Library, Sunday 10/23

[trigons_child]

Raven was in a delightful mood as she opened up the library that morning. She was still riding high on the emotions of the dance last night, not to mention her boyfriend visiting the island.

After spending some time tidying up the library and shelving books, Raven took her seat at the front desk. She had her laptop with her, of course, and started to pass the time browsing her favorite Rumor Gal websites.

Basic Strategy, Monday, Period 4

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

The class met in its usual classroom today; after the excitement of the break and Homecoming, Tyrion was rather eager to get back into the swing of classes for the last bit of the semester, and he was brisk as he addressed the group.

"In every culture," he began, "there are certain games of skill, though the details of how they're played vary. Mastering one has several benefits. They train your mind to think through possibilities. There's also a certain amount of value in dedicating yourself to rote memorization. In this world, chess is one popular such game; so is a board game named Risk."

"Today," he continued, as he gave a stack of handouts to the first student in each row for them to pass along, "we aren't playing either of those, since we only have an hour and I'm spending some of it talking. Instead, we'll be working on a game that may seem simpler -- a card game called Blackjack or 21. It works like this: You play against the dealer. Each of you starts with two cards: You can see both of yours, and one of the dealer's. Your goal is to get a score of 21 without going over -- or to make the dealer go over, before you do. "

He would have dealt a hand so the class could see what he meant, but he feared fumbling with the cards. They'd have to imagine. "You have a choice: Hit or stand. Hit means you take another card. Stand means you're content with what you have. You can also split -- break up a pair -- or double down -- increase your bet. There's much more to it, but those are the basic elements."

He talked through the handout's chart of options for different hands, then passed out a deck of cards and hundred dollars in fake money to each student. "Pair up today, and play the game. Take turns being the dealer and the player. If you leave with more fake money than you started with, consider it a job well done."