Congratulations Readers!

Well, add another shrimp to the barbie of Sons losses. Do we really need a recap?Very well. Here's 2008's Connect Four:

And 2009's 3D Tic-Tac-Toe:

And now, another Reader triumph in 2010 with Yahtzee:

Grrr. No doubt the game turned on the Readers' Gibsonian moment in Round 7, when they rolled a 5 5 5 5 5 6 6. If the Sons had matched the Readers' Yahtzee, we would have won 242-241!

Alas, the reality is we've suffered three consecutive losses in three different games. We Sons just can't find our game. I even got rid of the yellow and blue motif, and we still lost. I guess it must be the dainty hands.

Well, congratulations Readers. That makes it Readers 3, Sons 0. How will this end? 2004 Yankees-Red Sox? Or 2004 Red Sox-Cardinals?

Yahtzee Final Round, Initial Roll

So this is what it's come down to. The Sons have to hope for five sixes in nine rolls, and hope the Readers get none, and we win. At least that's what Jason said - I didn't check his math but I believe him.

Can someone calculate those odds?

Anyhow, roll your nine...

Yahtzee R12, Initial Roll

Readers: There is no category selection poll today. I have you down for the small straight.

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	6
	3
	2
	4
	2
	3
	5
	6
	3
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Nine rolls. Let's go Sixes or Yahtzee...

Rules here

Yahtzee R11 category selection

Sorry, screwed up poll, s tart over:

Pick Your Category (2 2 2 1 1)
	Sixes
	4 of a Kind
	Sm Straight
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Yaht R11, Initial Roll

Pick Your Category (2 2 2 5 5)
	Twos
	Fives
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Attention Sax: I think you should do our final roll. We have 2 5 2 3 2 2 3 so far.

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	4
	6
	2
	2
	2
	1
	5
	1
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Last round of eight rolls. Then it's nine the rest of the way.

Rules here

Yahtzee R10, Initial Roll

Pick Your Category (4 5 3 4 4):
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your Five:
	4
	5
	3
	1
	4
	4
	3
	1
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Rules here

Yahtzee R9, Die Roll Selection

I'll admit it - I'm afraid to make my last roll. It's a make-or-break play, and it's only like the 3rd quarter.

I still can't believe the Readers nailed the Big Y on a 7-roll round.

Pick Your Category (5 2 1 5 5)
	Fives
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	2
	5
	2
	1
	5
	4
	1
	5
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Back to eight rolls.

Rules here.

Yahtzee R8, Roll Selection

Pick Your Category (3 4 3 4 3)
	Threes
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	3
	6
	4
	3
	1
	4
	3
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Congrats to the Readers for getting Yahtzee on a short-handed round. I still don't quite believe it. Not only did you get Yahtzee, but your other rolls were all 6's. Would have been a bomb Chance roll too.

Anyhow, you got seven rolls again today. Then, coming up:

• Round 9-11: Eight rolls.
• Round 12-13: Nine rolls.

Go!

Rules and side comments here.

Yahtzee R7: Scoring Category Selection

Not sure why we're even bothering with a poll on this one, but here it is...

Pick a Scoring Category (5 5 5 5 5):
	Fives
	Four of a Kind
	Yahtzee
Free polls from Pollhost.com

PS Forgot to add Chance to the options, but fear not - you can always cast a write-in ballot!

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	6
	5
	5
	6
	5
	5
	5
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Ah, halfway through and the Sons have, for the first time, pulled ahead of the Readers. A locker room pep talk will do you no good!

Anyhow, to review the initial roll sched:

• Round 7-8: Seven rolls.
• Round 9-11: Eight rolls.
• Round 12-13: Nine rolls.

Seven rolls today. Go!

Rules and side comments here.

Yahtzee R6, Scoring Category Selection

Pick Your Category (2 2 2 5 5)
	Twos
	Fives
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your 5 (multiple selections allowed):
	2
	2
	2
	1
	5
	1
	5
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Here again are the # of initial rolls per round for both Readers and Sons:

• Round 6-8: Seven rolls.
• Round 9-11: Eight rolls.
• Round 12-13: Nine rolls.

So only seven rolls today. Use them wisely!

Yahtzee R5, Category Selection

Pick a Category (2 3 1 5 4)
	Twos
	Threes
	Fives
	Small Straight
	Large Straight
	Extra-Large Straight
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your 5 (multiple allowed):
	2
	2
	3
	1
	5
	1
	4
	6
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Ok, I thought about it and it's only fair that if we have some 7-roll rounds, we also have some 9-roll ones. So here's the sched:

• Round 5: Eight rolls.
• Round 6-8: Seven rolls.
• Round 9-11: Eight rolls.
• Round 12-13: Nine rolls.

Don't ask me what the logic or reason is, as there is none. Just trying to mix it up and confuse people.

Anyhow, today: eight rolls. Next round (probably Monday): only seven. Now, roll, dammit!

Rules and side comments here.

Yahtzee R4, Scoring Category Selection

Pick Your Scoring Category (1 1 1 4 5)
	Ones
	Fours
	Fives
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pick Your 5 (multiple allowed):
	1
	5
	3
	1
	4
	4
	1
	3
Free polls from Pollhost.com

In Round 3, both the Sons and the Readers rocked the Full House:

But don't worry - even though you've used up the Full House scoring category, you can still rock the Full House:

But enough about Full House. Going back to Yahtzee, I'm throwing down a little twist: In Rounds 6, 7, and 8, Sons and Readers alike will have only seven initial rolls from which to choose their final five. In this round 4 and next round 5, as well as Rounds 9-13, we'll have our regular eight. All else works the same.

So we're a couple days away from the tough part of the schedule (probably Monday, as we take weekends off). But don't overlook this round - now, roll them (eight) dice!

Rules and side comments here.

Yahtzee R3, Scoring Category Selection

Pick Your Scoring Category (5 5 1 1 1)
	Ones
	Fives
	Three of a Kind
	Full House
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Who's in your five?

Pick Your Five (multiple selections allowed):
	5
	1
	6
	5
	1
	1
	1
	4
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Time to roll.

Rules and side comments here.

Yahtzee Rd 2, Category Selection

Pick Your Scoring Category (6 4 4 4 4):
	Fours
	Sixes
	Four of a Kind
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Yahtzee Round 2, Die Roll Selection

Round one in the books. Now it's Round 2...git rollin'!

Pick Your 5 (pick multiple):
	6
	5
	4
	2
	4
	4
	2
	4
Free polls from Pollhost.com

(click image to enlarge)

To review the rules or to post a non-roll comment/question, go here.

Yahtzee Round 1, Scoring Category Selection

The Readers' rolls are 6-6-6-5-4.

Pick Your Scoring Category:
	Fours
	Fives
	Sixes
	3 of a Kind
	Chance
Free polls from Pollhost.com

SoSG Yahtzee rules here.

Yahtzee Round 1, Die Roll Selection

Pseudo-comments from EK:

• DB, I see your point about not having an Assassins' Pub-type post to make side-comments. Will think if it's something that should be addressed in future rounds (I have the luxury of making these pseudo-comments)
• I'm leaving the last Sons' roll to one of the other Sons for at least another hour.
• The split vote danger...an unintended but welcome potential strategical hiccup!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm re-using this post as the voting post. Readers - pick your 5 rolls!

FYI the Sons will continue with the rest of their rolls in this same thread.

Sons' Rolls so far: 4-3-4-1-4-6-6

Round 1: Which 5 rolls do you pick (you may select multiple):
	6
	6
	3
	6
	5
	4
	1
	4
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Review the rules of regular Yahtzee and SoSG's modifications. Now, roll them dice!

SoSG Yahtzee Challenge Rules

All boned up on Yahtzee? SoSG Yahtzee will in many ways be the same as traditional Yahtzee: the 13 rounds, the scoring, and the scoring categories all work identically. What will differ is the dice-rolling mechnism and how we incorporate voting, as follows:

• In traditional Yahtzee, a Round consists of four steps: 1) the initial roll of five dice, 2) the potential re-roll of any or all dice, 3) the potential 2nd re-roll of any or all dice, and 4) the selection of scoring category to assign the roll.
• In SoSG Yahtzee, a Round consists of three steps: 1) the initial roll of seven or eight dice, depending on the round (see below) 2) the selection, via voting, of which five of the eight dice to keep, and 3) the selection, again by voting, of which scoring category to assign the roll.

Now, let's look closer into each of the three steps:

• Step 1 - The Initial Roll - at 8am next Monday, a post will appear saying "Yahtzee Challenge: Round 1, Initial Roll!". In this post, the comments will serve as the dice rolling for both the Readers and the Sons, as follows:
  • The first seven or eight comments by the Readers will be their dice rolls. In Rounds 6, 7, and 8, there will be seven initial Rolls. In all other rounds, there will be eight.
  • Likewise, the first seven or eight comments by a Son will serve as their initial dice rolls. As with the Readers, the Sons get seven rolls in Rounds 6-8, and eight rolls in all other rounds.
  • The comments translate into dice rolls as follows: whenever you make a comment, there is a url associated with it. You can see this url by clicking on the individual post and scrolling over the timestamp of the comment. It is in the format http://www.sonsofstevegarvey.com/2009/12/off-season-reading.html?showComment=1260052730521#c7896033777979927325. You may remember this device from Flo vs Deltalina.
  • For this competition, the last digit in the sequence of numbers is what counts as the dice roll. In other words, in the above example, the digit string ends in a '5', so the dice roll is a '5'. If the last digit is not between 1 and 6, the 2nd to last digit is used, and so on.
  • For the Readers, no single reader can account for more than three comments/die rolls in a given round. Readers are welcome to comment as much as they like, but for example if Dusty makes the first 11 comments in an "Initial Roll" thread, followed by a comment by Karina, only Dusty's first 3 comments count (as well as the one by Karina).
  • For the Sons, all comments count as die rolls regardless of which Son(s) make them, even if all are by the same one.
• Step 2 - the Selection of the Five Die Rolls to Keep - Once the initial die rolls are made by each side in a given round, I will put up a new post called "Yahtzee Challenge Round X, Die Roll Selection." I intend to do this later the same day, but if not it'll be early the next morning. The post will recap the 7 or 8 initial die rolls and include a multiple-selection poll. Vote on the 5 you want to keep, and at some arbitrary time later I will take the top 5 die rolls and those will be your rolls. The Sons will also choose their 5 rolls to keep.
  
• Step 3 - Selecting the Scoring Category - Once the 5 die rolls are selected, I will put up a new post (or re-post/re-name the previous post)called "Yahtzee Challenge Round X, Scoring Category Selection." It will recap the 5 chosen die rolls, with a poll to select which of the 13 scoring categories to assign the roll. The Sons will also select their scoring category (but not via voting). Once this is done, it's on to the next round!

The rest is like normal Yahtzee. After 13 rounds, we add up the scores, and declare a winner!

So there you have it. I'm not sure how long each round or step will take, so for now I'm not scheduling out anything except the very 1st post next Monday at 8am. Oh, and there won't be any play over the weekends. And as always with these games, no guarantee it will even work. Any questions or comments before we begin the challenge, ask here. Otherwise, good luck, and get your dainty hands ready to roll some dice next Monday!

Readers vs Sons Challenge Part III Revealed!

Yup, Readers vs Sons III is gonna be a no-holds barred Yahtzee smack-down. So you better read up on the rules of traditional Yahtzee here. Then, start practicing (you'll need it).

Then, stay tuned to find out how SoSG Yahtzee differs from Normal-people Yahtzee. The games begin next Monday, but more details coming tomorrow...