Schnapsen Log Archives

Columns for September, 2021

As Luck Would Have It

Martin Tompa
September 9, 2021

It’s been a long while since I’ve written. This post will be different from usual: it is a collection of anecdotes from the Schnapsen table.

I am constantly floored by the extremes that luck often takes in Schnapsen. I feel as though very low probability events happen much more frequently than they should, even though I am aware that this is just a psychological aberration rather than a mathematical one. I know that you have witnessed such things yourself at the Schnapsen table. How often have you felt that you have gone several games without seeing a trump in your hand or without holding a marriage?

Against no opponent are these extremes of luck as noticeable as against the notorious Doktor Schnaps. In fact, early on in my rivalry with Doktor Schnaps I was so sure that I wasn’t being dealt my fair share of trumps that I started maintaining a spreadsheet of my deals in which I keep track of statistics such as how many…