Lunch session: Flaschenteufel

Rob I, Jim I, Chris L

Previoulsly, Rob had only played a few hands of Flaschenteufel and really didn't like it. Since we had 3 players today, we talked him into giving it another try... and then we made him lead the first trick of the first hand. He plunked the 15 yellow out there, and immediately realized that it was a bad play because Jim and I both got rid of low yellows. Rob was stuck with the only low yellow left and eventually ended up with the bottle. Rob ended up with the bottle the second hand as well, although it wasn't apparent that he had done anything wrong. I believe I got stuck with the bottle in hands 3 and 5 and Rob got it hand 4. We finally managed to get Jim the final hand (due to a bad play on his part), but he still won the game handily.

I think I underestimate the power of short suiting yourself in blue or red in this game. Jim short suited himself consistently and was able to dodge the bottle nearly every hand. If he hadn't misplayed the last hand he would have dodged it again. Next time we play, I will short suit myself every hand if it's at all possible (unless I have a lot of low yellows).