Plays of Note

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Sometime in 1996, we were treated to a double-blitz crack...and incredibly, the picker and partner managed to get shteiner.

We sometimes deal one card up, and this was one of those times. The dealer was sitting. The order of deal was Bart, Spike(?), Coach, Russ and Ron. Russ picked, and Ron double blitzed then cracked him. Unfortunately for us other non-pickers, the partner was the leadoff, Bart, and he noted that Ron's card up was a 7 of hearts. He led hearts, which Russ took, but then Ron took the rest of the tricks (he also had the Jack of Clubs, so he had the top five cards).

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One night Coach's brain went on the fritz. It was obviously the Budweiser, an evil and smelly concoction that someone actually bottles and sells as beer. This night we were using it as our "penalty beer", an intermittent rule we sometimes put in. When someone gets bumped, or cracks and doesn't make it, they have to drink a penalty beer of something awful.

Well the Bud did poor Coach in. On a particular nerve-wracking hand, he saw he had it made...until the last card he played was the only one that hit the table. At first, he thought it was because he had been slow in playing the rushed tricks at the end of the hand (because his hand was pretty strong and everyone was following his lead). But after further review, it became apparent that he had either buried only one card (which is pretty unlikely), or more likely had mixed his hand in with his bury sometime through the hand. Anyway, no more Bud for Coach.

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Glen's house was the site of the only recorded flying crack - recrack. As someone played the card, maybe Bart, spinning it through the air like a frisbee floating down to the table, first Ron's knuckles hit the table, then, immediately, Glan recracked...it took a while for everyone to realize what had happened, but Glen had been waiting for the flying crack, and everyone agreed he got the recrack in before the card hit the table.

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We have a concept called "psychobabble". Generally, there is no limit to the talking that goes on during play, short of someone saying "I'm partner!" Usually, Ron takes this to extremes, when he somehow indicates before the hand starts that he is not the partner, it usually means he is. On our last Sheeps trip to Jim's cabin, a perfect example of his psycobabble was put to good (or rotten) use.

He and another person were after the picker, and he started to tell the other person "Geez, I'm one trump short of cracking him, why don't you do it?" This went on for a minute or two. Finally, the other person bowed to the relentless pressure, and cracked, whereupon, Ron immediately recracked him.

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Other examples of psychobabble: recently, we had seven people playing, so two would sit for each deal. One of the times Russ and Ron were sitting, Bart picked up the blind, then they cracked (which of course is not valid, since they're sitting out the hand). Anyway, Scott immediately recracked, revealing who the very strong partner was. It really didn't do us any good, except certainly avoided a no-tricker....