typical scene of Mahjong house in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.

Mahjong, can be played either with a set of Mahjong tiles, or less commonly, a set of Mahjong playing cards (sometimes spelled ‘kards’ to distinguish them from the list of standard hands used in American mahjong); one brand of Mahjong cards calls these Mhing). Playing cards are often used when travelling as it reduces space and is lighter than their tile counterparts, but are of a lower quality in return. In this article, “tile” will be used to denote both playing cards and tiles.

Many Mahjong sets will also include a set of chips or bone tiles for scoring, as well as indicators denoting the dealer and the wind of the round. Some sets may also include racks to hold tiles or chips (although in many sets the tiles are generally sufficiently thick so that they can stand on their own), with one of them being different to denote the dealer’s rack.

Computer implementations of Mahjong are also available: these allow you to play against computer opponents, or against human opponents on the Internet.

A set of Mahjong tiles will usually differ from place to place. It usually has at least 136 tiles, most commonly 144, although sets originating from America or Japan will have more. Mahjong tiles include:

  • Circle suit: named as each tile consists of a number of circles. Each circle is said to represent copper (tong) coins with a square hole in the middle.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt3.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt4.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt5.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt6.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt7.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt8.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjt9.png

  • Bamboo suit: named as each tile (except the 1 Bamboo) consists of a number of bamboo sticks. Each stick is said to represent a string (suo) that holds a hundred coins.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs3.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs4.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs5.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs6.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs7.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs8.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjs9.png

  • Character suit: named as each tile represents ten thousand (wan) coins, or one hundred strings of one hundred coins.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw3.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw4.pngThe image “http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw5.png” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw6.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw7.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw8.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjw9.png

  • Wind tiles: East, South, West, and North.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjf1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjf2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjf3.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjf4.png

  • Dragon tiles: red, green, and white. The term dragon tile is a western convention introduced by Joseph Park Babcock in his 1920 book introducing Mahjong to America. Originally, these tiles are said to have something to do with the Chinese Imperial Examination. The red tile (“中”榜) means you pass the examination and thus will be appointed a government official. The green tile (“發”財) means, consequently you will become financially well off. The white tile (a clean board) means since you are now doing well you should act like a good, incorrupt official.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjd1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjd2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjd3.png

  • Flower tiles: typically optional components to a set of mahjong tiles, often contain artwork on their tiles.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh1.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh2.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh3.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh4.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh5.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh6.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh7.pnghttp://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/mjh8.png

Setting up the board

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-mj_mixing.jpg Shuffling of the Mahjong tiles is needed before piling around the table.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-mj_throwing_dices.jpg All players throw three dice and the one with the highest total would be the dealer.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-mj_grabbing.jpg Players picking up their own tiles after rolling the dice.

http://www.gamblingweblog.com/wp-content/gallery/las-vegas-guide/250px-mahjongcharleston.jpg The Charleston.

The following sequence is for setting up a standard Hong Kong (or Singapore) game. Casual or beginning players may wish to proceed directly to gameplay. Shuffling the tiles is needed before piling up.

Prevailing Wind and Game Wind

To determine the Player Game Wind (門風 or 自風), each player throws three dice (two in some variants) and the player with the highest total is chosen as the dealer or the banker (莊家). The dealer’s Wind is now East, the player to the right of the dealer has South wind, the next player to the right has West and the fourth player has North. Game Wind changes after every round, unless the dealer wins. In some variations, the longer the dealer remains as the dealer, the higher the value of each hand.

The Prevailing Wind (場風) is always set to East when starting. It changes after the Game Wind has rotated around the board, that is, after each player has lost as the dealer.

A Mahjong set with Winds in play will usually include a separate Prevailing Wind marker (typically a die marked with the Wind characters in a holder) and a pointer that can be oriented towards the dealer to show Player Game Wind. In sets with racks, a rack may be marked differently to denote the dealer.

These winds are also significant as winds are often associated with a member of a Flower tile group, typically 1 with East, 2 with South, 3 with West, and 4 with North.

Dealing tiles

All tiles are placed face down and shuffled. Each player then stacks a row of tiles two deep in front of him, the length of the row depending on the number of tiles in use:

  • 136 tiles: 17 tiles for all players
  • 144 tiles: 18 tiles for all players
  • 148 tiles: 19 tiles for dealer and player opposite, 18 for rest
  • 152 tiles: 19 tiles for all players

The dealer throws three dice and sums up the total. Counting counterclockwise so that the dealer is ’1′, a player’s row is chosen. Starting at the right edge, ‘sum’ tiles are counted and shifted to the right.

The dealer now takes a block of 4 tiles to the left of the divide.

The player to the dealer’s right takes 4 tiles to the left, and players (counterclockwise) take blocks of 4 tiles (clockwise) until all players have 12 tiles for 13-tile variations and 16 for 16-tile variations. In 13-tile variations, each player then takes one more tile to make a 13-tile hand. In practice, in order to speed up the dealing procedure, the dealer often takes one extra tile during the dealing procedure to start their turn.

The board is now ready and new tiles will be taken from the wall where the dealing left off, proceeding clockwise. In some special cases discussed later, tiles are taken from the other end of the wall, commonly referred to as the back end of the wall. In some variations, a group of tiles at the back end, known as the dead wall, is reserved for this purpose instead. In such variations, the dead wall may be visually separated from the main wall, but it is not required.

Unless the dealer has already won (see below), the dealer then discards a tile. The dealing process with tiles is ritualized and complex to prevent cheating. Casual players, or players with Mahjong playing cards, may wish to simply shuffle well and deal out the tiles with fewer ceremonial procedures.

Charleston

In the American variations, it is required that before each hand begins, a Charleston is enacted. This consists of a procedure where three tiles are passed to the player on one’s right, followed by three tiles passed to the player opposite, followed by three tiles passed to the left. The dealer can demand for a second Charleston, followed by an optional pass to the player across of one, two or three tiles. This is a distinctive feature of American-style Mahjong that may have been borrowed from card games.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Published under Mahjong, gamessend this post
June 20th, 2008

When the dice are rolling…

no comment Posted by Nicolae

The blonde from the casino

Two bored casino dealers are waiting at a craps table. A very attractive blonde comes in and wants to bet twenty- thousand dollars on a single roll of the dice. She says, “I hope you don’t mind, but I feel much luckier when I’m bottomless.”

With that she strips naked from the waist down, and rolls the dice while yelling, “Momma needs a new pair of pants!”

She then begins jumping up and down and hugging each of the dealers. “YES! I WIN! I WIN!”

With that she picks up her money and clothes and quickly leaves. The dealers just stare at each other dumbfounded. Finally one of them asks, “What did she roll anyway?”

The other answers, “I thought YOU were watching!”

Published under Casinos, Craps, Jokessend this post
December 22nd, 2007