When we were picking for partners, Adam picked a Queen and I picked an 8. So I was joking that Ed and Mike needed to pick 7 or below. Then when Ed picked a King, I joked that now Mike needed to pick an Ace (or King). And what did Adam draw for Mike, but an Ace! So our fates were indeed sealed.

This is another game where Tichus (or Grand-Tichus) were called on every hand. In fact, it was more extreme, since there were multiple over-calls! On my first hand I was tempted to call Tichu but I had a single 4 and 10 to get rid of. So when Mike called Tichu, I was happy to set him. Unfortunately, our team got no points. So it was 0 to 0 after one round.

Mike’s second Tichu call was late in the hand. So I thought that he was very sure about his ability to go out first. Sadly, it was not meant to be. This left us 100 points more behind. Which meant that we needed to call Grand-Tichu towards the end. And, for Mike’s desperation Grand-Tichu call, I apparently forced him into it. He had 34567TJK with a rainbow of colors. He made it, so I don’t know what he was whining about ;).

For my failed Tichu, I knew it was a risky call. And Ed gave me conformation by over-Tichuing on it.

For my last Grand-Tichu call, I waited until Mike picked up his eight cards before calling it. Luckily, I had the Dog in the last six cards and Mike passed me an Ace. Unfortunately, Ed gained controlled and played Phoenix-J-10-10 and was left with two cards (little did I know they were Ace 2). I was worried that they were a pair and Ed would go out. So, I cratered my hand and played A-A-K-K. I led singles and Ed kept passing out of fear of my Dragon. Adam then plays a King on one of my singles and I could not play the Dragon on it (since I still had singles left). And sadly, I was not able to go out first.

For Adam’s Grand-Tichu wish, I thought that I was in a good position to hurt him. I had an Ace, the Mahjong, and a 6 bomb. My partner passes me the Dragon. I did not plan on making an Ace wish and then immediately bombing. I figured that it was good enough to get one ace out from Adam’s hand and then Dragon it. I would save my bomb for some other winner of Adam’s. Little did I know that Ed was also powerful (he also had a 5 bomb). In fact, Ed went out first and I went out second for the 1/2.

Sometimes it matters which eight cards that you pick up. In the last hand of the game, my last eight cards were the Dragon, Phoenix, two Aces and two middle cards. So I wait until I can play a card. Mike made his usual random wish. This time, it was for a three and I did not have it. So I played a higher card, call Tichu, and hope that it would flush out a possible a three bomb. I had no problems making the Tichu call.

In our game, only one hand had no Tichu calls made. That is a sign that everyone is informed enough on if their hand is a Tichu hand.

This is the first time with Lauren with our group. Unfortunately, Dan is hosing us by not wanting to play Tichu anymore.

Ugh. Failed Tichu calls, lead to failed GrandTichu calls and further sliding down the score track…

Wow, how one sided can a Tichu game get? Not as bad as 3 GrandTichu/12s in a row by one team, but still bad. Anyways, Tichu can be like that at times. We had a first for me. A zero/zero round.

What turned out to be a come from behind win for our team crumbled under the pressure of my Tichu data program. Our team was given 100 too many points early on in the game (we were playing under the assumption that our team was at 115 after my missed Tichu call). Which reminds me that even though you have a strong Tichu hand, an opponent who has a perfect hand will beat you. I played a straight and was left with Dragon, Ace, and Ace. Unfortunately Mike had two straights. One that beat mine and another to go out on.

My Tichu call was risky and fortunately for me my partner, Ed, was able to go over Adam’s plays twice to help me out. That really turned the tide for us and the next hand was a repeat Tichu/12. Adam’s desperation GrandTichu call looked risky from the start. I had two Aces and my partner passes me the Dragon. I was down to three cards (AJJ), the Phoenix and Dragon had been played, and a single was lead. I played my Ace knowing that was good. Unfortunately, Dan bombed me. Adam got back control but was forced to dog Dan. Unfortunately for Adam, Dan had three Kings which were all good.

I made one mistake for my missed Tichu call. I had Dragon+A+A+Q+Q left and led QQ. Dan overtook with AA and worked his way down to leading a full house with one card left. Ed, who had 5 cards left was in an obvious dilemma. If he passes then Dan is out first and I miss my Tichu call. It is obvious that he has a greater full house in his possession. So if he plays it then he sets me. Which he does, for at least, he is able to get the taken tricks of the last place person. I should have played D then AA then QQ. Sigh. On the last hand, we decide not to go for GrandTichu. I have Ace and Phoenix and decide to pass the dog to Ed and call Tichu no matter what. Fortunately, Ed was able to help me go out first! And we got enough points to win the game!!

This game was also weird in that there were a number of hands where one team got 100 points…