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| | GUIDE TO THE CARD GAME OF BULLSHIT: A WINNING STRATEGY | |
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1. Introduction
2. Rules of the game of Bullshit (also called Cheat or I Doub It)
3. Winning strategy
1. Introduction
I was inspired to write this piece after seeing this article about a redditor who
posted a winning strategy for Monopoly (the article also has a winning
strategy for another board game, Ticket to Ride, discovered by a different guy, who runs
a consumer review site).
These two strategies, because they convey the ideia that in order to win you have to play
the game according not to what people imagine is the objective, but to another one, hidden,
which can use the rules of the game to exploit it (in a sort of meta-game), made me rembember
of a strategy I had developed, a good time ago, to win on Bullshit.
I thought "Well, this may be something interesting to write about". So brace yourselves, readers!
2. Rules of the game of Bullshit (also called Cheat or I Doubt It)
This section is here for those of you who don't know how to play this game.
The rules are simple: at least three players play. For up to four or five
players, one card deck is used. For more than that, consider adding another one.
Remove the jokers and distribute the other cards evenly to all the players.
A player keeps hers or his cards in hers or his hands and see all of hers or
his cards all the time.
The objective is getting rid of all the cards in your hand and whoever does that first win.
However, cards can be played only a certain way. Someone starts and put a card face-down on
the table, saying out loud what card it supposedly was. The next player then have to play the
next card, for example, if the first payer said she or he played a five, the next one must
say he or she is now playing a six - the catch is: if this next player don't have or don't
want to play a six, he or she can play another card and say they played a six, when in reality
they didn't. And the game goes on like that to the other players too, going through all of them
on and on, always following the sequence, until someone yells "bullshit" or someone discard
all his or hers cards. Also, more than one card of the same number of royal figure
can be discarded together, so for example if the last player has played a five, it is
perfectly acceptabe to say you are now discarding two, three or four sixes.
Any player, at any time, can say "bullshit!", provided they aren't the person who played the
last card. When that occurs, the last card played is revealed. If it was a lie, the player who
lied takes all the cards on the table and put them in her or his hand, the turn ends and the
next turn is started by the player who said "bullshit". If, however, it was true, the player
who said "bullshit" gets all the cards on the table, the turn ends and the next one is started
by the person who have played the last card.
If you hadn't yet played Bullshit and want to let the experience of playing it
for the first time be as naive as it can be, stop reading right here. Otherwise,
go on to the next section, where the winning strategy will be explained.
3. Winning strategy
All people I have played with, especially begginers, come to believe that this
game was about who gets to lie better and detect other people's lies better -
and that, friendly reader, is the biggest bullshit about Bullshit. This game can be
about that, yes, to most people it is, and doing that can be helpful sometimes, but
it can also be played (and, as my personal experience showed me, with better results)
without trying to detect other people lies at all: at a higher level, of risk-assesment
and resource gathering and management. Just follow me: the secret to win this game
against naive opponents rests upon two pillars: retaining most or all the cards of two
or three numbers or royal figures and preparing for the end game.
Let's suppose there are four people playing. So, 52 cards in a deck, each person gets 13
cards. If you have two or three cards of the same numer or royal figure, anytime someone
supposedly plays a card of that number or figure, say bulshit: if it was true, then you
get that card, even if there are other cards you will have to get too (if the pile of
cards on the tabe is too big, it may be too risky to do that and maybe you should do
something else instead. Otherwise, there won't be much trouble). If it was a lie, that
person take the cards on the table and now it's you time.
If you already have four cards from the same number or figure, good to you, but remember
that it would be better to acumulate cards of another number or figure too, to have
more than one front by which attack. Also, and this should go without saying, don't wait
untill you have four cards of the same number to start gathering the four of another one.
Collecting many cards of the same number creates a scarcity of resources that can be
exploited, while other players will think you are winning because you are good at
spotting lies. This will give you more control over the game flow - you will likely
command how the game is played and, more importantly, you will know when you know and
when you don't know, instead of blindly screaming "bulshit" anytime your opponents
make a weird facial expression. Also, people tend to want to discard as much cards
in an honest way as possible, which means that at least in the beggining they won't be
accumulating cards of the same number like you.
You can use this strategy to lure your oponents and discard cards at the same time.
Let's suppose you have four sevens and it's your turn to start the round.
You may play any other card (like a king) and say it is a five, because if
someone spot this lie you won't have to take any card, so there's low risk.
Then, when the person who is supposed to play the card seven plays, you just call it
bullshit and it is your turn again, so you can use the same strategy starting with
another card or for another group of cards you have (if you also have, say, three tens,
play any card saying it is a seven and wait for someone to say they played a ten, being
it true or false, on the long run it is beneficial to you). If someone realizes what you
are up to and start yelling "bullshit" to your moves, start playing honestly. If that
person keeps doing that, he or she will let you discard some cards in an honest way
and it won't be long until the other players start making pressure for she or he to stop -
that is, if they didn't stop for themselves after a while.
You can also play in a regular way in some turns, and by regular I mean avoiding to lie
and playing the cards that are requested to be played, and you will likely have to do
that through the course of a game, cause you won't always start the turn, but if you
do what I said chances are you will dominate the game for the most of time. Also, other
luring strategies can be used: for example, if you has just gotten a hand that people
know contains - supposedly -, say, three eights, then you can, when you have the chance,
declare you are discarding the three eights but actually discarding other three cards
and keeping the eights. This is also applicable in the case of someone discovering you
have been luring the other players. Let's say you have three sevens and you discard an
ace saying it is a five. If someone is aware of your strategy and call it bullshit, the
card is revealed, they start the next turn but on the next chance you have you can pretend
you are discarding that ace and actually be discarding something else.
About endgame: in bullshit, if you don't prepare to endgame, as most people don't,
you will be on the hands of fate and good luck. So, how to prepare? Simple. For example,
for a game with four players, just make sure that what you have in your hand at the end
something that will make you sure to win, like an ace and a five, or a seven and jack:
if you have just discarded the group of cards you lured your opponents with and now it
is your turn, your two cards will make you win if no one says "bullshit". Even better
than that is if your first "card" is actually the three or four cards you have been
using to lure the other players, and your second fits the sequence. So, for example, if
you manage to get to the last round with four twos and a six in your hand and it is your
turn, you made it: if nobody says "bullshit" in this round, you win.
I hope the reader could learn something at least a little interesting by reading this text.
Until next time!
(Oh, don't know if you have noticed, but the structure - and tone - of this article is a kind
of homage to the .txt files from the BBS age of the internet!)