Psellos
Life So Short, the Craft So Long to Learn

The Schnapsen Log

October 27, 2012

Odds and Expectation

Martin Tompa

Unfortunately, luck was not with you in that last deal against Katharina in tonight’s tournament. Though you found the play with the best expected gain, the wrong card was face-down in the stock. As a result, Katharina is now only 1 game point from winning this match. The pressure is on.

Unseen cards:

J
♣ ATK
TQ

Your cards:
A
T
♣ Q
AK

Trump: J
Stock: 1 face-down card
Game points: Katharina 1, You 4
Trick points: Katharina 38, You 41
On lead: You

Your hand looks promising, but trump control seems balanced on a knife edge. Plan your play. When you think you have come up with a good plan, you are welcome to read my analysis.

© 2012 Martin Tompa. All rights reserved.


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About the Author

Martin Tompa

Martin Tompa (tompa@psellos.com)

I am a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where I teach discrete mathematics, probability and statistics, design and analysis of algorithms, and other related courses. I have always loved playing games. Games are great tools for learning to think logically and are a wonderful component of happy family or social life.

Read about Winning Schnapsen, the very first and definitive book on the winning strategy for this fascinating game.

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Recent Columns

September
Sidestep a Few Landmines, Sep 2
June
Two Last-Trick Problems, Jun 27
May
More Extremes of Luck, May 21
April
Grasping at Straws, Apr 4
March
A New Scheme for Remembering Cards, Mar 23
September
As Luck Would Have It, Sep 9

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