Games v. Gambling

[Not]

I've read the Basic entries for Games and Gambling one after the other several times (they're on the same page). I'm still not sure which skill I should be using to play cards for money. Or craps.

Related: two characters decide to let a coin flip resolve a question. Should I do a quick contest of Gambling skills or flip an actual coin?

[Trigonomicon]

I think the card games referred to under Games are games such as Magic the gathering, not poker or similar, that would be gambling.

As for a coin toss, there relay isn't any tactics to it, so i'd say just flip an actual coin.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Not

I've read the Basic entries for Games and Gambling one after the other several times (they're on the same page). I'm still not sure which skill I should be using to play cards for money. Or craps.

Pure Casino games (and any game in general where the strategy is mainly about betting and odds) should probably use Gambling. If you are playing Munchkin for a prize use Games. If it's something of both like many forms of Poker, I'd let you roll a Contest of Games to get that +1 to +5 bonus for "familiarity with the game" on the Gambling roll.

Related: two characters decide to let a coin flip resolve a question. Should I do a quick contest of Gambling skills or flip an actual coin?

You can roll Gambling to know that you have a 50% of winning, but you can't actually influence the coin flip without cheating. I'd just roll 1d2.

[Kilmore]

I'd require the appropriate Games skill to know the rules of the game, though I wouldn't require a roll unless the player is playing some sort of Stunt Poker. I'd have him roll Gambling to play it.

And if two Players flip a coin, I'd totally require a Gambling roll to flip a coin. Only I wouldn't go of their character's Gambling stats, but those of the actual Players.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Not

I've read the Basic entries for Games and Gambling one after the other several times (they're on the same page). I'm still not sure which skill I should be using to play cards for money. Or craps.

This is what Kromm said about poker:

Games and Sports skills cover playing games and sports. Gambling covers betting on them. You can bet without being a player (like two guys at a bar betting on a nearby billiards game, or entering a football pool) and you can play a friendly game (of football, billiards, poker, or whatever) without betting. If you intend to do both, then you had better have both skills. It's really no different from having Administration and Market Analysis, and using the first to manage a company and the second to play the market.

[BaronVonStevie]

ha! I work at a casino; specifically I deal table games. Whatever the skill would be, you would have to slap a penalty on it to represent the house edge. Any casino table game you play has this and it produces a very real mathematical edge against you. Depending on the game, certain games actually have better odds (eg: craps has better odds than roulette) so I might represent that with a numerical penalty. It can't just be an unmodified skill roll; not with the way those games are designed.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by BaronVonStevie

ha! I work at a casino; specifically I deal table games. Whatever the skill would be, you would have to slap a penalty on it to represent the house edge. Any casino table game you play has this and it produces a very real mathematical edge against you. Depending on the game, certain games actually have better odds (eg: craps has better odds than roulette) so I might represent that with a numerical penalty. It can't just be an unmodified skill roll; not with the way those games are designed.

You can also give the House a very high effective skill and make it a Regular Contest.

[Anders]

Gambling modifiers include -1 to -5 if the game is rigged against you. That would probably apply. Also, I think most people who enter a casino play from a default level.

[BaronVonStevie]

Also, I think most people who enter a casino play from a default level.

ain't that the truth.

[Not]

What about a game of pure chance, like craps. Could craps be merely a familiarity of gambling, and not a separate skill?