Czuch Chuckers: Everyone falls into the pond - NO WINNER!

I just looked at that pond (not in it myself), but I agree with grenv - Heck, I don't think I've ready 1/2 of the descriptions of the ponds I entered!

If it's my Pond game, it is because I changed the time to a time that is already past - should start at about 5 after the next hour.

(Once I see at least 16 players signed up - I start the pond!)

I think there has been someone that bids over 500 each round anyway - not a worry for me. :-)

There is only 141 players left in that pond - don't know why anyone would have a problem trying to remmeber what one of their bids were!

Stevie: Really? I kept reading how you thought they had about 350 left - not 671 left. I guess I will go and re-read it.

Mike UK: Now that you mention that, I think you are correct - Alesh's auto bid WAS over 1,000 - so they only had 671 points left which is why the auto-bid changed from the 1,100+ big to the 671 bid.

Next round will the the auto-bid of 500 - and as long as someone bids more then 500, they will run out of points.

Actually I don't remember how much Alesh had left last round (someone below said something around 350)

All I know is Alesh had less then 671 points. But if they had over 555, then they should have gotten the bonus.

If they had under 555 left, then Molly should have gotten the bonus.

Does anyone know for sure what Alesh had last round left? If under 555, then grenv is correct - a bug!

Auto Bid - If a person does not put in a bid, it will use what was used last round. If they do not have the points to cover that amount, it will use as much as the user has left.

So if Alesh was bidding 671 points per round, but last round only had 350 points left - the auto bid would place the bid for only 350, not the 671 since they do not have those points to cover the bet.

Czuch Chuckers: 6 more hours....

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=28

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=91

OK Guys, only 2 more to drop in the pond to get rid of all the girls!

Grrrr.... I guess that will teach me to play my ponds right away.

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?p=1&g=14

Grrrr.....

I should get my first Pond win in about 30 hours. Yea!

Auto bid - if you do not have enough money to cover the "auto bid", it will bid as much as it can.

Game Update: http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=12

Sorry Bry, looks like you guessed wrong in this one.... and Maxxina stayed on top.

.... now lets see if I can get very lucky, but Maxxina is looking pretty good right now.

Actually I would also like to request to lower the limit of players needed to start a pond.

I would like to see the 16 player min. be lowered to lets say 10.

EdTrice: I believe Fencer has that planed - to have an option of how many points to start with.

Also have an option to have different bonuses - ranging from none to 500.

At least that is the last plan that I have heard.

Actually it is the lowest bet, not the minimum bet that drops you in the pond. Just in most cases boath are the same.

I know what you are trying to do - and that is get a game to start with 1,000 points each - but that is not was is being done here (Fencer will hopefully get it set up do to this at some point.)

What is being done is a game that starts with 20,000 points WITH a minimum first bet of 19,000.... which is similar to a game that starts with 1,000 points - but not the same.

If you want everyone to bid above 19,001 in the first bid - then I would think that would be inportant information to have in the rules of the game before it starts.

If the rules say that the minimum first bid has to be 19,000 - and someone bids 19,000 - well then it is within the rules set by the creator.

I would think if the creator of the tournament wanted the first bid to be at least 19,001 - they would say that in the rules.

.... to get upset at someone who bids 19,000 is like getting upset at someone who bids 100 and gets the 500 point bonus and make 400 in a round - Good bet - glad you got lucky with your bid.

... and feel lucky you did not end up in the pond

The problem is the 4 players left are so close - a bet of 7501 is the min bet to make sure you are safe - but if 2 don't bid that high, 1 of them will end up above you. OK, I know what I'm going to bet. You will find out what it is in about 20 hours!

Maxxina: Bid too high and you might lose your 1st place position - bid too low and you might fall into the pond. You are actually in the worse position - most to lose. The person with the highest points after the next round will be most likely to win I believe.

Bry: Great for the tip Bry. 1002 it is!

Ugh - here is an interesting pond that I'm in. 4 players left, all with between 7500-8800 points left. Bid too low and fall into the pond - bid too high and the you lose too many points. Work it right with the bonus - might leave you in a good space - do it wrong, and your fish food.

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=12

... thought I would share this interesting pond with others.

EdTrice: I would love to read it & take a look at the spreedsheet - send it to: wolf@coan.net

Actually I believe there will be some sort of ratings and/or stats for the game at some point - just not ready yet.

Names:

Advanced Pond

BrainKing Pond

Unnamed Pond Variant I (UPVI)

Pedro Martínez: Well that is pointless unless we know who it is - I guess Trice is just afraid to get a "lost" next to his name in his profile.

Without knowing who this "mystery" person is NOW at the start of the game, there is no way to look back at each move and see his "thery" in action.

.... what a lame thing for Trice to do.... Claim he has a winning system then run for the hills when challenge about it.

Heck, I have a way to win every game on this game site.... Just I won't prove it to anyone because I know I'm right.... lame.

Trice - Please sign back up for that pond - I would like to see your system in play to see if it really work.

To have someone else do it for you, then tell us after the fact who is was will not work since we are unable to look back at previous round bets and would need to know this information before hand.

But if you are going to stay out, why not share this excel spreedsheet - wolf@coan.net

EdTrice: I would like to see you stay in it to test your system - I mean no matter if you or anyone else is in it, you are always going to have the people who make strange bets which (in my opinion) will throw a wrench into any type of strategy or system - but would love to see if your system can overcome these normal odd bets.

... and congrats to drgnrdr who I'm sure will bet at least 999 on this next move in this game:

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=30

so lets say 20 players - 19 rounds. You want to keep at least 500 for round 19 to hopefully be enough to get bonus (19,500) - round 18 with 3 players left - safe to say someone will be below 1,000 left so a bet of 1,000 should be safe (down to 18,500)

etc... etc... Still a lot of guessing which will work for about 1/2 the game, but with so many players making unpredictable bets - it will be hard for a system to work.... in my opinion. (I would love to see the math though - would be interesting)

EdTrice: I also do not understand how there can be a system for this, and would also love to take a look at the spreedsheet.

For example, start with 20,000 points - 20 players - first bet - what does your system tell you what to bet? What factors are in place to decided what to bet?

On first bets, I have seen some fall into the pond with a bet of 3, others with a bet of 18 (and as the game goes on - I would think first low bets will be 100+ or even 1,000+)

On first bet, i have seen some people get the 500 bonus with bets in the 200's - giving them OVER 20,000 points to start the second round. But I have seen some bet over 1,000+ on the first round also - leaving them over 500 down.

I just don't see how a system can help - but i'm interested in learning.

You know what, I can win 100% of all my Pond games if all my opponents make predictable bets too!

Looks like Pedro Martínez will be the first pond winner of his own pond! - http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=69&trnst=10

Shortly after that, zockerdotcom should be our second pond winner - http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=26&trnst=10

... and luckly Pawns can not play in the ponds!

That is what I was thinking was happening - so now I'll add 2, to make it 1 above the 1 added by other players! HA!

What I like is how the majority of all guesses are odd numbers - that is end with 3, or 5, or 7, or 9

Just one of the trends I have seen from almost everyone. :-)

1) I don't like the idea of if you do not bet, it is the same as resigning - since this game has no vacations or weekends (like normal games), then the 1 or 2 day ponds would be very hard for some players. Since now, if they are on a weekend, at least a move is made for them and they don't have to worry about getting on and betting.

I really do not see the resign issue being a problem as time goes on. A lot of people signed up without really knowing how a pond would work, which has lead to some wanting out. I just don't see this as being a major issue down the road.

Pedro Martínez: I seen that Cerise was in first place, so I was worried that they might only be betting 1 in losing games - so i decided not to take the chance in that game! Actually what is funny is if it wasn't for your low bet, I would have still fell into the pond with my bet of 42..... well i guess funny for me at least.

yup... taking a chance does not always work.... Looking back, probable not work saving 30-40 points, but O'well...

Plus I agree that if someone tells another person that they are going to bet 1, that would be "cheating" and not in the spirit of the game. Actually even if it was posted here and such would not be fair to the other people who may not read these boards.

Czuch Chuckers: But when someone bets 1 and commits "pond suicide" in middle of a game, it effects everyone, not just one of a few - if effects the people who use stategy, and others you love to play turn by turn - both which are good ways to play. Yes, I was lucky this time because I found a short-term stategy to use in this situation to help me - it was a chance that could have cost me falling into the pond, and a chance I decided to take.

I would agree with a rule change of if a player has 0 points left, then they are out and not have the next round bet of 0 - as long as the rule change is properly announced so everyone knows it before someone bids 1 and then finds out about the rule change when they fall into the pond. ---- which would be hard to do since most will not re-read the rules, and many do not read any of the discussion boards.

I like the rule that if you do not bet, you use the last bet that was used rule - I would not want to see that changed. Ponds are good and quick now with no vacations or weekends, so this rule is a good one in my opinion.

Also I do not like the idea to have a resign option. Take an example someone else posted a couple of weeks ago.

If someone has 0 points left, and you see this and bet 1 point - but they decided to resign instead of playing their bet of 0 - then that just messed up the game for the many players who just bet 1.

Also another example is when there are few players left - I know for myself, I bet differently depending on how many people are left in the game. If people just start resigining 1/2 way through the game, it could mess up bets for users who like to use a little bit of strategy when placing bets.

Anyway, I really don't see this becoming a big problem after this game has been around for awhile (and after the very big first one).

Opps, I forgot I can't go back and look at past bets. Are you sure he did not have 0 points left... which would be a bet of zero. (Different then no bet).

Actually that is probable what happen since 3 other players bet 1 point.

edited to include link to pond:

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=52&trnst=10

Stevie - I will go take a look.

Actually I don't think you can resign. A bet of 0 is when it is the first round and there is no bid. (So it is really NO BID, not a bid of zero)

Czuch Chuckers: ... and I see you went and accuse me of having inside information in the game discussion also. nice to see your old rude self back chuck.

Czuch Chuckers: Not sure what you were told, but I did not know for sure that the person in question would be low. I noticed in some other games they did bid 1, but I also noticed that in another - they bid high. So it was a chance that I took if a few of my games to also bid low, and I'm sure your attitute would be completely opposet if it did not work and I ended up falling in the pond.

This is a game where sometimes you need to take a chance, and I did. Learning how other players play is just like any other game on this site. In battleboats, I know some people who will never place their boats next to each other, another player I know will never place their boats near the edge of the board. In Espionage, I know a player who will always place his castle in one of the 2 corners. In this pond game, I'm also learning trends of users. The person in question was a short-term trend that I noticed, but I'm also learning long-term trends of users. This is a game, and I'm playing the game.

I seen that too Pedro - which is why I bet 3, and in case Cerisa did not bet 1, I would hope furbster would be 2 and I would still be safe with 3! :-)

Actually I guessed Cerisa was going to bet one for the reason Maxxina said, and then I also expected furbster to bet 2 because I seen him notice the trend before I did in another pond. Having Maxxina also bid low was a surprise to me! :-)