Shiver Me Timbers - it's Food Club! by abbigator8000
--------
Ahoy, scallywags! Welcome to the Krawk Island port town of Warf Wharf. There are numerous attractions here for you to enjoy your time on these sands – first, though, batten down the hatches and dig those Neopoints out of your pocket because it’s time to take a trip to the famous eating hall for a round of Food Club. What is Food Club? Food Club is a game of luck and chance where a bunch of pirates get together and eat as much food as they can – and more importantly, more than each other. In this competition, the menu changes daily and you can look at what’s being served for the day, who’s eating, and where, to bet on the outcome. There are 5 different arenas to host the pirate buffet, with 4 pirates competing in each arena, for a total of 20 individual pirate competitors. Each day, you can make up to 10 bets, so long as each bet is different. These bets can cover all the arenas, one arena, or any combination of the available options. For example, betting on Admiral Blackbeard in Shipwreck and Buck Cutlass in Treasure Island in the same betting instance counts as one bet. If you were to then bet additionally on just Admiral Blackbeard, that would count as a valid second bet, as it’s different from the first. How much you can bet depends on the age of your account; 50 Neopoints plus 2 Neopoints per day from the date your account began. How much you’re allowed to bet steadily increases at the end of each day. Which pirate to bet on, and when not to bet, totally depends on a variety of factors. Each pirate has his own strengths, favourite foods, and yes, even allergies to certain foods. If there’s an arena serving a pirate’s favourite food the next round, he’s more likely to do better; if there’s a food he’s allergic to, it’s a pretty safe assumption that he won’t do as well as his competitors. What a pirate likes (or doesn’t like) is on the Pirates page, while a rundown of the next competition is on the Next Round page. The Courses page will give you an idea of the available foods in Food Club, and what “food type” a meal may be considered and fall under. If this feels like a lot of information to memorize, not to fear. The information is always available on the Food Club page. It’s strongly recommended to write your own chart out that is there for reference – so why not swing by the School Supplies shop in the Neopian Plaza and get started mapping the pirates out? When it comes to placing your bets for the day, it’s important to remember to do so before 1:45 NST. This is because the pirates sit down and begin eating from 1:45 to 2:15 NST (or thereabouts) and subsequently, you can’t bet while they’re chowing down on some grub. Prior to the competition, there’s a friendly Kacheek bookie who will gladly take your daily bets – as mentioned above, the older the account, the more you can bet daily. The maximum total you’re given is the max per bet, and that total is given to you by the bookie so you don’t need to bust out your Scorchio Calculator for a Maths Nightmare. When you’re at the right place, at the right time, with just enough Neopoints in hand, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of who to bet for. Ultimately, it’s going to depend on your risk tolerance – betting across all 5 arenas in a single bet could have a strong payout, but if even one of your bets is wrong, you’ll lose the entire bet. When you click into each arena, you’ll see the potential competitors with their odds breakdown. 2:1 odds are the safest odds – this means that you’ll win 2 Neopoints for every 1 Neopoint bet. The riskiest odds are 13:1 – while a pirate with these odds has been known to win on occasion, it’s not a normal occurrence. This is where understanding a pirate’s strengths, favourite foods, and allergies comes in handy in making your betting decisions for the day. While 2:1 odds and 13:1 odds are both ends of the extreme, the rest of the pirates in the various arenas can have the same odds or anything in-between. Therefore, if there are pirates that are close to each other, for example, Scurvy Dan is sitting at 6:1 odds while Federismo is sitting at 5:1 odds in the same arena, it may be safest to skip that arena totally. Alternatively, you could focus on this arena and bet in only other arenas that have a single 2:1 odds pirate (Gooblah is a fan favourite for this) and play with as many alternate outcomes as you have room for in your daily bets. It’s always a good idea to spread out your bets and try not to include the same pirate for all 10 of your bets for the day, in case there’s an upset. Once you’ve made your selections and decided who (or who not to) bet on, your total odds for that bet will show at the bottom of your betting sheet. For example, if you bet on a pirate with 2:1 odds in 3 different arenas, your odds for that bet particularly would be 6:1 – a 6 Neopoint per 1 Neopoint bet return. While 6:1 may not sound like a lot initially, it’s a good way to rack up Neopoints and walk away from your trip to Krawk Island with a few extra Dubloons rattling around in your pocket. Once the pirates are done and their bellies are full, the outcome for the day is released. Head to the Collect Winnings tab to see how you did – just keep in mind, you win some, and you lose some. It’s a tricky business to figure out, but once you start to get the feel for it, your bank account will climb in no time. If you forget to collect your winnings for the day, not to fear: our favourite Kacheek bookie will hang on to your Neopoints for 7 days. If you come back and collect your winnings on the seventh day, the amount of Neopoints to pick up at once will be your new high score (yes, you can get a trophy from betting on a bunch of hungry deck-swabbers!). Yo ho ho, and good luck on your bets!
|