Schocken anyone?

[Jack_Ian]

I thought I would share a simple bar game I played while living in Germany.
It was traditional, in Cologne where I was working, to play this game to decide who would buy a round of drinks.
There are local variations of the game, but for our purposes we will use the following rules.
3 6-sided dice are used and you have 3 chances to get you best score and then you opponent must beat you to win. There is no draw, if the scores are the same then the first to throw is the winner. This is to counteract the disadvantage of throwing first.
Highest throw of a single die decides who goes first. If there is a tie then the players throw again. After that, "throwing first" alternates.
After each throw, a player can decide which dice to hold, if any, before throwing the remaining dice. A die which is held may be discarded later.
After any throw he/she can declare that combination of dice to be their score.
The opponent has only that many tries to beat that combination.

The first combination is just a simple number. The higher the number the better. e.g. 3,5,1 = 531; 4,6,1 = 641 (winner)
Better than a simple number is a run. The higher the run the better. e.g. 3,5,4 = "3, 4, 5"
Better than a run, is 3 of a kind. The higher the number the better.
Better than a run is Schock-# which composes of two ones and some other number. e.g. 1,3,1 is Schock-Three which can be beaten by Schock-Four.
Better than Schock-#, is Schock which consists of three ones.
Nothing beats Schock.
You beat you opponent by getting an equal score in fewer tries or a better score in fewer or equal tries.

[Jack_Ian]

Here is an example game for illustration.

Player1: Throws 3
Player2: Throws 4, Player2 starts.

Round 1:
Player2: Throws 5, 4, 2 holds the 4 & 5 and throws the remaining die getting a 3. He then declares "3, 4, 5 in TWO"
Player1: Throws 6, 5, 1 holds the 1 and then throws a 3 & 1 and declares "Schock-Three in TWO"
Player1 wins round 1

Round 2:
Player1: Throws 5,4,5 holds the 5,5 and throws the remaining die getting a 6 he then declares "655 in TWO".
Player2: Throws 1,6,2 and holds the 6 and throws 1&6 and declares "662 in TWO"
Player2 wins round 2

Round 3 (final round):
Player2: Throws 2,3,5 holds none and throws 3,6,4 holds the 3&4 and throws 6 and declares "643 in THREE"
Player1: Throws 4,6,1 holds the 6 and throws 5&1 and declares "651 in TWO"
Player 1 wins the round and the game.

[Jack_Ian]

In order to play on this forum, may I propose the following:
To decide who goes first, players should throw a fifty-sided die in order to avoid collisions and the need to throw again. (i.e. [dice]1d50[/dice]
After each throw the player should declare, in bold, which ones he/she will hold and throw the remaining dice.(e.g. for the above game, round 1, Player2 should post "[b]Hold: 4, 5[/b]" and "[dice]1d6[dice]")
To declare a score for your opponent to beat, itshould be written in bold. e.g. "[b]Schock-Three in TWO[/b]"

I would ask that you not delete your posts. If you make a mistake, such as throwing too many dice, just post the correction below it.

If there is enough interest in this thread, I will arrange a tournament, in which case, in the interest os fairness and openness, it is likely that I will roll the dice for all concerned.

To get the ball rolling, I will play a game against my alter-ego "Celt" to iron out any bugs and set out the etiquette required.
Fell free to start you own challenges.

[Jack_Ian]

Open for one challenge.

[Celt]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt:

You throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 21

I throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 5

[Celt]

I go first

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 5, 4, 1 (Total = 10)

[Celt]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 1

Hold: 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 2d6 2 6-Sided Dice Results: 2, 6 (Total = 8)

[Celt]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 1

Declare: 1, 2, 3 in TWO

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 3, 3, 4 (Total = 10)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 1
Hold: 2, 2

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d6 1 6-Sided Dice Results: 1

[Jack_Ian]

Declare: 221
Celt wins round 1. I go first in next round.

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 2

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 1, 2, 4 (Total = 7)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 2
Hold: 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 2d6 2 6-Sided Dice Results: 6, 6 (Total = 12)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 2
Hold: 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 2d6 2 6-Sided Dice Results: 4, 5 (Total = 9)

[Jack_Ian]

Declare: 332 in THREE

[Celt]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 2

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 4, 6, 5 (Total = 15)

[Celt]

Jack_Ian Vs Celt: Round 2
Declare: 651 in ONE

I win match 2-0

[Jack_Ian]

Oh Well! Celt always was one of my brainier alter-egos.
Anyone else want to try?
Open for four challenges.

[mith]

I might be confused on the rules, but why did you declare 221? Didn't you have another roll?

Nevermind, I get it. You have only two tries because Celt only took two.

I'd play, but I have no internet at home. Maybe when it's back up.

[GH]

I'll try playing, but I do have one question. In the example game, in round 2, Player2 declared "662 in TWO" when it looked to me like he had 661. I thought it must be a typo. But in Jack_Ian Vs Celt, in round 2, Jack_Ian declared "332 in THREE" when it looked to like he had 331. Am I missing something about holding a pair and an ace, or is it just the same typo by coincidence?

Anyhoodle,

Jack_Ian vs GH:

You throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 47

I throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 35

[GH]

I go first.

[b]Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 5, 6, 5 (Total = 16)

[GH]

Sorry for the failed bold tags.

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 1

Hold: 2,3

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d6 1 6-Sided Dice Results: 4

[GH]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 1

Declare: 1, 2, 3 in TWO

[GH]

I hope it's not poor form to roll the other player's "who goes first" roll. I wasn't sure if you did them both because you were both players, or because it gets the game going so much more quickly. I assumed the latter.

[Jack_Ian]

[Jack_Ian]

Oops! Forgot to give game title. (should only be a problem if more than 1 game is active)

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 1
Hold: None

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 6, 1, 5 (Total = 12)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 1
Declare: 621
GH wins round 1

I go first on this round.

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 1, 6, 6 (Total = 13)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 2

Declare: 3, 3, 3 in ONE

Hmmm. I wonder if quoting would be better for keeping track.

[GH]

Ouch. What an excellent first roll. I suspect we're going to round 3.

[b]Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 2

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 4, 4, 3 (Total = 11)

[GH]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 2
Declare: 641
Jack_Ian wins Round 2

I go first for the game-deciding 3rd round.

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 6, 4, 1 (Total = 11)

[GH]

Hm.

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3

Hold: 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 2d6 2 6-Sided Dice Results: 1, 5 (Total = 6)

[GH]

"Hm" again.

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3

Hold: 3,4

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d6 1 6-Sided Dice Results: 1

[GH]

Rats. This does not bode well.

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3

Declare: 433 in THREE

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 6, 6, 6 (Total = 18)

[Jack_Ian]

Jack_Ian vs GH: Round 3
Declare: 653 in ONE

I win 2-1.
Well played GH.
Hard luck.
Try again if you like.

[GH]

I'll play on, then. This time, I shall list myself first. Ha!

GH vs Jack_Ian:

I throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 1

You throw

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d50 1 50-Sided Dice Results: 21

[GH]

My strategy has paid off!

GH vs Jack_Ian: Round 1

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 3d6 3 6-Sided Dice Results: 5, 4, 6 (Total = 15)

[GH]

GH vs Jack_Ian: Round 1
Hold: 5,5

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d6 1 6-Sided Dice Results: 3

[GH]

GH vs Jack_Ian: Round 1
Hold: 5,5

Dice Roll:

Original Roll String: 1d6 1 6-Sided Dice Results: 4

[GH]

Bah.

GH vs Jack_Ian: Round 1
Declare: 655 in THREE