A Conversation About Nothing - Part 1 of the Risen Kingdom History

by Jean C'est Magnifique Try Baptise

Let us have a conversation about nothing shall we?

That’s the interesting thing about nothing, is that, despite it insisting on its own insignificance, we can’t stop assigning it one anyway. There is more nothing in the world than there are somethings. In fact look in front of you. You see empty space? But you don't, if there was empty space you'd not see anything at all. But there is the ground. Even if you look up in empty sky that sky is filled with bacteria, with dust, with air and nitrogen, only beyond the stars is there nothing, and then you can still see stars everywhere you look, because even in nothing there is energy. 

We can’t understand nothing, we always make it something, and somethings get reduced to nothing.

You need to understand that because we are talking not about nothing. We are talking about the Void.

The void ISN'T nothing, if anything it's everything. Even though the term void MEANS nothing, to us it mostly means Nothing Yet. We treat it as a force that can render somethings to nothing, or nothings to something… like what I said 2 lines ago. See? I was right. But why are we talking about the Something today? Surely there is more to be done than a religious spiel about The Dark One.

You are right. We aren’t talking about the Dark One, we are talking about the anti Dark One… which isn't Aurora as some would suspect.

It’s the Risen Kingdom.

Wavy flashback time. *Woosh woosh woosh*

Everything began in Gi. Gi is an ancient Realm, not like our own. Magic was not an internal thing where one could throw thunderbolts. Magic was made in circles! You had to harvest the resources of the world (remember when we had resource cards? Like that) and then you had to place them into a circle and tie it together with a song. So most of our rituals are not fundamentally dissimilar to Gi’s entire magic system. The issue is of course, with sacrifice and ritual these Circles can be quite a bit difficult, sometimes more difficult than GASP mAnUaL LaBoUr, which begs the question… why bother?

The reason, the only reason you will find is… Void!!!!

The power of void is to fill these gaps, Void, which is not everything or nothing but the between remember, is the primordial ooze of the internet. Void has the ability to morph around the elements they are exposed to, meaning one of the easiest rituals is to take a lump of silver, dab it with some void, and make more silver. But with circle magic even more elaborate rituals can be done, such as gate magic. Void is a wild card, it is everything to everyone. But if you waver, if you hesitate, or are even too gung-ho, or just have a intrusive thought for too long, that anything you get will become corrupted, not evil but tumrus, a half cognition that simply spreads and grows… well unless surrounded by even more void, as the power of Void is to take everything, including corruption, and turn it to nothing. 

So the void can create, it can corrode, and it can remove things.

When you understand THIS you can understand where the trouble started. Why some people died, and why even the destruction of armies can only set back the tides of Might. You will understand why empires fall.

You will understand… the Risen Kingdom.

NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!! ITS A AD BAYBAY JANUARY IS A SLOW WEEK WE GOTTA CUT THIS CONTENT UP!  GET THAT AD REVENUE!

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Lost Kingdoms Battle Log, Week Three

Twenty-One Days After the Cold Moon, Month of the Raven in the Year 1022

 

It has been several weeks now, but we still draw breath in the lands of Voraniss. The enemy came from the west and gathered upon the border of our swampland to initiate their attack. It wasn’t a terribly large force at first, but their reinforcements have not yet diminished. It is clear to us all that they have been preparing for this moment, as have we.

They are led by Arvitt Garrimaddon, Champion of the Erl King, and to my knowledge, the last King of Sothron. Thus far, the enemy has relied upon mostly human soldiers and the undead. With Stonewood, and Lord Sir Elwin’s assistance, the Undead have not posed much of a problem thus far, but the enemy has been adapting to our strategy and I am seeing more humans in their ranks as time passes. The exceptions to their minions are Droxon the Frozen, a Dracolich who has challenged Ekkaku the Serpent Spirit for position within the Spirit Realm, and three units of Laughing Dead that have been sighted.

I have been told by adventurers more knowledgeable than myself on the topic of the Lost Kingdoms, that Laughing Dead may only be permanently destroyed if they are told a specific joke, the same joke that was told to them at the time of their animation. It is a cruel twist of nature to turn joy and mirth into something so heinous and threatening, but you will know this enemy by their creepy and continual laughter. Normal weapons will work on them by all accounts, but they will rise again unless the joke is spoken. Be cautious if you are to come across these foes.

 

For weeks we have managed to defend the Serpent Shrine in western Voraniss, but the enemy is now coming at us on additional fronts. Ships flying the flag of Sothron have appeared off the coast of Mirador, and in Southern Voraniss at the Stag Shrine. I am grateful for our allies in Stonewood, who keep my spirits up even now upon the front line, and those allies who are on the way. The nations of Invictus, Blackwood, and Sharingal have officially declared their support in this fight and give us further hope that we are not alone.

 

I know this enemy will not stop at our borders. The Realms must stand united in the face of this corruption and darkness and treat it as the serious threat it is. If you are able and willing to fight beside us, we urge you to take action and prepare. War is coming, whether you like it or not.  For the moment, I am still reachable by raven for those of you with questions, but I cannot say how long that will remain the case. I will do my best to keep you apprised of the developing situation and conditions on the front.

 

In Service,

Spirit Queen Kindrianna Athame

View Retrospective - Belts of the Eternal Flame

An older series in the View took a close look at the individual heraldries on the belts of the Knights of the Eternal Flame and asked them to tell us about why they adorned their belts the way they did.

We're preparing to bring back this series in the very near future to look at the belts of some more recent KoEF, so let's take a look back at the old articles from this series!

• Sir Vawn
• Sir Kyntela 
• Sir Kazmar
• Sir Oliver
• Dame Phoenix
• Dame Twenaria
• Sir Wil
  
• Sir Duncan
• Sir Pyr
• Sir Radstar
• Sir Zula
• Sir Nighthawk
• Sir Panther
• Sir Temorse
• Sir Tao
• Sir Aeston
• Sir Lysis
• Dame Freesia
• Sir Iawen
• Sir Malaki

Morning Coffee Break

Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! Time for our continuing feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

If your Realms character was in a Final Fantasy game, what job class would they select? (not only limited to the FF3 job classes below)

Head on back to social media and let us know in the comments!

Meme Monday

by the Meme Team

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The staff of the View would like to wish all of you a happy holiday partaking in whatever celebrations and traditions you hold dear.

We'll be back on Monday with our regular content!

Guess That Realmsie!

Another in our continuing series! In the below picture there is a Realmsie-shaped black hole. Can you figure out who it is based only on the profile? Tell us on Facebook if you think you know who it is! The answer will be revealed later in the day.

Morning Coffee Break

 Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! Time for our continuing feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

What's the best Realms-related gift you have ever received? Either IC or OOC?

Head on back to social media and let us know in the comments!

Caption This

 Here's a photo from a Realms event lacking any specific context. Go on back to social media and comment with the best caption you can think of.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

What You Missed - A Very Merry Yule at Crazy Cecil’s Uncle’s Tavern 3

Of the things I have garnered a reputation for, jovial frivolity is nowhere near that list. I am not one to celebrate many holidays, and Yule has never had much of a call for me. That said, the gift I chose to give this year was a night of personal openmindedness and effort towards holiday cheer, which I will carry into this writing. My take away, I believe I might understand why people would care for this time of year.

In a nice hall, big enough to not overheat and to have room for everything, but small and well arranged enough to still feel intimate and cozy, people began to decorate. They hung banners and draped decorations, and quickly made the place festive.

The First Toast, a tradition of King Cecil’s, was to make sure credit went where credit was due, to all the amazing people who made the gathering come actually happen. From an fantastic first time Feastocrat, to the Organizers, and the dozens of helpers, that is where the King wanted the recognition to land.

And the food really was excellent, a fantastic day board, soups (Including a particularly memorable Sweet Potato, Bacon soup), a lovely dinner spread including ham and turkey, and marvelous deserts including treacle tarts, fudge, and several perfect cakey like things.

While others played board games and gambled, and gandered at all the auction items, I was able to slip aside with one of my Knights for a Squirely Performance Review, I am glad I had the opportunity to get in a meeting or two, leisure isn't the same for me without proper action items and work to do.

But it was nice, there was a bar, so there were drinks with friends, and just being surrounded by friends and allies, most feeling safe without arms or armor, in the warmth of a hall filled with soft light and joyous laughter, it was something that we don't always get as adventurers. While it has never been something I’ve sought for myself, it is something I can respect and appreciate.

Then the Titan of Hope arrived, and all gathered ‘round. With his helpers he pulled great gifts to fulfill the holiday wishes for those who wrote to him. He gave out paperwork, and armor, and paperwork, and snacks. He gave paperwork, and drinks to be shared, and paperwork and weapons. There was paperwork and gems, paperwork and animal companions, paperwork, and I got a flying carpet so I don't have to ride horses anymore, and he gave out more paperwork. And about lastly, the Chimeronian Court Bard performed Pater Yule’s gift to Saurabia, a National Anthem.

While I may have had my qualms with the Titan of Hope in the past, nothing endears me to someone like copious amounts of paperwork. I was happy to be there, and to share in the next hours of people reading and reveling, puzzling and discovering.

But all good things must come to an end. People split off into their nation or family gift exchanges, and people began to trickle out. The night began to wind down, though with spirits quite high.

I must admit. I enjoyed this Yule. The people, the shared joys, the love. Tomorrow I will go back to being a grumpy wizard. But until this quill runs dry, I think I might look forward to next years Uncle Cecil’s.

Merry Yule, Realms.

Regards,

James Swift

(And if you need someone to share in your excitement about your paperwork, send me a missive!)

What's It Do? What's It Do?

In this continuing View feature, we show you a picture of a theoretical magic item. Then you go back to Facebook and in the comments, invent your idea for the powers that this item would have.

Here is this week's item:

Let us know what this headgear does in the comments on social media!

Starting Hands Part 3

Good day people of the Realms

I am hosting the Stacked Deck Final Table in Clontarf Castle at the start of the new year. It is always great to see the 16 players battle it out. We have yet to know exactly who will be there, but it is shaping up to be a very competitive day. Thinking about that day, and that I will not be playing I thought I would offer up some thoughts on playing the game.

Quick note if you wish to be able to follow along or have an interest in Stacked Deck updates, please reach out to me and I will add you to the book of faces where such things happen.

 

In tournament poker the player that gets all the chips wins! Or if the time runs out the player with the most chips wins. In the upcoming tournament there will be 4 prizes. The player who comes in first will have a choice of a special Blue prize, or a lot of gold. Second place will then have a choice of whatever is left, third the same, and whoever comes in fourth will get whatever is left. I feel its most likely that first place will choose the blue prize. As of this writing the 4 prizes are; special blue, 950 gold, 470 gold, 150 gold. Depending on how many more tournaments we have, the gold might go up slightly.

So chips are important, you want to give away as few as possible and get all the ones you can. There are also times when how many chips I have changes my play. I have already shared some thoughts about hand selection, and position, now I would like to think about stack size.

If I have a large stack of chips and am playing against someone who has a small stack, then I am probably going to be a bit more aggressive. If I win, I get more chips, but if I lose, they can’t take all my chips. You can only lose the same amount as your opponent has. You might have seen this on a table before where someone says “all in” they are betting all of these chips. If I have more chips, then only the amount of the All-IN are at risk. You can’t win more than you have. If I have less chips, then I am ALL-IN and the player who went ALL-IN first only has the smaller amount of my chips at risk. Doing well in tournaments means outlasting. So not being at risk is kind of a big deal.

There are also times in a tournament where my stack size might govern how I play. If I am on the smaller size, I am looking for opportunities to “double up”: Go all-in against someone and win. Also let’s say that it is down to the last 5 players; only the top 4 get paid. If I have a small stack, then I might play very few hands to try to last into the top 4. But I might try this strategy if someone else at the table also had a small stack. At this point I am not really playing the other players, just that one player who can bust out to make me get paid. 

Now sometimes you have very few chips and are looking to push any advantage you can. That is when you might go ALL-IN on any hand with an Ace or any suited hand, or really anything you think you night get lucky with. I have seen players go from very few chips late in a tournament and double up a few times and win the thing.

 When I have a big stack, I sometimes also push small advantages, mostly I am looking to “push players out of pots”, maybe I am in late position with a medium strength hand; an early position player does a small raise, but they have a smaller stack. I can re-raise them with almost any two cards because I think they will not play and have to fold to my big re-raise. they don’t want to put their tournament at risk. So, with a big stack I am more likely to “widen” my hand selection range. Raise/call with cards that are not as strong.

I would also like to talk about bet sizing. Almost all of my bet sizes are in relation to the big blind. Because the blinds increase as the tournament goes on to encourage play, my bet sizes also have to change. Early in a tournament when the blinds are 100 for the small and 200 for the large, then a standard preflop raise is to about 3-4X so 600-800 chips. But later when the blinds go up to 200-400 then my bets should increase to 1200-1600. Once again, things that will go into the bet size are things like the strength of my hand, if I have a strong hand, I want to get paid, so I might bet more. If I am in late position and do not want to get called, or early position and do.

Now I do want to talk a little bit about something called “pot odds” let’s say I raised from late position with a strong hand like JJ. One player in early position calls me. the board comes something like 2 of clubs, 7 or clubs and the 9 or hearts. Right now, the pot is at 2000 chips. Simple odds say that if someone has two clubs in their hand, then they will make the flush about 1 out of 4 times. It’s also likely since the called my preflop bet they might also have an over card to my pair of Jacks. An Ace, King or Queen. If I bet less than about 500 then they have pot odds to call; 1 in four times they are going to make there flush, and maybe they can hit their over card, to have a better hand then I do. This means that I need to bet more than a quarter of the pot if I want to deny them the “pot odds” to call.

Now this does not take into account the idea of “implied odds” which is a slippery slope of optimism. The idea of implied odds is if I call, or bet my flush draw in the above example, then the “implied odds” of me betting or calling again and having someone call with a worse hand. So, in the example above, let’s say instead of having JJ, I had AK of clubs. Now I might make flush if another club comes on the turn or river. so instead of needing 1:4 odds of calling I need even worse odds, at the time I called. This depends on the idea that if I make my hand then the opponent will call another bet. Also, in this example if I hit an Ace or King my hand will also be good. There are reasons why Ace King is a fantastic hand to start with (especially if they are suited).

All of this takes into account the idea of the strength of the hand. Not the possibility of bluffing. When I am in late position, I might bet with any two cards as I can represent a strong hand, regardless of what I actually have. this is easy in late position, but a bluff in early position is also possible, because its more credible if I bet with a lot of players behind me waiting to act. Bluffing is easy, getting away with it is much harder.

Good luck and see you on the felt.

Duke Tao Ya Kang, 

Guess That Realmsie!

Another in our continuing series! In the below picture there is a Realmsie-shaped black hole. Can you figure out who it is based only on the profile? Tell us on Facebook if you think you know who it is! The answer will be revealed later in the day.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Rumors for December 1022

 [Stonewood]

The Northern Farmsteads have begun to settle in. Some people have migrated back to the city of Stonewood Proper for the winter, but many of the farmers are coming together to lay the groundwork for a central town between the distant farms. They are working with the civil necromancers who command the undead labor force, and may begin construction soon, if the weather holds out. Right now the only things marked out are a tavern, a chapel/schoolhouse, a marketplace, a smithy, a gathering hall, and a few wells. Not much, but houses and shops can fill in the gaps as more people stay.

Spirits are high, the weather isn't usually so nice by the time harvest is done, so there have been a lot of get togethers.

~~~

Starhaven had been enjoying a seldom seen peace, without the organized crime that has plagued the city for a long time. Even with the higher number of guards, the people have returned to their comfortable lives without the curfew in place. That said, earlier this week some doors were kicked in in the middle of the night, and people actively planning criminal actions were dragged out into the street, and executed that morning after a final verification of their guilt. The message has been made pretty clear, there is no place for such crime in Starhaven, and criminal activity is being monitored.

~~~

Across Stonewood, some people more magically inclined have complained of not being able to reach the gods through their spells. Priests have made assurances that of course your prayers are heard, to have faith, and know the Novem are busy with protecting the lands and the people, but they will never forget about us.

[Teng Hua]

Though the nation of Teng Hua remains closed to most outsiders due to internal affairs, rumor has it that the Emperor has sanctioned a company of Yosei Handlers to see if they can find a way to bring Yosei to the mainland in an effort to help people better understand the nature of these spirits, and why the Yosei enjoy participating in Yosei battles.

Why I Want to Go-A Very Merry Yule at Crazy Cecil’s Uncle’s Tavern 3

by Renee "Kindrianna" Booke

UCCT is a time-honored tradition in the Realms. I think it might be going on sixteen years now, which is as long as I’ve been adventuring if I’m correct in my assumption. Every year I look forward to this event for a combination of reasons: good food, good drink, and good friends are the top three. But really, what makes it so special is that it brings the community together for the holidays and we get to celebrate together.

The first toast is happening around 5:30 PM this year, followed by the poker tournament beginning at 5:45. I’m not a gambler myself, but I do know food, and let me tell you that the spread at Cecil’s is always quite delectable. There is usually a variety of finger food, and appetizers before you even get to the main course. Last year it was served buffet style and there was an ample amount of leftovers, so make sure you come hungry.

The gift swap is also a special feature of this event that deserves its own mention. The youngest generation of adventurers gets so excited about meeting Pater Yule, and it is positively adorable to watch. And they aren’t the only ones, we adults get excited too, hah! If that wasn’t enough excitement for you, there is also the gift swap for people that signed up.

Later in the evening, the auction happens. This is a charity auction lovingly put together by Dame Twenaria (Kelly Bonci) that is raising money for Operation Delta Dog and House of Hope. Items are donated or brought in from all over the community and we get to see the spirit of giving on full display. If you are able, you’ll definitely want to participate in this and help raise money for a good cause!

This can be a challenging time of year for many of us, but the love that permeates this event really helps cut through the icy chill of the season. I’m genuinely excited to see all of you there and look forward to exchanging gifts and sharing a drink or two.

JB vs. The SMAS Nation's Faire

by Ethan "JB" Goldman

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It was the single most important and life defining zoom call in all of history, besides those other times.

It was, the SMAS Nation Renaissance Faire!

I know what you may be wondering, Hey JB, whats zoom I am a intellectual, and I understand that the term zoom call means nothing in our high fantasy game, give or take the space ships.

But hey, it was an out of character event, so I can reference the zoom.

The Nation faire was more a nation expo, or a series of national infomercials. You stand in front of a webcam, show case a power point, and go “Hey everyone look at how cool my nation is” to a bunch of bored students from WPI. 

In turn they graciously do not pay attention.

It’s a beautiful cycle really.

There were 12 nations and I can do a tier list, but I am just going to go in the order I wrote them down in the notes.

The first nation that went was Rhiassa, which immediately started things strong by announcing that Aeston was dead.

I mean they didn’t but Aeston, allegedly, turned down an opportunity to give a long winded presentation. So they IMPLIED he was dead.

But what’s a Rhiassa, and what does it do? Well what Rhiassa does is serve the Realms, which to be fair, is a nation pledge every nation also pledged to do. However Rhiassa also has “a giant cheese board” and “lends out walls to people”. They also host the end of year feast, and the big summer olympic kickball tournament. Also Hildegard mentioned something about child sacrifices. I think there was a “Not” before that, but there might not be a not, so who's to say. Not Aeston, he dead.

Second to present was the Bancroft, which was presented by The Baron known as Baron comma the. Bancroft was originally one of Chimeron’s 31 flavors (more on that later) but then they decided to become independent, then they formed a coalition of independent nations, and now they are allied with Chimeron, so its not full circle but its kinda close. Bancroft is a small nation now, but it used to be rather big, having its own tower and everything. Bancroft is mostly known as Ashenmark’s dad. As most of Ashenmark have roots in the Blue Falcons, which was a subnation in Bancroft mostly consisted of young whipper snapped who grew up to be old bees. Bancroft considers itself mostly a transitory nation, somewhere to find yourself in, and then go to that place you found. It also had a musical number.

Awkwardly following the song up was Ashenmark, who I just called Bancroft’s son. I did not write down who presented this. Ashenmark serves the Realms, but they also are innovators not just in weapon construction, helping popularize bamboo, but they are innovators in weapon length! Having popularized making fun of Ashenmark getting weapon lengths wrong that one time.

Ashenmark uniquely has a modular petitioning system. Each of the full members has a designed trial and task, and you can pick 5 of them and the high lord's trial to do to prove yourself. So the more people become nation members the more options you have on trials.

Then came Chimeron, which proved to be difference makers because they actually visited in person to do the power point. Chimeron is the oldest nation in the faire, and was presented by King Cecil. Chimeron stands for inclusion and personal growth, and its nation members vary in shapes sizes ages and activity level. There are many subnations, the 31 flavors include: stick, stick with crown, the one that had to change its name, the red one, twinkle twinkle little star, and many more. 

Following is Blackwood, which was presented by Valley girl. Blackwood was also formed in 1991 like Chimeron but a little bit later. Blackwood has babies, babies which Rhiassa may or may not be killing, it also has many subnations. There is the green one, the one that likes trees, the white one, the edgy one, the edgy one even though edgy was taken but it really wants to be the edgy one, Trent, Pepsi Vorainess. And many more! When you have a nation motto of “Not my problem” like Blackwood does, you have great freedom, and maybe YOU can form the 3rd or fourth edgy subnation in Vorainnes

I can not spell Vorainnes. 

Followed is Neden, the best nation. Unfortunately because I already know Neden was the best nation I didn’t bother paying much attention. Neden’s a fraternal brotherhood that prides itself on bringing color and comedy to the Realms. If Neden can pride itself on anything, its flippy cup, but after that it's babe ruth, and after that is beer pong but we don't call it that, but somewhere down the line it’s our willingness to take a chance and our understanding nature. We’ve been there, whatever there is, rest assured. Is that innuendo, I guess so.

After that is Invictus! Invictus, like Neden, did not present a slideshow. Invictus is the second youngest nation, in the faire, formed by artistic differences with Grimloch who did not show up. Invictus is a nation of fighters, but not just fighters! That’s why it has things such as warmaster. They also like leather! Don’t think about it. Invictus is run on “recovering tyrannoholism” but they are taking a multistep program. Invictus can reliably be counted on to npc as crunchies, and have their own dedicated event site, with their own dedicated event soon to crown King Shandar. 

Then is the newest nation, Wyvern College. Formed last year on a dare but poison drunk new players, the College is lead by Rawr (probably). They made shields! Everyone is welcome in Wyvern college, everyone, please join, they need tuition money. They won Guys Being Dudes in a tournament that had that. And they want to do more crafting, to craft things like shields. Love their shields these guys who be dudes.

Northern Alliance went next. Theres a joke here about Blackwood not being allowed to go twice, but i will not say it. Oh wait. Northern Alliance is actually its own thing, with its own unique culture, and three different tribes. Mostly Northern Alliance is “Built Different” not just in their petitioning process, but also because the northern alliance prides itself on its very fancy camp. Northern alliance mostly concerns itself with vibes, and roleplaying and chilling. To petition you just hang around them and see if you harsh their mellow or not. If they decide they don't hate you, you are in, and that’s it. No real trial. Oh and you have to decorate your hat.

Eagles Rook is many things, mostly invaded. Eagles Rook is also a knightocracy, and has been ever since they kicked the former lord out. Eagles Rook is a relatively small nation with history and collects history. Eagles Rook has a lot of ties with the fae and is the shining police state on the hill. Its also a knightly order but you don't have to be in the order to be in the nation and you don't have to be in the nation to be in the order. They don't like undead which make me sad ;n;

Then is Vorainess, which is presented by Tulkhan. It's a nation of family, but it's also a monarchy, so theres a royal family and then the metaphor family. Its lead by  Druid King Hygar and Spirit Queen Kindriana, formerly called Mouse (though I've been told that's one of the ways to skin a cat (rakhasa joke (you see rakhasa are cats and (oh you got it? Really? Good.)))). Under the royals are the thanes like Tulkhan and there are a lot of other roles and jobs like Magistrate but I don’t know which rung these roles are in the family tree. The oathsworn are the full members, they have a blue bar and a cool title. They like to consider petitioning a two way street. Sure you're trying to prove yourself to them but they also are trying to impress you, and you can be the one to say “you don't deserve me”. They have a lot of weird races, and a lot of lycanthropes, which define what counts as illegal in vorainess. They have a very powerful Fish and Wildlife park ranger department, and will execute you on site for an out of date fishing license. So be wary of poaching. They, the nation of dogs, are at war with the cat demons because they were torturing Mouse. It’s not as funny as it sounds, lives were lost.

What is funny is Saurabia, Hooray! Saurabia has never been invaded because Saurabia has nothing but a volcano. It also has special socks that keep Alpacasaurus warm. They are in the deep south (Where most of their members are), but they are also Dinosaurs! That’s pretty cool. Saurabia doesn’t take itself seriously but its done quite a bit, they have money, they threw events, and they created a god in Norlund named Tychosaurus but he's really busy and in another dimension so its hard for him to return calls. Saurabia is a relaxed nation and you can join without too much stress. Just remember, you're gonna need a pun. Probably. 

Twelve nations is too many.

Starting Hands Part 2

 Good day people of the Realms

I am hosting the Stacked Deck Final Table in Clontarf Castle at the start of the new year. It is always great to see the 16 players battle it out. We have yet to know exactly who will be there, but it is shaping up to be a very competitive day. Thinking about that day, and that I will not be playing I thought I would offer up some thoughts on playing the game.

Quick note if you wish to be able to follow along or have an interest in Stacked Deck updates, please reach out to me and I will add you to the book of faces where such things happen.

Where I am on the table is sometimes more important than the cards I am playing. Where I am in relation to the button is called position. The later position the better.

A quick note about the button. Most games have a dedicated Dealer. This is someone who is probably not playing. Historically after every hand, the dealer changes one player to the left as each player takes a turn being the dealer. But, when you have a dedicated dealer, you don’t want that person getting up and moving every hand, so instead we have a button that says dealer on it that represents where the dealer would be sitting. Most dedicated dealers sit as close to the middle of the table, so they have good access to everyone.

Now because the button moves around the table after each hand, sometimes you will be first to act, sometimes last, sometimes somewhere in between. Depending on your position to the dealer (button).

At this point I am also going to mention blinds. To make sure there is something to play for in each hand, the first person after the button puts in a “little” blind, and the next person puts in a “big” blind. This has to happen every hand. Generally, the big blind is equal to the minimum bet. In a gold/cash game that would probably be two golds. With the little blind putting in one gold. In tournaments to keep the action going the blinds increase based on time.

So, before the cards are even dealt, the first person after the button puts in a small blind and the next puts in the big blind. Then the cards are dealt. Now the next person to act to the left of the big blind is sometimes called “Under the Gun” not entirely sure what a “Gun” is but that is what it is called. These three and the next player are usually referred to as “early” position. The next 3-4 players are middle position, and the rest are “late” position. Now, in poker it’s an advantage to know what your opponent is going to do before you must decide on what you are going to do.

If you decide to play when you are in early position, you will probably have to go first and give away what you want to do with a hand most often. Middle position about half the time, late position you will have the advantage.

Let’s say you are in early position with a weak hand like 4 7 off suit; it’s an easy hand to fold and move on. (See my notes from the last article). If, however you have a medium strength hand like Queen Jack, (suited or not, but preferably suited) then it’s a playable hand, and you might put in chips. Now if someone in middle or late position raises you, they might have a better hand, King Queen for example, or an Ace, or a pair. Your Queen Jack may or may not be the best hand. In early position you might even decide to fold this hand just in case someone behind you raises.

In middle position half (approximately) of the field have already shown you what they want to do, without any raises you might raise this hand, with weak raises you might call this hand, against strong raises you might fold this hand. Because you can see what some of your opponents want to do you have some advantage. However, let’s say that someone in early position makes a small raise. You have Queen Jack suited, and decide to re-raise them, then someone in late position re-raises you. Now you may not be sure what to do. You think your hand might be better than the early raise, but maybe not as good as the late raise.

In late position you have a lot of advantage in you see what your opponents want to do first. So maybe everybody folds to you, and you are in late position you might want to raise with a weaker selection of cards. Most everyone has already folded so you are up against fewer players. keep in mind that you will have this same advantage in each betting round.

Some important things to keep in mind. Hand selection and position go hand in hand. A hand I might play for a raise in late position I might fold or just call in an early position. Also, this is true of every round, of betting. The same positions matters for before the flop, after the flop, turn, and river.

If you are in the little blind and no-one has raised, you have some options. If you have a good hand, you can of course raise. if you have a medium hand you might want to “limp in”. just put in the other half of the bet, or if you hand is especially bad you might want to fold to preserver you chip stack. Keep in mind that at this point everyone except the big blind did not like their hand or position and decided not to play this hand. If you are the big blind and everyone just “limps in” (just putting in the minimum), you have the same kind of choices; you can check and that closes out action on the pre-flop round so the dealer would collect the bets and put out a flop. Or you can raise, once again thinking about hand strength to how big a raise you might want to put in.

Next time I will discuss stack and betting sizes.

See you on the felt!

Duke Tao Ya Kang

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

What's It Do? What's It Do?

In this continuing View feature, we show you a picture of a theoretical magic item. Then you go back to Facebook and in the comments, invent your idea for the powers that this item would have.

Here is this week's item:

So what's this bejeweled feather do? Head back to social media and let us know!

Starting Hands

Good day people of the realms.

I am hosting the Stacked Deck Final Table in Clontarf Castle at the start of the new year. It is always great to see the 16 players battle it out. We have yet to know exactly who will be there, but it is shaping up to be a very competitive day. Thinking about that day, and that I will not be playing I thought I would offer up some thoughts on playing the game.

Quick note if you wish to be able to follow along or have an interest in Stacked Deck updates, please reach out to me and I will add you to the book of faces where such things happen.

When I am playing, one of the most important parts of the game is what cards to play. The game we play is Texas HoldEm. So, you only start with 2 cards. How can you know if they are going to win or not? That is a great question. The idea is that we can only control what we can control. Most hands can be folded with out too much thought. When the cards are low, or not suited. And sometimes you think you have a good hand, but when the flop comes, they just do not match up.

There has been a lot written about starting hands. Here are some of my basic takes. When you start with a pair that is usually a playable hand. The higher the better. Some pairs you are only playing to hopefully hit another one, so you get three of a kind. Twos through Sixes are most often in this situation. Now that does not say that sometimes that pair of threes will be better than someone’s Ace King if the board comes all low. But it unlikely that the threes will be the best hand by the time the river comes.

The next types of pairs might be good or might not; sevens through about tens are like this. I do not mind if I hit a set, but sometimes these cards might be good enough to win by the time the river comes along. Sometimes you will need to raise preflop with these hands as they play better against fewer players.

The last types of pairs you might have are the Jacks through the aces. These are premium hands, and you definitely want to raise with these types of cards. Two important reasons. One; you want to get weaker hands that might hit a flop to fold. Hands like 9 10 (suited or not) hands that can often make straights or two pairs when you hand still looks like its pretty good. So, you raise to isolate out worse hands. And Two: you have a big hand, build the pot, get paid. When you have the really rare, big pair, like aces or kings, make sure you can get as much value out of these when you get them.

Now if you don’t have a pair then the decision to play or not should depend on how strong the cards are. Some hands you should always play with are things like Ace King (suited or not). Cards that are both high and close to each other can make stronger straights than two lower cards near each other. If they are suited, they are more likely to make a flush. Once again playing these hands you usually only want to play against a limited number of players so most often you might want to raise to isolate. I will mention raising with a strong Ace, means only other players might play a hand with an Ace in it. There is nothing better then playing Ace king vs someone who called your raise with a hand like Ace seven, and an Ace comes on the board. Your king is probably going to win you a big pot. You both have aces, but your king kicker is better.

Any hand with two “court cards” is probably going to be a good hand but be careful if your cards are on the lower side, I would prefer to have King Queen, then Queen Jack, and so on.

Now this does not consider, stack size, position, prizes, or number of players left. Some thoughts I will address in future articles.

See you on the felt.

Duke Tao Ya Kang