a wild ryan
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 00:34:54 +0000
I found that the card game is a slow but steady way of earning gold on Gaia when posting seems like a mediocre activity to do. So my intent is to share some tips I found to be helpful in making money from the Gaian card game.
On instructions how to play the Gaian card game, as well other questions about the card game you may find them at Gaia cards FAQ.
About the game:
The game is simple. Your goal is to try to get a total of 21 or less with the acculated total of your cards' cost. Each card has a each card has a different value. A "2 of hearts" and other "2" cards are equivalent to the number two. The same goes for all the cards between 2 to 10. All card cards with a person on it such as Jacks, Queens or Kings are also equivalent to the value 10. The Ace has a special property; It acts as either the digit one or eleven depending on your total. Here's a quick reference~
Ace = 1 or 11
Two = 2
Three = 3
Four = 4
Five = 5
Six = 6
Seven = 7
Eight = 8
Nine = 9
Ten = 10
Jack =10
Queen = 10
King = 10
So therefore your goal is to creat a comination of cards to equal 21 or as close as you can get AS well as have a higher total than the opponent. An example of what a total might be would be
7+4+10 = 21; Ace+Ace+9 = 21 or 6+5+Jack = 21
A special property of Blackjack is that if you have an Ace or any of the 10s on your initial hand of two cards, you automatically win.
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The Cheaters:
The game itself has three opponents: Russell Ace, Jinx and Cardbot. The first two opponents each has a cheating technique named "Pocket Ace" and "Fresh Start" respectively. The final opponent Cardbot has both techniques.
Both you and the opponent has a red bar beneath your pictures. That represents the "cheat bar" and when it is filled the cheat option is enabled. The bar fills whenever you lose adding a significant raise to the bar. I'm not completely sure but I think that when you win, there is a small increase in the cheat bar as well. When your bar is filled, you are given the option to reveal your opponent's hidden card. Depending on your opponent's cheat ability, they produce different effects.
"Pocket Ace" allows you opponent to receive an Ace card when they "hit" for another card. "Fresh Start" allows your opponent to replace their new hand if the second card has not been revealed yet.
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The trip to gaining a profit:
At this point you'll need to know the basics. You bet a certain amount of your tokens and if you win you win double the amount you put in the bet. If you get blackjack, you get three times your bet total.
The amount of tokens I recommend getting is 300 which would cost you 300 gold. It's not a large sum of money and 300 tokens should be sufficient enough for you to do well to beat all three opponents. The reason I recommend 300 tokens is because it will allow you to get ATLEAST 100 bets(each bet of 3 tokens), but if you play your cards right you should be able to get enough winnings to play those if you run out too quickly. By using 3 tokens you maxmize your chances of getting a better payout.
Your goal is to gain total winnings to be a higher payout than your initial token count. In this case you'd want to aim to get above 300 tickets. Each time you defeat an opponent they would award you a certain amount of tickets: Russell Ace gives 25 Tickets, Jinx gives 50 Tickets and Cardbox gives 100 Tickets. So no matter what, you'll be getting 175 Tickets if you can clear your opponents.
When playing you have several options after you're dealt your initial hand of two cards:
"Hit" means you'd like to add an extra card. You may use this selection as many times as you want until your hand total exceeds 21.
"Double Down" means you can play double your original bet and you get to draw one additional card and that is the last time you can ever draw. The end is result is basically like playing 2 games and winnings worth of 2 rounds. For example a winning bet of 3+Double Down = 6 (Your initial win) x 2.
"Stand" means that you choose not to draw at all, which inevitably means you're ending your turn.
So here is generally how I play-- Depending on the hand that I get I choose different selections. A general rule of thumb are as follows:
-If your starting hand is 8 or 9 feel free to add cards with Hit or Double Down. Double Down is a highly pluasible choice because you have approximately 38% chance of getting either a 10 or an Ace to add to your total. A total of 18-20 is a pretty good hand.
-If your values is 10 or 11, I usually select Doubledown because similar to the chances above, I have a good chance of aiming for a 20 or a 21 total.
-Between 12 to 15 things start getting a little tricky. I usually try for a Hit and hope I get a good card for a 21 total. 15 being the grey area of deciding whether or not to Stand.
-16 and 17 are numbers where the decisions are more difficult. There are times where you might want to Hit or Stand. If I feel lucky I'd aim for a Hit, but generally I stand and hope my opponent busts.
-18 to 20 are really good hands. I always stand for any of those options, unless I know I can't beat my opponent.
Keep in mind also that the dealer has to always hit if their total is below 16. Therefore, it means they are usually obligated to bust.
By filling up your cheat meter, you're able to reveal the opponent's hidden card. Sometimes when you need help deciding on which decision you'll take might require that option. My general rule of thumb is to save that cheat option when you need it. If you see the opponent's first card being 6 and under, I'd save your cheat power. Any higher than that, compare it to your total and assume that the second card your opponent has is a 10. If that imagined total is higher than yours, you might consider taking a peek. It's really all up to your judgement at that point.
Whenever there is a "push", it means you and your opponent have tied and the winnings on both sides are placed in a pile. The next person to win the round after would win that push pile. In these situations, using the cheat function is very helpful.
About your tokens and winnings, you should always try and bet by 3s, when you run out of tokens, you can always use your winnings. I try to mix and match and divide about 100 tokens per opponent. When I go beyond that I use my winnings to play for a bit unless I'm going dangerously low.
When you've beaten all thre opponents, congratulate yourself and I recommend cashing outunless you have the persistence to playing more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What to do with your tickets:
Unless you're looking to trade them in for stuff at Prize and joy I usually save them up so that I can sell them in a bundle at the Marketplace. Usually when I complete one round of the card game I get about 450+ in tickets (winnings converted to tickets in this case), but I don't sell them immediately. Rather I wait to play another round of cards with another 300 tokens (or use your winnings) and then by that time I'd have about 900+ of tickets in total.
The reason why I say not to sell them immediately is because when you have a larger bundle in the Marketplace, you tend to get more attention and players will more likely buy from you. The rate you sell the tickets at is really up to you, but be wary-- if you're selling at too high a price, people will look for tickets elsewhere. Depdnings on how much you sell, the average I get from Gaia cards is about 2000 gold. It might not seem much but it builds up quickly and a pretty good profit made from 600 (or 300 if you've got the skill) gold.
So this concludes my guide and I hope you've found it helpful for you. I wanted to also note that this isn't a full-proof method of winning but this will probably help your chances (plus provide you with entertainment). If you have any further questions or comments, please post them here or contact me.
Good luck everyone and have fun!
On instructions how to play the Gaian card game, as well other questions about the card game you may find them at Gaia cards FAQ.
About the game:
The game is simple. Your goal is to try to get a total of 21 or less with the acculated total of your cards' cost. Each card has a each card has a different value. A "2 of hearts" and other "2" cards are equivalent to the number two. The same goes for all the cards between 2 to 10. All card cards with a person on it such as Jacks, Queens or Kings are also equivalent to the value 10. The Ace has a special property; It acts as either the digit one or eleven depending on your total. Here's a quick reference~
Ace = 1 or 11
Two = 2
Three = 3
Four = 4
Five = 5
Six = 6
Seven = 7
Eight = 8
Nine = 9
Ten = 10
Jack =10
Queen = 10
King = 10
So therefore your goal is to creat a comination of cards to equal 21 or as close as you can get AS well as have a higher total than the opponent. An example of what a total might be would be
7+4+10 = 21; Ace+Ace+9 = 21 or 6+5+Jack = 21
A special property of Blackjack is that if you have an Ace or any of the 10s on your initial hand of two cards, you automatically win.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cheaters:
The game itself has three opponents: Russell Ace, Jinx and Cardbot. The first two opponents each has a cheating technique named "Pocket Ace" and "Fresh Start" respectively. The final opponent Cardbot has both techniques.
Both you and the opponent has a red bar beneath your pictures. That represents the "cheat bar" and when it is filled the cheat option is enabled. The bar fills whenever you lose adding a significant raise to the bar. I'm not completely sure but I think that when you win, there is a small increase in the cheat bar as well. When your bar is filled, you are given the option to reveal your opponent's hidden card. Depending on your opponent's cheat ability, they produce different effects.
"Pocket Ace" allows you opponent to receive an Ace card when they "hit" for another card. "Fresh Start" allows your opponent to replace their new hand if the second card has not been revealed yet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The trip to gaining a profit:
At this point you'll need to know the basics. You bet a certain amount of your tokens and if you win you win double the amount you put in the bet. If you get blackjack, you get three times your bet total.
The amount of tokens I recommend getting is 300 which would cost you 300 gold. It's not a large sum of money and 300 tokens should be sufficient enough for you to do well to beat all three opponents. The reason I recommend 300 tokens is because it will allow you to get ATLEAST 100 bets(each bet of 3 tokens), but if you play your cards right you should be able to get enough winnings to play those if you run out too quickly. By using 3 tokens you maxmize your chances of getting a better payout.
Your goal is to gain total winnings to be a higher payout than your initial token count. In this case you'd want to aim to get above 300 tickets. Each time you defeat an opponent they would award you a certain amount of tickets: Russell Ace gives 25 Tickets, Jinx gives 50 Tickets and Cardbox gives 100 Tickets. So no matter what, you'll be getting 175 Tickets if you can clear your opponents.
When playing you have several options after you're dealt your initial hand of two cards:
"Hit" means you'd like to add an extra card. You may use this selection as many times as you want until your hand total exceeds 21.
"Double Down" means you can play double your original bet and you get to draw one additional card and that is the last time you can ever draw. The end is result is basically like playing 2 games and winnings worth of 2 rounds. For example a winning bet of 3+Double Down = 6 (Your initial win) x 2.
"Stand" means that you choose not to draw at all, which inevitably means you're ending your turn.
So here is generally how I play-- Depending on the hand that I get I choose different selections. A general rule of thumb are as follows:
-If your starting hand is 8 or 9 feel free to add cards with Hit or Double Down. Double Down is a highly pluasible choice because you have approximately 38% chance of getting either a 10 or an Ace to add to your total. A total of 18-20 is a pretty good hand.
-If your values is 10 or 11, I usually select Doubledown because similar to the chances above, I have a good chance of aiming for a 20 or a 21 total.
-Between 12 to 15 things start getting a little tricky. I usually try for a Hit and hope I get a good card for a 21 total. 15 being the grey area of deciding whether or not to Stand.
-16 and 17 are numbers where the decisions are more difficult. There are times where you might want to Hit or Stand. If I feel lucky I'd aim for a Hit, but generally I stand and hope my opponent busts.
-18 to 20 are really good hands. I always stand for any of those options, unless I know I can't beat my opponent.
Keep in mind also that the dealer has to always hit if their total is below 16. Therefore, it means they are usually obligated to bust.
By filling up your cheat meter, you're able to reveal the opponent's hidden card. Sometimes when you need help deciding on which decision you'll take might require that option. My general rule of thumb is to save that cheat option when you need it. If you see the opponent's first card being 6 and under, I'd save your cheat power. Any higher than that, compare it to your total and assume that the second card your opponent has is a 10. If that imagined total is higher than yours, you might consider taking a peek. It's really all up to your judgement at that point.
Whenever there is a "push", it means you and your opponent have tied and the winnings on both sides are placed in a pile. The next person to win the round after would win that push pile. In these situations, using the cheat function is very helpful.
About your tokens and winnings, you should always try and bet by 3s, when you run out of tokens, you can always use your winnings. I try to mix and match and divide about 100 tokens per opponent. When I go beyond that I use my winnings to play for a bit unless I'm going dangerously low.
When you've beaten all thre opponents, congratulate yourself and I recommend cashing outunless you have the persistence to playing more.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What to do with your tickets:
Unless you're looking to trade them in for stuff at Prize and joy I usually save them up so that I can sell them in a bundle at the Marketplace. Usually when I complete one round of the card game I get about 450+ in tickets (winnings converted to tickets in this case), but I don't sell them immediately. Rather I wait to play another round of cards with another 300 tokens (or use your winnings) and then by that time I'd have about 900+ of tickets in total.
The reason why I say not to sell them immediately is because when you have a larger bundle in the Marketplace, you tend to get more attention and players will more likely buy from you. The rate you sell the tickets at is really up to you, but be wary-- if you're selling at too high a price, people will look for tickets elsewhere. Depdnings on how much you sell, the average I get from Gaia cards is about 2000 gold. It might not seem much but it builds up quickly and a pretty good profit made from 600 (or 300 if you've got the skill) gold.
So this concludes my guide and I hope you've found it helpful for you. I wanted to also note that this isn't a full-proof method of winning but this will probably help your chances (plus provide you with entertainment). If you have any further questions or comments, please post them here or contact me.
Good luck everyone and have fun!
