tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-208530792011-12-13T22:53:14.899-05:00This blog focuses mostly on classic games that combine strategy and chance: poker, backgammon, chess, checkers, othello, go, gomoku, mahjongg, and more.blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.comBlogger81100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1139262121977927012006-02-06T16:42:00.001-05:002006-02-06T16:49:13.166-05:00

Nick Momrik has a fun site with tutorials to do all those fun sleight-of-hand tricks with poker chips and playing tricks. He even has videos for the poker chip tricks.I just finished watching all the videos, and with a few viewings, most people with a minimum of coordination and a bit of patience could perform them. Many poker chip tricks are simply modified versions of coin tricks that were

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1138647254199815822006-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:002006-01-30T13:55:10.070-05:00

Sudoku apparently is the hottest puzzle game in years. Resembling the grid of a crossword, it's a deceptively simple idea that's both fun and frustrating to solve.The idea is that you start with a 9x9 grid, subdivided into 9 3x3 grids, with a few seemingly random numbers from 1 to 9 shown. The trick is that within any 3x3 grid, you may only fill in the remaining cells with the digits 1-9, never

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1138599129789707962006-01-30T00:32:00.000-05:002006-01-30T00:59:30.896-05:00

I've always been fascinated by chess, but could never find regular challengers. So I often turned to computers and researching the mathematical aspects of chess. Many years ago, when I was in high school, and computers were about the size of a car, I attempted to solve the Eight Queens problem using what is known in computer lingo as "brute force". That is, by trying every possible combination.If

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1138514783324062012006-01-29T01:06:00.000-05:002006-01-29T01:06:53.563-05:00

Everyone has their own version of how they think the game of chess started. The version I heard from my father, now a retired math professor, over 30 years ago goes something like this...Once upon a time, there was a very naive king in India. His very loyal minister tried in vain to teach the young king the protocols of being a nation's leader, and the subtleties of war. The minister failed at

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1137558855398084502006-01-17T23:34:00.000-05:002006-01-17T23:41:44.473-05:00

Gina Damron writes in the Oakland County Free Press (links below) about a group of 3rd graders that have chess-playing as part of their school curriculum. According to the article, and testimonials from the participating teacher and 9-year olds, learning and playing chess has made them better at not just math, but has also improved their attention spans."Chess is making me better at math," the 9-

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1137039111101067692006-01-11T23:09:00.000-05:002006-01-13T22:39:51.036-05:00

Sometime in the 1990s, I came across a story that stated that it takes exactly 7 perfect dovetail shuffles to completely randomize a deck of cards.Apparently, this method is so randomizing that it beats most computers' random number generators.

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1137038217969759192006-01-11T22:35:00.000-05:002006-01-11T22:56:57.976-05:00

The Poker Web (links below) has a detailed comparison of the similarities between poker and backgammon. The first point is that both games require a great deal of skill, but are subject to some chance as well. For this reason, says the article, they're both great gambling games.Years ago, when I was honing my backgammon skills, I read in my paperback reference that the top players around the

blogslingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09263250561416943757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20853079.post-1137036235882475682006-01-11T22:18:00.000-05:002006-01-11T22:23:55.886-05:00

This blog is about games that require both strategy and chance - board games and card games. This includes, but is not limited to, poker, backgammon, chess, checkers, othello, go, gomoku and more.I do write for a poker blog, but the entries here will be original content. I do plan to build up this blog, move it to its own domain, and create an online community - but that's for the future.cheers

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