Poker Video: Misc/Other by DJ Sensei (Micro/Small Stakes)

I hope this vid is not the whole content on today. He guys we pay 4 Poker content.

pretty sure DC wouldn't just put this out on a sunday without notice. they're to good for that, honestly. but of course some people will enjoy this.

wow, ive read that "different" thing on title, but i thought that was about poker obv.
ok, if you want, i also can make a vid on "how to headshot w sniper" in Unreal Tournament.
Trust me, im godlike

The next one with spider solitair please

How to NOT cap your own guy 15 times in one mission in Left 4 Dead please

I would not be good in the zombie apocalypse if that's anything to go by

Hi DJ, it's fun to see some non-poker content.

I don't know how advanced you were trying to make it, so some of my comments may not be particularly relevant...

~0 Red's first placement
I think it's a close decision. His choice is fine, but I think the 8-5-10 brick-ore-wood place up and to the right is also a viable option. The benefit would be building down and right, intending to snag the ore port. But that play would open up the 6-9-10 wheat-ore-wood spot (below his actual settlement), so I can't really object to the play he made as hurting your opponents is generally good and as played he has a really great option to build either up or right (both spots are pretty good), depending on how the rest of the placement goes).

~3:40 Orange's first placement
Totally agree with you on his terrible placement. I feel he should have taken the 8-4-3 brick-wood-sheep spot at lower left, or the 8-5-3 brick-ore-ore (with the intention of grabbing the ore port), depending on how he likes to play his games / what he thinks you may do, etc.

~4:45 Your placements on the button
Honestly I don't love your first placement. the 9-4-11 only produces on 9 rolls and I think you could have done better. For example, the 8-4-3 (which produces on 10 rolls) I mentioned above. Also, I think getting the spot to the right of your placement is risky because someone could place on the 8-5-3 brick-ore-ore to the right of it, effectively killing where you're going. Or red could just build to it before you can get yours. That said, Orange showed us he's so bad with his first placement that maybe he's not a thread to place there.

I love your second placement - it should be noted that you totally crush orange's soul by killing his road. Decent production, the resources complement each other, etc. Again though, I do feel the 8-4-3 spot I keep mentioning would have better complemented this spot. Either way (my suggestion vs your actual) you have equal wood, but my plan has more brick. Wheat's not a consideration to me here since you build up to more wheat from the 2nd spot. So the only place you're really hurting is sheep, but I think you have enough with the strat I'm suggesting. It should also be noted that my plan opens up the possibility of snagging the brick port.

~6:22 Orange's second placement
It's okay. I mean, production is good, so it's hard to mess up too badly. The problem is he clearly has no overall integrated strategy / plan for winning. And his first placement was SO bad that there's just no way his 2nd can bail him out. Also, he's leaning WAY too heavily on 9 & 10 being rolled. In the words of Wu Tang Clan Financial: "you need to diversify your [dice rolls]."

~6:45 Red's second placement
I obviously love it give how I've been going on and on about this spot. His superior brick AND wood production now makes him a pretty big favorite to kill your road on the upper placement (unless he's not a smart enough player to do it FIRST).

I haven't gotten beyond this point yet, but if you played the game from these starting spots over and over, I actually think Red's the favorite. Although both you and he probably have more than your fair share since orange gave up so much by placing so poorly (plus you killing his expansion from one spot).

where can i play this online?

I looked at my calendar but to my best knowledge today is not Aprils' Foolsday.

lol this is awesome

This is great. What site are you playing at? I played at JSettlers for a while, but it looks like this is a much smoother client.

http://www.jsettlers.com/

Have you ever played Arimaa? It's retardo chess, would be great to see some basic strategy for that.

http://arimaa.com/arimaa/



edit: I found it at http://games.asobrain.com/

wtf is this sht?

Comments on early/mid game:

~8:05 Read builds a road at the left side of the board
I STRONGLY disagree with you on this. I think he play is clearly wrong - he should have build on the right side to ensure he could cut off your 1st placement's road. I also really hate his play of not trying to trade more aggressively and get sheep from orange. The spot is ideal - orange is not good, has 2 from his starting spot, makes little else, and red has materials to spare that orange wants.

~9:05 Orange ports 3 sheep to 1 wood
This just reinforces red's terrible play - he should not have let that happen.

~9:22 You make a city
A great early play - most people don't understand the power of this move. As you point out it also makes building future cities substantially easier. Combines with red's poor play I'd probably rate you as the favorite at this point. It should also be noted that his trading you an ore for a wood is ATROCIOUS. It's obvious what you're doing and a wood does not equal a city (no matter how he uses it). His trade here is just indefensible.

~9:30 Red builds a settlement on the right side
This is why I dislike your first placement. I think you were a dog for that spot the whole time, and the fact that red still beats you there despite building a superfluous road elsewhere reinforces this.

~10:07 Orange road building across the top
I mean, I guess it's a reasonable play? It's tough because he has so few options about where to go and most of them aren't good. I think I would have tended to favor going up and right from his first spot and getting the 8-10 brick-wood, but maybe not since he already has those resources. It's hard to say since I never would have put myself in such a bad starting spot.

~13:00 Red settles
I don't like his 4:1 port trade. I feel in general that trades have not been pursued aggressively enough in this game all around.

~13:19 Orange buys a development card
I think this play is very bad. You already have 2, the robber isn't on orange, and unless I'm tracking the game wrong he needs that wheat to settle and does NOT have another one.

~13:20 You sit on 7 cards.
I think you should have offered a wheat and seen if orange wanted it / what he was willing to give up. Again, I could be wrong, but I think he spent his only wheat in the previous turn. Failing that, I agree with your decision to stand pat for the reasons you state.

~13:47 Orange ports 3:1 to get a wheat and settles
Ah-ha! I was right. I think you could have gotten an ore or possibly two out of him (depending on exactly how bad he is) since he basically just threw 3 away.

~14:40 Red builds two road on the upper right
Overall I like this decision, but I think he should have tried to trade first to see if he could get the critical third road before building and letting you guys know what he was up to. His play is aggressive since orange could beat him there, but I think it's good since he needs to take a risk to beat you, can develop/hurt orange at the same time in this way, and because of how few cards orange has. Plus orange might be too stupid to block him or he may give it up.

~15:27 Orange builds two roads and cuts off red
Since I'm spending so much time ripping on them...a good play by orange here. I think red should have tried to trade better (and earlier), in which case I think he could have prevented this.

~15:35 You pass the dice
I think you ended your turn prematurely here and I don't like your decision to not even try and trade for 1 wheat. As is I again like your decision to sit and hold your hand rather than buying a development card. Since you have 2 soldiers this is fine. If your cards where a soldier and, say, a victory point, then I think buying another card has a bit more merit.

~16:35 Red places robber
Bad decision by him to steal from orange instead of you. As you point out he's influenced by the point totals (where orange leads), rather than gauging everyone's overall positions (you are stronger than orange).

Comments on end game:

~19 Killer role on the 9 by you
I like your decision to buy 2 development cards. I think this is a spot that's easy for people to mess up and you lay out the rationale for it well. It should also be noted it gets one more card our of your hand than making a city (not a huge consideration, but something). Wow - library + soldier you run good. If you get a soldier right off, do you abort the plan to buy a second card?

~20:10 Orange buys a development card
What is he doing? You are a huge favorite to have a third soldier in your hand having just bought two cards, so he should expect to need a minimum of 4 to take largest army from you. I think this shows that some players only know one way to play (I will get longest road AND largest army) and have no clue how to adjust based on in-game factors.

~20:45 You make 2 roads
A necessary move to go 4:1 twice. I'm glad to see you don't shy away from doing what is clearly needed, painful though it may be. It really doesn't hurt your overall standing/prospects.

~21:27 Orange moves the robber, steals from red
Just one more example of how he has no clue...

~22:45 You soldier the robber off
I agree with your decision to rob orange at this point. The fact that he's not a bigger threat than red really says some negative things about red's playing ability. lol at red's chat.

By the way, I think the reason you thought there was no stealing at the beginning is probably because the game had a rule like, 'on a roll of 7 the robber doesn't come out for the first 2-3 rounds.' I'm pretty sure you'd still lose cards if you had too many though.

Overall this was fun and entertaining. I'd love to see a bit more advanced strategic content in the future, but I realize that's probably not best at first when many have likely not played/seen this game before.

Well played by you - I think the only major point I disagreed with you on was the first settlement you placed (although let's be honest, that is a VERY big deal). And kudos on your good game selection.

Why did I enjoy this ?

For the next video in this series, can you get Assani Fisher to do a 101 man onslaught video?

For the next video in this series, can you get Assani Fisher to do a 101 man onslaught video?

No no, I want joetall playing the banjo.

Nice video. I really like the alternative strategy you developed on this board. I tend choose strategies focused on brick/wood, even on boards where they are plentiful.

I've played this game a few times. I think it's hilarious you guys did a video on it! haha And to those that are bitchin it aint poker, this is Sunday. Variety day. I'm happy to see some other stuff. If you want poker, you could try.....WATCHING THE 100S OF OTHER VIDEOS ON HERE.

Too bad its not a beginners video, i have no idea what you are talking about
I think its a pretty cool idea to throw something like settlers in every once in a while. I mean we get ~500pokervideos/year ?! (1-2 per day)
I really would like to see some more of settlers, backgammon or something different

Yes, this is a poker training site, but i for once do not need 365 days of poker content. Its fun to see something different and if you dont overdo it, i think it could work pretty well.

I would really love to see a rock paper scissors meta game video.

It anything then -> Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock !

wow, i had no idea this game existed as a computer/online version
absolutely love the board game. german board games FTW!!!
i'm german so clearly biased )

really like the idea of some non-poker content on here. i mean, wtf not, right?

I would really love to see a rock paper scissors meta game video.

i'd actually be interested in this too

It anything then -> Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock !

Big Bang Theory FTW!

I'm not going to watch this out of fear I'll become addicted and play even less poker than I already do

I hope this vid is not the whole content on today. Hey guys we pay 4 Poker content.

+1

Ahh i love this game. Not an extremely useful video though, I feel like it's too difficult to follow if you've never played but not really advanced enough if you already played a few times.

Geekness Rulz!

I have been playing this game since its release in 1995.
I really enjoyed this vid.
Another vid w/ the Seafarer-expansion would be nice^^

Didn't expect this when i opened Deucescracked today, but I am positively surprised. Even though I'm not playing the game and don't plan to it was an entertaining video. Looking forward to more.

if only DC allowed pictures, i feel someone would have already posted 'WTF is this' picture, BBV style.

Always wanted to pick this game up.

Interesting idea, though I think it would have been better off to start with a more complex and strategically intense game such as Duck Hunt, Plinko or Hungry Hungry Hippos.

On a somewhat serious note, I like this idea for videos as a nice compliment to the great poker content. I love learning to play games and there are lots I'd love to know more about good strategy including (off the top of my head) Go, Yahtzee, Clue, and Scrabble.

I also think that it would be awesome if someone made a video introducing people to bridge. It's a pretty interesting game and it's kind of sad how few people in the younger generations know of the game.

On a somewhat serious note, I like this idea for videos as a nice compliment to the great poker content. I love learning to play games and there are lots I'd love to know more about good strategy including (off the top of my head) Go, Yahtzee, Clue, and Scrabble.

omg...Go? More like, can anyone even explain just the rules? It's hilarious to me that you include that in the same sentence as Yahtzee and Clue.

I'm pretty intimidated by any game that has a tradition of (seriously) MAKING FUN of chess grandmasters and dismissing the game as, 'too simple.'

Great Vid DJ thanks, and I would love to see more.

Well played, although I think you had it easy. your 9 and 6 squares should have been hammered by the robber.

@ Pygmy

DJ's placement is perfect imo.

Any strategy that requires taking 8-4-3 either staggers our early or late game development.

Taking an 8-4-3, 9-6-12 combo leaves us with no sheep which will be crucial for the towns we now MUST build in order to win. It also requires us to build back towards the wheat port to have any sort of late game chance, expending all the resources we get from building there in the first place. We give the ability to build a town in a better spot and almost any chance of developing longest road.

DJ's placement leaves him open to really good expansion real estate (both 5-4-3 and 11-6-0). We also have a really decent shot at Longest Road as red will not be able to cut us off without sacrificing early game developement(which happened).

I think the problem you are having in your thinking Pygmy is the emphasis you have placed on brick, which in most games is rightly placed. However, both bricks being on 8 squares means it's going to be in abundance mid-late game and we don't need much, as our strategy really only requires us to build one more town sometimes, 2 at the most. Our opponents will likely be very open to trading it for resources we don't mind giving up and will have in abundance (sheep, wood)

Also the Brick and Rock ports are garbage.

omfg

settlers of catan series plz k thx gogogogogogo

I play Catan on Xbox 360 live, pretty similar right? If anyone wants to play sometime my gamertag is goldseraph79

settlers of satan?

cool! maybe we can get a minesweeper video too!

OMG you can play this game online!! I'm already addicted.

Unbelievable, DC makes like 500+ awesome poker related vids / year on average and if a coach make one OT video people start bitching like crazy. Don't play this game myself but it seems like it could be fun if I ever get the time for it. I think it's nice that you try something different ones in a while, now I'm only waiting for some more Joe Tall storytelling.

It's hilarious to me that you include [Go] in the same sentence as Yahtzee and Clue.

Heh, yeah I know they are very different in terms of complexity. Yahtzee strategy might be pretty easy to figure out; I don't really play much but I am pretty sure when I do I am a huge fish who goes for the wrong thing and scores my crappy rolls very poorly. I think Clue might be interesting as a potentially "simple" pokerish game, where you need to decide how often to "bluff" by suggesting a card in your hand. I played a version during Christmas where you asked a suggestion of everybody else in the game, so if you weren't careful you could potential get 3 cards revealed to by 3 different players (thereby giving everybody else the same information as you).

Anyway, I guess the whole point of my lol post was that games are fun and learning winning strategies is sweet.

i'm fine/good at chess and love most strategy games - go is the only one that really pwns me still

I'm not going to watch this out of fear I'll become addicted and play even less poker than I already do

QFT.

And I don't mind the un-poker-related vid content as long as it isn't every Sunday w/ some randomness.

this is kinda lame

hearts one time

lmao BOARD TEXTURE!!!!!!!!!!

let me know when you want to have each player record their thoughts and I'm in!


At 23 min, I'd have traded the 4 wheat for a brick, since you don't get any brick, and then just wait until next turn. Especially since you have 8 cards. Your thoughts?

Nice job guys. It's great to mix things up and this definitely falls into that category.

I wonder what next Sunday will bring..
Tomorrow's DC Remix session with feature DJ and Vanessa in a battle on the turntables.

A Joe the Pro video would be a little more appropriate. At least it will be related to poker, have the laughs, and still be entertaining while being something different.

If you are tight for time or out of ideas just say so and most people would understand or offer suggestions. I would rather not see a video posted then have this under the Deuces Cracked banner. This video belongs in a forum rather than on the front page of Deuces Cracked.

DC content is usually top notch. No need for stuff like this just to fill one day.

Just my opinion. I'm sure DC will be back on track with their other great programs.

I was happy to see something different today.

A beginner strategy would have been nice first. This afternoon I wasted my time trying to learn settlers instead of poker.

To those folks who think its uncool that we put this out instead of a poker video, I can understand your immediate dismay. But I offer these reasons why this video is a good thing for everyone (and my arguments apply to just about any other strategy or board game):
1) Settlers is a fantastic alternative to playing poker while on tilt. I guarantee that you will lose no money playing online settlers* but I certainly can't say the same about tilting.
2) Consider it as mental calisthenics. If you're thinking strategically about Settlers, you're exercising the same type of thought processes that you do when you play poker. Perhaps the way you think about opening settlement selection will lead you to a new way of thinking about your preflop hand selection in poker.
3) We suffer from no lack of amazing new videos around these parts. It isn't as though we're taking a poker video away from you, we're just offering you a special treat. Its Sunday!
4) I know that many of us in the DC community really enjoy playing Settlers (plenty of them have already responded in this thread!), and there isn't a video like this elsewhere on the internet#. I think its pretty cool!

Also, in the future, I'll go ahead and promise that any settlers videos we publish will be in addition to your regularly scheduled poker programming rather than in its place. Cool?

* - until I figure out how to gamble on it and find some worthy opponents!
# - feel free to correct me on that if you find another!

where can i play this online?

www.asobrain.com They call it 'xplorers' or something like that

PygmyHero: I'd love to talk shop with you. You sound like you think about the game similarly to the way I do (and very well!)

Overall this was fun and entertaining. I'd love to see a bit more advanced strategic content in the future, but I realize that's probably not best at first when many have likely not played/seen this game before.

As my first effort, I wasn't sure exactly how advanced to make it, plus I'm not really accustomed to verbalizing my thoughts (in Settlers, that is ). I hope that my next efforts will be crisper and more well-targeted. Hopefully we can get some more folks playing!

No no, I want joetall playing the banjo.

I wish I could photoshop!

Nice video. I really like the alternative strategy you developed on this board. I tend choose strategies focused on brick/wood, even on boards where they are plentiful.

I'm a big fan of focusing on ore/wheat/sheep with both placements if they're strong, if you get off to a fast start it can be really tough to slow you down and you'll almost always have a shot at it.

One key aspect that some may overlook is that you'll be heavy with development cards, which means lots of available soldiers, which means minimal robbery of your vital tiles. A strategy heavy in brick/wood rarely offers that, and if you have an early point lead you might get locked down on something important and fall behind (like an 8 brick on this map)

I would really love to see a rock paper scissors meta game video.

If I'm not mistaken, foxwoodsfiend fancies himself an excellent roshambo-er, but I'm not sure if he'd want to reveal his secrets

Also if you weren't aware, there is actually a devoted community of serious rosham players who think pretty deeply about the strategies behind it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors is a good starting point.

I'm not going to watch this out of fear I'll become addicted and play even less poker than I already do

Yes that is a danger. I've probably lost a fair bit of poker hours to settlers, but so it goes.

I have been playing this game since its release in 1995.
I really enjoyed this vid.
Another vid w/ the Seafarer-expansion would be nice^^

Yea I play a lot of seafarers online too. The "Surprise me" map selection on asobrain and games to 13 is a pretty great way to play, too.

Great Vid DJ thanks, and I would love to see more.

OK!

Well played, although I think you had it easy. your 9 and 6 squares should have been hammered by the robber.

Perhaps so, but I had plenty of soldiers to get it off.

@ Pygmy

DJ's placement is perfect imo.

Any strategy that requires taking 8-4-3 either staggers our early or late game development.

Taking an 8-4-3, 9-6-12 combo leaves us with no sheep which will be crucial for the towns we now MUST build in order to win. It also requires us to build back towards the wheat port to have any sort of late game chance, expending all the resources we get from building there in the first place. We give the ability to build a town in a better spot and almost any chance of developing longest road.

DJ's placement leaves him open to really good expansion real estate (both 5-4-3 and 11-6-0). We also have a really decent shot at Longest Road as red will not be able to cut us off without sacrificing early game developement(which happened).

I rarely expect to contend for longest road when I choose these starting spots, unless I pull a few roadbuilding cards. I simply won't ever have the brick and wood necessary to compete for that and they do.

I think the problem you are having in your thinking Pygmy is the emphasis you have placed on brick, which in most games is rightly placed. However, both bricks being on 8 squares means it's going to be in abundance mid-late game and we don't need much, as our strategy really only requires us to build one more town sometimes, 2 at the most. Our opponents will likely be very open to trading it for resources we don't mind giving up and will have in abundance (sheep, wood)

Most people clam up in trading in the late game, so I may not have such an easy time getting brick after all I mainly just don't care though, with these kind of starting spots I'll usually get most of my brick from robbers/year of plenty/monopoly in the middle to late game and not have to worry about it. I really only need a few of them to build a few roads and a few settlements, and cities and army and point cards will do the rest.

Also the Brick and Rock ports are garbage.

To those folks who think its uncool that we put this out instead of a poker video, I can understand your immediate dismay. But I offer these reasons why this video is a good thing for everyone (and my arguments apply to just about any other strategy or board game):
1) Settlers is a fantastic alternative to playing poker while on tilt. I guarantee that you will lose no money playing online settlers* but I certainly can't say the same about tilting.
2) Consider it as mental calisthenics. If you're thinking strategically about Settlers, you're exercising the same type of thought processes that you do when you play poker. Perhaps the way you think about opening settlement selection will lead you to a new way of thinking about your preflop hand selection in poker.
3) We suffer from no lack of amazing new videos around these parts. It isn't as though we're taking a poker video away from you, we're just offering you a special treat. Its Sunday!
4) I know that many of us in the DC community really enjoy playing Settlers (plenty of them have already responded in this thread!), and there isn't a video like this elsewhere on the internet#. I think its pretty cool!

Also, in the future, I'll go ahead and promise that any settlers videos we publish will be in addition to your regularly scheduled poker programming rather than in its place. Cool?

* - until I figure out how to gamble on it and find some worthy opponents!
# - feel free to correct me on that if you find another!

Great post DJ.

I'm obviously biased, but I think the biggest advantage we have at DC over any other training site is that we're willing to try different things and see how they fly. From the basis of the series model to vids like Joe the Pro and Storytime with Joe Tall, we like trying out new ideas now and then, just as a break from the monotony. I know you guys want to see a KRANTZ HU video or a DJ PLO video every day (and I understand why!) but the risk of burnout is always there, both for us as videomakers and for you as videowatchers, and keeping things fresh, even when we stumble, is a pretty huge plus.

When we roll with these in the future we'll make sure to double it up with some strategic content, but for the time being we'd like to say thanks for responding to the vid and letting us know what you think, regardless of whether you hate the idea of a non-poker vid on DC or if you loved it. We'll take what you guys have to say and apply it to being better in the future.

Much as always,
Rob

I play Catan on Xbox 360 live, pretty similar right? If anyone wants to play sometime my gamertag is goldseraph79

Yup, same game, though I find the interface/speed to be amazingly better on asobrain (and its free!)

let me know when you want to have each player record their thoughts and I'm in!


At 23 min, I'd have traded the 4 wheat for a brick, since you don't get any brick, and then just wait until next turn. Especially since you have 8 cards. Your thoughts?

I dislike trading and holding for something like that, because if it happens to get robbed before I use it I'll go on lifetilt. If I can't trade for something to spend right away, I'll generally avoid trading 4:1. Not a big loss to get halved in those situations, imo, since my cards are way more valuable if i dont have to trade them at such a terrible rate.

i'm fine/good at chess and love most strategy games - go is the only one that really pwns me still

I really want to learn how to play Go. I even have my own sweet board and stones!

I really want to learn how to play Go. I even have my own sweet board and stones!

We are kindred spirits imo

PygmyHero: I'd love to talk shop with you. You sound like you think about the game similarly to the way I do (and very well!)

Would love to DJ. Hit me up on Skype some time (PygmyHero obv).

As my first effort, I wasn't sure exactly how advanced to make it, plus I'm not really accustomed to verbalizing my thoughts (in Settlers, that is ). I hope that my next efforts will be crisper and more well-targeted. Hopefully we can get some more folks playing!

Yeah, I think you did well. I knew there'd be some people who hadn't played and would need an intro, so I just wanted to let you know there's also definitely an audience for something more complex.

By the way, I want to add something to my earlier comments...almost all of my Catan experience has been live, so that has a heavy influence on my strategy and comments. Nfinity has informed me that significantly less trading takes place online than I am used to / expect (coming from live play). Obviously this would dictate some strategy changes in places, and my earlier comments do NOT reflect this.

So clearly at some point we'll need to broach the topic of online multi-tabling Catan players versus live play, etc. etc.

Lastly, if anyone is ever into Cities and Knights, that is my game of preference.

Pygmy I can see where you're coming from with the live thing and all, I always find it much easier to read them.

I put you on 5 ore with 2 stones, if you happened to have some strong wood then that's just a cooler...

That kind of board texture always induces a lot of action. I mean if the guy minraises his village to a city then that should indicate some strength but not the kind where you're ready to just give up, right?

Also it's unclear what you would do on later streets if you focus on wood and stones but it just keeps bricking off. I mean once he has 5 streets you have to make it at least 6 in order to get that good card... but maybe you can just ship it if you don't have the stones though (the stone nuts I mean)



...




Huh no poker video?!

By the way, I want to add something to my earlier comments...almost all of my Catan experience has been live, so that has a heavy influence on my strategy and comments. Nfinity has informed me that significantly less trading takes place online than I am used to / expect (coming from live play). Obviously this would dictate some strategy changes in places, and my earlier comments do NOT reflect this.

Yea thats definitely true (moreso when playing with strangers)

So clearly at some point we'll need to broach the topic of online multi-tabling Catan players versus live play, etc. etc.

I wish you could multitable, but I'm pretty sure the software doesn't allow it.

Lastly, if anyone is ever into Cities and Knights, that is my game of preference.

I've played some C&K but definitely not enough to consider myself all that good at it.

Also, dudes, if you're into Settlers hit up this thread:

http://www.deucescracked.com/forums/4-General-Discussion/17691-Online-Settlers-SN-s-jive

It's so awesome of DC to have this kind of content (though it should be published in addition to poker content, not in its stead -- though that's already been promised). I'm such a Settler's fish, play on 360 pretty much.

I'm gonna kick it back to my middle/high school days with this....

Magic the Gathering vid anyone? haha

If I wasn't so busy learning various games of poker, I'd look into this Settlers thing. No time now tho!

I also agree that for future strategy vids on other games, an intro would be nice

Magic the Gathering vid anyone? haha

Dude I know you are joking, but if this was 4-5 years ago I could school everyone in Magic Theory.

It's kind of sad to me to think how much time I devoted to learning the ins and outs of that game, only to later realize that I was pretty much financially incapable of playing at a higher level.

Paved the way for poker though.

Hire me to make instructional vids on how to BOOM HEADSHOT! in Call Of Duty...we'll make millions

Great Vid DJ!

I love this game, although I prefer live play when it comes to board games.

If you're looking for a new challenge try out "Skat" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skat_(card_game), it's by far the most pouplar card game here in germany and I totally suck at playing it. So any strategy content would really be appreciated

Wow, nice surprise! And we haven't even gotten to 777 members on Facebook yet

Love the game and have played it regularly since 96.

And I mean this in the nicest possible way, but your preflop play is utterly horrible.

You're choosing a {4g,9w,11l} and a {6g,9o,12l} as your first position (position A). A much better position (in my humble opinion) would be {3o,4g,5o} and the {3w,4l,8b} (position B). Lets look at why:

Combinatorically, not much to say, since the positions are equal. ({4,9,11} = 9, {6,9,12} = 10, {3,4,5} = 9, {3,4,8} = 10). I would however accept one or two pips less for position B I think, because of the following points:

Resources

Position A gives you 2x grain, 2x lumber, 1x ore and 1x wool. You're missing brick which on this board texture isn't exactly going to be unavailable, but you'd rather be the one doing the "having" than the "wanting". You're probably going to be stuck with a lot of grain in hand in the late game, without access to the grain port.

Position B gives you a full spread with 2x ore, a.k.a The Nuts.

Aggression

When choosing the {4,9,11} over the much more in-your-face placing of {3,4,5}, you're giving Red a green light to sabotage your 2nd prefered settlement ({3,4,5}) by going to the {3,5,8} first. This wastes you road placement since you now have to build two roads from it to reach a settlement spot, and this spot you can already reach from your other settlement with one road.

If choosing the {3,4,5}, you cut of his {3,5,8} and force him to commit to either building a long road to nowhere {3,8,X} (which you also probably have time to block if you choose) or to compete with Orange for {8,10,X}.

{3,4,5} also discourages action on the huge wheat-fields and giving yourself a {3,6,Pw} spot which is not great but pretty good.

It also opens up the middle for your opponents to compete in, which is perfect since one of them may end up boxing himself in there.

The {6,9,12} is good since you're cutting off Orange (which of course shouldn't have been anywhere near here) but because of the desert, an 11 and a 12 it gives you little room to expand into good spots. I don't think this elevates it over {3,4,8} though, but that may be debatable since you made Orange basically waste his first settlement.

With 3 players though there is still going to be lots of open spots, so I agree going zone-control is usually very hard on a board without the desert in the exact middle spot, but I still think the {3,4,5} gives you a decent shot at it.

Trading
The {3,4,8} basically guarantees you the grain-port, which is obviously great if you can control the grain-fields in the north. Even if you can't get a lot of grain, the board texture guarantees that there will be much grain floating around which you'll be happy to trade for since your opponents will have loads of it.

Right now you have the same monopoly on the brick-port, but you're not getting any brick at all to go with it. You can't really count on getting to the 8b on the left either, since Red will probably get there first.

I don't mean to say that position A is inferior in all aspects and I know you had your reasons, but I think position B gives you a better start and is more robust. If you can develop your first city on the {3,4,5} the second shouldn't take more than a few turns to get and after that you should win pretty easily.

Postflop is standard ;-)

Great vid, keep 'em coming (or do Puerto Rico next)!

hi dj,

a nice and pleasant surprise to see a settlers vid.
i have only face to face experience but we were playing the game excessivly with 3-4 friends like 12 years ago and from there. its real fun and i am in the same boat about knights and cities, its a super expansion.
a hint of mine if you like those games you will really like a game called "caylus" its a french game and i am not aware if its popular in usa?

bye
ole

hahahaha this is awesome...

you present your settler game as professional as you talk poker in other vids... board texture, expectation, fish...

i watched it to the end and now will destroy my girlfriend playing live..

- i know playing live is always a big difference to playing online, but i think i will manage to do the transition - hahah

greetings
horse


PS: also much love for pygmy'S comments, even though i didnt read them

I broke the biggest smile when I saw this video. Don't know the game and was barely able to keep up with the action, but found it to be very interesting.

I, for one, would like to see a new game like every two weeks or so. Just something to break the grind and keep the mind sharp...

Rather then going for a settlement late, what is wrong with competing for orange for longest road? You see to have plenty of room, I guess you didnt have great brick access but still.

Dude I know you are joking, but if this was 4-5 years ago I could school everyone in Magic Theory.

It's kind of sad to me to think how much time I devoted to learning the ins and outs of that game, only to later realize that I was pretty much financially incapable of playing at a higher level.

HU Magic 4...oh wait all Magic is HU aside from that dumbass Two-headed Giant thing.....uh.

On this note I downloaded Magic Online recently just to see if anything's changed. It hasn't....and the software's still crap 5 years on

Rather then going for a settlement late, what is wrong with competing for orange for longest road? You see to have plenty of room, I guess you didnt have great brick access but still.

Seemed unnecessary. I had victory within reach with my regular gameplan of cities+devcards and would have to burn a lot of resources to get bricks for the road.

I don't care one way or another, I just thought from the number of responses that replying to video was mandatory for dc membership?

Wow, nice surprise! And we haven't even gotten to 777 members on Facebook yet

Love the game and have played it regularly since 96.

And I mean this in the nicest possible way, but your preflop play is utterly horrible.

You're choosing a {4g,9w,11l} and a {6g,9o,12l} as your first position (position A). A much better position (in my humble opinion) would be {3o,4g,5o} and the {3w,4l,8b} (position B). Lets look at why:

Combinatorically, not much to say, since the positions are equal. ({4,9,11} = 9, {6,9,12} = 10, {3,4,5} = 9, {3,4,8} = 10). I would however accept one or two pips less for position B I think, because of the following points:

Resources

Position A gives you 2x grain, 2x lumber, 1x ore and 1x wool. You're missing brick which on this board texture isn't exactly going to be unavailable, but you'd rather be the one doing the "having" than the "wanting". You're probably going to be stuck with a lot of grain in hand in the late game, without access to the grain port.

Position B gives you a full spread with 2x ore, a.k.a The Nuts.

Aggression

When choosing the {4,9,11} over the much more in-your-face placing of {3,4,5}, you're giving Red a green light to sabotage your 2nd prefered settlement ({3,4,5}) by going to the {3,5,8} first. This wastes you road placement since you now have to build two roads from it to reach a settlement spot, and this spot you can already reach from your other settlement with one road.

If choosing the {3,4,5}, you cut of his {3,5,8} and force him to commit to either building a long road to nowhere {3,8,X} (which you also probably have time to block if you choose) or to compete with Orange for {8,10,X}.

{3,4,5} also discourages action on the huge wheat-fields and giving yourself a {3,6,Pw} spot which is not great but pretty good.

It also opens up the middle for your opponents to compete in, which is perfect since one of them may end up boxing himself in there.

The {6,9,12} is good since you're cutting off Orange (which of course shouldn't have been anywhere near here) but because of the desert, an 11 and a 12 it gives you little room to expand into good spots. I don't think this elevates it over {3,4,8} though, but that may be debatable since you made Orange basically waste his first settlement.

With 3 players though there is still going to be lots of open spots, so I agree going zone-control is usually very hard on a board without the desert in the exact middle spot, but I still think the {3,4,5} gives you a decent shot at it.

Trading
The {3,4,8} basically guarantees you the grain-port, which is obviously great if you can control the grain-fields in the north. Even if you can't get a lot of grain, the board texture guarantees that there will be much grain floating around which you'll be happy to trade for since your opponents will have loads of it.

Right now you have the same monopoly on the brick-port, but you're not getting any brick at all to go with it. You can't really count on getting to the 8b on the left either, since Red will probably get there first.

I don't mean to say that position A is inferior in all aspects and I know you had your reasons, but I think position B gives you a better start and is more robust. If you can develop your first city on the {3,4,5} the second shouldn't take more than a few turns to get and after that you should win pretty easily.

Postflop is standard ;-)

Great vid, keep 'em coming (or do Puerto Rico next)!

I'm happy to see your thorough analysis, but I think I still prefer my plan. Yours places way too much pressure on 4's being rolled (which I've never found to work out that well for me) and is very short on sheep until you expand upwards from your left settlement (which probably has to happen after the right one moves up into the wheat field, so it'll be a while). Also, theres a very good chance that those prime sheep spots will be blocked entirely due to one or both of my opponents second placements. Getting to the wheat port would help, but I'd rather not depend on it.

This video is why deucescracked is the best ever. I could do a starcraft video for DC if you want considering its the number 1 strategy video game of all time.

Happy to see a vid like this even though I don't play the game. Strangely enough, I feel that it does fit in - the study of decision making. I would like to see a vid on warcraft 3 strategy for example.

Great idea DC.

Any of yall who have expertise in some other strategy game: You are certainly welcome to make videos and post them in our member videos section!

Any of yall who have expertise in some other strategy game: You are certainly welcome to make videos and post them in our member videos section!

This would be awesome. I'd learn a ton about all sorts of random cool games.

I might make a gin video, I don't really want to give up my MASSIVE edge vs fish like KRANTZ though

/Brag: 3rd in the world in Magic the gathering

Ranking Name Rating Location
1 Raphael Levy 2181 Toulouse, France
2 Gabriel Nassif 2180 Paris, PAR, France
3 Matt P. Hansen 2169 Ames, IA, United States

This would be awesome. I'd learn a ton about all sorts of random cool games.

I might make a gin video, I don't really want to give up my MASSIVE edge vs fish like KRANTZ though

I can play go decently I guess. It's a beautiful game (not sure if I would call it cool), but very demanding imho in terms of time you need to spend studying in order to start understanding what's really going on (and I'm not even sure if I do right now ) Don't really see myself making a vid on it, but if anyone wants to improve or just play, we can play on dragongoserver or sth (I've 1dan there), just PM me.

CD

/Brag: 3rd in the world in Magic the gathering

Ranking Name Rating Location
1 Raphael Levy 2181 Toulouse, France
2 Gabriel Nassif 2180 Paris, PAR, France
3 Matt P. Hansen 2169 Ames, IA, United States

Sick!

I never got super into MTG - but really like the game and loved to read the articles/decklists. I had one awesome B/G Oversold deck right before 'tog rotated out of standard. Then they told me things were rotating and I was just like "meh this is annoying". I still did drafts online for a while, played some extended.

The game is frustrating when you take a block off and find out that Wizards has release some sick lands you now must have 4 of, but limited is pretty good for that.

I'd play a lot more if MTGO was available for the mac.

/Brag: 3rd in the world in Magic the gathering

Ranking Name Rating Location
1 Raphael Levy 2181 Toulouse, France
2 Gabriel Nassif 2180 Paris, PAR, France
3 Matt P. Hansen 2169 Ames, IA, United States

Impressive. When are we going to see some Magic Online strategy vids in the members section?

Impressive. When are we going to see some Magic Online strategy vids in the members section?

When Magic Online stops being a buggy worthless POS?

Nice one MPHansen...best rating I managed was just over 1900...becasue I'm from the UK and we suck at the game and our only skills are building decks for other people to play and $20,000 top-decking (see Helix, Lightning).

The last I heard about the game Nassif just recently won a Pro Tour with a spell that costs about 3 billion mana (and 3 colours) in his deck....

Dammit when I played LD and Permission were still viable so 5 colour was a no-no.

*Shakes walking stick*

But yeah $600 - 1k a year to keep up with all the cards never mind tourney entyr fees kinda sank me in the end

I used to effing love MTG and I played that game like crazy. I still have probably 30k or so cards including 6 binders full of UC and Rares back at my folks place. I <3 that game so much.

Finally gave it up when I got to college and couldn't find anyone to play against. MTG online just never did it for me since I loved the collecting and artwork of the game. I also found that my teammates when I played varsity baseball at duke (who I love and are some of my best friends) weren't exactly into the game.

I used to read all of the strat articles online and followed the pro tour, and TBH I probably never would have gotten into poker with MTG. I always wanted to play the big MTG events but I hated the idea of playing with other people's decks and not creatively thinking up your own strat. In the end I greatly preferred drafts (especially booster drafts) because I thought they had even greater meta-game strategies.

DJ Sensei - please make an intro version vid for this game so I can check it out and it will give me something to play when I get drunk. I refuse to play poker when I've been drinking, but when you are bored late night and everyone else has passed out it would be fun to have something to play.

Not sure if you'll see this, DJ, but if you are interested in learning Go I highly recommend these three sites:

http://senseis.xmp.net - Wonderful, extremely comprehensive Go wikia. Best source of english Go material, hands down.

http://www.gobase.org - Very nice site, tonnes and tonnes of games you can play through (nice replayer too) and lots of articles. I'm not sure it's free to sign up anymore but probably not expensive either.

http://www.goproblems.com - Very nice site for solving Go problems, nice way to kill time as well.

http://www.gokgs.com - One of the biggest english servers - it's free and has a nice interface, nice java client.
http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/ - IGS, free, english (but based in Japan).