Did You Know?

The Fool card, with the Fool poised at the edge of a cliff, was adopted as the U.S. Games Systems logo, both because the founding of the company required a leap of faith and because April 1st is the birthday of its founder, Stuart Kaplan.

Wizard is popular but not available!?????

 

WIZARD has Five-star ratings in this Quebec chain of stores but is not available for sale.
Marketing appears to have failed badly.

WIZARD OMNIBUS is a Super Deal! Three Versions for the price of one.

 

The Times of London and Wizard courtesy of Tim Burton

 
The Times of London has a story about board and card games. I have a subscription and have posted a response.

Bored by board games? How your old favourites are fighting back

In a world filled with digital distractions, players’ attention spans are growing shorter. So manufacturers are making their games quicker and easier to win

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bored-by-board-games-how-your-old-favourites-are-fighting-back-p0vlsf0d5

I highly recommend a card game called Wizard, invented by a guy from Toronto.  Easy to learn, harder to master, it is played with a regular deck of cards, plus 8 extra cards.  Play for free online at a site you can find by googling card games (can't list it here by rule but try wizardcards dot  com) where tournaments are also held  monthly.  A yearly World Championship is played  in Europe where representatives from countries such as Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Canada and the USA, where Wizard is very commonly played, compete for the title of Master Wizard.
 Tim Burton

PERFECT GAME ANOMALY

 Perfect Game Losers

Some people are uncomfortable with the fact that a player can make all his/her bids
correctly and still finish in second or third place. One attempt to remedy this problem
was the “PINK Tournaments” where total points did not determine the winner.

I would like to conduct another experiment to increase the likelihood of a perfectly bid
game being the winner. The winner would still be determined by the most points but power hands would be somewhat reigned in, to prevent large point gains.

Wizard Limited
For 4, 5, and 6-player games the maximum bid is 4.
All of the other rules for all versions (excluding the German game) of the game remain the same.

The ramifications of the “limited bids” are many and varied.
However, there is little or no effect until the later hands of play. 

Your cooperation is needed to test the validity and usefulness of “Wizard Limited”.
When you host a new game and would like to test the limited bidding system, simply
post in capital letters “LIMITED” on the home page so that players joining will be
aware that it is a “limited bid” test game.
After you have either hosted or played a few games of “limited bid” please provide
feedback at wizardjester@gmail.com

Vienna 2022

 

 VIENNA 2022 Tournament

 The chart below notes the scores after 6 hours of play, 5 games of Wizard, against the best players of world from Greece Germany Austria Hungary Spain Canada USA and other places. Then the top 4 played a 6th game to determine the ultimate winner. 

Although Tim Burton finished 4th and Mario the Canadian entry was 3rd, you can also see that Carles Jeff Marina Debi and Josep from the wizardcards.com site all finished in the top 12!!

  That is a great testament to the quality of the players on the Wizard site.

 Wizard players provide super promotion as the RV travels around the USA .

The website www.wizardcards.com is displayed on the rear of the vehicle.

Newspaper.August17,2022.

 Article in the local newspaper. I know that it is clipped off at the bottom but there is nothing really new here that is not found elsewhere on the site.
For sharper pic visit Page15 on this site https://issuu.com/thevoiceofpelham/docs/the_voice_august_17_2022_digital

WIZARD OMNIBUS : Play Wizard Classic, Wizard Magic or Wiizard Camelot. Your Choice. Triple the Fun. Same low price.

 

 Pics from Tournament CCCJ XXIII Torneig d’Estiu that was celebrated on Saturday, July 23.

2 of Hearts WIZARD OMNIBUS deck Play Traditional . Magic . Camelot

 

 Wizard Trophy presented to Winners of live tournaments

 RIDDLE

The First is 4th from the Last.
The Last is 4th from the First.
The Second is 9th from the First
The Second-Last is 9th from the Last
The Third is the Last and the Fourth is the First.

SOLUTION
The riddle refers to the alphabet and the letters in the word WIZARD.

The  First letter of WIZARD is 4th from the Last letter of the alphabet.
The Last letter of WIZARD is 4th from the First letter of the alphabet.

The Second letter of WIZARD is 9th from the First letter of the alphabet.
The Second Last letter of WIZARD is 9th from the Last letter of the alphabet.

The Third letter of WIZARD is the Last letter of the alphabet.
The Fourth letter of WIZARD is the First letter of the alphabet.

 SUMMARY OF WIZARD TOURNAMENTS IN EUROPE

2010....Frankfurt, Germany 

1. Josef Sigl (Germany) 

2. Janos Balogh (Hungary) 

3. Astrid Hiob (Germany) 

4. Ken McCoy (abacus) (Canada) *** 

 

2011....Budapest, Hungary 

1 - Beate Punz.......Austria 

2 - Heiko Eckrich..Germany 

3 - Karl Anderson. (AP Sirius) Canada *** 

4 - Rainer Keller...Germany 

 

2012....Vienna, Austria 

1. Thomas Kessler Switzerland 

2. Ede Markos Hungary 

3. René Punz Austria 

4. Emilie Badey France 

 

2013 Amsterdam, Belgium 

1. Germany - Christian Adolph 

2. Netherlands - Daniel Muilwijk 

3. America - Mr. Wizard (Keith Gill) ***

4. Austria - Rene Punz 

2014 Athens, Greece 

1. Gergely Suba  Hungary

Runner-Ups: Spyros Keramas (Greece)   Antal Polya (Hungary),  René Punz (Austria).

 

2015 Prague, Czech Rep. 

1. Hans Mostbock   Austria

2. 

3. Mario Phenix, (mphenix) Canada ***

4.  

 

2016 Budapest, Hungary 

1. Robert Laschkolnig, Switzerland 

2. George Wellsbury (Merlin), Canada ***

3.  Antal Polya  (Hungary)

4. Tatjana Punz (Austria)

2017 Rega, Latvia 

1. Ignaz Punz   (Austria)

2. 

3. 

4. 

2018 Warsaw, Poland 

1.Vasilis Papadakis., Greece  

2: Akos L., Hungary  

3: Tatjana Punz., Austria  

4: Beate Punz., Austria 

2019 Antwerp, Belgium 

1. Spyros Keramas.  Greece 

2. Vasileios P. Greece 

3. Marina Navarrete (Aniram) USA/Mexico +++

4. Gabor S. Hungary 

2020 & 2021 Canceled 

2022 

Most Skillful Player?

Rating the most skillful Wizard Player
The latest poll asks which best indicates skill? Total Points, Skill Ratio, or Winning Percentage?
Perhaps, the best indication is a combination of all three. The lowest total is best. Here are some sample results from January 2022:
1. Carles..........2+1+1 = 4
2. Whidt...........1+2+4 = 7
3. Orca..............8+4+10=22
4. Shauna.........4+10+10=24
5. Mactonight...19+3+2=24
6. Silent Sam....13+13+6=32
7. Knowitall......3+16+14=33

WIZARD OMNIBUS

 What is Wizard Omnibus?  

It is Traditional Wizard + Wizard Magic + Wizard Camelot all in one 60-card deck. (341) Three-for-One. 
“U.S. Games Systems” has green-lighted the project and it is hoped that the finished product will be on the shelves in time for Christmas 2022. Great value as the three versions will be available with no increase in cost. 
The design of a new box, cards, and set of rules has begun. We will keep you posted on future progress.

I.Basque Country Wizard Cards Championship 2022

 On January 22, the Basque Association of Draughts and Strategic Games organized the I.Basque Country Wizard Championship, an entertaining card game in which you have to try to play the cards well and hit the predictions. We got together 9 players and we did two rounds. The top two at each table played each other in the second round, and the last two played each other.

            In the end, the player who obtained the most victories won, and in case of a tie the winner was determined based on the points obtained.

            Our idea is to continue organizing this annual tournament face to face and we will also organize the Villa de Bilbao Tournament in June. Finally, some of us will start playing online also to participate in the World Ranking and represent Basque Country, of course.

            Here we leave the final classification. The first 4 players got one partial victory, but Jon Ander won the championship because he got more points than the rest, 500. Alex (480), Egoitz (370)  and Darlyn (260) finished the championship on the top of the classification.

 

Last standings

1-Jon Ander Burgoa (Basque Country)

2-Alex Martínez (Nicaragua)

3-Egoitz Campo (Basque Country)

4-Darlyn Mendoza (Basque Country)

5-Jacob Rodríguez (Basque Country)

6-Iratxe Fernández (Basque Country)

7-Zulema Moreno (Basque Country)

8-Aitor Galda (Basque Country)

9-Derian Mocha (Basque Country)

 

 

 

Basque Country Wizard Cards Championship 2022

WIZARD MAGIC evolves

 Wizard Magic 

New for 2022
The Evolution of the “Wizard” Card Game.
To see how the original “Wizard” game was created, click on “Bulletin Boards” then scroll down to “History of Wizard Cards”.
To find out why and how “Wizard Camelot” was created visit the “Wizard Blogsite” and scroll down to ‘older posts’ and “Wizard Camelot Rationale”.
The original Wizard game continues to be the most popular version. The primary reason for this ongoing popularity is the simplicity of the rules combined with a surprising degree of strategic play. “Minutes to learn and years to master”.
The major flaw in the original game, if there is one, is that the four Wizard cards are unbeatable. The problem with “Wizard Camelot” is that the simplicity of the original game is lost in its complexity.
To both return to a simpler version while at the same time making the four Wizard cards more vulnerable “Wizard Magic” is being introduced. The new game is not planned for production but is simply being provided for online testing.
“Wizard Magic”
There are no changes to any of the rules of the original “Wizard” game and no new cards are introduced. There is only one new rule:
“The 4 deuces each become a “Magical Wizard” (Magician) if played when their suit is led by another player.” 
Note that the player holding the deuce card does not decide when and if it becomes a “Magician”. All 4 of the deuce cards must follow suit as normal. However, if the player has other cards of the same suit, they can be played instead of the deuce. The “Magician” is the most powerful card and wins over the four regular “Wizard” cards.

* The ultimate goal is to publish an 'Omnibus' version of Wizard that would make all three versions (Classic, Magical, Camelot) available in one 60-card deck. 

WIZARD Magic

 Wizard Magic in a nutshell 2

The 4 deuces each become a “Magical Wizard” if played when their suit is led.
They remain as regular deuces at all other times.
A “Magical Wizard” always wins the trick.

When a deuce of the same suit as the lead card is played it appears as one of the Wizard cards with the appropriate symbol,  ♥  ♣  ♦  ♠ , in the center and also in the upper left corner of the card. 

Note: When a deuce is led it is simply a deuce.