Today was a good day at 42. I made a 2 mark bid. And I was able to set a 37 point bid after bidding 36.

Its good that I can at least play 42. Of course, I would much rather play Tichu. But that seems to be life for the moment. The 42 group is actually pretty successful. They play all five days of the week. And they have an attendance of 4-9 people per day.

42 does have some problems. This is another game where the luck of the shuffle exists. Sometimes, you just get dealt bad “cards” or bones as they are called in this game. Other negatives about this game:

• 1) The round is over quickly. Sometimes before all of the bones have been played. Either the other team has been set, or your team claims the round. This can be confusing if you are a beginner. Every one else agreed with the analysis and you are still trying to figure out what happened.
• 2) The group uses two varients that make the play even easier. The first is the lead off variant. You can turn a weak bone into a stronger one by leading it as the opposite of what it would normally be. If you have the 2:2 and the 6:2, you can lead the 6:2 as a two (2:6). This converts the weak 6 bone into a winning 2 bone. The second is the splash/plunge variant. If your partner has 3 or more doubles, then they can call splash (with 3) or plunge (with 4 or more). It is assumed that they have the double 6. If the bid succeeds, then you get to call trump and lead. You lead your winners and then transfer control over to your partner with a 6.
• 3) A game is only 7 marks (the number of strokes to write “ALL”). A bid can be more than one mark which only makes it over quicker.
• 4) This group loves to play the “put away game”. This is not related to 42. They turn the act of putting the bones back into the container as a game. On your turn, if you have the lowest bone, you put it in the box. Otherwise you draw a bone from someone else. This turns into a major mind game with a lot of kingmaking thrown in. Not my type of game. They could have played another round of 42 in the time that it took them to put the game away.