text:
Who won this match of Go?

Me and my girlfriend tried playing our first game of Go last night, but we're not sure we understood the rules so we can't determine who won this.
Can you understand or maybe mark this so that we understand whether we played correctly or not, and also which one of us won? We played until we ran out of stones.

I suggest playing on a 9x9 board to get a feel for the game before playing on the big board.

Your set ought to have enough stones to fill the entire board — otherwise it is going to be really frustrating! Please keep going, as it is a wonderful game and can provide satisfaction at many levels from complete beginner to top professional (which is very roughly 30 or 40 distinguishable levels).

Summary
You needed to finish the game, after which, assuming optimal play, White would have won by a very large margin (if it was their turn next) or a large margin (if it was Black’s turn).
The rules of go do vary a little, but it very rarely makes any difference to who wins, and certainly not in this case.
Contents

Summary (above)
  Contents
  Your final position (diagram)
  Finishing the game
  If Black plays first
  Notes

Your final position
You can enter diagrams on this site (though a photo is sometimes easier); I have made one of your position.
$$Bcm1 Your final position
$$ +-------------+
$$ |XOXXXXXO.OOOO|
$$ |X..XXO.OOO...|
$$ |X.XOOOO.OOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOO,O.O|
$$ |.X.XO..O.OO.O|
$$ |OOXX.O.OOOOO.|
$$ |..OXOOO.O...O|
$$ |OOOXXXO.O.OOO|
$$ |.OOOOXOO.OXXX|
$$ |..O,X.XXOX.XO|
$$ |..OO.XOOX.X.O|
$$ |.....OO.XXX.X|
$$ |X....O.......|
$$ +-------------+

Finishing the game
You pass at the end of the game when you do not think you can increase your score (explained below), and stop when both of you pass one after the other.
Your set should include enough stones for you to be able to get this far, but you may occasionally have to swap prisoners.
The winner is then the player with the higher score.
Since you did not finish the game, I have added the marked stones.
To keep things simple1 I assume White plays first at F45, which forces Black to capture at B12!2 After that I assume moderately good play from both players:
$$Wcm1 Final moves 1-10
$$ +-------------+
$$ |XOXXXXXO.OOOO|
$$ |X2.XXO.OOO...|
$$ |X.XOOOO.OOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOO.O.O|
$$ |0X8XO..O.OO.O|
$$ |OOXX9O.OOOOO.|
$$ |..OXOOO.O...O|
$$ |OOOXXXO.O.OOO|
$$ |.OOOOXOO.OXXX|
$$ |..O.X1XXOX.XO|
$$ |..OO3XOOX.X.O|
$$ |.....OO4XXX.X|
$$ |X....O756....|
$$ +-------------+

and then (I fear this site only supports 10 moves/diagram):
$$Wcm11 Final moves 11-13
$$ +-------------+
$$ |X.XXXXXO.OOOO|
$$ |XX.XXO1OOO...|
$$ |X.XOOOO.OOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOO.O.O|
$$ |XXXXO..O.OO.O|
$$ |OOXXOO.OOOOO.|
$$ |..OXOOO.O...O|
$$ |OOOXXXO.O.OOO|
$$ |.OOOOXOO.OXXX|
$$ |..O3XO..OX.XO|
$$ |..OOO.OOX.X2O|
$$ |.....OOXXXX.X|
$$ |X....OOOX....|
$$ +-------------+

These result in this final position:
$$Bcm1 After reasonable endgame
$$ +-------------+
$$ |XCXXXXXOwOOOO|
$$ |XBbXXOWOOOwww|
$$ |XbXOOOOwOOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOOwOwO|
$$ |BXBXOwwOwOOwO|
$$ |OOXXWOwOOOOOw|
$$ |wwOXOOOwOwwwO|
$$ |OOOXXXOwOwOOO|
$$ |wOOOOXOOwOXXX|
$$ |wwOWMWMMOXbXC|
$$ |wwOOWMOOXbXBC|
$$ |wwwwwOOBXXXbX|
$$ |ZwwwwOWWBbbbb|
$$ +-------------+

Black territory (surrounded points) is marked b or a red O for a captured white stone, white territory as w or a red X for a captured black stone3.
Counting the score
There are two (nearly) equivalent ways to score the game:

The simplest rule is that you score a point for every point on the board you control, i.e. occupy or surround4.
It is usually easier to just count up the area you surround and subtract one for every one of your stones your opponent has captured. If you have played the same number of stones, this gives the same difference in scores and hence the same winner.

I counted 39 black stones and 72 white stones in your original picture, a difference of 33. For simplicity I assume White has captured 33 stones and Black none.

For White, I count 41 points of territory and 5 extra captives (at A13 and around F4). With the 33 previous captives that makes a score of 41 + 33 + 5 = 79.
For Black, I count 12 points of territory and 3 captives (B13, N4, N3). That makes a score of 12 + 3 = 15.
That means White has won by 79 - 15 = 64 points, quite a large margin.

To avoid subtraction and make counting easier, people usually put their captives into their opponent’s territory and rearrange the stones to make the territory into rectangles. Neither of these changes the score (difference), if done right. In your game, however, this would have completely filled Black’s territory, another way of seeing that White had won heavily.
If Black plays first
If Black plays first after your final position, we have, as noted in footnote 1, a somewhat more complicated sequence:
$$Bcm1 Black first 1-10: 4 retakes ko (J4), 6 connects (at ❶)
$$ +-------------+
$$ |XOXXXXXO.OOOO|
$$ |X3.XXO2OOO...|
$$ |X.XOOOO.OOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOO.O.O|
$$ |.X.XO..O.OO.O|
$$ |OOXX.O.OOOOO.|
$$ |..OXOOO.O...O|
$$ |OOOXXXO.O.OOO|
$$ |.OOOOXOO1OXXX|
$$ |..O.X5XX4X.XO|
$$ |..OO7XOOX.X.O|
$$ |...08OO9XXX.X|
$$ |X....O.......|
$$ +-------------+

and then:
$$Bcm11 Black first 11-17
$$ |X.XXXXXO.OOOO|
$$ |XX.XXOOOOO...|
$$ |X.XOOOO.OOOOO|
$$ |XXXOOOOOO.O.O|
$$ |6X3XO..O.OO.O|
$$ |OOXX5O.OOOOO.|
$$ |..OXOOO.O...O|
$$ |OOOXXXO.O.OOO|
$$ |.OOOOXOOOOXXX|
$$ |..O4XXXXOX.XO|
$$ |..OOXXOOX.X7O|
$$ |...OOOOXXXX.X|
$$ |X....O21.....|
$$ +-------------+

In this case I count:

For White, 34 points of territory and 2 extra captives (at A13 and J5). With the 33 previous captives that makes a score of 34 + 33 + 2 = 69.
For Black, I count 12 points of territory and 4 captives (B13, J4, N4, N3). That makes a score of 12 + 4 = 16.
That means White has won by 69 - 16 = 53 points, still a large margin.

In fact I now believe that White would have done 1 point better by making their threat at E3 instead of G12, but I am afraid I do not have the time to redo the diagrams. In any case, Black is 10 or 11 points better off than when it was White’s turn first.
Notes
1 If Black plays first, they can capture at ⬤ J5, creating a ko, which makes the game a lot more complicated. White is not allowed to recapture at ◯ J4 because that would recreate the situation after their previous move, so they first have to make a threat, such as ◯ G12, after which ◯ C12 would capture 7 black stones.
2 This is probably not clear to you, but if White gets to play at ◯ B12, Black will be unable to get to separate eyes, and will be captured in the long run.
3 Although ⬤ A1 has not been fully captured, White could do so. This would not make any difference to the areas White and Black control. If Black tried and failed to defend it, territory scoring would give the same answer, because they would give White (almost) as many extra captives as White made extra moves. If Black just passed, some versions of the rules would require Black to give White an extra prisoner every time, to make territory scoring give the same answer.
4 Surround in the sense that (it is unoccupied and) there is not way from that point to one of your opponent’s stones (except perhaps one that they agree is lost, such as ⬤ A1 – see also3).
5 Actually, ◯ has a better but trickier play at B12, which (as per note2 forces ⬤ J4 to try to connect his stones, then ◯ E3 threatens to disconnect, but if ⬤ answers, ◯ retakes, ⬤ has no threat, so loses the ko and all his stones except those in the bottom right 5×5. So ⬤ cannot save his stones on the left, and should not answer the threat but rather finish the ko by capturing with ⬤ K6, then ◯ F4 captures – ⬤ is all but wiped out! In fact the score is roughly ⬤ 25 : 144 ◯ (i.e. 5×5 : 13×13 - 5×5).

"That means Black has won by 79 - 15 = 64 points, quite a large margin." Did you mean to say white has won?

The piles of stones in Go are meant to be effectively unlimited; the game is played not until you run out of stones but until there is nothing worth doing anymore. For your first game, I'd recommend playing until every vertex is either covered by a stone or completely surrounded by one color in such a way that the other player can't legally play there. Then score based on how much territory you control, which will be the vertices you cover plus the ones that you completely surround.
After one or two games of this though, you will see that at a certain point there is no reason to go quite that far. For example in your game, most of the upper right quadrant is so completely dominated by white that there is no point to playing it out: white could easily cover every vertex, and any stone black played would be captured very quickly. As you start to figure out which areas are fully controlled by each player, you can play less and less of the endgame, until you arrive at the true end condition and scoring system of Go, which is basically that the game ends when both players agree on who owns which territory. At that point you can look up the details.

This game is yet undecided and not completely played out. You problably have some prisoners: Just exchange prisoners (the same amount for each player) to continue the game.
The most striking point is the 2-2 point in the upper left corner: Black needs to play it to secure life, when White plays this point, the Black group is almost dead.
There is a special situation in the centre of the lower margin: White can capture two Black stones (and Black can take back one White stone) securely connecting the five stone group to the central white group. Black can start a Ko by taking the single White stone. White cannot take back immediately but has to play a Ko threat elsewhere on the board. Black has the decision to react to the Ko threat or to secure the Ko by filling it (or, in this game by capturing another stone of White).
Just counting the preliminary state of the game, White is leading by a thick margin (ca. 25–30 points). Blck can still hope to win the Ko and to attack the 5 White sones in the bottom margin.


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Tony Morgan: Bounty Contracts during Setup
During setup of the adventure my group was doing (Night of the Zealot II) caused several cultists to be placed on the map. Am I allowed to place bounties on them as a result of them "entering play" or am I not yet in play (and therefor Bounty Contacts isn't in play in order to trigger)?

Yes, you should be able to place bounties on enemies during setup
Setup instructions from Rules Reference, p.27 (Leaving out some unrelevant parts):

Choose investigators. Each player chooses a different investigator,    and places that investigator’s card in his or her
  play area.

2-3. [...]

Assemble and shuffle the investigator decks.

5-6. [...]

Collect starting resources. Each investigator gains
  5 resources from the token pool.

Draw opening hands. Each player draws 5 cards. Each player, in player order, may mulligan once at this time.  =Each weakness card
  drawn during this step is ignored, set aside (without resolving it),
  and replaced by drawing another card from the  deck. Upon completion
  of this step, shuffle each of these weakness  cards back into its
  owner’s deck.

Read the scenario introduction in the campaign guide.

Perform the scenario setup instructions indicated by the campaign guide. This includes gathering the encounter sets listed in
  the setup  instructions in the campaign guide, placing locations,
  placing  investigator mini cards at the location each investigator
  begins play  at, setting aside any listed cards, and shuffling
  remaining encounter  cards together to form the encounter deck.

11-13. [...]

Now, rules for Permanent cards (RR p.16):

Permanent is a deckbuilding keyword ability.

A card with the permanent keyword does not count towards your deck size.
A card with the permanent keyword still counts as being    part of your deck and must therefore adhere to all other deckbuilding
  restrictions.
A card with the permanent keyword starts each game    in play and is not shuffled into your investigator deck during setup.
A card with the permanent keyword cannot be discarded by any means.

And let's look at Stick to the Plan

Permanent. Exceptional.
Before you draw your opening hand: Search
  your deck for up to 3 different Tactic and/or Supply events, and
  attach them to Stick to the Plan. Shuffle your deck....[Continues]

and Indebted

Permanent.
You start each game with 2 fewer resources.

This implies that SttP and Indebted must be in play by 8th and 7th step of setup (since permanents are considered part of the deck, I believe they actually come into play during step 4); scenario setup happens during step 10, Bounty Contracts is a Permanent and already in play by then.

Perfect, that's what we assumed, but finding the relevant parts in the order of setting up had been difficult, so we just went with it figuring that if we were wrong, it wouldn't be a major issue.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
YuGiOh Card effect
Raidraptor last strix’s ability states that when use use its effect to special summon an XYZ monster it negates it’s effect and is destroyed in the end phase. but if I was summoning Raidraptor ultimate falcon (who is immune to card effects) which ones effect would negate the other? and would ultimate falcon still be destroyed in the end phase?
Help?

Raidraptor last strix's effect would negate that of Ultimate Falcon, because Ultimate Falcon would be brought in using last strix's ability, which means the effext of ultimate falcon would be negated completely. The way to keep ultimate out would be to use last strix to bring out satellite cannon falcon, then double xyz change into ultimate. Satellite cannon would no longer be on the field (xyz material do not count as being on the field), and so the last part of last strix's effect would be unable to destroy it, and Ultimate cannon would be left on the field, with one material.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Dummy's role during the play of a hand
If, during the play of a hand, dummy touches a card in the dummy hand, is that card considered to be played?

Broadly, no. The exception is if nobody noticed that the dummy played a card not indicated by declarer until each side has played to the following trick.
The relevant passages from the Laws of Duplicate Bridge

Law 45 (Card Played)
...
B. Play of Card from Dummy
Declarer plays a card from dummy by naming the card, after which dummy picks up the card and faces it on the table. In playing from dummy's hand declarer may, if necessary, pick up the desired card himself.
C. Card Deemed to be Played
...

A card in the dummy is played if it has been deliberately touched by declarer except for the purpose either of arranging dummy's cards, or of reach a card above or below the card or cards touched.

...
D. Dummy Picks up a Non-designated Card

If dummy places in the played position a card that declarer did not name, the card must be withdrawn if attention is drawn to it before each side has played to the next trick, and a defender may withdraw and return to his hand a card played after the error but before attention was drawn to it; if declarer's RHO changes his play, declarer may withdraw a card he had subsequently played to that trick. (See Law 16C.)

When it is too late to change dummy's wrongly placed card (see above), the play continues normally without alteration of the cards played to this or any subsequent trick. If the wrongly placed card was the first card of the trick, then the failure to follow suit to that card may now constitute a revoke (see Laws 64A, 64B7 and 64C). If the wrongly placed card was contributed to a trick already in progress and dummy thereby has revoked, see Laws 64B3 and 64C.

...
F. Dummy Indicates Card
After dummy's hand is faced, dummy may not touch or indicate any card (except for purpose of arrangement) without instruction from declarer. If he does so the Director should be summoned forthwith and informed of the action. Play continues. At the end of the play the Director shall award an adjusted score if he considers dummy suggested a play to declarer and the defenders were damaged by the play suggested.


text:
Card (must be enchantment or artifact) that allows multiple of the same legend in play at once?
I think its an older card. I've been googling for about a half and hour and cant find it.

How is this a duplicate? The OP is clearly looking for Mirror Gallery, and the linked question is explicitly not looking for Mirror Gallery.

The card you're thinking of is Mirror Gallery from Betrayers of Kamigawa. You probably couldn't find it because the wording on the card is a little odd:

The "legend rule" doesn't apply.


text:
How should I start a second Gloomhaven campaign when the first is deeply underway?
The rules specify that your campaign game can only play modules that are unlocked, and not repeat. It implies two parties moving simultaneously through the world, changing things permanently.
The only other option provided is the casual play mode, where you just pick any scenario that you've unlocked, earn gold, items, and XP normally, but don't adjust the state of the world at all through play.
I want something in the middle: able to play and progress, but starting from the earliest scenario. Has anyone done this hybrid?

Just to be clear, are you asking how to use a single physical copy of the game to run two simultaneous and independent campaigns?

Correct, I have one copy of the game, been playing for a year, want to show some other friends what it's like and give them a great campaign experience.

This is why I didn't use any of the stickers yet=)  Might be too late for you tho.

There are many questions over on Board Game Geek asking this. here links to many others asking the same.
What I would ask is how important is the consistent world logic to you.  I'll try and give this answer with general concepts rather than specific spoilers.
As you play through the game you will notice that certain quests have prerequisites that certain party/global achievements have or have not happened.  If these revolve around an NPC being alive or dead then it wouldn't make sense for one party to be carrying out a task for someone who the other party killed.
Also you may have logical inconsistencies with road/city events.  Say Party A has an event which involved meeting an NPC who promises something later.  Then Party B has an event which references what the other party did.
Would you be OK with either of the above?
Having two parties might also cause problem with item supply. Some items have 4 copies so, in theory, are available to everyone.  Are you happy with this or would you try and keep a record of who has what item so each is available to either party>
So my answer is the possibly controversial one of 'feel free to break the rules in whatever way makes your group happy and enjoy the game'.  If you you want to start another party from the beginning and you're happy with potentially illogical storylines, then that's up to you - if that's what your group enjoys.
My other suggestion: if you're wanting to try new characters and can't wait till retirement, perhaps break the rules and allow your party to have more than four characters.  Then before each quest/road/city event decide which character you are taking along.
If this is what you want to do, then you just need to decide beforehand how you will handle these issues.  Trying to run two separate campaigns might work for missions being locked/unlocked but trying to keep track of two separate road and city decks less so.

Re "would you try and keep a record of who has what item", There's already a spot on the char sheet for that. Just mark down the item numbers, and return the items to the deck once you're done playing.

Re "if you're wanting to try new characters and can't wait till retirement, perhaps break the rules", Nothing says you have to play a character to retirement. You can literally start a new character from those available at any time you are in town. The rules simply don't allow you to reset a character until it retires. In theory, these "abandoned" characters could horde items, so you might want some house rules to address that.

For the record I never thought I'd answer a question with "feel free to break the rules"!  But I think with a game like this it really is up to the players what they want to do that they enjoy.   In theory a group could just rip open all characters and say they want to play games with all perks and at level 9 with what ever items they wanted and if they enjoyed that in private so be it!

I fully agree. Gloomhaven is a sandbox; go play in it as you wish.

Nothing needs to be done for the following since they are tracked on the party sheet or character sheets. (You could also track them electronically using a number of apps.)

Reputation
Party achievements
Items owned by characters
Perks unlocked by characters

The following can easily be tracked on paper or electronically using a number of apps:

Global achievements
Available scenarios
Completed scenarios
Obtained treasures (of attempted but failed scenarios)
Prosperity
Opened envelopes (including character envelopes)
Progress in the Town Records
Action card unlocked by Characters
Event Cards

Events Cards are a little tricky to track because the order of the cards in the deck is relevant, not just which cards are in it. But that's not really a hardship. And really, it's really not a big deal if you don't preserve order.

Finally, there is one thing that will cause problems: Enhancements. If the first campaign uses the provided stickers, you could use little pieces of Post-It Notes to mark the enhancements of the second campaign. Sleeving the cards will help keep them from falling off.


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How does the whole EX/GX thing work? (Pokemon TCG)
So I'm new to the Pokemon TCG, atleast when learning how to play the game itself. I've gotten confused to what distinguishes EX and GX cards. I looked it up and all I found was that GX are majorly basic cards that can be played without the need of evolving it, for quick turnarounds. Ex on the other hand need to be evolved into from a basic card, so planning is necessary. However I need help with the tournament rules, so If I'm right only 1 EX is a allowed. I don't know if EX and GX follow the same rules. This is mainly because I want a lucario and M Lucario (M Lucario is only EX). I want to use a Lucario GX and a Mega Lucario EX, is that allowed, or do I need Riolu, a normal Lucario, then a M. Lucario EX? I ask this because I don't want to accidently get used to just for fun rules, then to have my cards be pulled as tournament illegal, and have to make a new deck all over again. Thanks for the help :D

The only things needed to know the rules of a particular card are just a rulebook[1] and the card itself.
Regarding EX cards, there's nothing written on them about limiting them to one per deck so this rule from rulebook applies[1]:

When you are building a deck, you can have only 4 copies of a card with the same name in it, except for basic Energy cards.

Also the text "Evolves from X" on Evolution cards (= not Basic) is important because it's the name of the card you can only play the Evolution card onto. In your case, Lucario-EX is Basic, M Lucario-EX is Mega evolution that "Evolves from Lucario-EX" so you only need Lucario-EX in play to be able to evolve to M Lucario-EX, any other combination won't work[1].

In the rulebook there are appendices for both Pokémon EX and Mega Pokémon explaining the rules that are written on the cards if you'd like to know more.
In tournament, as long as you have at least one Basic Pokémon card in your deck, you can't be punished for playing an impossible evolution cards (like Riolu+Lucario with M Lucario-EX), you would just have cards in your deck that you are not able to play under any circumstances (you can't put M Lucario-EX into play without Lucario-EX). On the other hand, don't forget to check the actual format of the tournament, all premier events nowadays use either Standard format (cards released in last ~24-36 months) or Expanded (Black & White and newer)[2] and your M Lucario-EX is legal only in the latter one. If you showed with M Lucario-EX on a Standard event, than you would really have an illegal deck[3].
As you pointed out, the difference between Pokémon EX and Pokémon GX is that the former ones are always Basic whereas the latter ones are always the stage they are supposed to be[1] (except for Tag Team GX cards which are also always Basic). However this difference is conceptual and has no impact on the game itself. You just read the cards and you are fine.

[1] Pokémon Trading Card Game Rules (Sun & Moon rulebook)
[2] Play! Pokémon TCG Rules and Formats
[3] Pokémon TCG Penalty Guidelines


text:
Playing off previous cribbage runs
During cribbage play, (three) players play (for example) 7-9-8, last player scores 3, and the next player plays a 7 and claims that he scores 3 points for the last three cards.  Is that double-counting and not allowed, or is it fair?

The player in question would also receive two for 31.

That's completely valid. One player scoring a run doesn't stop those cards being used in a following run.

Perhaps it would complete the answer to show examples, where a run is lengthened on each successive card. In theory one could have the extreme of "run for 7" followed by "run for 7" followed by "run for 7 and 2 for 31".

According to the rules at Bicycle's site the pegging rules state:

For adding a card that forms, with those just played: [...] a sequence of three Peg 3

There is no requirement that the cards are played in order, which is of course why 7-9-8 is a 3 point sequence.
Next note:

It is important to keep track of the order in which cards are played to determine whether what looks like a sequence or a run has been interrupted by a "foreign" card.

The example given is 8-7-7-6.  Playing the 6 here does not form a run as the 2nd 7 disrupts the run with the 8.
In your scenario 7-9-8-7 there is a sequence 9-8-7 formed which is valid for 3 points.
The easy way to remember this is you peg the number of cards in the run.  9-8-7 is a run, so away you go with 3 points.  If I play AA and you play A I don't get to say "Hey, wait a second, I already scored the points on that pair".  You'd say so what?  Now I have AAA and that's 6 points.  Same idea here.


text:
Is there a functional difference between "all" and "each"?
Take the two cards Fiery Cannonade and Golden Demise.
Fiery Cannonade reads:

Fiery Cannonade deals 2 damage to each non-Pirate creature.

Golden Demise reads (among other text):

All creatures get -2/-2 until end of turn.

I noticed that both could easily be rewritten to be consistent:

Fiery Cannonade deals 2 damage to all non-Pirate creatures.

or

Each creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.

Is there a reason for the difference in wording, or any edge cases where the difference in wording would matter? MTG is usually high consistent for clarity, is this difference simply artistic choice of the writers?

There is no functional difference between "each creature" and "all creatures" in MtG rules.
The difference here is grammatical :
 - "All" considers creatures as an ensemble
 - "Each" considers all creatures in a group individually
So an effect that is usually considered "global" will use "all" :
 - Destroying a bunch of things -> Wrath of God
 - Giving a group of creatures -X/-X -> Engineered Plague
While effects that are relative to each permanent will use "each" :
 - Dealing damage -> Deafening Clarion
 - Giving some creatures +1/+1 or -1/-1 counters -> Song of Freyalise or Harbinger of Night

Sounds very arbitrary to me. Wouldn't it be nice if "each" was used for one-shot effects and continuous effects that affect a fixed set of creatures, and "all" was used for continuous effects that affect a mutable set of creatures (e.g. those that are created by a statics abilities and modify the characteristics of objects).

How about the case when one creature can prevent the damage from (for instance) Fiery Cannonade?  The phrase "each" helps to imply that the damage is dealt to each creature independently and that preventing damage to one creature does not affect all the rest.

Beyond the whole grammar thing, it is completely arbitrary. Why is this the norm is very likely due to results of testing and reception from the playerbase. I imagine that if it was "deals 2 damage to all creatures", at some point someone would wonder "is it 2 damage TOTAL ?"


text:
Underrealm Lich and Divination
Underrealm Lich's static ability reads:

If you would draw a card, instead look at the top three cards of your library, then put one into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.

Divination reads:

Draw two cards.

Which of the following statements is correct?

A) Do I look at the top three cards of my library, then put one into my hand and the rest into my graveyard, and do the same again?
B) Or do I look at the top six cards of my library, then put two into my hand and the rest into my graveyard?

I guess option A is true, but where is this clarified in the rules?

It's option A). From the Comprehensive Rules:

120.2. Cards may only be drawn one at a time. If a player is instructed to draw multiple cards, that player performs that many individual card draws.

Each individual card draw gets replaced by "instead look at the top three cards of your library, then put one into your hand and the rest into your graveyard."
In fact, this very situation is mentioned in the Rulings below the card on Gatherer:

If an effect instructs you to draw multiple cards, each draw is performed—and replaced by Underrealm Lich’s ability—one at a time. This means that if you’re drawing two cards, you’ll look at the top three cards of your library, put one into your hand, put the other two into your graveyard, and then repeat the process with the next three cards in your library.

"In fact, this very situation is mentioned in the Rulings below the card on Gatherer:"  - very humiliating. Thank you for your answer anyway.


text:
Ochran Assassin vs simultaneous First Strike and Non-First Strike blockers
Ochran Assassin has deathtouch and the ability: "All creatures that are able to block Ochran Assassin do so". My opponent attacks with Ochran Assassin, and I am forced to block with a 3/3 creature with first strike, and a 3/2 with no abilities. Does my 3/3 first strike creature kill Ochran Assassin and send it to the graveyard before it can assign damage to (and kill) my 3/2?

Yes, the assassin will die and both blockers will be fine.
Creatures with First Stike deal their combat damage before creatures without it do. These are 2 separate combat damage steps, with priority given and state-based actions checked between each. The assassin will have taken lethal damage and be sent to the graveyard before it ever would deal damage. Deathtouch doesn’t come into play.

702.7b If at least one attacking or blocking creature has first strike or double strike (see rule 702.4) as the combat damage step begins, the only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are those with first strike or double strike. After that step, instead of proceeding to the end of combat step, the phase gets a second combat damage step. The only creatures that assign combat damage in that step are the remaining attackers and blockers that had neither first strike nor double strike as the first combat damage step began, as well as the remaining attackers and blockers that currently have double strike. After that step, the phase proceeds to the end of combat step.

Note that this would work differently if instead of Deathtouch, it were an ability like Engulfing Slagwurm has, which destroys the blocking creature when it blocks; as opposed to waiting until combat damage.


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Scattergories Duplicate Answers
The rules of Scattergories state:

Players score zero points for an answer that duplicates another answer in that round.

However, how do you define "duplicates another answer"? Should only the exact same words be considered "duplicate"? Or is there some room for interpretation? For example, if the category is "Professional Sports Teams", are "Jaguars" and "Jacksonville Jaguars" considered duplicate answers, since "Jaguars" is the operative word in both cases? Or do they both count, since they are not exactly the same words?

Very similar answers that refer to the same thing should be counted as the same answer. How close those need to be to count as "the same" is up to the group, however. In this case, it's clear that both answers refer to the same sports team, so they should not be scored separately.
It's worth noting that if you don't do this and count all typographically distinct answers as unique, the game could quickly devolve into finding variations of a single term that fits the category - a single player could score multiple points for Jaguars, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jaguars of Jacksonville, Jaguars football, and Jaguars NFL team, which is just silly.

Thanks for the response. I think this one gets the green check because it offers a possible rubric for how to resolve this dilemma (e.g. typographically distinct vs. conceptually distinct, with the example I posted being a case of the former but not the latter). Seems like a useful house rule.

The rules are not exactly clear on the definition of duplicate, so it is truly up to the players as a group to decide.
In my experience, if they refer to the same thing, they are considered duplicates, in your example as the "Jacksonville Jaguars" and "Jaguars" are the same team, they should be considered duplicate answers. This encourages thinking out of the box and looking for less common answers, that's the fun of the game after all.

Thanks for the response! Agree that rule interpretations that encourage fun are the right way to go.


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What is the best way to win a game?
So the options are a ton of resources, and you can build whatever you want. The advantage of this is that in age III you can build more guilds.
You can go low recourses but use a lot of tech trees. The advantage here is that you can build more stuff in the ages and times where you would normally get recourses.
Or you can balance both, which SEEMS like the best option.
Is it?

There is no one best way to win 7 Wonders. It is a game all about adaptation - adapting to the cards you get and to what your opponent(s) play. Certainly there are different considerations for 3- or 4-player games vs more players (as with fewer players you will get to see the beginning hands in an age again).
Gunning for resources does you no good if the guilds you wind up being able to play aren't very useful - or the other cards you have to choose from need different resources than what you have. On the flip side, having a lot of resources can be a boon if you build some of the later yellow cards. Chain building is good, except when you need to build a guild or some of the blue cards not on the tech tree.
One or two military cards can be all you need, or you might need to play two per age to keep up with opponents. Or you might decide to just throw in the towel on military and focus on other aspects of your city. Military is worth at most 18 points (or a 24 point differential), but if you can at least win in the third age that drops to 8 (14) points. Building a 3-shield card in the 3rd age can be a nice way to offset some of your early losses.
All that said, you do want a few of your own resources available - that's inevitable. Depending on your wonder, the combination brown resources are great for this. Having trading posts can allow you to operate with fewer of your own resources, and the yellow resource cards (Marketplace? Don't have the game in front of me) are a lot more flexible than a single brown or grey resource (plus your opponents can't trade for those resources).
One other aspect is that green cards can be quite powerful, if you can get the right combination (a lot of one symbol or a lot of sets; having 5 cards of various symbols doesn't lead to a lot of points). Unfortunately, your opponents may see that strategy and start to build / bury the green cards before you can get them.
In the end, though, it all comes down to what cards you're dealt and what cards your opponents are playing.


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Is there a German version of the "game" Mad Libs?
I am looking for a German version of the game/activity Mad Libs. I played it in English before and it was always fun. But some of my friends do not speak English well enough to participate in the game.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a German version yet.

It appears that Mad Libs has not been translated into German.
Also, there seems to be a similar German game named

Onkel Otto sitzt in der Badewanne

In the German Wikipedia entry for Mad Libs, the following is stated (in German ):

A similar game is known in Germany under the name "Uncle Otto sitting
  in the bathtub". The English language, in which nouns, verbs and
  adjectives are hardly inflected, offers far more favorable conditions
  for this game than the German one.

That's too bad, but I guess it's true that the English language works a lot better for this kind of games


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Small Expansions for Eldritch Horror
In Eldritch Horror do the small expansions with no board just add on to the first game?

Yes, but expansions with a board also just add to the first game. Only the last expansion is an exception. Could you maybe elaborate on what difference are you interested in?

I'm interested in the expansions with or without a board

All of the expansions for Eldritch Horror add content to the base game and require the base game to be played regardless of whether or not they include a new board.
Each expansion with the exception of the latest, Masks of Nyarlathotep, contain content that is usable with just the expansion and the base game and their content is independent of the other expansions (though there are some duplicate components; for example focus tokens). The expansions are all compatible with each other, so you can use any number of expansions when you play.
Masks of Nyarlathotep contains Personal Mission cards for every character in every expansion. The Personal Mission cards are only usable if you have the expansion that includes the character of the Personal Mission. There is also a campaign mode introduced where you can use Elder Gods from other expansions. Everything else in Masks of Nyarlathotep does not require the other Eldritch Horror expansions.


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what does frozen and unfrozen discard pile mean? I've been playing for a while and never heard that term?
What makes the discard pile locked or frozen? I've never heard of this term.

Where have you heard of this term such that you're asking?


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Axis and allies 1942 edition
Can a lone transport pass through an enemy submarine occupied sea zone with nothing happening or would it be considered a naval attack?

Sea units can safely enter or pass through territories occupied by enemy submarines only
As stated in its profile on page 30 of the rule book, a submarine has the characteristic "Does Not Block Enemy Movement" which in short allows enemy ships to ignore their presence. No combat is triggered if the player entering or passing through  the zone does not choose so.
Be aware that this has nothing to do with transports specifically, but is a characteristic of submarines and applies to all sea units.
Full text of the characteristic for reference:

The “stealth” ability of submarines also allows enemy ships to ignore their presence. Any sea zone that contains only enemy submarines does not stop the movement of a sea unit. Sea units ending their combat movement in a sea zone containing only enemy submarines may choose to attack them or not. Sea units can also end their noncombat movement in a sea zone containing only enemy submarines.


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How it is physically possible to play ONUW with 10 players?
We were playing with only 6, and we found it is virtually impossible to reach for cards across the table without making a lot of telltale noise. I opted for crowding in and keeping my arm raised on my elbow so that I could reach any card just by lowering it.
How can 10 people gather around the cards and take their actions without most of the table knowing?
What do you do?

We run into the same issues; generally playing with 7-8 people.
There are a few techniques we use to help:

Players don't keep their own cards immediately in front of them; they keep somewhere in between their own seat and the center of the table. Close enough that it's clear whose is whose.
I try to start the night phase already leaning forward, so that if I don't make noise leaning forward if I need to later.
Even with doing these things, taking actions that involve other players' cards such as seer, troublemaker, or robber, are generally just restricted to choosing a player that is seated close to you. As a seer, I would never attempt to look at the card of a player sitting across the table from me.

Use a referee for large games. Then you can just point at the cards and the referee (standing) can move around the room a lot and reach in to the table without actually showing anything during the phases so that people don't know which cards were shown or to whom.

I have played one night werewolf with 10 people on many occasions.  Here the three things we have done that made it work well.  Note that tips 1 and 2 are useful even at lower player numbers.

Have everyone stand before the night phase.  If you are playing on the floor, have everyone get up on their knees.  This way, players can reach all of the cards without moving substantially and/or making noise with their chair.
Move all the cards towards the middle before the night phase.  The cards should be in a fairly tight ring around the middle three cards (though not so tight that you can't tell whose card is whose).  If you don't do this, players usually can't reach the cards of players across from them, and so will only look at or manipulate cards of people near them.
Don't use a table that seats 10.  If you're using a table that can comfortably fit 10 chairs, your table is too big.  Your ideal table is one that comfortably fits six.  If you have an adjustable table, take a leaf out of the table or fold in the wings to make it smaller.  The key here is that you don't actually need all that much play space, and players don't interact with the pieces during the day, so can have their chairs a bit back from the table to fit (since they are standing during the night phase).  The other option is to play on the floor if you have a large carpeted area.

There are two ways I can see going about this.

Change the order players go in to be based on seating order (this is how one night resistance works) so that everyone goes in a set order. Also as part of this have everyone get up and walk around the table that way you can't tell what someone does based on getting up or not.
When doing the night phase have everyone stand up and move away from the table this way when people are called to do their step they can move to the table and do their action in a less delectable manner.

Note #1 will mess with balance at times do it the order of actions changing based on how the deal lands but as long as everyone plays the roles of how they where at the start of the night it is possible it won't mess with balance to much. This is how One Night Resistance handle roles and they have similar actions to the ones in this game.

#1 doesn't work, because the mechanics require certain actions to happen before certain other actions sometimes.

@GendoIkari I agree that #1 may cause some issues with mechanics but it still may be workable. When I was thinking on that I made a mental note to add something about that in the answer and I forgot to include that.

Note that one does not need to use a ten-seater table to play ONUW with ten people. There is only need for enough space to fit the centre board plus the cards of each player in a ring.  A table or desk with dimensions of a metre each way is more than sufficient.
The players' seats are pushed out away from the table when conducting the night phase. Each player then has space to move forward, perform their actions, and lean back again. It can be more helpful to stand during the night phase if capable; the table can be put closer to those that require seating throughout.
If you so wish, and are resourced enough, markers can be taped or stuck to the table to indicate which card belongs to which seat, to avoid unnecessary confusion over what is moved where or who may look at which cards.
This has served for groups up to twelve, including relative newcomers and casual players, and could reasonably extend to groups of 15-16 without much more difficulty.


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What is the difference between add damage counters and attack damage
On Dusclops(Flashfire 39/106), on the moved cursed drop it says that i can put 4 damage counters on my opponent's pokemon in any way I like. What is the difference from saying this as in do 40 damage to your opponents pokemon?

"Doing damage" may be prevented by e.g. abilities or trainer cards, or otherwise trigger conditions in them.
Placing damage counters will not be prevented this way, or trigger the same conditions.


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Gloomhaven: Does it count as me landing the killing blow if a monster dies to my retaliate?
Related to Does it count as me landing the killing blow if a monster dies to a Wound that I inflicted?, will a character get credit (for Personal Quests/Battle Goals) for killing a monster if the monster dies due to retaliate damage inflicted by that character?

The answer in the linked question points to this thread, where the consensus seems to be that yes, you get credit for the kill. Obviously that's not enough to base a stack exchange answer on, but that would be good enough for me and my group to consider it answered.

And, honestly,"retaliate" semantically implies action on the part of the character, so thematically I would say 100% yes.
But then again, I don't play with the whole "invisible sitting a doorway" thing being OK because thematically that just seems dumb, so take it with a grain of salt.

I would say yes based on the fact I have seen retaliate being a persistent bonus (rulebook p25).  In this case at least, using the retaliate actively takes something away from your character.
Contrarily, in the case of the wound, the status affect has already been applied and nothing is taken away from your character when it harms.
Tangentially, I also think the wound ruling is to prevent the complexity of trying to keep track of who did what wound (as far as I've seen not accounted for in the game; you'd need to either markup tokens, keep paper track, etc.).  Retaliate it's obvious since it's reactive.

Could you clarify who gets the credit, the char whose ability grants the retaliate, or the char granted the ability to retaliate?

For wounding, it also avoids the issue of who gets credit if multiple chars wounded a monster

Are wounds cumulative? For some reason, I thought it was a binary condition.

@TheChaz2.0, Binary.


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In Multiplayer, if I attack all other players for lethal, who loses first?
Is it simultaneous, like 1st me > several tied 2nd places? Or is there a sequence to it. I know 802.6. Combat damage is assigned in APNAP order. Other than that, the combat damage step proceeds just as in a two-player game. See rule 510, “Combat Damage Step.” under "Attack multiple players" is a thing, but does that just mean that turn player deals all his damage first, or is there a sequence to the order in which players lose to lethal damage?

All combat damage happens simultaneously.

510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.

802.6 is simply explaining a slight difference to 510.1:

510.1. First, the active player announces how each attacking creature assigns its combat damage, then the defending player announces how each blocking creature assigns its combat damage. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack.

So "defending player" in this case means each of the opponents being attacked, in APNAP order.
However, the premise of your question may be flawed. There is no "second place" in magic. It doesn't matter which player loses first, or if it is simultaneous. If I kill opponent A on turn 5, and then kill opponent B on turn 6, opponent B isn't "second place" while opponent A is "third place". They are simply both players who did not win the game.

Then, say for the purposes of an event, where placement may be tied to rewards, it would then fall to the determination of the TO, since there is not a precedent for it within the game's rule set?

@Porkchopz, I believe there are no sanctioned multi-player tournaments (except for 2-headed giant), so tieing rewards to placement doesn't happen. If you're asking about an unsanctioned tournament with non-standard rules, you'd have to ask the tournament organizers about their rules; we can't possibly know what they are.

@Porkchopz For a tournament, unofficial or not, I would expect multiple games would be getting played; so I would think of second place in terms of winning the second-most matches; or only losing to the first-place player, etc. But it would be up to the TO. I don't think "last player to lose a specific game" is a great way to determine it; because players may play differently if they have something to gain by simply not being the first player to die.

FWIW there have been 4 player commander side events at GPs where prizes have been determined by placement so the situation described in OP isn't exactly impossible. I'm not sure how they dealt with "ties for second" as it didn't come up in the games I was watching.

@GendoIkari I have been in EDH events before where the order mattered. in some cases it's elimination, last place is removed or top two move on, so place matters, in others, or the final round, it's simply prize distribution based on your result in that round alone.


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In Splendor can we have more than 3 joker (gold) tokens in our hand without spending them?
the situation arrived when a player had one reserved card but already 3 joker tokens and wanted to reserve another card. can he receive a gold token even if he already has 3 in his hand?

Yes, you can have more than 3 joker tokens.
In the list of things you can do on a turn, the rules say:

Reserve 1 development card and take 1 gold token (joker)

The rules later restrict when you can reserve a card:

Players may not have more than three reserved cards in hand

There is no mention of a limit on the number of jokers*. There is only a limit on the number of reserved cards in hand.
*Note that jokers do still count towards the normal 10-token limit. If you are at 10 tokens already, you can still reserve a card and take a joker, but you will then have to discard a token to get back down to 10.

Note that there is a limit on the number of tokens you can have (10), but that does not prevent you from taking additional ones. You must simply discard any excess tokens at the end of your turn.

The only time you can’t draw a joker is if there are none in reserve otherwise you just draw and immediately discard back down to 10. I have confirmed in the ios app that you can get a joker or draw three tokens with 10 in your hand.

We use a house rule that you can't, because especially in a four-player game, it can be quite effective to hoard the tokens to dissuade other players from reserving cards.


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If I buy more than one property when playing monopoly must my cards be where all players must see them?
Must all property cards be where any player can see which one's I have?

Related (I don't think it's a dup, even though the answer given there answers this question as well): https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/39260/in-monopoly-how-do-people-determine-who-is-the-owner-of-a-property?rq=1

Yes, the title deed cards must be visible. From the rules:

BUYING PROPERTY… Whenever you land on an unowned property
  you may buy that property from the Bank at its printed price. You
  receive the Title Deed card showing ownership; place it face up in
  front of you.

Face up, because gave down means mortgaged. The instructions do not say the face of the card need be visible

The official rules to Monopoly do not give any instructions on honesty, or on what information is open and which is hidden. Ownership of property is trackable (i.e. if you have a good memory you should know who owns which properties), so in that sense there is not much point to keeping it hidden other than being sneaky.
In fact, the closest the rules get to telling you about honesty is the fact that if you land on a property owned by another player, that player must remember to ask you for rent or they don't get it.


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How to get the eight?
I just heard about the Farsight enclaves eight and I wanted to know if you could get them as separate figures or do If I have to modify the battlesuits in order to make them the eight?

The only real modification you'll need is the equipment. Otherwise you just need Commander Farsight, a Riptide, a Broadside, and 5 Crisis suits. The only really "special" thing about any of them aside from Farsight is how they are equipped.

Do you happen to have a list of the equipment they use?

The equipment is listed Chapter Approved 2018, and to the best of my knowledge hasn't changed since the previous Tau codex (just some of the stats for the equipment may have). I'm also fairly certain the options you'd need DO come with the kits so unless you have really old Crisis suits it shouldn't be a problem. I'll try and check this weekend to confirm.


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Using 4th Edition Talisman Expansions with 2nd Edition Talisman
I've recently acquired a few Talisman expansions for the 4th edition of the game.  Anyone have any experience modifying them to work with the 2nd edition?


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Black card ability - all players exile a creature - does it work on the one with protection from black
Let's assume I have black card with "player must exile a creature" and one of mine opponents have only one creature on the battlefield, but it has "protection from black".
Does mine card affect his?

Yes, it does. Your card does not target the creature, so its protection ability does not help here.
Remember that protection can be summarized with the mnemonic acronym DEBT:

The object with protection cannot be:

Damaged by sources with the specified quality. (All such damage is prevented.)
Enchanted or equipped by permanents with the specified quality.
Blocked by creatures with the specified quality.
Targeted by spells with the specified quality, or by abilities from sources of that quality.

Your card might target the player but it'll never target the creature directly.


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In canasta, What is the top card of the discard pile?
This is very similar to existing questions, but resulted in heated debate. Here's the situation: first player discards a seven. Second player discards a wild card. Question: Is the top card a seven or wild? Third player has already gone down, has two sevens in hand and wants to pickup the discard with the wild card visibily on top. Is that a legal play?

The top card of the discard pile is always the most recently discarded card; the card physically on top of the rest. The fact that it is a wild card in this case doesn't change anything. Discarding a wild, like discarding a black three, is a way to ensure that the discard pile cannot be taken no matter what this turn.
From the rules:

Note that you can never take the discard pile if its top card is a wild card or a black three.

The rules do not really define "top" here, but it is using the common English language meaning, "the highest or uppermost point". If the newly discarded wild card were not considered the "top" card, then the quoted rule would make no sense, as there would never be a way to have a wild card be the top card of the discard pile.

I saw that but it doesn't actually state the wild card becomes the top card, it only says you must have two of the top card in your hand, which caused the debate as to whether the wild is actually transparent and not the top, but the seven under it. Is there somewhere it explicitly states the wild card and black three must stop the next player from taking the discard?

If having a wild card on top of a seven meant that the seven were the top card, then it would never be possible to have a wild card as the top card. There's not really a more specific rule than this; the rules are simply using the term "top" the way it is used in normal English. The card that is "on top" is the "topmost card". There can never be anything on top of the top card, because if something else were on top, it would be the top.

That was the assertion, thanks for clearing it up:)

@ForgetIwaseverhere Added.


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Can you purchase a hotel when you have 4 houses on a colour set?
Do you need 4 houses on a colour set or 4 houses on a property to buy a hotel?

From the rules you must build up properties evenly
https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Monopoly/Official_Rules

The player may purchase up to four houses or one hotel per property (and only if there are properties to hold the houses), which raise the rents that must be paid when other players land on the property.
  The properties in a color group must be developed evenly, i.e. each house that is built must go on a property in the group with the fewest number of houses on it so far.
  A hotel may be built on a color group only after all properties in the group have four houses. A player purchases a hotel by paying the price of an additional house, and returning the four houses on that property to the Bank in exchange for a hotel.


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Is there a penalty for forgetting to draw?
In a 2 player game, if a player forgets to draw from the stock and tables their first meld (without needing to draw the top discard), would there be a penalty? Or, once noticed could they then draw from the stock?

Related: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/44334/putting-opponent-s-cards-in-your-hand-in-canasta

The only benefit, if you "forget" to draw, is that you can get rid of your cards faster.
I would just say they have to draw a card.


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What happens if your opponents never let you win the bid?
In other words, they out bid you even if they have a very bad hand just to prevent you from getting any points above the line?

I think you mean below the line - that's where points for successful bids go, while penalties and other bonuses go above the line.

I will expand on Benjamin Cosman's answer by noting that:

The behaviour you are observing is bad bridge; and
The (scoring) line in Rubber Bridge is simply that, and a means (other than a time limit) for ending the match. The winner is determined by the total of points obtained both below and above the line.

However, to expand on point 1 above, learn to double the opponents to truly penalize them for their unsocial behaviour, and enhance your defensive skills to get those extra tricks that turn a collected penalty of 100 or 200 into 800 or even 1100. A couple of those should slow down your opponents penchant for stink bidding.
If collecting penalties is still insufficient, offer to play for a little pocket change. A one cent a point stake over 3 or 4 hours can comfortably net $40 to $80 profit over weak players. There are two common forms of scoring in money bridge: rubber and four-deal or Chicago. Tough money players will deliberately play rubber against weak players as it creates additional strategic considerations that those players fail to grasp. Only against players that they respect do they opt for Chicago scoring, as it reduces the luck element.
Finally, I will note that the scoring of doubled not vulnerable under-tricks was changed about 20 years ago. Formerly all doubled undertricks after the first were scored at 200 points each, but long experience revealed that this was inadequate. A change was made that the 4th and subsequent doubled undertricks not vulnerable undertricks  now became 300 points each, the same as when vulnerable. Make sure that you are using the current scoring table - and practice your doubling and card-reading skills.
Good luck!

I fear the other answers might be overthinking this. If your opponents outbid you and you believe you can set them several tricks you double them. This is the element in bridge scoring that increases the penalty your opponents pay for going set in their contract, and it serves as a disincentive for overbidding or over-ambitious "sacrifices" against opposing contracts.
If you find that your opponents don't care about the score penalties they incur when you double them and set them several tricks then you should move on to Benjamin's and "Forget"'s answers.

I would amend this to something like "... and you believe you can set them at least two tricks, then you double them." This guidance provides one insurance trick, and on balance is much more profitable than waiting for an expected several trick set. If your opponents never make a doubled contract - you are not doubling enough.

There are three cases:
1: You are playing at a tournament.
First of all, you're probably not. There are many ways of playing bridge with different scoring systems. For example, in "duplicate bridge", you are scored based on how well you do compared to other players who played the exact same hand - even if you get lucky cards and make a small slam, you lose if another partnership bid and played the same hand to a grand slam. As far as I can tell, the kind of bridge you are talking about - "rubber bridge" - is not often used at competitive levels, presumably because it has more luck than many other systems. (I don't have a source for this though; please correct me if I'm wrong!) However, if you do find yourself playing tournament-level rubber bridge, presumably your tournament has rules in place for ending interminable matches, whether they're caused by sketchy opponent tactics or just weird luck.
2: You are playing for fun, with reasonable opponents.
If you are unable to finish a match, the Laws of Rubber Bridge have you covered:

Law 80 – Incomplete Rubber
When, for any reason, a rubber is not finished, the
score is computed as follows: If only one game has been
completed, the winners of that game are credited with
300 points; if only one side has a partscore or partscores
in a game not completed, that side is credited with 100
points; the trick points and premium points of each side
are then added, and the side with the greater number of
points wins the difference between the two totals.

So just agree that the match has to end now, award a bonus if appropriate, and see who won.
3: You are playing for fun, with unreasonable opponents.
Seriously, why are you doing such a thing? Here's what the Laws have to say (emphasis added):

The Scope of the Laws
The Laws are designed to define correct procedure
and to provide an adequate remedy whenever a player accidentally, carelessly or inadvertently disturbs the
proper course of the game, or gains an unintentional
but nevertheless unfair advantage. An offending player should be ready to graciously accept any penalty set
forth in these Laws or any adjustment or decision of an
Arbiter.
These Laws do not deal with dishonorable practices
where ostracism is the ultimate remedy.

I find your 3rd point excessive. The scoring tables (particularly since the modification some years back to non vulnerable doubled undertricks) are more than adequate to ensure that competent players can outscore a pair determined to just stink bid. Further, stink bidding is definitely not a dishonourable practice. The finest players excel at it, and in knowing just when to do so for a profit.

Stink bidding in the right situation is good strategy. OP however asks what if they never let you win a bid. Hence the 3 cases: 1) at a competitive level, I'm sure the scoring system will penalize them appropriately, 2) if they're reasonable (not likely, given the interminable stink bidding), they'll still admit you beat them at the end of the night, but 3) if they're unreasonable ("nyah nyah you haven't won the rubber yet and never will"), as far as I know the rules of rubber bridge do not have any way to force the game to end; so what would you do other than just not play with them?

Who cares? Seriously. Just double and keep collecting your doubled undertrick penalties. There is no compulsion to ever end a rubber, except as a terminating event for a match fragment. The contest always ends after an approximate period of time or number of hands is reached.

One remedy: Run up your score with "ten" or so, doubled, defeated contracts, then let them win a "rubber" of two "back to back" games when you want to go home. See how the score sheet is at the end of the night.

If you have a good hand, you should be able to make a bid or collect an offsetting penalty. So if your opponents consistently overbid, just double them (consistently). If you double them and they "get away" with it (e.g. make a game or lose less than the value of your "lost" game) when you do, you are being outplayed. Unless your opponents are very lucky (e.g. all of their finesses and "drops" are successful).
If you and your partner have 25+ high card points and an eight card suit, that's enough to make ten tricks most of the time. If that suit is a major, then four of a major.
Lets say you can bid and make four hearts. To outbid you, your opponents need to bid four spades (or five of a minor). But if you can make four hearts because you have 25+ high card points, your opponents should be able to make only six tricks in four spades (assuming an eight card suit) with their 15 high card points (or less). That would be down four, or 800 points NOT vulnerable. That one defeat should cost about the same as a "rubber" (two games to zero) and more than a two games to one rubber.

I would amend the 2nd paragraph to something like: "If you and your partner have 25+ high card points and an eight card suit, that's enough to bid for ten tricks with reasonable confidence of success'. There is never a guarantee that well-bid contracts will make - that's half the fun of the game. Otherwise, a good answer complementary to the others.

While it is not against the rules to do this, if an opponent keeps doing this, you should call the tournament director. They are able to exclude this person or pair from the tournament because bridge players are expected to be courteous.
Edit: to be clearer, when I read the word "never" in the title, I'm inagining an opponent with a grudge against you who stops at nothing to keep you from playing. Having the worst possible score does not matter to them.

Nope. There is nothing irregular or unethical with being a consistent overbidder, or with being a poor player, so this advice is entirely incorrect.

If an opponent has a personal grudge against you and structurally keeps you from playing by overbidding contracts nobody would ever bid, you most certainly can call the director.

"When your opponent is making an error - don't disturb him." Why would I call the Director? I will just collect my tops, and smile.

Do you understand how the game is scored? Consider both partnerships being vulnerable. If opponents stink bid to prevent our game, so we can't score the 500 point Rubber Bonus, we collect the exact same value with a two trick set doubled. If they do it twice more, we have won the equivalent of three rubbers, 1500 points, and we are all still both vulnerable. This is precisely how strong players fleece weak players, and why they play Rubber instead of Chicago scoring against such players."


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Word premium applies to 2 words?
We had a family scrabble game that erupted into a debate.  I have searched these forums, and while I found several threads that seemed to apply to this scenario, it wasn’t quite clear.
The question is whether or not a premium word square (double or triple words) applies to all words created during the current play or not.  I’ll attempt to articulate the scenario.
First move:  TO was played vertically.
Second move:  FREES was played horizontally and the E of FREES created TOE.  The S of FREES landed on a double word square.
Question:  The current play resulted in two new words, TOE and FREES.  Does the double word on the S of FREES count for both words or just FREES?  If not, why not?
The rules don’t seem to address this scenario when two words are created or under what conditions thus applies or doesn’t.

From the Scrabble rules (emphasis mine):

Premium Word Squares: The score for an entire word is doubled when
  one of its letters is placed on a pink square: it is tripled when one
  of its letters is placed on a red square. Include premiums for
  double or triple letter values, if any, before doubling or tripling
  the word score. If a word is formed that covers two premium word
  squares, the score is doubled and then re-doubled (4 times the letter
  count), or tripled and then re-tripled (9 times the letter count).
  NOTE: the center square is a pink square, which doubles the score for
  the first word.

Double and triple word spaces only count for words which have one of their letters on that space.  In your example, TOE doesn't have any letters on the new double word square so it doesn't count.
 Side note: if it was meant to double all the points in a turn, I would have expected it to be labeled as "Double Turn Score" or some such thing.


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Using a card from the discard pile instead of picking up from the face down pile
So, we are in Phase 2. I have already opened. It is my turn again. On the end of the run is a 10-card. I am about to play an 11-card but realize I haven’t picked a card yet. On the top of the discard pile is a 12. I picked that card up and played that with my 11. (I thought picking up the 12 would be safer than getting some random card I might not be able to play).  One of our players flipped out saying that was an illegal move I did and carried on for a few minutes until he ruined the game and ended the game by throwing the cards across the room. So, I ask, was it a legal move or not?

Perfectly legal.  There is no limit to the number of cards you play onto sets or runs on your turn (assuming you have made your phase and unlocked the ability to do so) and there is no stipulation that the cards you use must have been in your hand before the start of your turn.
On your turn, you complete the steps in order: Draw one card (either the top face up card from discard pile as long as it isn't a skip, or the top face down card from the deck), Make your phase (if you haven't already using any cards in your hand), Play additional cards onto your or another player's sets or runs, Discard a card (, then check if out of cards to trigger the end of the round).
The cards used by you during your turn may be any card currently in your hand at the time of wanting to play the card, and that includes the card you picked up during the first step.
As an amusement, you can even run out of cards before the discard phase, having played the card you would otherwise have discarded (though there is no benefit to doing so apart from gloating).


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Activate Aura of Dominion's ability on a creature Island
My Island becomes a creature which then I enchant with Aura of Dominion:

Can I pay the ability's cost of the Aura of Dominion with only the creature Island, because of some mana ability speed rules while declaring and paying costs?
We know that the deck KCI abuses this kind of trick to sack two artifacts simultaneously while declaring the payment:

Scrap Trawler and Myr Retriever can sacrifice to return each other.

So wouldn't it be possible to simultaneously:

Declare the Island tapped for the part Tap an untapped creature you control
Pay the mana cost (1) with that same Island

Re "the deck KCI abuses this kind of trick", It does not. There's only one cost, so it doesn't use the same resource to pay for multiple costs.

No, you can't untap an enchanted land creature with Aura of Dominion using only that enchanted land creature.
The process of casting a spell and activating an ability work basically the same way:

602.2a The player announces that they are activating the ability. [..]
602.2b The remainder of the process for activating an ability is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2b–i. [..]

The relevant parts of the process of casting a spell are:

601.2f The player determines the total cost of the spell. Usually this is just the mana cost. Some spells have additional or alternative costs. [..]

Tapping an untapped creature is an additional cost.

601.2g If the total cost includes a mana payment, the player then has a chance to activate mana abilities (see rule 605, “Mana Abilities”). Mana abilities must be activated before costs are paid.

If you wish to pay the {1} cost with the enchanted Island, then now is your last chance to produce it. However, once you do that, the Island is tapped.

601.2h The player pays the total cost in any order. [..]

Now you have to spend the 1 mana and tap an untapped creature. If you already tapped the Island for the mana it can produce, you can't tap that Island again for Aura of Dominion's additional cost.

601.2i Once the steps described in 601.2a–h are completed, effects that modify the characteristics of the spell as it’s cast are applied, then the spell becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time.  [..]

Note that the loops in the KCI deck work because the various "return to battlefield" abilities are triggered, i.e. they happen after the spell casting (or ability activating) process is finished, see 601.2i. That is a fundamental difference to the process you are asking about, because no triggered abilities are involved in that.

I'd say that the fundamental difference is that the KCI trick doesn't try and pay for two different costs with the same action. Instead, KCI is making two things that are normally sequential simultaneous using cost paying and triggered ability timing rules.


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What kind of power grid plant deck would be nice for newer players?
Power grid has 2 plant decks; the basic deck, and the "new plants" deck. You can also mix and match: combine cards from two decks. The "new plants" conveniently have green backgrounds, so you can rule that greenback cards rank as higher than greybacks for the purpose of establishing the turn order and even have cards with the same value in the deck.
New players tend to buy weird plants on their first play. It's hard to evaluate how good a plant is when you only have played this zero or few times before. It doesn't help that there's "duds" in the deck, things you shouldn't want, or that an experienced player will memorize the deck to auction more strategically.
In order to prevent the above, I thought to add some extra randomness to the game, I've been making random selections of cards, basically shuffling the decks together (excluding any card above 50) and taking out however many cards are used in the game. This gets you interesting games, but I'm not too impressed with the results. I think a well-tuned designed deck can improve on this method.
What would you suggest is a good mix of cards to use for a first game?

Can you clarify, my game does not have the "new plants" deck. Is it an expansion or special edition or what?

@AndrewSavinykh - Would appear to be an expansion: BGG link

If you're interested in the direct answer and not in the reasoning behind it, scroll to the bottom of the post!
A simple option is to just only use the new plants. Their internal balance is somewhat improved. That being said, it does change the game dynamic from the regular game. Early plants are more effective, so a game can be shorter. That can actually be detrimental; it's easier to exploit an early lead.
A second option is to play more of a 'teacher' role: just explain why you're interested in a plant openly and fairly, or answer a question like "Why do you think I should bid on plant X?". The problem is that it can take away agency and that you're not really playing to win. It's hard to do this well.
Rather, I would suggest this preferred (if somewhat complicated) solution instead. Take the old deck, and remove all the plants that are bought almost 100% of the time they are in the game, as well as the plants that are bought almost 0% of the time. Replace these with the new plants, shuffling a few plants around so we have as few double numbers as possible.
These things are 'harsh' about the game's regular plant deck:
1> Bad early plants. These "traps" are just something you learn to avoid. They're bad enough that they'll cripple you in 99% of games, only serving to 'block' the market. Instead, it would be better if the worst plants are at worst mediocre, allowing you to at least make a bit of money, instead of just costing you.
2> Really good plants new players won't immediately realize the value of. The experienced player can oftentimes get a steal for an amazing power plant like the 21, 25, 26, or 30. This problem is somewhat less of a concern if you take the time to explain that 5 or bigger plants are really good, because you don't have to replace them later on, even if they use up a lot of resources, i.e. go through a few example evaluations of the plant market.
3> Low capacity late-game plants. Again there's another trap here. If these are bought at the start of phase 3, you could simply get into a situation where you don't power enough stuff.
4> The '3' and '4' capacity plant trap: new players will often buy too many of these, leaving them strapped for cash in phase 3. Adding a few 7 and 8 capacity plants allow players to keep one 3- or 4-capacity plant and still get 17 total capacity (3-6-8 or 3-7-7 or 4-5-8 or 4-6-7).
What we do NOT want to do is alter the game's resource balance. The default deck is well tuned with respect to the resources available, so we want our new deck to have roughly the same number of 'resource symbols' total on the cards, as well as keep the amount of symbols in each phase of the game similar.
In order to make the deck somewhat more forgiving, I suggest the following:
Gentle Deck
Start out with the regular Power Grid deck.
1) Replace the [3] plant with the new [2*] plant. In our new configuration the old [3] would not be good enough. Here having it be 1 cheaper means it is comparable to the [4] in value.
2) Add the new [5*] plant, leaving the old [5] in as well. (The new [5] counts as higher). The new [5*] offers an interesting capacity option, much like the [8].
3) Replace the [6] plant. The new [6*] is a great efficiency plant, though it suffers in turn order. The old [6] is essentially bought only on non-standard maps with cheap starting trash, or to break a stall.
4) Replace the [7] plant. The new [7*] has good efficiency. The old [7] is a mediocre plant bought only very rarely, it tends to not make enough money.
The starting market ends up as 2* 4 5 5*, 6* 7* 8 9, 13.
Phase 1 and 2 plants:
5) Replace the [14] plant. The old [14] is quite literally a garbage plant, and is basically never bought.
6) Replace the [15] plant. This adds an extra windmill early on. The [15] is usually a mistake when bought, but is quite insidious: it seems good at first glance but turns out not to be great.
7) Remove the [17] plant. The worst plant in the game.
8) Replace the [19] plant. The [19] is mediocre at best at this point in the game.
9) Replace the [21] plant. This gives back another Trash option, and the default [21] is arguably a bit strong. The new [21*] is also a 3-resource plant, keeping the resource use the same for Trash.
10) Replace the [25] plant. The default [25] is the second-best plant in the game. The new [25*] is a worse version of the old [26], the best plant. Removing the [25] also removes a bit of mid-game coal, allowing plants like the [20] and the new [14] to be less risky.
11) Replace the [26] plant. This gives us a 3-power wind plant.
12) Replace the [27] plant. Trading the wind plant for another decent Trash plant.
The midgame deck is thus 10 11 12 14* 15* 16 18 19* 20 21* 22 23 24 25* 26* 27* 28 29 30 31 32 33
Endgame plants:
13) Remove the [37] plant. A wind plant with only 4 cities and this high of a number is a trap.
14) Replace the [44] plant. Again, only 5 cities is not really good enough. With 6 cities the new plant is generally a great pickup.
15) Add the new [46] plant. (It ranks above the old [46]). This adds a good high-capacity hybrid plant.
16) Replace the [50] plant. This 8-capacity plant makes 3- and 4-capacity plants less bad. We already replaced the [44] so the equivalent of the old [50] is still in the game.
The endgame deck becomes 34 35 36 38 39 40 42 44* 46 46* 50*
Then follow the standard game rules with this new deck.

The best thing you can do for new players (in my opinion) is use the starting 8 plants from the new deck instead of the old deck and tell them not to buy or bid on a plant that costs 4 or less.  Using the new plant deck in its entirety is one way to accomplish this.  Here's why:
New players are most unsure of what they're doing during the first turn.  The most consequential decision they will make in the first turn is where to build their first city, so I prefer to let them spend their attention on that rather than having to navigate complicated decisions during the power plant purchasing as well.  A bad starting power plant can severely handicap a new player, so I try to help them get a good one.
New players shouldn't ever buy a plant that powers one city (with the possible exception of the 1-city wind plants).  In order to successfully open the game with a plant only powering 1 city, you need to only build one city on the first turn to convert your monetary disadvantage into a positional advantage, and turn order advantage is something new players typically need to play a full game to properly appreciate.  Thus, when playing with new players, I always start the game with myself first in turn order, because whoever goes first on the first turn has to buy a plant that powers only one city (assuming no one bids higher on the plant they pick).  This is true no matter which deck's starting plant set you use.
When playing with the old deck of starting plants with 4 or more players, a second person (one later in the turn order) must also buy a plant that powers only one city (due to the 9-cost plant).  This makes bidding on plants on the first turn much more complicated, and frequently leaves a new player with a plant that will only power one city (the situation we're trying to avoid).
The other issue with the old starting cards is that the starting cards will be clogging the market for two turns instead of just one.  This is because power plants are discarded once someone has built a number of cities greater than or equal to the base cost of the plant.  The higher cost of the 4 cheapest plants in the old deck (3 - 6) makes them stick around longer than the 4 cheapest plants in the new deck (1 - 4).  This makes it more likely that a new player will buy one of the bad ones.
The one challenging thing about the new power plant starter cards is that with 5 or 6 players, someone will have to either buy a plant that powers 1 city or buy the nuclear plant (which is bad because uranium is very expensive to start on most maps).  If you want to play a truly forgiving opening, replace this with the 8-cost plant from the old deck.


text:
A go at 15 with a run
I played a 4, opponent played a six then I played a 5. Easy to count.....3 for run and 2 for the 15. However, what about if it was also a go for me. Do I get one point for the go as well?

Yes it would get the go but it could only happen if these are the last 3 cards since it the only way 15 can be a go.


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Scheming Symmetry with revealed top of deck
I have a Lantern of Insight in play, and I cast Scheming Symmetry. My question is, when the card resolves, how do players put the card on top? Is it simultaneous, or APNAP?
If APNAP, my fear is that this gives the NAP a chance to choose a different card once they see what I reveal.

It is done in APNAP order, but the other player won't be able to change their choice.

101.4. If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes
  any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the
  player seated to the active player’s left) makes any choices required,
  followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the
  actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the
  “Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order” rule.
Example: A card
  reads “Each player sacrifices a creature.” First, the active player
  chooses a creature they control. Then each of the nonactive players,
  in turn order, chooses a creature they control. Then all creatures
  chosen this way are sacrificed simultaneously.
101.4a If an effect has each player choose a card in a hidden zone, such as their hand or library, those cards may remain face down as
  they’re chosen. However, each player must clearly indicate which
  face-down card they are choosing.
101.4b A player knows the choices made by the previous players when making their choice, except as specified in 101.4a.

So in this case, both players would choose a card from their decks in APNAP order and keep those face down.  Then you would put those cards on the top of your decks simultaneously, then they would get revealed by Lantern of Insight.


text:
Unbound Flourishing and Alternative costs
The rulings for Unbound Flourishing state

Spells with additional costs that include X won't be affected by Unbound Flourishing. X must be in the mana cost.

Avacyn's Judgement has a cost of {1}{R}, but has a madness cost of {X}{R}. Am I right that if I pay the madness cost, {X} will be in the mana cost and the spell will be copied? Likewise for Flashback costs and Mutate Costs.

Alternative costs such as Madness do not change the mana cost of a spell. The mana cost is not defined as the cost you paid to cast the spell; it is simply defined as the cost in the upper right of the card. Avacyn's Judgement still has a mana cost of {1}{R} even when cast for its Madness cost and Unbound Flourishing won't respond to it.
From CR 202:

202.1 A card’s mana cost is indicated by mana symbols near the top of the card. (See rule 107.4.) On most cards, these symbols are printed in the upper right corner.

Nothing in the rules for casting spells changes the mana cost of the spell, even when alternative costs are paid. Essentially, what you're finally pay ing when using an alternative cost is the total cost of the spell: that's defined as the mana cost or—if you elected to use one, which you did—the alternative cost, plus any cost increases/decreases.

It might be worth noting that when casting a spell, there is a thing called the mana cost, and a thing called the total cost, and they are not the same. See CR 601.2f.


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Cloning Mutated Creatures
Mutate is a new mechanic in Ikoria. A lot has been said about how it works, but cloning is something I can't find mentioned on the net. Not sure if the comp rules have been updated yet, but my impression is that as it is one creature, a clone would get all of the mutated abilities. Is this correct?

Cloning a mutated creature copies all the existing mutations
This interaction has been put together by a modification of the first layer of continuous effect interactions and two new rules.

613.1a Layer 1: Rules and effects that modify copiable values are applied.

Previously, this layer applied 'copy effects'.  Now it's been generalized to apply 'copiable values', of which includes the newly created category of "merged permanents"

721.2a A merged permanent has only the characteristics of its topmost component, unless otherwise specified by the effect that caused them to merge. This is a copiable effect whose timestamp is the time the objects merged. (See rule 613.2.)

And mutate, the effect causing the permanents to merge, modifies the characteristics to include the rules text of the other objects.

702.139e A mutated permanent has all abilities of each card and token that represents it. Its other characteristics are derived from the topmost card or token.

It really depends on how mutate is handled by the new rules.
However, the easiest way to handle it, from a rules standpoint, would be to generate a text changing (or ability granting) continuous effect. In this case, only the top creature would be copied.
I cannot think of a way to make the mutated abilities copiables safe from defining the mutated creature as a new card. It is possible they might go this way instead (similar to meld cards).

Thanks. This is more of a comment than an answer, so I'll leave it unanswered for now, but maybe once the rules are established it will become clear.

In fact, from the article, I think it's more likely the copy will have all abilities: "As a mutating creature spell resolves, instead of entering the battlefield, it merges with its target into one creature... You'll end up with a pile of cards... that all represents a single creature."

If this “pile of cards” is treated as a single card then yes.
If that is the case, then the whole pile will be bounced together (and they would probably be un-mutated when flickered). This is an indication that would gives out the rules.

You raise a good point re. flicker... I know that if the target is bounced/removed while it's on the stack, it will etb as the creature version (similar to Bestow), but I wonder what bounce/flicker does?

@Soulus101 MaRo has said on Tumblr that flicker effects will return a whole bunch of creatures. Don't have time to find the source right now, though.

@ArcanistLupus That was my guess for how it would work because they would have no memory of being cast using Mutate.


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Chess. What is it called when a pawn takes a pawn by being passed
What is it called when a pawn takes a pawn by being passed by another pawn?

If you are referring to when a pawn (On the fourth rank of the opponent's field) has a pawn move two squares (said pawns first move of the game, landing directly adjacent to the first), then you are referring to En Passant (being French for In Passing). This ruling came about after a change was made to the game of chess, for pawns were once only allowed to move up one square at a time, making the game slower and allowing for more possible pawn captures; after a time, a modification to pawn movement allowed them to move two squares on their (independent) first move, some liked this change, while others did not. Eventually a compromise was reached, and En Passant entered into the rules of chess, and continues to be a possibility to this day.

The immediacy of eligibility for such a capture really should be mentioned. And a direct quote of the relevant rule, in addition, would make this answer worthy of an up-vote.


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Cribbage muggins on the final hand
Score after last pegging:
Player 1 (dealer) = 120
Player 2 = 114
Player 2 counts his hand first and says he has 10 points which puts him at 124 BUT, he missed 6 points in his hand. Does player 1 get those muggins and thus win the match with 126 points?

The muggins claim by Player 1 cannot be made until the peg is moved by Player 2 and released - which in this case wins the game.
Even if this is not a written official rule, it is the only sane way to play muggins. There must needs be an official start to the muggins claiming period, which definitively indicates that Player 1 is satisfied with his hand count. Moving the peg and releasing it is exactly that.

Update
Here is the official American Cribbage Congress Rules of Muggins. It specifically states (my emphasis):

Rule 10.2. Situations That Apply
Except for the situations listed in rule 10.3, muggins is applied to the underpegging of the full value of any points during the play or scoring of the points in the hand or crib.

and further down

c. For points missed in a hand or crib:

(1) The dealer must call muggins after the pone has finished pegging the score or states there is no score and before the pone's hand is mixed with other cards or the total count of the dealer's hand is announced.


text:
How do you count runs in cribbage during play
10-10-4 opponent started hand and can't play, I play 3-2-1 .  How many points do I get for the run?  4 or 7 ?

Seven. Scoring during pegging is performed after each card is played, based on the list of cards thus far. After playing the "2" you score three; after playing the ace you score an additional four. (Consider: if it were the other player that scored for the run of three, you wouldn't take those points away from them when you scored the ace!)

You would peg 8 points all at once. You would announce your play like this:

(play the 3) "27."
(play the 2) "29, run of 3." (Don't move the peg yet - there's more to come.)
(play the A) "30, run of 4, and 1 for last card. 3 plus 4 plus 1 is a total of 8." (Move the peg 8 points.)


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Odds question from mindblowing Pinochle hand
What are the odds of a player getting dealt a double run, and another player also getting a run in the same suit?  We almost fell out of our chairs when we saw this unbelievable result.

Assuming double deck of 80 cards and four players, the number of ways you can get a double run and the player to your left can get a run in the same suit is:
4*(C(4,2)*C(2,1))^5*C(50,25)
(4 for the choice of suits, Choose two of the aces for one hand and one for the second, raised to the fifth power to repeat that sort of selection for the 10, K, Q, and J, and then choose any 25 of the remaining 50 cards to fill out the two hands).
The total number of two hand combinations is
C(80,20)*C(60,20)
So the odds is just the ratio of these two:
125820016084474822656 / 14819495547017580943365306953888400
497664/58616503648825943975
or about 1 in 117,783,290,832,420
Then you'd want to multiply that by 4*3=12 since you don't care which of the two players get those hands, and then you'd have to subtract the odds of one additional player coming up with the fourth run in that suit so you don't count that twice.

I don't understand what you mean about the fourth diamond. I don't track the fourth diamond: I just let them pick their aces, kings, etc.. But you're right, I do need to multiply by the permutations.I'll edit that in...

I would rewrite C(4,2)*C(2,1) as (C(4,2)*C(2,1)+C(4,3)*C(1,1)+C(4,2)*C(2,2)) but one could argue that is slightly different from what is being asked...


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Arboreal Grazer
hi i have a doubt with the next card thats cames on the next set:

can i put a shokland into the battlefield pay the 2 lifes and get the land untaped like withc Growth Spiral?
I think is like the same efect that the land enter the battlefield taped and then you have the option to choose.