Off Topic · OT: Anyone Into Online Chess? (page 1)

Maybe we could start a UK tournament for the offseason. Chess.com would be great to use and also has a great phone app that can be used for users on the go.

Is this speed cheese involving a timer?

meloshouldgo wrote:Is this speed cheese involving a timer?

Depends on the level and preference of people interested. Personally though, I like to play same-day games that are capped at 3-5 minutes. But if it's better for people's schedules to play 1 move every 3 days (the maximum), I'd be willing to do that as well.

I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

How about an online Poker Tournament?

mreinman wrote:

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

How about an online Poker Tournament?

Do you need money? I just learned the rules to Texas Hold'em today and would be willing to play....if no money was involved. Chess would be a different story.

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

I know the feeling. I picked up the game when I was 8 years old for a year and didn't play another game until I was 21. I've played off and on sparingly since then but have really found a groove in it as of late. I'm giving serious thought to entering a tournament in a few months and thought I could use some practice.

As for poker, I honestly thought about including that in the list of things we could do during the offseason. I just learned the rules to Texas Hold'em and was looking to develop my skills in it. Just to clarify, Texas Hold'em isn't any different from poker, right?

NardDogNation wrote:

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

I know the feeling. I picked up the game when I was 8 years old for a year and didn't play another game until I was 21. I've played off and on sparingly since then but have really found a groove in it as of late. I'm giving serious thought to entering a tournament in a few months and thought I could use some practice.

As for poker, I honestly thought about including that in the list of things we could do during the offseason. I just learned the rules to Texas Hold'em and was looking to develop my skills in it. Just to clarify, Texas Hold'em isn't any different from poker, right?

Wait, did you or didn't you learn the rules The two games are similar but not the same.

In Hold'em every player gets 2 secret cards of their own, called their hole cards, and there are 5 community cards that everyone uses, and 4 rounds of betting. The 1st round everyone gets there hold cards; the 2nd round the first 3 community cards are put on the board; the 3rd round is the fourth community card; and the 4th round is the last community card. After each round you can choose to not bet, called a check, bet, or fold. If someone bets then everyone else has the chance to match the bet, called a "call", raise the bet, or fold. If, after the 4th round of betting there are at least two players still that haven't folded they will show their hole cards and whoever has the best 5-card hand wins the pot; if there is a tie then the pot is split. The order of hands goes:

High card: The highest card on the board with 2 being lowest and Ace begin highest.

1 pair: Two cards with the same face value, i.e. two 4s or two Kings. If both players have 1 pair then the person with the higher pair wins, i.e. a pair of 8s is better than a pair of 5s. If both players have the same pair than the player with the high card wins, i.e. 7-7-K-Q-J would beat 7-7-K-Q-10 because J is higher than 10 but 7-7-K-Q-J would lose to 7-7-A-2-3 because A is higher than K.

2 pair: It's 1 pair times 2.

3 of a kind: Same as 1 pair except you have 3 of the same card instead of 2.

Straight: 5 cards in numerical order with A being both the lowest and highest card. So someone can have an A-2-3-4-5 straight and someone else can have a 10-J-Q-K-A straight but the person with the 10-J-Q-K-A straight would win because it's a higher straight. Straights aren't a continuous loop. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

Flush: 5 cards of the same suit. If 2 or more players have a flush then it goes to high card with 2 being lowest and A being highest. There's no ranking of suits.

Full house aka "a boat": 1 pair + 3 of a kind. If 2 or more players have a full house then the player with the highest 3 of a kind wins. If they have the same 3 of a kind then the player with the highest pair wins.

4 of a kind: Same as 3 of a kind except with 4 cards.

Straight flush: 5 cards in numerical order that are all the same suit; a combination of a straight and a flush.

I'd be down for either tournament, though I'd suck at chess since I've never played and only know the absolute basics of the game.

I'd be interested in chess. I play on my phone and tablet.

VCoug wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

I know the feeling. I picked up the game when I was 8 years old for a year and didn't play another game until I was 21. I've played off and on sparingly since then but have really found a groove in it as of late. I'm giving serious thought to entering a tournament in a few months and thought I could use some practice.

As for poker, I honestly thought about including that in the list of things we could do during the offseason. I just learned the rules to Texas Hold'em and was looking to develop my skills in it. Just to clarify, Texas Hold'em isn't any different from poker, right?

Wait, did you or didn't you learn the rules The two games are similar but not the same.

In Hold'em every player gets 2 secret cards of their own, called their hole cards, and there are 5 community cards that everyone uses, and 4 rounds of betting. The 1st round everyone gets there hold cards; the 2nd round the first 3 community cards are put on the board; the 3rd round is the fourth community card; and the 4th round is the last community card. After each round you can choose to not bet, called a check, bet, or fold. If someone bets then everyone else has the chance to match the bet, called a "call", raise the bet, or fold. If, after the 4th round of betting there are at least two players still that haven't folded they will show their hole cards and whoever has the best 5-card hand wins the pot; if there is a tie then the pot is split. The order of hands goes:

High card: The highest card on the board with 2 being lowest and Ace begin highest.

1 pair: Two cards with the same face value, i.e. two 4s or two Kings. If both players have 1 pair then the person with the higher pair wins, i.e. a pair of 8s is better than a pair of 5s. If both players have the same pair than the player with the high card wins, i.e. 7-7-K-Q-J would beat 7-7-K-Q-10 because J is higher than 10 but 7-7-K-Q-J would lose to 7-7-A-2-3 because A is higher than K.

2 pair: It's 1 pair times 2.

3 of a kind: Same as 1 pair except you have 3 of the same card instead of 2.

Straight: 5 cards in numerical order with A being both the lowest and highest card. So someone can have an A-2-3-4-5 straight and someone else can have a 10-J-Q-K-A straight but the person with the 10-J-Q-K-A straight would win because it's a higher straight. Straights aren't a continuous loop. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

Flush: 5 cards of the same suit. If 2 or more players have a flush then it goes to high card with 2 being lowest and A being highest. There's no ranking of suits.

Full house aka "a boat": 1 pair + 3 of a kind. If 2 or more players have a full house then the player with the highest 3 of a kind wins. If they have the same 3 of a kind then the player with the highest pair wins.

4 of a kind: Same as 3 of a kind except with 4 cards.

Straight flush: 5 cards in numerical order that are all the same suit; a combination of a straight and a flush.

I'd be down for either tournament, though I'd suck at chess since I've never played and only know the absolute basics of the game.

I know Hold'Em. Been doing well enough in it. Don't know about poker though. Always assumed the two were synonymous.

When I had health problems roughly ten years ago--I mustve played over 10k games of chess online--it was a great help for years--I havent even played --I dont believe since 2009.

NardDogNation wrote:

VCoug wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

H1AND1 wrote:I used to be into chess big time about 10 years ago but gave it up when online poker went bigtime (semi pro poker player was more lucrative than non-pro chess player, LOL). But I'd be down to play if this got going! I was just thinking recently how it'd be fun to get back into it. They've been teaching it to my kids at school which is what gave me the jones to play again.

I was never a big fan of speed/short timed games but whatever people preferred I would be fine with.

I know the feeling. I picked up the game when I was 8 years old for a year and didn't play another game until I was 21. I've played off and on sparingly since then but have really found a groove in it as of late. I'm giving serious thought to entering a tournament in a few months and thought I could use some practice.

As for poker, I honestly thought about including that in the list of things we could do during the offseason. I just learned the rules to Texas Hold'em and was looking to develop my skills in it. Just to clarify, Texas Hold'em isn't any different from poker, right?

Wait, did you or didn't you learn the rules The two games are similar but not the same.

In Hold'em every player gets 2 secret cards of their own, called their hole cards, and there are 5 community cards that everyone uses, and 4 rounds of betting. The 1st round everyone gets there hold cards; the 2nd round the first 3 community cards are put on the board; the 3rd round is the fourth community card; and the 4th round is the last community card. After each round you can choose to not bet, called a check, bet, or fold. If someone bets then everyone else has the chance to match the bet, called a "call", raise the bet, or fold. If, after the 4th round of betting there are at least two players still that haven't folded they will show their hole cards and whoever has the best 5-card hand wins the pot; if there is a tie then the pot is split. The order of hands goes:

High card: The highest card on the board with 2 being lowest and Ace begin highest.

1 pair: Two cards with the same face value, i.e. two 4s or two Kings. If both players have 1 pair then the person with the higher pair wins, i.e. a pair of 8s is better than a pair of 5s. If both players have the same pair than the player with the high card wins, i.e. 7-7-K-Q-J would beat 7-7-K-Q-10 because J is higher than 10 but 7-7-K-Q-J would lose to 7-7-A-2-3 because A is higher than K.

2 pair: It's 1 pair times 2.

3 of a kind: Same as 1 pair except you have 3 of the same card instead of 2.

Straight: 5 cards in numerical order with A being both the lowest and highest card. So someone can have an A-2-3-4-5 straight and someone else can have a 10-J-Q-K-A straight but the person with the 10-J-Q-K-A straight would win because it's a higher straight. Straights aren't a continuous loop. Q-K-A-2-3 is not a straight.

Flush: 5 cards of the same suit. If 2 or more players have a flush then it goes to high card with 2 being lowest and A being highest. There's no ranking of suits.

Full house aka "a boat": 1 pair + 3 of a kind. If 2 or more players have a full house then the player with the highest 3 of a kind wins. If they have the same 3 of a kind then the player with the highest pair wins.

4 of a kind: Same as 3 of a kind except with 4 cards.

Straight flush: 5 cards in numerical order that are all the same suit; a combination of a straight and a flush.

I'd be down for either tournament, though I'd suck at chess since I've never played and only know the absolute basics of the game.

I know Hold'Em. Been doing well enough in it. Don't know about poker though. Always assumed the two were synonymous.

Ah. I wouldn't worry about that. There are a whole different varieties of poker, 3-card, 5-card, stud, draw, and hold'em is just on more variety. Basically, if the game uses the same type of hands that hold'em uses it's some kind of poker.

Haven't played in a while. I'd play speed - 5 minutes per game per player - but not at regular tournament speed I don't have the patience to do that online.

Count me in on both Poker and Chess.....

I haven't played chess in a while, but if you sleep, I'll beat you in 4 moves....

There's several online poker sites.....One of my favorite is Zinga, which you can download and play on your phone.
You can setup private rooms and invite people. This is true for any poker site! I'm talking free poker. Money poker is only in person for me!

So just to confirm, we've got the following for chess: BRIGGS, myself, blkexec, Oldfan, H1AND1 and JesseDark. Am I missing anyone? If things stay the same, I'll start drawing up brackets. With so few people, maybe we could do the best of 3 for each round before one could advance. It also sounds like no one objects to playing 5 minute games (for each player), so maybe that could be our format. Let's confirm things by Friday whenever you guys get the chance. From there, I'll let you guys know who you'd be facing; the time can be individually negotiated to suit everyone's schedule.

I'm assuming that the same group would be interested in poker plus VCoug and mreinman. I've already downloaded the app that blkexec suggested, so maybe that could be our platform. Since I'm new to the game though, would anyone else be interested in assuming point?

P.S., who does the Alba brackets? Those were beautiful (the girls too).

I might be up for playing. Could be fun. Certainly if you play poker, I'm down. :)

Solace wrote:I might be up for playing. Could be fun. Certainly if you play poker, I'm down. :)

Cool, I'll add you to both lists. I'm hoping that someone else joins to even things out.

i'll bust that ass in chess all day