Game: Tichu

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

Angry Duck — 2008-07-05T05:04:03+00:00

Thanks for the advice guys.

Thread: Re: Is it possible to play Tichu with a normal card deck?

thatmarkguy — 2008-07-05T05:12:49+00:00

I made a stopgap Tichu deck once from two dollar-store decks.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/thatmarkguy/tichu_homebru800.jpg[/IMG]

Thread: Re: Is it possible to play Tichu with a normal card deck?

kevinwho — 2008-07-05T04:28:04+00:00

There are 4 extra cards in Tichu, so you need to come up with 4 more cards somehow. I would expect your deck to come with 2 jokers, so that's 2 there. Many decks also come with a couple of other cards, maybe some reference card and an advertisement for replacement cards or something. So, as long as you have 56 cards with the same backs, you can write on the 4 extras as to what they are.

When I first started playing Tichu, didn't have a deck, but I had 3 decks of ordinary cards with jokers that were my canasta deck, so I just cannibalized that and wrote on the cards. Got a real Tichu deck later, since I am independently wealthy and could afford the exorbitant $7 or $8 that the deck cost. But the makeshift deck certainly worked fine until I had it.

Kevin

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

NateStraight — 2008-07-05T04:13:48+00:00

Octavian wrote:
I don't see how the +25 of the Dragon should be extra incentive for your opponents to bomb the Dragon if you call Tichu. The Dragon ends up with their team regardless, and saving the bomb for a more critical juncture can make it more likely that they would actually keep it.

-MMM

To me, it's always a risky move to let your opponent choose who to give the Dragon to, since inevitably one partner will have a weaker hand. There's a 50-50 shot the Dragon will go to the weaker hand and, possibly, end up back in the Tichu-caller's pot anyway if he makes the call. Plus, the fact that the Dragon is almost always used to make a bid for the next lead makes the incentive even greater for an opponent to bomb it and take away that chance rather than let not only the points but also the lead go by. The sure-thing lead and the ability to pass the points off to the [guessed] weaker hand make the Dragon a hard thing to pass up if you're sitting on a bomb, in my experience.

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

Octavian — 2008-07-05T03:58:25+00:00

I don't see how the +25 of the Dragon should be extra incentive for your opponents to bomb the Dragon if you call Tichu. The Dragon ends up with their team regardless, and saving the bomb for a more critical juncture can make it more likely that they would actually keep it.

-MMM

Thread: Is it possible to play Tichu with a normal card deck?

BigBur — 2008-07-05T03:53:58+00:00

From the game description, it seems like the game could be played with normal playing cards with certain designated cards having different abilities. I might just be stupid, but can I?

I know I'm being a miser with this, but I'm leaving the country in the morning, and I would love to be able to play it while I'm gone.

Thanks!

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

NateStraight — 2008-07-05T03:33:41+00:00

I alternate between using the Dragon to try and capture a lead and using the Dragon to try and draw out opponents' bombs (especially if I've called Tichu). The most dangerous thing to a Tichu call is an opponent sitting on a bomb, but the Dragon is very tempting even though it may not be the best time for them to steal the lead from you with the bomb. The +25 points, added to the fact that nothing but a bomb can beat the Dragon, makes it really tough to let you just take the lead with the Dragon if they're sitting on a bomb. I'll play the Dragon early in a lot of Tichu calls just to try to clear out some of the bombs (hopefully to make my own bomb, if I have one, stronger). I usually keep A's and high pairs to take leads with. Then again, if you haven't had a good chance to play the Dragon early, and you're running out of cards and leads, it's really good to keep the Dragon to hope to get a lead out of it. It's a tough call sometimes.

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

kasuga04 — 2008-07-05T01:25:24+00:00

Also the Dragon can be bombed. So if your partner or yourself bombs the dragon you get to keep it. The dragon must be given away only if it wins the trick.

-k

Thread: Re: How to use the Dragon ???

Dreadnaut — 2008-07-05T12:51:54+00:00

The dragon is the highest possible single card. Therefore, it can only be played when the chosen format for the round is a single card. However, although it will win the trick, the player of the dragon must give the just won trick to their opponent (the dragon is noble). Generally, you should give the dragon to the person that you think will go at last. That way, you might get it back if your or your partner are the first to go out.

Thread: How to use the Dragon ???

Angry Duck — 2008-07-05T12:40:56+00:00

just as the title says.

Thread: Re: History of Tichu

selwyth — 2008-06-30T05:31:03+00:00

Concepts like the climbing cards and the bomb are definitely derived from Zheng Shang You. The 4 special cards replace the 4 jokers in the Chinese game (in the Chinese game, the 4 jokers all play a role similar to the Dragon). There are close to infinite card games in China, because each different region (or even village!) has its own variants, its own games, and refers to them by different titles. I am more familiar with northern Chinese card games. The 5-10-K scoring system is present in many different Chinese card games, and almost always in any Chinese card game that involves scoring (most Chinese card games just have the winner go out first).

The concept of 2v2 is much rarer in Chinese card games, however.

Thread: Re: History of Tichu

jkandell — 2008-06-29T11:50:28+00:00

Zhen Shangyou seems to be the origin of all the climbing games, including Big Two and Tichu. Big Two seems to be considered "lighter" and "more accessable" to real card fiends; they prefer Tichu. Tichu has more in common with Zhen Fen, in the tricks and card scoring.