CARD GAMES
BT TOMMY

On our boat we don't get to use the computer much. We intelligently bought a computer that when running is worth 50 cabin lights in amps. We don't have a TV, so we resort to other things for entertainment. Things like card games.

Besides regular card games you would play on a table, we can play certain games on our electronic devices. We have apps for 500, Pinocle, Hearts, Spades, Euchre, Cribbage and Gin Rummy. 500 and Pinocle are our favorites. We can play as a team in 500 over bluetooth using the ipad and ipod. Dad and I play that a lot as a team against the computer on its hardest setting, and we crush them almost every time. We call our team the Cyber Bullies.

Some card games are called trick taking games. In these games every player plays a card and the highest card wins the 'trick'. Trick taking games include Bridge (which we haven't learned yet), 500, Pinocle, Hearts, Spades, Euchre, Whist, Briscola, and Bura. Hearts is the first trick taking game we ever learned, and it was a good introduction. Spades was next and it demonstrated Trump. Trump is used in most trick taking games except for Hearts.

We've learned and taught many games, to and from, people we have spent time with on the boat. We learned Golf, a matching card game from Steadfast. They also taught us 99 which now is one of our favorites. Our most recent visitors from the U.S., Ed and Jo, taught us Euchre which is very fun and fairly simple. We also passed on 99 and Bura to them.

Bura in one of our favorite games as well. Its origins reach back in time to being played in Ukranian Beer Halls, which seems funny and is one of the reasons we like it. You play until you have at least 31 points, which you can then declare and win one game point. It takes ten game points to win the game. It is a trick taking game where you have to remember an ever changing number in your head, which gets 'tricky' when you get distracted.

On a boat, we have lots of time to burn, and a very good way to do that is with card games. Some board games will fly around on the high seas, so card games work very well.