I will admit that at times, quite often really, I feel too lazy to make a trip anywhere outside of Charles Village on a given weekend, whether it's because of the weather or just a lack of motivation to go anywhere. Often, some of my friends share this laziness, generally we're too big of a group for us to play video games.
So we revert to something a little old fashioned: cards.
The fun, of course, comes with games that offer a little risk in the form of betting, such as the whole myriad of poker games.
Texas Hold'em is probably the easiest to pick up and offers the greatest flexibility with respect to accommodating a lot of friends. After all, only two cards are needed per person while five cards are shared, but I will defer to the internet for a more detailed explanation of the rules, as well as a description of the many other forms of poker. Of course, with poker, you will need chips unless you want to wager something more flimsy or something of actual value.
One game that is much more popular with my friends is Spades, which only requires pen and paper in order to keep score between teams of two.
While this game is restricted to an even number of players, usually four, the odd one out could just shadow another player or simply enjoy the show. Coordination between the two players on a team is also extremely limited, as both players are forbidden from sharing any sort of hint as to their hands.
While I will again defer to the internet for a full explanation of the rules, I will briefly explain the betting mechanics of spades and the general strategy.
At the start of a round, each player has to bid on how many sets of cards, usually called tricks, they think they can win; if they meet or exceed their bet, they will win 10 points for the total numbers of hands they bid on cumulatively.
Bids are made sequentially based on who sits next to the dealer, which rotates with each turn, allowing players to coordinate their bets to some extent.
Falling short results in an equal loss of points, and exceeding between multiple rounds by ten tricks will cost the team 100 points.
If one player bids zero and manages to avoid winning any tricks, the team gets 100 points for that maneuver; failure will cost the team 100 points, and the tricks won by that player will not help fulfill the teammate's bet.
It is this sort of decision making that sheds light on the riskiness of betting, as well as testing the partners' sense of teamwork.
When one player does bid zero, also called going nil, then it is up to the teammate to try and cover them by making sure that the player does not win any hands, while the opposing players will try and undercut the player that went nil.
Tensions can rise if players have hands that would put them at a significant risk of falling short of their objectives, whether it is making their target number of tricks or making nil. Each hand is a thrill, as one player alone can control the anxiety of the others for the briefest but most persistent moments in any round as they wonder if they have the right card to win or lose a trick.
Another trick-based game which is popular on our card night is is "Oh Hell" (we simply call it Hell, but again I am deferring to the Internet for the rules), which can better accommodate different numbers of players.
With players working individually, rather than in teams of two, and having to announce their bids at the same time (by a show of fingers), this is a much more haphazard game.
Players earn 10 points for each trick they win and earn 100 points for making their bet. Each round, the number of possible tricks that can be won decreases by one, so the madness only increases as the number of tricks runs down to one and whoever wins the trick is purely by luck.
At least, among my friends, the madness can probably be attributed to how seriously they can take a game of cards.
Whether it is a lack of effort to plan or a wanting to break from technology, a gathering of friends for a card game can make for a fun night. Who knows, you might even learn a little more about their personalities and willingness to take risks.
