tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13304401858929481372024-02-19T02:56:13.436+01:00Schnapsen Strategy Guideammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-92136693629801684092010-10-08T16:39:00.006+02:002010-10-08T17:23:58.117+02:00Final ThoughtsIn this final post, I am going to recap the discussed concepts in as few words as possible.If you want to win at Schnapsen, you need to understand that you have to take as many tricks containing cards of high value as possible. Therefore, you need to start taking tricks at some point during a game. It makes no sense to stay passive. To reach the 66 card point mark, you must take at least 4 tricksammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-64939873513370168432010-10-07T22:42:00.008+02:002010-10-07T22:55:57.187+02:00ProbabilitiesIn this post, I am going to provide the most important probabilities in Schnapsen. Please note that the following tables are correct only as long as players receive additional cards from the deck after each trick. So if the deck is closed, these probabilities do not apply.The following table displays the probabilities at the start of the game:This table tells you the probabilities of your ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-28863187916490928992010-10-06T20:39:00.005+02:002010-10-06T21:02:33.683+02:00The Tough RulesIn all previous posts, we have assumed that the game is played according to the basic set of rules. Then, we have identified sensible strategies. In Schnapsen tournaments however, there are additional rules that make the game a bit more difficult to play. In this article, I will outline how these additional rules affect your game and your strategy.Additional Rule #1: Tricks are taken by the ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-78703518276898094762010-10-03T17:51:00.002+02:002010-10-03T18:19:26.387+02:00Dead Suits and the Final Tricks of a GameThis article is going to deal with two separate topics: the impact of dead suits on your strategy and how to approach the final 5 tricks of a game.Dead suitsUsually, the cards worth few points get played early on in a game, and at the end both players are armed with cards of high value and trump cards. However, in general this is not a sensible strategy; a few adaptations should be made: Aces areammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-8400935869439378472010-10-02T17:23:00.006+02:002010-10-02T17:56:18.602+02:00Closing the DeckBy looking at all the previous posts, it becomes obvious that closing the deck is an important part of Schnapsen. It might even be a player's single most important ability to recognize when to close the deck and to be able to put oneself in a position to actually close the deck at that point. In this article, we are going to have a closer look at the dynamics of closing the deck and at how to ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-14983772186064077032010-09-26T23:47:00.004+02:002010-09-27T00:08:26.969+02:00The Trump MarriageOne of the most powerful weapons in Schnapsen is the trump marriage. This article is going to examine how strong the additional cards in your hand need to be to make closing the deck the right play. As it would be a laborious task to cover all possible situations during a game, we are just going to look at what to do if you have the trump marriage in your starting hand. The crucial factors ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-14500099526000717172010-09-18T18:20:00.004+02:002010-09-18T19:27:09.988+02:00Expected Value Part IIIn the previous article, the concept of EV was introduced and applied to an actual playing situation. In this article, we will once again look at a couple of starting hands and identify the best strategies available based on EV.Please note that in the examples below we will assume that the card that you get during the first trick is a jack of a non-trump suit if the deck is not closed right at ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-27707593925949915662010-09-13T23:08:00.004+02:002010-09-14T00:02:18.544+02:00Expected Value Part IDuring a single game, you have to make a number of decisions: What cards do you get rid of? What cards do you lead with? Should you close the deck? Ultimately, these decisions should be based on the potential payoff, i.e. the game points you or your opponent might score. In a nutshell, you should always make the decision that maximizes your payoff. This payoff can be determined using the concept ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-25585541472132431952010-09-10T16:46:00.003+02:002010-09-10T17:21:17.346+02:00Card Counting and Card PointsThis article is going to present a number of general facts about card counting and card points you should know. These are not exactly strategy concepts, but nevertheless, these facts are going to have an impact on your strategy.Card CountingIf you are new to the game of Schnapsen, you have to internalize all the basic processes and rules at first. This will help you limit the number of easily ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-9919424388400440412010-09-06T19:10:00.005+02:002010-09-06T20:09:55.136+02:00Classification of Starting HandsThe first key fact to realize about Schnapsen is the importance of one's starting hand. The quality of the starting hand determines a large part of one's strategy since it contains half of the cards a player will receive during a single game. Please recall that a single game consists of a maximum of ten tricks.The quality of a hand should be assessed based on four properties:-) How many and whichammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-19398075267233628912010-09-05T18:58:00.009+02:002010-09-05T20:11:20.786+02:00RulesSchnapsen is played with a 20-card deck consisting of aces, kings, queens, jacks, and tens. Starting with the highest card, the card ranking is: A-T-K-Q-J. The cards have the following values: A – 11 card points, T – 10 card points, K – 4 card points, Q – 3 card points, J – 2 card points. Usually, either French style decks (suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) or German style decks (suits: ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-75122868304567906022010-09-05T11:20:00.006+02:002010-09-05T16:29:21.244+02:00GlossaryBummerlpronounced [bʊmʌl]; in Schnapsen, a player’s objective is to win a Bummerl. The first player to score 7 game points wins a Bummerl. Typically, the game points are counted downwards, i.e. at the start of a Bummerl the score is 7-7 and the first player to 0 is the winner.card pointsAll cards are worth a specific amount of card points: aces – 11 points, tens – 10 points, kings – 4 points, ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1330440185892948137.post-83906007701658886192010-09-04T15:22:00.006+02:002010-09-04T15:53:57.878+02:00IntroductionSchnapsen is one of the most popular card games in Austria. It is played by thousands of people each and every day. Yet, articles on strategy are hard to find. Let’s change that! By creating this blog, I would not only like to introduce new players to this exciting game, but also provide strategy articles that might even help experienced players improve their game. After stating the rules of ammeleg.in.edainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13859819715380570148noreply@blogger.com