Another Hard-to-Score Crib Hand

Question: I got a hand with 4 -5's and an ace and I want to know how much it is? Scorning charts never give these kinds of answer.

Answer: This hand is worth 20 points. With the 4 5's you score 12 points since there are 6 different pair combinations. Then you can score another 8 points since there are 4 ways to make 15 using the fives.

One way to use the scoring chart to calculate it is by using a similar hand. For example, 5555T is worth 28 points, according to the chart. Then you can subtract 8 points for the 4 sets of 15 that count with the ten.

How Many Squares Are On a Checkerboard?

I have a puzzle for you:

A standard 8x8 checkerboard has 64 individual squares. But how many more squares can you find?

Well, in addition to the 64 single squares you can also find 49 2x2 squares, 36 3x3 squares, 25 4x4 squares, 16 5x5 squares, 9 6x6 squares, 4 7x7 squares and of course 1 8x8 square (the whole gameboard).

So the answer is 204.

Top 5 Skill Games

Here's a link to a site that ranks the Top 5 Skill Games. Whether they are the best skill games or not is debatable, but the author certainly makes a good case for his list.

Mexican Train Dominoes

Although Mexican Train Dominoes is sold as a game set, you can play it with any set of double 12 dominoes. More about Mexican Train Dominoes.

Easiest Skill Games

Here's a list of 5 easy skill games that you can learn to play in under 5 minutes. Mastering the games, however, may take considerably longer.

Defining the Term "Skill Games"

What exactly separates games of chance from games of skill? Is it a legal definition? Here's an article that explores the definition of skill games.

Blocking in Chinese Checkers

QUESTION: What happens if another player's marbles have not cleared the point sufficiently to put your marbles in?  My partner had me waiting (quite a while) while he pulled his marbles out and made their way across the board.  We just 'passed' the turns until I could move, but in a real game would it have been the end of the game?

ANSWER: You played that correctly. If you can't move, you simply pass your turn until you get the opportunity to move a marble.