Whistler – the rules of the game

Daryl HattonFun

The game of Whistler originated in Whistler, BC, Canada in the summer of 2005 in the Fairmont Chateau Whistler hotel. It is loosely based on the game Thirty-One and is ideal for families to play together given the simple rules but potential for strategic play that challenges parents and children alike.

PLAYERS. Two to six. The game becomes progressively harder with more players and is best played with three or four.

CARDS. The pack of 52. The cards in each suit rank A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Aces count 11, face cards count 10 and all other cards count their face value. Suits have no relative value. Aces may be also used to make runs at the low end of the rank (see SPECIAL HANDS examples below).

PRELIMINARIES. Cards are drawn, high card is the first dealer. Players who tie for high card each draw again until the tie is broken.

DEALING. Dealer shuffles the Deck. Each player then receives four cards face down, dealt one at a time beginning with the player to the
dealer’s left. One additional card from the deck is turned face up in the middle of the table to begin the Discard pile. The remainder of the deck is placed next to the Discard face down and forms the Stock. Players pick up their cards to form their Hand.

THE PLAY. The player to the dealer’s left begins play. In turn, each player draws either the top card from the Discard or the Stock. The player adds the new card to her Hand and selects one card from the Hand to discard. If the cards in the Hand form one of the Special Hands, the player announces the name of the Special Hand, places the discard card face down on the Discard pile and play ceases with the player declared the winner of the game. If not, the player places the discard card face up on the Discard pile and play continues with the next player to the left.

KNOCKING. If, during a turn, a player believes her hand has higher total points in a single suit than any other hand in play, the player may Knock by rapping her knuckles on the table before discarding. Knocking signals that all other players must each complete one more turn. After the last player has finished her turn, the Hands are revealed and the point totals calculated. The player with the highest point total in a single suit wins. If any player acquires a Special Hand during the Knock round, they immediately win the game and no other player may score. Any player(s) who has more points than the Knocker or wins with a Special Hand is declared to have Beat the Knocker and scores double (see SCORING). Ties are awarded to the Knocker for having the courage to test their hand by Knocking.

SPECIAL HANDS. Three special types of hands are immediate winners in Whistler and cause play to cease. They are:

Whistler: The four cards in the Hand are of the same suit and add to 41 points.
Runner: The four cards in the Hand are consecutive and from different suits. For example – 6 ♦, 7 ♣, 8 ♠, 9 ♥. Aces may be either high or low i.e. J, Q, K, A or A, 2, 3, 4 but runs may not wrap around i.e. Q, K, A, 2
Party: The four cards in the hand are of the same rank but from different suits. For example – 5 ♠, 5♦, 5 ♥, 5 ♣.

SCORING. Player with the winning hand is awarded one wooden tooth pick. Players who Beat the Knocker are awarded two wooden tooth picks. Player with the most tooth picks at the end of the session is Grand Champion. Candies (such as restaurant mints), sugar packets or any other small objects may be substituted for tooth picks.

IRREGULARITIES IN WHISTLER

MISDEAL. There must be a new deal by the same dealer if a card is found faced in the pack or if a card is exposed in dealing. There must be a new deal by the next dealer if dealer gives the wrong number of cards to a hand.

WRONG NUMBER OF CARDS. Before play: New deal (see Misdeal). During play: A hand found to be short draws cards from the Stock without penalty.

INVALID SPECIAL HAND. Player declares they have a Special Hand but on inspection is found to not be the case. Player shows his hand to all other players, corrects his discard (i.e. face up) and play continues.

KNOCKING AFTER DISCARD. A Knock after the player discards but before the next player draws a card is allowed to stand. A Knock after the next player draws a card is ignored.

STRATEGY IN WHISTLER.

Flexibility in strategy is key in playing Whistler. It is not uncommon to change strategy two or more times in a game depending on cards played by others or cards acquired during play. It is important to track not only what cards have been discarded but what cards other players are accumulating as this hints at the composition of their hands and helps determine the potential of a player’s hand. In many cases, it may become clear that the current cards in the hand cannot win given other cards that have been played. For example, having a strategy of collecting Hearts because your hand holds the A ♥ and 8 ♥ no longer makes sense if other players have discarded the K ♥, Q ♥ and 10 ♥. This is because the remaining possible hands have a low probability of winning.

The Party hand is the most difficult hand to achieve as it requires four specific cards. A Whistler hand requires four out of a possible five cards in the deck.

When playing for a Runner, low card runs have a higher probability of success than high card runs as the player to the right is more likely to acquire and keep high cards (i.e. aiming for Whistler) and therefore not pass them on through the Discard.

A good candidate for a Runner is a hand containing a run of three consecutive cards in different suits. A card of the fourth suit at either end of the run would win. For example – 3 ♣, 4 ♦, 5 ♥. Either the 2 ♠ or the 6 ♠ would win.

A better candidate for a Runner is a hand containing a run of three consecutive cards in different suits with the fourth card repeating one of the other three in the same suit as one of the others. For example – 6 ♥, 7 ♥, 7 ♣, 8 ♦. In this case, there are four possible cards that can form the winning hand. 5 ♠, 5 ♣, 9 ♠, 9 ♣.

The strategy for Knocking depends on the duration of the game. If it is very early in the game, a hand with point totals above 20 can frequently win. If it is later in the game, point totals less than 30 would be a risky Knock unless it is clear that others are trying for Runner or Party hands.

VARIATIONS.

There is a variation of the standard Whistler game called Whistler Village. In this game, if a player Knocks, the other players, at their option, may offer to help the player to their left by asking “What do you need?” when it is their turn to discard. The player to the left may request a specific card or type of card e.g. “the Seven of Diamonds” or “any high Spade” and the player may elect to fulfill this request with his discard. Play continues as in the regular game.

Another variation of either the standard Whistler game or Whistler Village is to replacing rapping on the table with whistling a few notes.

West Coast Whisky Society Robbie Burns Toast to the Lassies

Daryl HattonHumor, Poetry, West Coast Whisky Society

Here is the Robbie Burns Dinner toast to the Lassies I penned for the West Coast Whisky Society…




Old Rabbie Burns, a man ‘mongst men,
Sure had his way with women,
His wife, his maid, four girls (it’s true!),
This many bore him children!

And there was talk of many more,
High and lo abou’ the country.
‘Twas no matter, high or common,
They’d fall, like night, for poetry.

His suff’ring wife, the bonnie Jean,
When asked how she survives,
Responded slyly, patiently,
“He should ha’ had twa wives.”

What was special ‘bout this wee man,
That made the women swoon?
Perhaps he simply loved them more,
From this, they weren’t immune.

For Rabbie wrote in splendid verse,
His feelings real and deep,
‘Bout hair, and eyes, and skin so fair,
And the hearts he’d love to keep.

Burns was blessed, as we men are,
Fine lassies all around,
Yet best of all he saw the truth,
In their magic was spellbound.

Fortunately I’ve learned from him,
To look a little deeper,
And see the value of my lass,
Remembering why I keep ‘er.

Just look around, right here and now,
We’re blessed with these fine lassies,
As good a flock as e’er you’ll find,
The focus of our fancies.

Not long ago (or so it seems),
Our hearts were all a’flutter,
A simple smile or touch of hand,
And then, like boys, we’d stutter.

These fetching girls so young and fair,
Kept all of us enraptured,
We wooed them with our greatest charms,
Until they had us captured.

We strutted ‘round, her by our side,
As proud as cocks were we,
And dare another lad come near,
“That girl, she’s here with me!”

We loved their hair, we loved their eyes,
We pined all day and night,
We loved their laugh, we loved their smile,
We knew it must be right.

So lost were we, we bought a ring,
And talked of a big wedding,
And what she’d want, we’d gladly give,
Then prayed she’d share our bedding.

And wed we did, good friends all ‘round,
Our families joined together,
And bed we did, our lust profound,
On bedsteads or in heather!

And then the wee bairn came along,
Our lives took on new meaning,
The lassies, bless their hearts and souls,
Stepped up; still did the cleaning.

The days were long, the nights were too,
Yet they rarely did complain,
Where would we be without our lass?
I’ll wager; gone insane.

So charming then, so young and pure,
We wanted them for sex,
Mature’d now, like fine liqueur,
Our feelings more complex.

You’ve heard my poem, now stand with me,
As I sincerely recommend,
We take the time to celebrate,
Our lover, companion, friend.

It’s time good lads, indeed time past!
With Whisky fill your glasses,
And voice a toast, let’s hear a boast!
To these … our bonnie lassies.

Starting a company is hard

Daryl HattonConnectionPoint

It is hard to explain to people (at times) why starting a new company is so hard. I think Paul Kedrosky did a great job in the following quote:

Creating a successful startup is among the hardest things you can do in a capitalist economy. Entrepreneurs must successfully navigate a sea of multi-dimensional uncertainty, from technology (will it work?), to people (do I have the right employees?), to market (will anyone care?), to financial (can I finance doing this, and can I then sell the produce or service for more than it costs?) At big companies you can fail at launching a product, fail at hiring people, fail at making money on a product, and fail at figuring out whether something will work. Your big company will probably be unaffected, and you may even get promoted. Do any of those things wrong at a startup and, in all likelihood, you’re dead. You are wandering a maze of dark and twisty passages — most of which are paved with trapdoors to hell.

If you like this quote, check out the whole article:  Paul Kedrosky – Why I Love Venture Capitalists

I mention this because, in spite of all the good things happening this week in ConnectionPoint, I still am aware of the tremendous risk we are taking.

Funny thing is, I know we can handle it. Am I insane or just fortuitously optimistic?

Witness to the start of a new era

Daryl HattonConnectionPoint

Sometimes, I’m very aware how lucky I am. Today is a good example. I was fortunate to be present when Google launched Wave.

Google Wave

I can hear the snide comments now: “Give me a break – it is just a piece of software”. “Techies – just a bunch of self-centered geeks”, “OMG, get a life”.

This is different.

It is impossible to describe Wave succinctly – there are too many aspects that, by themselves, are very important and impactful.

However, there is one thing it does that stands out for me – Wave is the first big implementation of the transition from request/response web metaphors to a fully interactive, real-time collaborative web. By itself, this is very cool. But it is the stuff that can run ON TOP of this that is really exciting. Bear with me for a moment.

During the demo, Lars Rasmussen opened a wave (collaboration document) with a colleague from France. When Lars typed something into the document, his colleague could see each individual character immediately as it was typed and vice versa. The VERY cool part of this is that as Lars typed, his words were also translated into French on-the-fly i.e. in real-time. While his colleague typed something in French, his words were also translated instantly into English. Simply put, they could carry out a conversation in their native language with instant translation into the other language using Google’s vast knowledge of patterns in the information published on the web to improve the quality of the results. By itself, this is VERY COOL.

But take it a step further. In a few years, mobile devices (which will run Wave), will be able to convert speech to text and text to speech in real-time with very high fidelity. If you let Moore’s law run for another few years and combine these speech technologies with Wave, faster wireless and Bluetooth technology, I’ll be able to have a conversation with someone in any one of perhaps 80 languages (the current standard – sure to expand) with REAL TIME translation of what I’m saying into their language and REAL TIME translation of what they are saying into English.

If you are a fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy you’ll recognize that while you won’t have something slippery INSIDE your ear i.e. a mythical babelfish, you’ll have something light-weight and comfortable hanging OUTSIDE your ear (and a box the size of a pack of cards in your pocket) that will give you the same result – the ability to speak with and understand almost anyone on the planet. “Unbelievable” is simply not strong enough.

To me, Wave is about improving communication. I can see how it will do this across national and cultural boundaries and across race. When we improve communications, we increase understanding. When we increase understanding, we reduce fear and increase tolerance. When we increase tolerance, we reduce aggression and conflict. When we reduce conflict, we increase peace and stability. When we increase peace and stability, fewer people die needlessly.

What a wonderful gift from “just a piece of software”.

My hat is off to the Wave team and to the visionary leaders at Google who encourage this kind of work.

I’ve heard there is a recession but I’ve decided not to participate

Daryl HattonEntrepreneurship

Apparently the economists and other experts who, as a group, failed to predict the biggest recession in decades now feel qualified to predict it will last a long time.

They were wrong before and they are probably wrong again.

We need to avoid the trap of believing them, holding back our businesses and our lives and causing the recession to deepen and lengthen.

We can control what will happen if we play “our game”, not “theirs”.

Let’s ignore all the negative news, maintain our optimism and continue to run our businesses and live our lives with gusto.

Tell everyone you know that you’ve heard there is a recession but you’ve decided not to participate.

Share your stories of positive, anti-recessionary things happening in your business and in your life on your Facebook pages.

Invite your friends to do the same.

“Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” – FDR’s First Inaugural Address

Fear is contagious but so is optimism when helped along with enthusiasm.

Let’s make some good things happen

West Coast Whisky Society Founder’s Poem

Daryl HattonHumor, Poetry, West Coast Whisky Society

Here is the poem I penned to explain our (my) fondness for whisky…


‘Tis dark and cold when late at night,
My feet begin to wander,
And visit, shhhh!, my Secret Stash,
Its treasures mine to plunder.

A dram I crave, fine liquid gold,
With flavours strong and subtle,
Vanilla, fruit, nuts, smoke and peat,
Pure magic in a bottle.

The drink that warms me heart and soul,
‘Tis aged rare Scotch Whisky,
A vice so fine I can’t complain,
Tho’ financially quite risky.

Dilemma shows itself tonight,
What selection shall I make?
With so many fine expressions,
From which will I partake?

Tho’ whisky flows ‘cross all Scotland,
Small Islay makes my favoured.
The malts that hail from this wet place,
Stand out and must be savoured.

Tonight the winds blow cold and harsh,
On Islay they’re much the same,
Whisky is shaped by winds like this,
Yet warms you like a flame.

A fire at home holds back the night,
Smoke slips out through the screen,
The smell brings back a memory,
That makes the choice so clean.

Old smoky friend, good strong Ardbeg,
Rare whisky of distinction,
The perfect choice for this cold night;
A wonderful invention.

I fill (!) a glass of special shape,
Then add a drop of water,
Swirl round the bowl this precious juice,
And praise the day I bought ‘er.

A whiff, a breath, what strong aroma!
Like incense burning fast,
Smoky, yes, sea smell there, too,
Held captive inside the glass.

Sip small, and hold, then breathe across,
Revealing hidden essence,
Amazing changes, just small drops,
Expose the ocean’s presence.

The burn, it starts across my tongue,
Then flavours follow quickly,
Oatmeal, toffee, salty, sweetness,
Peat smoke laid on most thickly.

The tastes are rich, complex, sublime,
Real miracles in action,
At times, the changes come on fast,
In rapid chain reaction.

Now down the throat, it fills the lungs,
With heat that’s oh so soothing,
A glow descends into my chest,
“What a life!” my mind’s enthusing.

On this goes for a little while,
We two beside the fire,
I fill the glass at most once more,
OK, so I’m a liar!

But finally, the night is done,
My head has started bobbing,
I drink a large cold glass of water,
To still the morning throbbing.

And slowly head off to my bed,
My craving mostly sated.
But dreams will show I’ve far to go,
If Truth is fully stated.

My wife complains I’m now a snob,
My nose held high in the air,
Too posh for any ol’ regular drink,
“Blended” just doesn’t compare.

She may be right; who gives a damn?
My world was changed forever,
The day I first enrolled myself,
In this malt Whisky endeavour.

We gather here, and sate our cravings,
For Whisky aged and rare,
And celebrate old Rabbie Burns,
Whose passions we do share.

Now drink with me, you Scotch fanatics,
And raise a toast hereafter,
We celebrate the life and loves,
Of Scotland’s Poetic Master.

Slainte!