Gambling on Success: Part 3
The Card Shark Way by stoneman3x |  |
GAMES ROOM - In my previous articles, I have opened your sleepy eyes to the deliriously
easy and head-spinningly quick ways to earn Neopoints by playing certain gambling
games. But the games I have talked about before were the almost mindlessly simple
gambling games. Now it's time to graduate to the brain-fryingly hard games. These
games not only have rules to them that are more confusing than the rules in the
Neopets Terms and Conditions, but also take a fair amount of time to play. So
the question is, are these games worth the effort? And the answer is... ummm...
yup.
It's no surprise that a few of these games have a limit on how many Neopoints
you can earn a day from them. The payoffs are pretty darn good. And the Neopoints
you can get from them are only half of the fun. Quite a few of these games can
earn you a trophy too.
The first three games on the list have three things in common. They all cost
50 Neopoints to play, they all have a 5,000 Neopoint daily limit and they are
all located in the Lost Desert. I'm not sure why the Lost Desert has so many
card games in it, but I have sneaking suspicion that it may be due to the lack
of desert-type Olympic sports available. I guess those nomads have to do SOMETHING
for fun that doesn't make them any more hot and sweaty than they already are.
Sakhmet
Solitaire
Location: Lost Desert
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: 5,000 NP limit
If you toss out the word "Sakhmet", you have "Solitaire". This is what this
game is. It's your basic Solitaire. You have to build four piles, each devoted
to a single suit, which are hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades. You start from
the ace and build up from there. You can place cards that are one lower and
a different color on any card on the board. For every card you are able to put
in the piles, you get points. If you clear the board three times you get a bronze
trophy. If you clear the board five times you get a silver trophy. But here
is the hard part-- you have to clear the board two times in a row to get a gold
trophy. This is a good game to play if you are hunting a trophy, but unless
you are very good at this game, you probably won't make much more than your
50 Neopoint investment most of the time.
Pyramids
Location: Lost Desert
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: 5,000 NP limit
I personally rank this game as high on the list of good Neopoint makers. Even
if you don't clear the board, you will make anywhere from 100 to 300 Neopoints,
and clearing the board can earn you over 800 Neopoints. This game is actually
ridiculously easy to play. The object is to get rid of all the cards in the
pyramid. You do this by playing one card higher or one card lower than the card
showing. For example, if you have a three, four, four, five, five and six showing
and a seven on the card pile, you would play them in this order: six, five,
four, five, four, three. The more cards you play in a row, the more points you
earn. Earning a trophy in this game is the same as in Sakhmet Solitaire.
Scarab 21
Location: Lost Desert
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: 5,000 NP limit
This game is a sort of Solitaire version of Blackjack. The idea is to make
"21". Aces count as either one or eleven and face cards count as ten. "Black
Jack" is an ace and a face card. But there are also other combinations that
can earn you bonus points. Like Sahkmet Solitaire, unless you are really really
and even really good at this game, you probably won't make more than your investment
most of the time, but when you do have a great game, it definitely is worth
it because you can earn hundreds of Neopoints.
Cheat!
Location: Games: Luck/Chance
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: None
If you want a trophy, this is the easiest trophy in all of Neopia to get.
There are only seven rounds to this game and trophies are given out at the 3rd,
5th and 7th rounds. There are a total of nine opponents and you play against
three opponents in each round. As you advance through each round, the easiest
opponent is dropped and is replaced by a harder opponent. Trust me on this one,
there are no really hard opponents.
The game starts out with everyone being dealt 13 cards. The object of the
game is to get rid of all your cards before ALL of your opponents get rid of
all of their cards. If even one opponent beats you to it, you have to repeat
the round. But the good news is that it still counts as an ongoing game and
you don't have to pay 50 Neopoints to play again.
The first thing you need to know is that you must play a card that is the
same value, one card higher, or one card lower than the one that was previously
played. That means if the last card played was a four, you have to play a three,
a four or a five. If you have more than one five, for example, you may play
as many as you have. You do this by clicking on the cards. Then you select the
value of the cards from the drop-down box. The thing is, you don't have to select
the actual value of the cards if you don't want to. That's where the
CHEATING part of Cheat comes in. But if one of your opponents accuses you of
cheating and they are right, all the cards in the pile are put into your hand.
If you accuse one of your opponents of cheating and you are right, you get bonus
points. The higher the round you are in, the higher the bonus points are. When
you win the round, you win Neopoints based on which round you were in.
I highly recommend NOT cheating unless you really really have to. If you have
to cheat, say the card you are playing is the same value as the card previously
played. Most of the time your opponents will let you slide, but not always.
Keep in mind that if you are about to go out, your opponents will automatically
accuse you of cheating, so this is a bad time to have to do it. It's also a
good gamble to accuse an opponent of cheating if they are about to go out. You
have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This game doesn't really pay a
mind-boggling amount of Neopoints, but it has a fair payout and nothing beats
having a trophy in your user lookup.
Go! Go!
Go!
Location: Tyrannia
Cost to Play: 50 NPs
Limit: None
This game is a sort of brain-twisting version of Cheat. It is a lot harder
and more complicated than Cheat, but the basic idea is the same. There are ten
different opponents and eight rounds. And you still play against three opponents
in each round. As you advance through each round, the easiest opponent is dropped
and is replaced by a harder opponent. The trophies are given out at the 2nd,
5th and 8th rounds. Sounds pretty much the same, right? Well, unfortunately,
the rules are not only different, they are practically designed to trip you
up on every single play. But never fear, the Stoneman is here to lead you through
it with Baby Boochi steps.
Everyone is dealt nine cards to start. There are three in your hand, three
face up and three face down. The idea is to get rid of all your cards. Once
you have no cards in your hand, then you can play the face up cards, but you
can only play one card per turn. When you have no face up cards you can play
your face down cards, but you can only play one card per turn. If you get rid
of all your cards before anyone else, you advance to the next round. However,
if even one opponent goes out before you do, you win Neopoints, but you have
to play the round over again. So how do you get rid of all these pesky cards?
You play a card of the same value or higher. If you don't have a card that is
the same value or higher, you have to pick up all the cards in the pile. Sounds
easy? Well, there are a lot of tricky rules as to what different cards do, so
it's not as easy as it sounds.
Twos are wild cards and can be played on any card EXCEPT a three. This means
that the next opponent who plays can pick whatever card they want to play. This
isn't much of an advantage to you, especially if the next opponent is running
low on cards. But the good news is that a two can be played on an ace. Since
aces are always high, playing a two can help you out of a jam.
If a three is played, the next card played MUST be an odd numbered card. This
means if a three is played, you have to play a 3, 5, 7, 9, jack or king. If
a four is played, the next card played MUST be an even numbered card. This means
if a four is played, you have to play a 4, 6, 8, 10, queen or ace. If you play
a ten, it clears the discard pile and you get to go again and play whatever
card you like. Tens can give you a big advantage because you can get rid of
a bunch of cards at once.
Now that we know the tricky cards, let's move on to the game itself. The good
news is that if the cards are in your hand, you can play as many of a certain
kind as you have, if you want to. For example, if you have three jacks, you
can play all of them. The bad news is that once you get to your face down cards,
you don't know what they are, so you could very easily wind up having to pick
up the pile.
I really can't help you out on those annoying last three cards, but here are
a couple of tips to help with the rest of the game: If you have a bunch of low
cards in your hand, it's best to try to get rid of them first. If you have a
couple of aces, for example, it doesn't pay to play them all at once unless
they are the last thing left in your hand. Try to pay attention to what goes
in the discard pile, and who picks up the pile. It will help you decide what
card to play if you have the option of playing any card you want on your turn.
And if the player that goes after you only has one or two cards left, try to
avoid playing a two at all costs. Try to play cards as high as you can so he
will have to pick up the pile.
I know this game sounds complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it's
actually pretty easy and can be a lot more fun to play than some of the other
card games. And of course, there's that nice little trophy you get for your
effort too.
There you have it! The great card games of Neopia! There is one I didn't discuss--
Round Table Poker. Because it is in Meridell, it has been temporarily suspended,
so there isn't much point in explaining it. Anyway, of all the games of chance,
I personally prefer to play the card games. You almost always make a profit
on them-- and if you're going to gamble, you can't beat those odds!
NEXT TIME: Gambling on Success: Part 4: The Casino Way
In the next article I will tell you the games of chance you can play that are
mind-bogglingly hard but can earn you the most amazing profits of all... or
send you to the poorhouse...
|
