Saturday, December 9, 2017

Max Zilch: A New Game for Three People

So for something not economics or politics, my oldest daughter and oldest grandson and I have invented a new game for three people, which we call Max Zilch.  it is a variation on the game known as Zilch or Oh Hell.  in those games, usually played with four people, you start out dealing out one card to each person, then two for the second round and on up.  At each round except the last (which is no trump) next card is turned up and determines trump suit (play is like Bridge).  At each round people bid the number of tricks they think they will take.  If they make their bid, they get 10 points plus the square of the number of tricks they bid.  If they miss either up or down, the lose the square of by how much they missed in points.  Dealer cannot bid amount that would make total tricks taken equal total tricks bid, so dealing moves around.  That is standard Zilch (a zero bid) or with some variation, Oh Hell.

Our variation is to play with three people and simply deal out all  the cards every hand.  There is then always a trump suit with the last card.  It removes the probability calculation over whether cards are out or not, making it more like Bridge.  It is quite challenging with 17 tricks.  We have really enjoyed playing it.  Good for holiday season and family gatherings.

Barkley Rosser

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