Tower of God - 8F

[Fragos]

What's up, everyone? As you might know already, I decided to bring some changes in this Tower. The main change is that everyone will be allowed to participate in the tests! However, anyone who wants to join the upcoming test must now sign up in order to be able to participate in the test. Than includes current active regulars, too - you must sign up or you will miss the chance to participate in the test. Now, here is something I would like to propose to you...

Tower of God 8F - Blind Signups

This is pretty simple. You can sign up for the upcoming test before the rules of that test are announnced. This one will test your willingess to go in the great unknown. All you have to do is to sign-up for the upcoming test without knowing the rules of that test first. I'm going to announce the real test's rules in a few days, so until then, the Blind Signups will be active. The main advantage of joining the test during Blind Signups is that you can gain additional Test Points, but only if you have succesfully passed the test. Losing the upcoming test will force you to skip the next test regardless of your Test Points,, but only if you joined in during the Blind Signups. Joining the test after Blind Signups and failing it afterwards will not give you such a penalty. So, I'm inviting you to the next test of Tower of God!

No, the upcoming test has no connections to M-FM Batman or whatsover. This avatar is just a coincidence.

[Numbertwo]

sign

[SuperJack]

/sign

[AppleyNO]

sign-up

[powerofdeath]

/sign

[Nick]

Yay. Express train to 8F.

/sign

[Fragos]

The Blind Sign-ups are over! Now it's time for you to announce the rules of the next test. The open sign-ups are here right now!

Tower of God - 8F: Poker Auction

In this test we will be using standard 52 playing cards that are commonly used in poker games. You know, those cards with 13 ranks of four French suits - clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. There will be around 52 cards total, but depending on the number of participating regulars, a wild card "Joker" might also be possibly included in this test.



As you might have probably guessed, your goal in this test is form a decent poker hand. The common poker hands (in the order of weakest to strongest) are: High card, One pair, Two pair, Three of a kind, Straight, Flush, Full house, Four of a kind, Straight flush and Royal flush. Another hand, Five of a kind is only possible if the Joker card is also included in the deck. So, how you can collect cards for your hand?

The answer is really simple: Through auction. You remember the Human Auction we tried on 7F? This time the currency in this test will not be the Test Points - everyone starts with $100. The entire test will be split into 11 periods. Up to 5 cards will be placed for trade during each period, and players can bid on each card individually. You can place multiple bids during a single period - for example, if there are 2 cards that you want, you just need to place 2 separate bids on those cards and hope that no one can outbid you. The starting bid is 5$ for Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks, 10$ for Joker, and 3$ for all other cards. Just $1 difference is enough to outbid your opponent. But make sure not to throw away most of your money for one particular card, or you will be most likely be unable to outbid others while trying to purchase the remaining cards for your hand.

Your objective of this test is to purchase 5 cards from the auction. You can then arrange the cards you purchased to form your poker hand. Remember that you must purchase 5 cards in order for your hand to be completed, otherwise you will fail this test and lose half of your Test Points (or 100 Test Points, whichever is greater). For example, having just 4 cards in your hand will not allow you to pass this test, even if those cards are Four of a Kind. You need all five cards. Your hand also cannot contain more then five cards - once you have bought five cards, you can't make any futher bids and must wait until the test is finished.

Check the Wikipedia article "List of Poker hands" to give you better understanding on how to make poker hands. Regulars who have succesfully completed one of the following hands will receive a certain amount of Test Points:

Five of a Kind - 1000 TP
Royal Flush - 800 TP
Straight Flush - 700 TP
Four of a Kind - 600 TP
Full House - 500 TP
Flush - 400 TP
Straight - 300 TP
Three of a Kind - 200 TP
Two Pair - 100 TP
One Pair - 50 TP

Having just High Card will not cause you to gain any Test Points, but you will also not lose then if your High Card is stronger than anyone else's High Card. And that brings us to the main rule that will make this test more challenging.

For each type of poker hand, only the person holding the strongest rank of cards can pass this test. Let's say two regulars made Three of Kings and Three of 7s each. Due to this rule, only the person with Three Kings can pass this test. The other person will fail this test and lose Test Points as the result. So, when you build your hand, ensure that other regulars are not building the same kind of hand as you do, or try to make your hand's rank stronger. You can also purposely buy cards that can disrupt your potential opponent's flow - for example if you are building Four of a Kind with 5s and other regular is just a few cards short from Four of 8s, you can just simply bid on one of 8s as your fifth card - to prevent him from forming his Four of a kind. Likewise, if your Four of a Kind can be possibly ruined, you can also try for one of the weaker hands - such as Full House or Two Pair. But once again, ensure that your hand will be stronger then anyone else's hand of the same type.

Note that this rule was specifically made to prevent regulars from collecting the same kind of hand (without it, each regular would have easily construsted his own Four of a Kind, for example). If you manage to form your hand but lose to other person who has the stronger hand of the same type, then you will lose Test Points equal to the difficulty of your hand:

Royal Flush/Straight Flush - 500 TP
Four of a Kind - 400 TP
Full House - 300 TP
Flush - 250 TP
Straight - 250 TP
Three of a Kind - 200 TP
Two Pair - 100 TP
One Pair - 100 TP
High Card - 100 TP

On top of that, if someone manages to sucessfully form Five of a Kind, all other regulars will lose 100 Test Points as the result. Note that Royal Flush and Straight Flush are hands of the SAME type. So if you try to build Straight Flush and someone else build Royal Flush, and you will undoubltely lose the test. Straight Flush is very difficult to construgh anyway, as you will most likely unable to disrupt your opponents flow while trying to wait for specific cards. If things go wrong, just switch to Flush or Straight if possible. Becuase of this rule, only up to 8 regulars can actually earn Test Points and pass this test (and I am counting Five of a Kind here too).

Be aware that of no one bids on a card it will stay in the pool. There are 52 cards in total (not counting the Joker), so it will be enough to fill 10 hands. If, for example no one purchases at least 3 cards during auction periods, then one regular will end up with just 4 cards in his hands at the end of the test. Will that person be you? You have been warned. I might add a Joker, but only if there will be 11 or more participants. But even with that, only 10 hands can be completed, and only up to 8 regulars can earn Test Points. Because "there won't be just enough for everyone", expect a HEAVY competition in this test, especially regarding stronger hands. Try to follow with weaker hand that no one else would build (such as One Pair or Straight).

Like the Note of Death, this test will be very challenging. People will not "die" here, but it still will be a sizeable challenge for you. It is possible to use cooperation in order to make it through test, but genereally your primary goal should be to make your hand as strong as possible to have better odds of prevailing in this test.

The test is scheduled to start on the next weekend, so get yourself prepared! Ask any questions if nessesary.

[powerofdeath]

Do we know if our cards get outbidded?

[Fragos]

Do we know if our cards get outbidded?

Oh, I almost forgot about you. So since you signed up during Blind Signups already, then I'll deduce 100 Test Points from AppleyNO to allow you to participate in the test. Rest accured, all bids will be public. You bid on cards like this, for example:

I bid $25 on the Jack of Spades.

And bids will keep going until the bidding period ends. Think carefully about your future poker hands. As the test progresses, don't try to buy a card you like too early, but don't be late with your bids either, bause there will be less cards remaining for trade!

With this, there are now 5 participants in Auction Poker already. Of course I would like to see more. Since M-FM Batman is not planning to start right now, we might use this test to kill our time until Cryptonic manages to gather enough people somehow.

[AppleyNO]

Jack of Spades

I don't think we would want him.

[Fragos]

As a reminder, everyone on this site can join this test. Except for select few who have previously lost in the Note of Death. Apache, Ika, Frog, where are you? We are expecting you to join as well! ^^

[Fragos]

The test ig going to start on this weekend. Even with just 5 regulars, I can still make up a decent challenge (although with the less number of cards). But I'm sure we can arrange even more.

Come on, don't you have anything else to do? ^^

[Fragos]

Do you want to start this test on thies weekend or at a later date? The current participants are:

Numbertwo
SuperJack
AppleyNO
powerofdeath
Nick

[AppleyNO]

I'm up for whenever.

[Tonex]

/sign

[Nick]

Whenever.

[Fragos]

I'm going to start the test tomorrow. You have 24 hours left before the sign-ups are closed. I'm addition to that, there will be an additional challenge that you will also have to deal with in order to complete this test.

I, myself, will also take part in Poker Auction, and just like other regulars, I will use the same starting amount of money. But, in addition to the ganareal rules listed above, at least one regular must collect a better hand than my own. If nobody manages to form stronger hand than mine, then everyone will fail this test and lose 500 Test Points, even if your everyone's remaining hands meet the nessesary criteria. On top of that, if your hand has the same type as mine, you will need to ensure that your hand is stronger - the same rules will apply as well, otherwise you will lose this test. And I might try to complet with one of your hands on purpose, so watch out! I'm going to show you and example of hands soon to demonstrate you possible results after all rounds are over (with 7 players).

[Fragos]

Let's say in this test there woulbe be 7 players, including myself. In that case, only 36 cards, starting from 6s, will be used in Poker Auction. Note that you can, for example buy Queen of Clubs first, then the rest of cards for Royal Flush later - and it will still count as Royal Flush if all nessesary cards are in your hand!

Regular No 1's hand:



Regular No. 2's hand:



Regular No. 3's hand:



Regular No 4's hand:



Regular No. 5's hand:



Regular No. 6's hand:



Regular No. 7's hand:



Take a good look at those hands if you please. Let's just say those were the hands of regulars that have finished this test.

Regular No. 1 has the strongest hand - Royal Flush! If that person would be me, everyone would lose the test for sure. But if you are the lucky person, congratulations! You have earned the maximum amount of points possible in this test!

Regular No. 2's hand is Four of a Kind. He will earn a decent amount of Test points for creating such a difficult hand. If I end up in Regular No. 2's place, don't worry - as long as there is at least 1 regular that has dtronger hand than mine, you should be able to pass this test!

Regular No. 3's hand is Full House. But so is Regular No. 4's hand! Unfortunately, No. 3 has King-High Full house - because three of a kind on his part of Full House are kings - higher then 7-high Full house of Regular No. 4. So, No 3 can pass this test, while Regular No. 4 fails this test - for being unable to make stronger Full house. He should have tried better to buy that ace instead of one of the 7s...

Regular No. 5's hand is just Straight. His hand competes with Regular No. 5, who also has Straight. But No. 6's Straight is Queen-high, so No. 5 loses the test in the same way as No. 4.

Regular No. 7's hand is nothing but Ace-high. It can't be ranked for points! Since we are not expecting 10 or more players, constructing such a bad hand will also end in your failure. Depending on the circumstances, I might also exclude One-Pair set as well, so keep that in mind!

[Fragos]

Well, since we are not seeing any more sign-ups now, it's better to start the test as soon as possible. Those of you tho are not participatining in this test should watch thise game closely - because I might restart this test again with different regulars. And so, let's begin the first period of...

Tower of God - 8F: Poker Auction

In the first period there will be the following cards availible for trade:



You may now place your first bids on any of the following cards. If no one places a bid on a card during the next 48 hours, that card will remain in the pool. If too many cards end up being untraded, then someone will be eventually unable to construct his hand of 5 cards. Every card here is valuable, so make good use of then! And don't forget that you can place multiple bids at the same time. You can even try to buy all 5 cards here separetely, but that will only turn your hand into Ace-high (which is the one of the weakest hands).

Make decisions for your future hand early! There will be 36 cards total - but only up to 5 cards will be traded at a time. Which means that in the end at least ONE card will be unavailble to you. If you are trying to construst something like Four of a Kind or Straight Flush, be aware that the missing card can potentially ruin your chance of victory. There is a certain element of strategy in this game... find that out by yourself!

Good luck and have fun! And keep in mind - I will be pariticpating in this test as well! At least one regular needs to obtain stronger hand than mine.

[powerofdeath]

I bid $20 on the Ace of Spades.

fite me

[Fragos]

I bid $5 on the Jack of Clubs.

[AppleyNO]

I bid $21 on the Ace of Spades

[NoctiZ]

Oohh, the Poker Auction game. Have fun!

[Fragos]

Oohh, the Poker Auction game. Have fun!

You're not regretting that you are unable to join this test? Tough luck, that's what Tower of God is.
By the way, the one who killed you in Note of Death was Frog. Surprised to hear that?

[powerofdeath]

You're not regretting that you are unable to join this test? Tough luck, that's what Tower of God is.
By the way, the one who killed you in Note of Death was Frog. Surprised to hear that?

no

[SuperJack]

I bid £1 on the Eight of Hearts.
I bid £1 on the Six of Hearts.

[powerofdeath]

I bid $12 on the Eight of Hearts.
I bid $12 on the Six of Hearts.

[SuperJack]

I bid £13 on the Eight of Hearts.
I bid £13 on the Six of Hearts.

[SuperJack]

I bid £1 on Fragos

[NoctiZ]

You're not regretting that you are unable to join this test? Tough luck, that's what Tower of God is.
By the way, the one who killed you in Note of Death was Frog. Surprised to hear that?

No to both questions. :P

[Fragos]

Writing your bids in grey text is not disallowed, but you should still use red text instead to make then more noticeable.

[Apache]

i bid 99€ on ace
well shit that means i lost
i bid 96€ then
high card ftw

who killed me in deathnote game?

[Tonex]

I bid $6 on the Jack of Clubs.
I bid $3 on the 6 of clubs.

[Fragos]

i bid 99€ on ace
well shit that means i lost
i bid 96€ then
high card ftw

who killed me in deathnote game?

This is why you should use red text while placing your own bids. Becuase stuff like that is bound to happen.

So, Apache, if you are really serious with this insane bid, you need to confirm that by writing your bid in red text. Because I can't simply believe that you would normally do that. And in future periods... use exclusively red text, otherwise your bid will NOT count. SuperJack's bids will count, because he placed then seriously, but he should use red text next time as well.

No, I am not worth £1. You need £1000000 to buy me out ^^ And...

I bid $10 on the Jack of Clubs.

[Apache]

no i won't play this, i'd only lose test points, this is too difficult^^

[Fragos]

no i won't play this, i'd only lose test points, this is too difficult^^

I see why you decided not to sign up for this test. Still, the joke is on, I thought that you signed up already ^^

[powerofdeath]

I bid $20 on the Jack of Club.

[Nick]

Lol nothing matters until the deadline anyways.

Posting to tell everyone that I'm not AFK.

[Nick]

1. 36 cards, so from which card to which card (list of cards)?

2. How many rounds of bidding?

[Fragos]

1. 36 cards, so from which card to which card (list of cards)?

2. How many rounds of bidding?

Those cards will be distributed in random order. Even I won't know what cards will be traded in the next period. The lowest rank of a card is 6, the highest rank is Ace.

With 35 cards, there will be 7 rounds of bidding. The 36th card will not be availible to regulars, so be careful when constructing a certain hand!

[Nick]

8 of Hearts
7 of Clubs
J of Clubs
6 of Hearts
A of Spades

Hmm...

[Nick]

$30 for Ace of Spades

[Fragos]

The first round of bidding has ended! Here are the results:

8 of Hearts and 6 of Hearts goes to SuperJack, who placed $13 on each of those cards.
7 of Clubs goes to Tonex, who placed $3 on this card.
Jack of Clubs goes to powerofdeath, who placed $20 in this card.
And... Ace of Spades goes to Nick, who placed a whopping $30 on the strongest card.

Current money:
Fragos - $100
Numbertwo - $100
AppleyNo - $100
Tonex - $97, 1 card
powerofdeath - $80, 1 card
SuperJack - $84, 2 cards
Nick - $70, 1 card

Note that Numbertwo is suprisingly absent in this test. If he does not become active in the next 48 hours, I might possibly replace him with NoctiZ and give N2 the corresponding penalty.

So, let's start the second round! This time, there will be the following cards availible for trade:



You may now place your first bids on any of the following cards. If no one places a bid on a card during the next 48 hours, that card will remain in the pool. As usually, every card here is valuable, so make good use of then! Now's let's get going again!

[ika]

words of the wise:

the first person to make the bid always loses

[Fragos]

words of the wise:

the first person to make the bid always loses

If you are that smart, why you have not joined the test while you had the chance?

[ika]

If you are that smart, why you have not joined the test while you had the chance?

why join a game where the host rigs rules to where its no fun?

why join a game when i can sit on sideline and have cause mahyem on my own?

why join a game where it is more likely that i will lose?

why join a game i have no intrest in?

[AppleyNO]

why join a game where the host rigs rules to where its no fun?

why join a game when i can sit on sideline and have cause mahyem on my own?

why join a game where it is more likely that i will lose?

why join a game i have no intrest in?

Host would have set what cards are in each group before the game started. It's legit.

[SuperJack]

Why did I only win 2 cards? I placed a bid on the Joker!

[ika]

Host would have set what cards are in each group before the game started. It's legit.

what question are you answering in my set? if its the first one then you seem to be missing what I'm referring to

[SuperJack]

£1 for the Seven of Hearts.