ITH Poker Forum

[PizzaByNight]

The Rules

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Game 7

Game 8

Game 9

Game 10

Game 11

Game 12

Game 13

Game 14

Game 15

Game 16

Game 17

Game 18

Game 19

Game 20

Game 21

Game 22

Game 23

Game 24

Game 25

Game 26

Game 27 Mafia Den...Dead Thread...embers and ash from the gamethread

Game 28

The League Tables

You never know when you may need to check on something so I provide this list for handy reference.

There’s plenty of room at the construction site and you don’t need a permit to build new wings on to the library. So if anyone has the gumption to list the links to the crime threads and dead threads, construct away !

[San]

Give that man an olive



(that's meant to be an applause smiley, for some reason it's not working )

[Pianist]

You never know when you may need to check on something so I provide this list for handy reference.

There’s plenty of room at the construction site and you don’t need a permit to build new wings on to the library. So if anyone has the gumption to list the links to the crime threads and dead threads, construct away !

Give this man an extra slice o' Pizza!

[Pianist]

Give that man an olive



(that's meant to be an applause smiley, for some reason it's not working )

Great minds think alike! I didn't see your post until I'd posted mine!

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one having problems with that particular emoticon - I've tried it many times and it just don't work (=D> - see?). Which is a pity because it's a good 'un! I thought it was maybe a fault with my system, but obviously not.

[cybrarian]

That icon is broked, but we don't quite know why, I'm afraid.

[Pianist]

That icon is broked, but we don't quite know why, I'm afraid.

On a couple of occasions I actually got it to work but then it mysteriously disappeared - very strange. Whatever the glitch is, it seems to be something fairly minor.

[Dogs]

That icon is broked, but we don't quite know why, I'm afraid.

Have you upgraded the version of phpBB? I ask because v2.0.21 seems to have some change in it that stops the > character from being used in smilies.

Edit: was looking at the wrong version number...

[Llanlad]

whats all this about then ... ??

Ill have a go !!

[Piemaster]

whats all this about then ... ??

Ill have a go !!

I've signed you up for Game 14 Llanlad, we will be starting in a few hours. You will receive a PM saying what your role is and I will open 'The Game Thread' shortly after.

[BuzzBeeSi]

That icon is broked, but we don't quite know why, I'm afraid.

Probably something to do with the ">" maybe you should change it to ASCII in the coding ... "& # 6 2 ; " (without the spaces) ... or just change it to something else altogether!

[PizzaByNight]

As requested, here is a masterlist of everyone who has participated in ITH Mafia. If you find any errors, PM me. For instance, I know we had either a detective or two masons in Game 10; but as far as I can determine, they were never identified.

[PizzaByNight]

Notable posts in which some of our veterans have offered advice to new players…

nsidestrate’s Tips For The Innocents from the opening pages of Game 4:

1) Posting (as often and in as much detail as possible) is the best friend of the innocent. Make wild accusations, think out loud, ramble, it is ALL GOOD. It is hard for the mafia to post frequently without giving things away about themselves. Even when a mafia member posts a lot and is tricky, he will usually give himself away in this fashion. A town that talks a lot and lynches those who lay low is a town that will almost always win as the numbers of citizens shrink.

2) If you are a simple innocent, the only thing you have to be careful about is to try not to discuss the doctor or detective in such a way that makes it obvious that you aren't either one. Make it difficult for the mafia to get any clues who is who.

3) Until the game gets short-handed, don't post about the strategy for the doctor or detective. This is especially true if you are the detective or the doctor. Discussion of the doctor or detective strategy usually helps the mafia identify them. We want them to be kept secret!

4) There is no good reason for the doctor to ever announce that they are the doctor. If you are the doctor, don't do it. If someone claims to be the doctor, be very suspicious of them.

5) The detective will have to decide for himself when it is good to reveal his status. If you choose not to reveal yourself, try to leave clues in your posts so that we can learn what you knew if you get hit. Don't feel obligated to defend someone you know to be innocent. It is far better for an innocent to die than for you to be killed.

6) Please don't get yourself killed by not voting or editing your posts. That is absolutely terrible for the good guys.

The best way to put the mafia to the test is to promote different ideas and make rapid changes of direction. When they have time pressure, they make mistakes.

bb88 touched on several good points in his openers from Games 6 & 7.

Things you should avoid if you are innocent:
-posting rarely or without quality. Pretty simple.
-voting for yourself. I've seen this happen a couple times already, both times the person was innocent, and both times it distracted the town from mafia members.
-follow along and try to just be one of the crowd. Not going to help us much if the town has one or two pot-stirrers and a bunch of people following them. This is for several reasons. One, the more we post, the more we force the mafia members to post and make mistakes. Two, mafia could be the people leading us! This would be terrible! Lastly, it creates more confusion and changes of direction, which is beneficial to the town.
-making lists without really thinking about them. If/when you decide to post a list, make sure you've put thought into it. It doesn't help us if you just post a list to make yourself look better, and it'll probably put you in hot water and maybe even lynched, causing a possible mafia member to worm his way out of a lynching.

.............................................................

The mafia are never as tricky as we like to think they are. Seriously. I was mafia Game 4, and we didn't really try anything incredibly devious. I think this will hold especially true this game since they have even more on their mind, since there are two groups of baddies.

If you are a special character, no need to let us know right away, unless you are in trouble of being lynched. In fact, it is only to the mafia's advantage that we come out early (nside was an exception probably) or that we even discuss the strategy. It only makes it easier for the bad guys to peg who is special, and therefore, who to kill next.

Lynching the stronger, "big name" players (including, but not limited to bugs, nutjob, tall paul) is more advantageous to the bad guys than to us right now I think. This is for several reasons. One is that their style is well-known and if they deviate from it, it'll be easy to spot. Another is that mathamatically, they are more likely to be good than bad, and therefore more likely to be very helpful than harmful. I've always felt this was the case, and will probably never change my mind on this.

A syllabus from Professor San can be found here. Given its length and crisp formatting (which I’d have a devil of a time replicating if I were to quote it ), I’m just going to provide the link here. Definitely take the time to read it and chew on it as there are some advanced ideas here.

San's Big Book of Mafia Tips


Nutjob gives some tips on how to play from the Mafia side.

Step 1

KEYS TO APPEARING INNOCENT

1. Don't pre-write posts. Wing it, that's what innocents are doing.

2. DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET LYNCHED. Mafia have a hard time trying to find something to post, because they are always scanning the thread HOPING no one finds them suspicious. When someone does, THEN they speak up. As the game moves, constantly imagine yourself as an innocent. If someone says something strange, call them on it (no matter which team they are on). Don't sit there thinking about how to word it. WRITE WHAT NATURALLY COMES INTO YOUR HEAD IN AN INNOCENT FRAME OF MIND.

3. Figure out the game. Important. Yes, you know the answers already, but you have to suppress that information and try to figure out the game from what you see in the thread. You must do this IN the thread. Mafia types never figure out the game in the thread. They sit back.

4. Don't make crappy votes. Voting for people because you don't think will fight you back is bad. Vote for people who appear suspicious. There will be plenty of suspicious innocents to choose from.

5. Don't force a list too early. When you do eventually make lists, they should jibe with your in-thread thoughts. Listing people who are obvious innocents as suspicious is a good way to give yourself away.

6. Don't place an early vote on someone and then leave it there if there are two or three bandwagons later in the day. If there ends up being 8 votes on X and 7 on Y and your 1 little vote on some random person, you look bad.

7. If someone calls you suspicious DO NOT OVER-REACT.

8. Have fun.

9. Try to find connections between players. Mafia rarely DEDUCE that if A is mafia, B is probably innocent. Why? Because they already know the answer.

But if you notice that A voted for B late and put B in danger, you could make this statement in the thread. This is part of "figuring out the game" or "mafia hunting." Doesn't matter how wrong you are, just that you are actively "hunting" mafia.


Step 2:

THE DETECTIVE.

Die, die, die, die, die.

TAKE NOTES on the game.

1. It will help you keep track of who you "think" is mafia.

2. You can jot down the players who STATE that someone is innocent or mafia ... or list them as 99 percent or whatever the soon-to-be-dead detective does. Must ..... kill .... detective.

Here's a little mistake mafia always make. (And when an innocent does it, you can call out him/her as suspicious)

Two posts, notice the difference:

1. Interestingly, I think Cyb could be mafia, but he made one posts that sounds innocent.
2. I think Cyb is mafia. There's only one post that makes me think he's innocent.

ok teacher,

post one would be the innocent and 2 the mafia?

in 2, there is a certaintyish ness feeling of the wording and only a mafia can be sure of anything other than the detective.

MX.

No. Good thinking, and maybe I chose an example that is not the greatest, but post No. 1 is mafia.

Why?

1. The word interestingly is forced. It's coming from someone who is THINKING about what to write. Also avoid phrases like:

At this point in time,
Currently,
Statements that look or sound like questions.

2. It's wishy-washy. Innocents might have mixed feelings, but they state them clearly, like in Post 2.


Also, avoid built-in excuses like:

I'm not saying cyb is mafia for sure, and he certainly could be innocent, but blah, blah blah....

Also, avoid ONLY posting one-liners.

[PizzaByNight]

This space reserved.