EdTrice: I am not saying that Nashs' theory cannot assist you in playing a pond game, and probably give you statistical odds of playing very well. I also think it would work much better against "good" players as oppossed to "rookies", since "poor" players tend to behave less rational than good players. Although a really good player would tend to purposly act less rational on occassion, as part of their strategy.

Stevie: Old Dear's autobet of 10 is not having any affect on the game. It will have an affect soon, but it will be minimal. For a few rounds, everyone will be guessing whether to go over or under his 10. It might even take away from the boredom everyone seems to be feeling. But don't stress over it, it won't affect the overall game significantly. Alesh's automoves will continue to have an affect for a few more rounds, but then (s)he will drop and it won't matter. The bonus has/will be lost for about 20 rounds due to Alesh, but in a run with almost 200 turns, again, it will have little impact on the overall game. Hope that hleps.

Stevie: Just my opinion.... nothing wrong with the word effing is there?

I mean how many rounds and the average bet is still in the low 20s?????

Czuch Chuckers: in the low 20's because of old dear and anglemouse. hence my pawns comment

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

EdTrice: you PM'd me about a week ago for my e-mail address to send me the spreadsheet. What happeneed to it, I dont recall receiving it?

Do knights who become pawns still see the Ponds games on their pages? I ask because I notice that angelmouse is logging in and playing other games, but not the pond game(s) she is in.

Also, do ponds a player is participating in show up on their profile under current games? I looked at her profile, but did not see 'the very first pond' listed amongst her active games.

Thad: 1) No. 2) No.

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.

BIG BAD WOLF: mmmm i would recommend bidding 1000, as I know one persons strategy in there who would more than likely be bidding 999.

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

BIG BAD WOLF: lol.

actually i dont how much i should bid :)

998

its a suicide

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.

Fencer - can we have a "submit and to next pond" button in Pond games?

BBW - you are right :) after this round who will be first IS winner :)

that 750 point lead is huge at this point

Vikings - Dont be so sure :) If they bet around 2500 and i bet something over 4000 . Im in deep trouble

Vikings: i've got the game in the bag.... LOL

if someone bets 2500, they will go swimming

:))

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!

tell us now pal,,,,, we cant stand the suspense....

much more interesting pool :)

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=56

i'm in that too!!! what u bettin then Maxxina????

think i've got this one in the bag too... eh Furbster... lol

http://brainking.com/game/Pond?g=21

Bry: i really know you would like to know :) But im not going to tell

it'll be you... lol

hehehe. Are you going to bet with me ? :D

nope.......

This post is

grenv, about the 19000 bid in a minimum 19000 bid pond. I noticed your comments just now, i would have answered earlier if i had seen them before. I did bid the minimum allowed and did not get splashed into the pond. Sure it is the minimum allowed, but in most of the minimum bid ponds someone does not play by the rules. I haven't seen one where everyone actually did bid atleast the minimum. So in most of them the lowest legal bet gets to stay in the game. Why would a bet of exactly the minimum be dealt differently than any other lowest legal bet? In most minumum bet ponds the lowest legal bidder gets to stay in without any questoning. I think it should be the case even if you bid the lowest amount allowed, if there is someone bidding under the low limit.

kitti: and i supported you....

kitti: Your argument is exactly how I see it. Risky as it is to bid in that manner and rely on others being stupid or just messing with the rules. A minimum is a minimum. You have to bid that much or higher. What's the problem? IF the creator said 19001 and you bid that much, it's the same thing. This is a lot different than if the game started with everyone at 1000 points. Until the creators have that option, this is how it'll have to be and anyone playing can use it as part of their first bid strategy.

Some day you'll play with people that can read, follow instructions, and proofread their typing, and you'll be out on the first round. I wouldn't hold my breath until that day comes. Even so, I doubt if I ever bid that much.

One way to eliminate people doing that is to have the creator be able to remove people that don't play by the rules or limits. Have any of the Pond creators petitioned fencer to remove players? You'd only have to do it if more than one person bid under the limit, but if that was to happen there'd be know way to fix the game without removing those players.

I think it must be too difficult to have the option to remove players once the game has begun, since even Fencer himself has not removed players who have been already removed from the whole web site, yet are still in the pond games.

it's actually quite simple. Normally the minimum bid is 0. If you bid 0 you will drop out.

In this game the minimum bid was supposed to be 19000. therefore if you bid 19,000 you should drop out. The fact that someone else screwed up their bet is irrelevant.

Walter Montego: Although I agree with your assesment and strategy in these games, I do think that the intent is to play a game where everyone starts with 1000 points, for example, it just never seems to work this way, although I would like to see people play the way the game should be not the way they can. But like you said, one day we will either be able to start a game with 1000 points or someone will get burned hoping for an "idiot" play.

grenv: I also agree woith you too. I think anyone who bid below or at the minimum should be required to bet 0 the next turn, but that is just one of the problems with not being able to set up our own parameters and those of us that like to experiment with those types of games have to put up with.

but until parameters are set, betting 19,000 in a minimum 19,000 has got guts.... if everyone plays to the rules set out (like in your games Czuck) Kitti would have been out first round. To me, it's like betting "1" whilst pre-empting other players will bet "0".

grenv: You know, I think you're just looking at it wrong. Think of a minimum bid set at 19,000 as a requirement to bid more than 18,999. That's how I look at it. Anyone that bids less than the minimum is out. If someone wants to chance that someone will do so, that's their perogative. It happens in the regular course of a game all the time. When someone has no points left, they're not out of the game yet. They still can bid 0. Everyone else knows this and can bid 1. Same thing, though risk free.

fencer:
Czuch Chuckers: As it is set up now, if we all bid exactly the minimum, we'd all go in the Pond on the first round and the game would be over!
Removing players should be something that should be available. I do think that if a creator wanted to remove a player he should have a referee make the final decision as to doing it and not be allowed to arbitrarily remove people. That would be fencer's job. I doubt if it would come up much, especially after this power was exercised a few times and if the same person continues to do it you could ban them from playing in the Pond games. If fencer doesn't want to referee the games, I'm sure we could find someone impartial enough to take the job. Or even a moderator here could do it. fencer could serve as the final board of appeal in cases where the person or persons believe they should be allowed to stay in the Pond game in question. In fact this might be a way to have someone resign too. It could work both ways. I think it is something that should be looked into.

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

Walter Montego: great minds...

BIG BAD WOLF:

end of subject me' thinks. well done Kitti.

My fault for entering a game with those silly parameters. Never again.