The Difference Between Bridge and Poker

Posted on by Theresa

Card games that are popular are typically known by many people, but most people fail to realize that even though they are similar, in the sense that they use playing cards and a standard deck, card games can be about as different as a car is from a tricycle.

Today’s two games that we are going to take a look at are bridge and poker. Both are very popular card games, typically played by at least four people, even though you could play poker with fewer. What are the differences between the two games, what sets them apart?

Poker is a Game of Bluffing and Psychology

Poker is a game where you want to bluff your way out of a situation, no matter the hand that you have. If your hand is either good or bad, you don’t want to let anyone know what you have, or do you? A bad hand and a solid smile might be better, who knows? Poker plays out in such a way that nobody knows what’s going on, and you can only guess by looking at the faces and expressions of the opposing players.

Body language skills, understanding what someone is saying without opening their mouths is a very important skill to learn in poker. 

However, the game is also a game of entropy, where you don’t know most of the cards until every hand has played. Even when most people fold, you still are left with guesses and entropy, which makes it much more of a game of chance, rather than skill.

Reading expressions is a very important skill for playing poker.

Bridge is About Partnerships

Bridge is a game where you partner up with a person and everyone is dealt 13 cards. The goal of the game is to beat the other partnership. As the game unfolds, more and more cards are being revealed as the bids go by. By the time all the hands are played, everyone knows all the cards that were in play, which makes bridge more of a game of skill than a game of chance, compared to poker.

Where in one game, your advantage is bluffing and guessing, in the other, namely bridge, you can always get out of a sticky situation by playing the cards that you were dealt with in the best possible way. Almost no hand in bridge can immediately lead to a loss. This is why the game is played by so many people. 

Both Games Are Games of Entropy

Both bridge and poker are guessing games, however, poker relies more on the element of bluffing, because the level of entropy is much higher. Bridge gives you clues throughout the play and while not easier, it allows for more skill expression.

In poker, you have to express your skills to read the situation and fold or match bets depending on what you see in the room. 

In bridge, bluffing or rather, lying, is not an option. Doing things to mask your cards is considered unethical. The game is all about partnerships and disclosure. What one partnership does is available to another. Typically, bridge tournaments for money aren’t played that often, because people are tempted to cheat and bridge is a game of ethics first, and then everything else. 

While both games of guessing and entropy, bridge and poker have glaring differences. 

How to Play Spades: Here Are the Rules

Posted on by Theresa

Some games are simpler than others. If you want to learn how to play bridge, maybe you should start with a simple game, something like spades. Spades is a game of trick-taking, which is very similar to Hearts, Whist and Bridge. 

Spades is a different game, one that you should try to play if you want to dive into the world of trick-taking games. Spades is not easy, but it is also not that difficult. Here are the rules of spades, so that you can play the game with your friends.

The Basics of Spades

The only thing that we need is the ace of spades, or so the song goes. In this game, the ace of spades is the card that is always worth the most. Spades is a game where you have four players who are partnered up. A standard 52 deck of cards is used, with the jokers removed.

The game has two phases, bidding and card play.

The game requires two of the players to partner up.

The bidding phase comes after the cards are dealt, every player getting 13 cards. Bidding means that the players state how many tricks they think they can win. A trick is when all four players play a single card. 

Bidding is used to tell your partner the relative strength of your cards. Once you bid a number, or even zero, the game proceeds to the play stage.

Playing Spades

When the bidding is done, one of the players is chosen at random to start placing cards in the center. Every player places one card and this card must be followed suit if you have a card. If you don’t have one, you can place another card. The spades suit is always trump and placing a spade if you don’t have another card from the different suit takes the trick.

The highest card always wins, ace being the highest and the ace suit always wins against other suits, no matter the number. A deal is played until all 13 cards have been played. After that, comes the scoring.

Scoring in Spades

Scoring in spades seems complicated but it actually isn’t. In order to win points, you and your partner must both win at least one trick or zero if you bid zero. If you both win your bid, you get 10 points for every successful bid. Teams also lose points if they bid more than they could win. 

If a team bids zero but wins a trick, then they lose 50 points, or a 100, depending on whether the game is played until 250 or 500 points. 

Tips and Tricks

Spades is a game of communication where you should communicate with your partner, though not directly, of course. The bidding is the most important part of that, knowing where the cards might be. If your partner bid one, then that means that they have poor cards. If another bids 6, then their cards are very strong. Uf your partner bid zero, then you must manage to help them lose all the tricks that they play.

Spades is a great trick-taking game that you can play anywhere, as long as you find three more people. There are online versions which make things easier for upcoming players and those who are short on time. 

5 Ways Technology is Being Used to Improve Card Games!

Posted on by Theresa

You might not be thinking about it but technology is actually being used all the time to change everything around us, from the smallest things like the bags we use to carry goods from the store, to the water we drink. 

It is safe to assume that with that, card games are also being changed by technology, though most people don’t know how. Here is how technology is being used to change and improve card games and cards in general.

Cheaper Cards – Mass Production

Cards, when they were first invented, were toys for the rich people, hand-painted and hand-made. Today, everything is cheaper, especially the things that are built by machines. Mass production makes everything cheaper and more accessible. Playing cards are no exception.

When cards are cut and printed by machines, the margin of error for cards being the wrong size or having bad paint, are much lower. This means that we get a more perfect deck of cards. This is more important for casinos where standardization is required, but some players love a factory-made deck.

New Card Games

Technology allows us to enjoy card games which were built using computers. Digital card games like Gwent, Shadowverse, Yu-Gi-Oh! and others, are only possible because we have computers. Compared to other 3D games, 2D card games are very easy to create. 

There are even card game engines, where you can create your own 2D card game using a standard deck. You make the rules and the engine will supply you with the cards and animations. You can test the game immediately and see whether the rules are fair and the system is working. 

Better Refereeing

Card game tournaments, in person and online, need referees. Today, referees are actually systems which help the dealers and other involved parties spot cheaters and anyone who might be trying to sway the odds in their favor by using methods which are not appreciated. 

Cheaters will be spotted from the first moment that they show that they are helping someone or getting a helping hand from a device or another person. Better cameras and monitoring systems help keep card games somewhat fair. 

Online Card Games

Communities grow and shift to a more digital presence. Online card games allow players to always have someone to play with, even if that someone is in a different time zone, thousands of miles away. 

Online card games basically allow everyone to play almost any card game and always have the company to do so. Some have implemented chat and voice chat, to enhance the gameplay and bring back some of the socializing that would otherwise be lost. 

The Possibility of VR Card Games

This is probably the next step in improving card games, specifically online card games. VR gaming should make everything easier for the player who wants an immersive and realistic experience, but without organizing a card night. 

VR would enable socialization and immersion in a way which was unavailable prior to its implementation, other than the real thing, of course. 

Technology improves everything, from the food we eat, the water we drink, to the games we play. Technology improved card games, even though most thought that they didn’t need any improvement. The future of playing cards is looking better by the day.

What Do You Need in Order to Play Bridge Offline?

Posted on by Theresa

Playing bridge in person is different to playing online. Online bridge is almost anonymous and talking with your partner is not really an option unless the app and service have voice chat. 

Playing bridge offline, or rather, in person, is possible, but you have to meet some requirements, for example, the correct number of players. Here is everything that you need to play bridge in person.

A Deck of Cards

Bridge cannot be played without cards, unless you have a very vivid imagination. There might be smartphone apps that allow you to play bridge in person, but that would be crossing a line that doesn’t need to be crossed.

Everyone has at least one deck of cards, if not multiple ones. You will definitely need one, so make sure to have one handy.

At Least One Other Person

Playing bridge alone is not possible unless you want to play against AI. While this could be done offline, it defeats the purpose of the other part of the premise, that you should be playing with other people.

You could technically practice bridge with another person, meaning a partner. This is what most professionals do, however, it is much different in their case, knowing the game inside and out. 

Three Friends

In order to actually play bridge, at least three other people are necessary. One of them will be your partner for a game and the others, the defenders or those who declare, depending on how the initial draw goes. Typically, most people will not have three friends who are also bridge players.

This is where the bridge clubs are the perfect answer. A beginner should not be learning on their own, but should seek help from expert bridge players, most of whom will be found in bridge clubs. Expert help is the best way to learn anything, including bridge.

A Good Atmosphere

Bridge should be played in a good and cheerful but serious atmosphere if the pace of the game dictates it. Bridge is not about winning as it is about solving problems and having fun. If you are not having fun and are desperate about winning, then bridge might not be the right game for you. 

Bridge is a game where fun comes first, then come the partnerships and camaraderie, and finally, lots of mental activity. A good atmosphere will make sure that the bridge sessions go great.

Bridge is a game that has a couple of requirements if you want to play it properly. If you want to play it in person, then these are the things that you need to make it a reality rather than a possibility. 

How to Play Blackjack: Here Are the Rules

Posted on by Theresa

Some games are simpler than others, and blackjack is among the many games that most people can learn how to play relatively quickly. For a game that is played only against one other person, blackjack is definitely a game that ends up confusing more people than it should.

For a 1v1 game, blackjack often seems like it is a game where you compete against other people as well. It is not so. Here are the rules of blackjack, so that you always know what you are up against.

The Basics of Blackjack

Blackjack is a rather simple game of you against the dealer. The game is played with a standard 52 deck, however, multiple decks are almost always used, typically six of them, for a total of 312 cards. They are shuffled together prior to any gameplay.

The object of the game is to get to the number 21, or as close as possible to it. If you go over 21, you go bust and lose. The game has two phases, the one where you bet and the other one where you play.

You basically place chips on the little square at the table. After you have placed your bet, you are dealt two cards face up, as well as the dealer. Variations of blackjack allow you to have one card face up and another in your hands, but that is rare nowadays.

Once you get the cards, you can choose to be hit, or get another card, or to stand and pass. Numerical cards are worth their value, face cards are each worth 10 points and the ace is worth 1 or 11, whichever helps the player more. 

You play until either you or the dealer go bust or hit a 21, or until you pass. 

Basic Blackjack Calls

You can call Hit to get another card. This can be signaled with a tap on the table. You can call for a Stand, which means that you don’t want more cards dealt, which can be signaled by waving your hand sideways, hand palm down. You can double down on your bet if you feel sure that you will win the following hand. You can surrender, in which case you are given half of your current bet, in case that you don’t find your cards advantageous. 

You can split your bet, meaning you place an exact bet. The condition required for that is to get two cards of the same value. Splitting a bet is useful if you have two cards that you think could help you win two or one of the two separate bets.

Tips and Tricks

Blackjack is about you and the dealer. There may be other players at the table, but their cards mean nothing. You don’t need to look or care about their cards. The other players at the table play their own game against the dealer. What you care about is whether you can win against the dealer. 

You also want to avoid going bust. Surrendering if you have a huge initial score with just the two cards is a viable strategy, unless you get a 20, in which case you might as well stand. 

Blackjack is a relatively simple game that anyone can learn how to play. You can play it in casinos or online, if you want to practice. You can also play it in person, you just need another player. 

4 Modern Card Games That Are Fun to Play

Posted on by Theresa

Modern card games are plentiful, and given our rich history with playing cards, we were able to develop some pretty outstanding games. Modern card games are nothing like the games of the past, except that they use some sort of playing cards. The design is different, the rules are often strange, but they are all beautiful in their own way.

Here are a couple of modern card games that you should definitely consider playing.

Jaipur

Jaipur is a very pretty game, with a design that you will not find elsewhere. It is a two player game, which is its only complication, as far as card games go. The object of the game is to get an invite to the maharaja’s court. You are a couple of traders in the Indian city of Jaipur. 

The easiest way to win? There is none. You have to let the game play out its own way and adapt on the fly. You can trade cheap goods or expensive ones and either is a possible way to glory.

The Resistance

Social deduction games are about as fun as they are dangerous, if you are in the company of people who tend to get angry quickly. The Resistance puts you in the shoes of a resistance, whose goal is to overthrow a corrupt government. To do so, the resistance must complete 3 out of 5 missions. But, not everything is cut and dry. There are traitors in the midst. 

The goal of the game is to root out the traitors for one side of the resistance and for the traitors, to sabotage the resistance without revealing who they are. You can see why this game might be bad for friendships.

Gloom

Gloom is a fun game. Your goal is to make a family as sad as possible, in order to make their deaths as miserable as possible. Your opponents will have to cheer the family up, to keep that from happening. The game takes a very light-hearted approach to making someone miserable, which is why the game is so fun. You’ll have a bunch of laughs when you play this, whose artwork should remind you of a famous director who cast Johnny Depp many times.

Marvel Champions

Superhero games are always interesting, but can be overly tacky if done improperly. Marvel Champions was made by the one and only Fantasy Flight, known for their deep and strategic games.This one is a deck builder, so it might take you a few turns to start appreciating the game. The goal is to stop a villain from making their plan come true. You have to upgrade your heroes and use their strengths to combat the no-gooder. 

With how many card games there are, traditional and modern, it is very hard to pick out a few that are great to play. These ones are the picks at the moment, but the list may and will change with time, given the sheer number of amazing card games.

Here Are Some Great Bridge Apps to Use!

Posted on by Theresa

Why not make sure to use the technology that is available to us for anything that we need it for? You might not have thought of using applications to enhance your ability to play a card game, but it is definitely possible.

Applications have come a long way and we have access to anything from cooking apps to fitness apps and what is most important to us, applications which can help us learn and practice bridge.

Here are the best applications for those who want to learn and practice bridge. 

FunBridge

FunBridge is a site but also an application, completely devoted to the game of bridge. They strive to make sure that you learn the game but also have fun doing it. It is available for the iOS and Android phones and can be used through the website by any device.

There is the option to play against human opponents and of course, AI, if you want to practice bridge. 

There is the option to play with a partner-only, so that you can get your practice for real matches against another partnership. You can also have unlimited turns and play for as long as you want. 

The best part about funbridge is that the app and site are user-friendly and that they can entertain as easily as they can teach.

Bridge

This application was made by NeuralPlay and as their name suggests, you will have your mind engaged. This app is a great place to start if you want to actually learn bridge. You can play against an AI and see what moves they have done, to learn why their moves were better in the situation.

You can also practice certain hands or tricky situations, to learn how to get out of a pickle if you get a “bad” hand. The point of this app is to learn from your mistakes and to replay the problems until you learn how to solve them. The app offers hints and guides on how to approach problems, and not just learn the solutions by heart.

iBridgePlus

As the name suggests, this application is only available for iOS devices, whether phones or tablets. This is problematic for Android users, but it is still a good app, even though it is platform-exclusive. 

What makes it good is the ability to play offline and learn even if you are not connected to the internet. The app also allows you to compete against other players. It is popular enough that you should be able to find a match no matter when you get into a queue. The app is also good for beginners, because it has interactive hints to help you along the way.

Bridge Base Online

This is both a site and an application, which makes it a great choice if you switch devices a lot. Some prefer playing on their phones while others are more accustomed to larger screens and a keyboard and mouse. 

As a learning tool, it is a great place to start, but it is also good if you want to start playing against real opponents, from beginners to experienced veterans. 

These are the best applications to download if you want to play and practice bridge. From learning to competing against experts, these apps will have your bridge needs covered.

What Are Some Great Card Games You Can Play Online?

Posted on by Theresa

When we think about card games, we think about games like poker, blackjack, bridge and more. However, there are more than just standard card games. Games like UNO and Magic: The Gathering, among many others, have surfaced, changing the way we think about card games.

Some would rather play them in person and for some of these games, it is possible to play them in person, while others are just digital games. Here are some amazing card games that you can play online.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game

Out of the depths of the Witcher 3, came a card game as a standalone game. CD Projekt Red rarely fails to deliver and Gwent is one of those games that is simply astounding. A walking meme at this point, Geralt would stop during a universe-ending crisis to play a game of Gwent.

Being so popular the mini-game was turned into an actual game, where players would be able to compete in Gwent. With regular updates and changes, the game stays fresh and interesting.

The object of the game is to have a higher number than the opposing player in a best of three format. You are dealt 10 cards and you can play only those cards and your leader card, for three rounds. You can pass the round at any time.

Legends of Runeterra

When Riot Games actually decided to become Riot GameS, releasing more than a single game, they released multiple games at once. Legends of Runeterra was one of those games. The goal is to build a decent deck and crush the opponent. The game is fluid and nicely animated and crafting the cards is relatively simple and quick. The game is available on mobile devices.

If you like the League of Legends universe, then this is the card game for you.

Shadowverse

This game is lovely because it doesn’t make the player go through hoops and spend real-life money in order to build a deck, unlike Hearthstone. This game has a lovely and fluid system which is user-friendly. PVE is available if the player doesn’t want to compete against other people. 

As a card game with its own anime, Shadowverse is doing a great job of not selling out, so to say. 

Bridge

This one had to make the list. While it is not a modern card game, it is probably harder to master than all the other games on this list. Bridge is a great game that you can actually play online. The game might not be as fun online as it is in person, but it is still challenging and will make you work for every trick.

Try and find good sites that provide you with actual people to play bridge with, because playing with an AI is nothing like playing with real people. 

These are some of the best modern and overall interesting card games that you can play online at any time. Take your pick but know that there are many more, even though these ones should satisfy any beginner. 

How to Play Poker: Here Are the Rules

Posted on by Theresa

Some games like poker are known to many people, at least we think that they are. Even though poker is a rather famous card game, not everyone is familiar with the rules. Poker is a hard game to master, but knowing the rules of all the variations makes things rather complicated.

This is why it would be best to learn a set of rules which apply to at least all variations of poker, or most of them. Here are the basic rules of poker and some other things that you should know about the game.

The Basics of Poker

Poker is a game which is played with a standard 52 deck of cards. The game of poker is played so that the dealer, or a player denoted playing first, always plays first. In casinos online and land, the dealer is not a player. A token symbolizes who plays first.

The game unfolds thusly:

Each of the players gets two cards by the dealer. The first player places the small blind, which is the initial bet and then the next one in order places the big blind. Every player places a bet according to the two cards that they have in hand.

The dealer deals three community cards face up. Already, the players can see their potential hand. This is where a lot of the bluffing could occur. 

The second round of betting takes place and the dealer places the fourth card, known as the turn.

A third round of betting takes place and the dealer places the fifth and final card, known as the river.

Players place their bets once more. If two or more players have yet to fold, all the players show their hands and the highest ranked hand takes the pot.

Tips and Tricks in Poker

The first thing to realize in poker is that you have to know which hand counts the most. Typically, five of a pair is the strongest possible hand, where duplicates and joker cards are allowed. Next in line is the royal flush, which is a set of five cards in the same suit, from 10 to ace. 

The next thing to realize is that poker is a game where most people will try to trick you with facial expressions, also known as bluffing. Body language will show one thing while the cards another, so be careful not to get tricked into betting more than you can win. Poker requires a lot of knowledge and calmness to be played among the best of the best. 

Poker Types

There are a variety of poker types, the most common ones being community, straight, draw and stud. 

Community poker involves players getting their cards and using community cards to have the highest possible score, as stated above.

Straight poker is simple, everyone gets five cards and then they bet and show their cards, or fold, depending on the cards, of course. 

In draw poker, players get five cards, but they can replace some of the cards in hope of getting a better hand. 

Stud poker gives players a card face up and the next one, face down. In between the cards being dealt, players can place bets.

These are the basic rules of poker and some tips and tricks that you should know about the game. 

4 Bizarre But Entertaining Card Games You Can Play

Posted on by Theresa

Card games are plenty and we often know about some of them, like UNO, poker, blackjack, bridge and so on and so forth. However, since playing cards have been around for centuries, we have a lot of card games that we have probably never heard of. This is true for most things that were around for centuries and have evolved with the people.

Bizarre card games are plentiful so let us look at some of them that are relatively unknown but still fun and interesting to play.

Exploding Kittens

The name will horrify most animal lovers and rightfully so. The deck is colored red and the suggestions are obvious. The rules are relatively simple. You get a card that is a cat and also a bomb. You have to diffuse your card, or rather, cat-bomb, if you want to live. 

However, that is only one part of the game’s objective. The other part of the objective is for you to survive while all other players blow up. This is definitely a game for hardcore card players.

Geraldshields11, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Grave Robbers From Outer Space

This is another interesting game that takes popular fiction from movies, and gives you a card game. The object of the game is to attack the other players’ characters if you have monster cards, and eventually kill off their characters to be the last person/monster standing. It is a fun game to play and there are many others from the series, all dealing with various topics from popular culture.

Goat Lords

Animal-themed card games seem to be more popular than other types of card games. Goat Lords is a great card game that you want to play with a couple of friends who are keen on strategy games. The rules are complicated, but in the end, you want to have the largest herd.

You can match goat cards to have a stronger herd and eventually, duel other people’s herds to win their goat cards. The game is fun and the cards look amazing.

Joking Hazard

JIP, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Comic book geniuses Cyanide and Happiness have made their own card game, which is actually a comic book building game. Randomized and entertaining, the goal of the game is to build a comic from a couple of cards that you get. 

The game has many cards, actually 360 of them, so the odds that you can get either a good or bad comic are both in your favor. Either way, it is a fun game to play with friends. 

These are some of the weirdest card games that you can play. Try them and be prepared to find even weirder ones if you look hard enough.