Game of Chance, Monday

[suitably_heroic]

First class was in a normal classroom, with Atton sitting behind the front desk, looking relaxed. He had several packs of cards sitting in front of him on the desk, and he motioned for every other student to grab one as they came in.

"Welcome to Game of Chance," he said, "Which you can think of as a mathematics class about probability if your parents ever ask. In this class, we talk about odds, taking chances, when it's better to nope out, and when it's better to up your bets. Some of you are probably here because your lives can be dangerous and you want to know how to field bad situations better, some of you are probably here because it looked like fun, and maybe one of you actually thought this was a math class."

Was there someone like that in class? Because he'd like to know.

"What we'll also be doing is covering actual games of chance," he said. "Not because I want you all to rack up enormous gambling bets, but because it can teach you about risk and reward - and when you hit the point where you take on too much risk for too little reward. Trust me, we all have a point like that. So, to get us started, let's skip introductions."

Because eh.

"I want you to read the for Go Fish on the back of the cards you just got. Then you grab a partner who doesn't have any cards, share the rules, and play. You'll find four chips on your desks; you have to put in a bet on your odds of winning at the start of every round, right after you look at your cards. I want you to play three rounds. At the end of the class, you get as many chocolate bars as you have chips. I think that about covers it. Get started."

Comments

Re: Play Go Fish!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot would be that poor sap, yes. She was also not terribly concerned about losing her chocolate, so Ada was probably going to come out on top either way.

"You have the rules to this game?"

Also hello, how are you, my name is Peridot, et cetera. She wasn't exactly great at social mores yet.

Re: Play Go Fish!

[boneyard_girl]

"Sure do," Ada said easily enough, making the cards arc back-and-forth between her hands. "We each get seven cards, rest go in th' middle to draw from. Goal is t' get all four cards of one face value by takin' turns an' asking 'do you have a six?' an' things like that. You get all four, put 'em face-up in front of you. Once all th' cards are accounted for, the one of us with th' most sets of cards wins. Sound like a plan?"

Ada even gave you the actual rules instead of making up her own, Peridot! Who needed things like names when there was gambling to do?

Re: Play Go Fish!

[era_two_triangle]

"It... sounds like one." Peridot considered the rules for a moment, and then hedged, "What are the face values? How high do the cards go, numerically? What is the purpose of games like these?"

Sorry. She wasn't from around here.

Re: Play Go Fish!

[boneyard_girl]

Ada had guessed. It was the hair.

"Purpose is it passes th' time when there ain't nothin' else t' do, an' makes you a bit sharper tryin' to remember what you've asked for and when," Ada offered, flipping the cards over to show Peridot what they looked like. "Like a thinkin' exercise."

"There's four suits, and they run two t' nine, an' then there's th' 'Face' cards -- Jacks, Kings, Queen, Aces. Don't know why they're numbered that way t' be honest."

Re: Play Go Fish!

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot nodded as she leaned over to inspect the cards, and then looked back up at Ada.

"And is that all the information that I'll need in order to be able to participate in this activity?"

It seemed so, but she needed to make certain.