Slight bias in the game?

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Mesprilla
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Joined: 26 August 2020, 19:37

Slight bias in the game?

Post by Mesprilla »

So, when I started playing this here, I did very well. I was very lucky with my hands, choices for cards to put into box was easy (not always, but the majority of the time - generally speaking, I had hands that gave me a good count, and if I kept the max, I still had decent cards to put into my own box to score at least a few points), and if I gambled on a turn up, 9/10 I got it. I got up to 300odd points very easily and quickly. And then I got disconnected after there was a power cut in my town. Since then, I've had mostly bad hands, no patterns to them and if I gamble, there is never a good turn up. My boxes are usually 2 or 4 points (and yeah, I know that that is a lot down to the opposing player, but if my own hands aren't good, I can't put cards in my own box that would help, but when I need to put cards into the opponents box, I usually have to provide them with a gift of a matching pair at least, in order to retain the max value in my own hand).

I find it hard to believe that there is some kind of fix, but given I've dropped down from 300 to 100ish in roughly 4 games does make me rather suspicious.
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RicardoRix
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Joined: 29 April 2012, 23:43

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by RicardoRix »

You've played 26 games and currently ranked 164, and your highest was 260 which was a short sharp peak.

You might have got lucky early on when your K-factor was higher and perhaps stumbled upon easier opponents to defeat, and/or you've had stronger players recently that have an abnormally low ELO as they climb up the ranks.

Nothing particularly suspicious.

There is no built-in catch-up mechanism in the card draw if that's what you're implying.
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Giordano Bruno 1974
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Joined: 28 April 2020, 19:56

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by Giordano Bruno 1974 »

When a game is new on the site, there may a lot of players who aren't very good (because they don't really understand the game) and are easy pickings. Obviously once the game has been on the system, a lot of those players will have either stopped playing or got good.
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Mesprilla
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Joined: 26 August 2020, 19:37

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by Mesprilla »

yeah, no. I get that there may be not so good players at the start. But there is a difference between playing with better/not so good players, and changing from getting hands that gave very easy decisions on what to throw away (eg, 6,7,7,8,K,3, or K,Q,J,5,2,A) to getting hands with nothing linkable in them (eg, A,2,6,8,J,K) all the time, and my opponents getting the type of hands I was getting previously. I've gone from regularly scoring 18 per hand, to being lucky if I score 4

Yeah, knew it was around 300 - I got disconnected from a game I was winning by 15odd points, but that would have taken me up to 280/290. I had only just hit 260, after winning most games (not all, just most) when the power cut hit. I've dropped from 260 down to whatever I am now in very few games - if I was playing people that much better than me, I'd not have lost so many points as far as I understand things? Or do you lose heaps of points if you lose to a much higher ranked player, which is rather unfair if so.

Regardless, I'll not play again I guess. I prefer real life games without so many chances to get good hands, and both players having the same chance. Was nice when I thought it'd be like real life, sad it isn't. Hey ho.
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RicardoRix
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Joined: 29 April 2012, 23:43

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by RicardoRix »

Mesprilla wrote: 12 January 2021, 14:41 Regardless, I'll not play again I guess. I prefer real life games without so many chances to get good hands, and both players having the same chance. Was nice when I thought it'd be like real life, sad it isn't. Hey ho.
It is just like real-life, if you shuffle the deck correctly. Sad you can't see that. Hey ho.
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frogstar_A
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Joined: 30 April 2020, 00:41

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by frogstar_A »

Mesprilla wrote: 12 January 2021, 14:41
Regardless, I'll not play again I guess. I prefer real life games without so many chances to get good hands, and both players having the same chance. Was nice when I thought it'd be like real life, sad it isn't. Hey ho.
So you think real life cards are unbiased, but somehow BGA is biased?! Sounds more just like you had a few good games and then a few tougher ones.

I see the same thing on the forum for Yahtzee and Can’t Stop ... “why is BGA favouring my opponent? Why are the rolls not like real dice?”

Generally it’s just the 1,000 people who have average luck don’t post and the 1 person who has something wacky happen declares the whole game a fix, when it isn’t - it’s just random.
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Levydrogo
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Joined: 08 September 2020, 22:49

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by Levydrogo »

I have to agree with Mesprilla, in that the hands are unbelievable. I have played ‘real’ cribbage for over 40 years with family, in local pub/club competitions and with friends and I have never seen the hands turn up like they do on bga. I’ve been on both giving and receiving end of these hands and it has spoilt the experience. Just my 2p worth.
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RicardoRix
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Joined: 29 April 2012, 23:43

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by RicardoRix »

Levydrogo wrote: 25 January 2021, 10:13 I have to agree with Mesprilla, in that the hands are unbelievable. I have played ‘real’ cribbage for over 40 years with family, in local pub/club competitions and with friends and I have never seen the hands turn up like they do on bga. I’ve been on both giving and receiving end of these hands and it has spoilt the experience. Just my 2p worth.
Can you give us any details?

A deck doesn't know it's playing a game of crib any more than a computer generating random numbers.

How does years of experience of a game let you know if a deck has been shuffled correctly?
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Levydrogo
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Joined: 08 September 2020, 22:49

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by Levydrogo »

I’m not a mathematician/statistician, but the number of times ‘unusual’ hands come up and are then complimented by a ‘lucky’ turn of the cards appears far more regular than I have encountered playing the game. As it should be the same for both players, then it shouldn’t be a problem if players are happy with that.
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RicardoRix
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Joined: 29 April 2012, 23:43

Re: Slight bias in the game?

Post by RicardoRix »

The deck 'shuffle' algorithm doesn't know it's playing crib, so it doesn't know what a lucky or unlucky hand is to create one.
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