Where To Paly Tichu In Net?

Game Strategies: What are the keys to winning Tichu?

• Answer:

  I assume this refers to the game as a whole and not just winning hands on which you called tichu. Some of these tips may seem obvious/general, but they have served me well over many, many hands. 1) Calling tichu appropriately. Tichu can involve large swings in your luck (which is why the game goes all the way to 1000 points), so it is key to recognize when you have a strong hand and capitalize on the good times by calling and making tichu. Be bold. 2) Concentrating firepower. A successful tichu is worth a lot of points, and thus you want to call (and make) tichu a lot. It's much better to finish 1st-4th with tichu called rather than 2nd-3rd. To this end, it's much better to have one outstanding hand and one mediocre hand between your partner and you, rather than two average hands. This means that when I decide what cards to pass to my partner, I either believe that I have a good chance of calling tichu and pass him/her my 3rd worst card, or believe that I have no chance of calling tichu and pass him her my best card in the hope that he/she can be the one to call tichu. 3) Working well with your partner. Everyone has their own style of playing and it is important to know your partner's style well so that you can preempt the card that he/she might pass to you, as well as guess at the card that he/she wants most. This is crucial in the strategy of concentrating firepower, since in order to be successful, both partners essentially need to make the same decision on whose hand to concentrate the good cards in. Also, once a tichu call has been made, achieving tichu should become the #1 priority of the team. This means that if my partner has called tichu, I would have no qualms in destroying my own hand just to ensure that he finishes first. This can often be the difference between a successful and failed tichu call. 4) Knowing your opponents. Similarly, knowing how your opponents play can give you a huge leg up in the card-passing contest. Some people tend to like to get rid of their low singles, which means that there is a good chance that your single 2 or 3 might pair after the cards are passed. 5) Counting cards. Most of the time you are going to remember if the dragon or phoenix has been played, but it is also essential to know how many aces are left in the game, so that you know if your kings are beatable or not. Clearly more card counting can only be beneficial, but there is a limit to what you can remember. I typically tend to keep track of the four special cards, the four aces and the four kings. Also, look out for four card bombs by tracking which cards you lack and have yet to turn up in play. 6) Reading the gameplay. Like bridge, you can get a lot of information about the hands of your partner and your opponents by the early gameplay. Sometimes, people hold massive sets that they are very reluctant to break up, which means that you might be able to sneak through by playing singles. Don't be afraid to change your hand strategy completely in the middle of a hand. Have fun playing!