Jon continues his streak of being bad luck for me (that’s my story and I am sticking to it!). Towards the end, I was forced into making a desperation Grand-Tichu call (Jon picking up all of his cards first). Which I should not of made in the first place, but oh well. On the next hand, Ed calls Tichu when his team only needed 35 points for the win. When we set him, we once again had a little hope of making a comeback. And Jon kept hope alive when he made a Tichu call. Unfortunately he made an ace wish when he played his eleven card straight. And I was able to satisfy that wish by breaking up my thirteen card run (leaving me with a 2, a 3 and a jack). Jon had no aces. So he was trying to improve his hand by forcing an opponent to play an Ace. It was a risky call. But when you are behind, you need to take chances…

Wow. I think that this constitutes a new record of “Most one-sided distribution, evar!” I know that I have complained before about one team having all of the cards. Well, now the granularity of that statement has increased to one person having all of the cards — Adam. I now have proof that Jon is a pretty bad person to team up with in Tichu…

When Adam went into his Grand-Tichu death spiral, Ed first passed him an Ace instead of the Phoenix. What was amusing was the second Grand-Tichu call. This time Ed passed Adam the Phoenix instead of the Ace. So when I played my King-high straight, Ed could have gone over it if he would have kept that Phoenix. This allowed me to set Adam. My dilemma during the pass was: should I pass Jon an Ace or a 9? I decided that my hand was not so great otherwise, so I passed him that Ace on the top of my straight.

There are two important Tichu adages:

• “Don’t play for the bomb.”
• “If you make all of your Tichus, then you are not calling it enough.”

I failed to live up the the first. I could have played my pair of aces, but no…. Ed certainly lived up to the second.

Ed’s Grand-Tichu call was a classic case of Grand-Tichu chicken. Its late. The game is almost over. You need to take a chance. And your partner has picked up the rest of their cards. When I had the Dragon, Phoenix, Dog, and one Ace, I knew Ed was in trouble. I was tempted to over Tichu, in fact. But I played it safe instead. Jon did try his best to disrupt us. But he led a single card to Ed when I had the Dragon and Phoenix left in my had. Ed played a King. And I thought about being tricky and playing the Phoenix on top of that. But I didn’t and Dragoned it instead. Adam played an Ace on my Phoenix and went out shortly after that.

Wow. Five one/twos in the game. For Adam’s Tichu call, he decided to call it because of the passed cards. Both Jon and Adam passed low cards to each other. Ed starts the round out by wishing a card out of Jon’s hand. Since Jon did not decide to call Tichu, Adam decides to make the riskier call. He figures that Jon had a strong hand since he passed low. This would promote his hand a little bit because he figures that some of the honors are in Jon’s hand. That was indeed the case and Adam makes his Tichu call.

On my call, there were three bombs out there. I have: A, KKKxx, 6 card bomb, a 6 and a 2. Thankfully Jon wishes the two out of my hand. I play my Ace which Jon Dragons. I consider bombing it but wait. Now I have to worry about is playing a six. But Jon leads a low single and, surprisingly enough, my six won that round! I play my full house and bomb it. Ed now steps up to the plate and goes for the one/two. He bombs a round but Jon over-bombs it. However, he didn’t need to worry about it because he still went out second.

This next game evens out the karma I suppose. But I protest calling it an official game! For some unspecified reason… Can’t let the other team win now, can we?

For the first workday of the new year everyone must not be booked with meetings. The call to Tichu started at 9am and within 10 minutes, everyone had responded in the positive. Woo woo!

There were lots of bombs to start out with in the first three hands. For my Tichu call, I took a risk. Jon was down to two cards. I played a single card, Jon was able to play a single and then I took it with an Ace. Next, I decided to play my 7788 as sequential pairs. I should have played them as pairs since I had AAQQ as winners. Adam went over the 7788 and led a single. Ed plays low and lets Jon go out first. If Ed would have played an Ace, I could have got control back with the Dragon and then have made it after that. Sometimes, you need to wreck your hand to help your partner go out first…

Close game though. We won by 10 points!

I was lucky today because we had enough players for Tichu today. This game will certainly be the last lunch game of the year.

On the first hand, I called Tichu and made it. After I made it, I learned just how lucky I was. Adam could have played over my straight. And Ed had a bomb! My Jedi mind powers were strong this hand…

I had an interesting hand later on. I was passed two bombs. I had 2222 5555 Mahjong Ace Qxxx (three lowish singles). I was seriously considering calling Tichu. I probably spent five minutes agonizing over it. But in the end, I did not. I know my Ace is not a winner and I could probably not play one of my singles before having to play the ace and/or bombs to get the lead. I would have needed help from my partner to keep playing singles to me.

You can see where the point swing happens in this game. Fortunately, our team stayed ahead the whole game…

Sadly, I think that this will be the only lunch time Tichu for December (and therefore the rest of the year). I was a little worried when I drew Ed as my partner. After all, he has been notorious for “the luck of the Ed”. But I shouldn’t have worried. The cards were with us today. Although the points were not. It seemed that who ever called Tichu made it, but the other team scored more points. It got so reinforced, in fact, that on Ed’s last Tichu call, he decided to get tricky. He has AAKK and the Phoenix and decides to play them as sequential pairs. Which Adam immediately bombs. Luckily, he leads a low pair which I was able to win with Kings. I lead a low card and Ed plays the Phoenix on top of Jon’s Jack.

Wow, Jon was able to have lunch with us and we were able to play a game! I need to find more Tichuers out there. Ed was smacked down once today. Jon played the Mahjong and made a wish (2?). Ed satisfied it and called Tichu. I played a low card. Ed wins the trick and plays a length 10 straight. I play a higher straight (Adam also has a length 10 straight and the Dog but it can’t beat mine. I play Ace+Phoenix (and then one other card?) and go out. Setting Ed.