Sunday, January 30, 2011

Immersing Oneself in Dutch Culture through Klaverjassen

Nowadays, many people travel to Europe for the sole purpose of conducting business and earning money. However, there are also other people who travel for the sole purpose of seeing places and experiencing the culture in that part of the world. There many interesting places to visit in Europe but if you ever happen to find yourself visiting the Netherlands, then you’ve got a few options on how to best immerse yourself in Dutch culture. One of the best ways to get in touch with Dutch Culture is to learn how to play Klaverjassen.

Though the word might sound alien and strange to you, this word is one of the most well known words in the world of card games. Klaverjassen is known all over Europe as one of the best trick taking cards games out there. Though it is widespread all over Europe, it is not nearly as important to other Europeans as it is to the Dutch people in the Netherlands. Klaverjassen is significant in the Netherlands primarily because it is the country’s national card game.

Though quite an unconventional method when compared to taking pictures of the Dutch countryside or buying wooden shoes for souvenirs, learning to play Klaverjassen offers you much more in the end. If your ultimate goal is to immerse yourself in Dutch culture then you should know that it doesn’t get any more engrossed than this. You should also know that Klaverjassen has a high cultural significance in the Netherlands. Not only is mainly due to the fact that the game is played by many of its people but also due to the fact that even people who’ve migrated to this country came to love and play the game as their own.

When learning to play Klaverjassen in its country of origin always remember to have fun, its not every day you get to do this sort of thing. If you’re quite new to trick taking card games, don’t worry about not getting the gist of it at the very beginning. Although Klaverjassen is known to be an easy game to learn, most people get the hang of it only after a few games have gone by. So just relax and be a sponge and just soak up all the basics. Though playing the game is the best way to learn the in and outs, bear in mind that observing others can have many benefits as well. Not only will it give you an idea of how to handle certain situations but it’ll also give you an idea of how a Klaverjassen player should conduct himself or herself throughout a game.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

Guidelines for a Smooth Trip to your Klaverjassen Tournament

One great thing about being part of an online Klaverjassen community is that you get informed about upcoming tournament events. Though one may think that going to such events is a hassle, it isn’t, if you’ve got the right mindset. If you’re someone who likes to travel then going on a trip to participate in a Klaverjassen tournament can be an exhilarating experience. But before you hit the road, you’ll have to plan out your entire trip step by step.

Let’s face it, not all of us have money to burn and in fact, most, if not all of us, just have enough money to afford the necessary comforts but none of the luxuries. It only makes sense that when going on road trips to participate in Klaverjassen tournaments, one has to budget the entire trip. The first thing you’ll need to do is to check your vehicle as being stranded is one of the worst possible things that could happen to you on your trip.

The second thing you’ll need to do is to plan your stops. Unless you don’t mind sleeping in your car, which is not recommended, you’ll have to do the necessary research that would afford you with adequate knowledge of the geography you’re going to traverse. The trick here is to know the different and affordable stops along the way because that way, if you get ahead or fall behind schedule you’ll have a place to stay no matter where you are.

Once you’ve figured out all your rest stops, the third thing you need to do is to decide which places to visit. However, please keep in mind that this’ll be what causes you to fall behind schedule. As such, the best way to go about this would be to visit these places after your Klaverjassen tournament. You wouldn’t want to arrive late at the tournament, right? Remember, Klaverjassen isn’t something people can win with only half a mind in the game.

Since tournaments are somewhat of a social event, the fourth and final thing you need to do would be to bring a camera. Bringing a camera is a good idea because not only will it afford you a lot of priceless memories but it is also a good way to socialize. Remember, a big part in participating in Klaverjassen tournaments involves meeting and socializing with people from the online Klaverjassen community. This becomes a lot easier when you have a camera.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

An Active Hartenjagen Mind

Medical science has since established that as people get older their mind tends to stagnate, leading to memory loss. As a result, medical science has long since endorsed various memory enhancing activities like scrabble, solving crossword puzzles, chess, and card games like Hartenjagen. Looking at one of the many ways to prevent this memory loss, one can see that they all revolve around keeping the mind active. Though scrabble, crosswords and chess are a given, one might wonder how a card game like Hartenjagen helps people keep an active mind.

Hartenjagen is known to be one of the most popular and highly played card games ever. However unbeknownst to many people, this game puts people in one of the most mentally stimulating game environments there is. In fact, due to its highly competitive nature, people have even started playing Hartenjagen online. In a typical game of Hartenjagen, players are pitted against three other players. Though one might find this to be hardly a competitive scenario, your impressions will change once the game starts. At the beginning of the game, players are obliged to pass three cards to the opponents on their left side. Though somewhat insignificant, this can have a huge psychological impact later on in the game.

Throughout much of the game play in Hartenjagen involves strategizing plays and anticipating what the opponent’s cards are. However, since there are four players in total this proves to quite a challenge. Not only do players need to keep an active mind and pay attention to what is happening all throughout the game but they also need to be creative as well. Most people tend to play Hartenjagen in a straight forwards manner however, the game doesn’t seem to reward straightforward tactics all the time. Though sometimes, players might be blessed with godlike hands allowing them to employ various straightforward tactics, most of the time players need to be smart about how they play their hands.

Another reason why Hartenjagen is such an effective medium for mental exercise is that the game is a far cry from the daily routines comprising people’s lives. It is a known fact that stagnation is an end product of having a scheduled life. However, in this day and age, a scheduled life is a necessary vice. Hartenjagen, simply superimposes the safe environment and displaces it with a highly competitive one and the best thing about this is that it’s a game hence people can play it on and off at a whim.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and online hartenjagen.

A Game for the Rainy Days

Ever found yourself in a situation where you’ve made plans to go out with friends and have fun under the sun, only to have it rain once you’ve hit the road? Though you’d think that you have the lousiest luck ever, you’d be surprised at how many people find themselves in similar situations each day. Rain has always been the bane in people’s outdoor plans for centuries but ever wonder how people got by the boredom of having absolutely nothing to do in the old days? During those times people didn’t have to look far because they knew that even a simple card game like Klaverjass could turn a dull rained out day into a fun and exciting one.

The great thing about Klaverjassen is that you don’t ever need to go outside just to have fun. People simply needed to open the drawer, take out a deck of cards, turn it into a piquet deck and then play the game. But it gets even better because another great thing about Klaverjassen is that so long as there are people who know how to play the game, everything is all set. Heck, even people without any background can still participate. In fact, in this Dutch trick taking card game, learning is half the fun. There are a lot of laughs and great times to be had when teaching novice friends the in and outs of the game.

Though Klaverjassen has been regarded to be a highly competitive game where skill and teamwork are essential traits needed to win the game, it has another side to it. If you’re quite the professional Klaverjass player, take this time to sit back and enjoy yourself, you are among friends after all. But be reminded that in this type of situation, playing Klaverjassen isn’t about winning but having fun and getting the most out of your rained out day. Who knows, if everyone had loads of fun, this might even give birth to a new tradition among your friends. Soon, you might even find yourself hosting Klaverjassen night at your home.

Though rain has always been the blight of many outdoor activities it should in no way hamper your plans to socialize with friends. The smartest thing you could do is not to let it ruin your fun and set your sights to getting the best out of the situation. Not only will you enjoy yourself greatly but you’ll also learn to appreciate the rain.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

Monday, January 24, 2011

There is More to Klaverjass than Meets the Eye

In many of the well known timeless games like Klaverjass, there exists a trait overlooked and unseen by the naked eye. Although people hardly ever notice it, this particular trait is what fosters camaraderie among players and it is what keeps the game alive through the years and throughout history. Though it sounds like a cliché ripped straight off a Japanese manga, game spirit takes a much more profound persona in traditional games than what is portrayed in comics made by the Japanese.

By taking a look at the card game Klaverjassen one can find the real meaning behind the concept of game spirit. In Klaverjassen’s case, Being a fun and interactive game wasn’t the only thing that allowed it to sustain its reputation as one of the best card games invented by the Dutch. As a matter of fact, there have been over hundreds of games that were deemed as fun and interactive during their time but most of them didn’t even make it pass the 20th Century. However, unlike Klaverjassen, these games lacked game spirit. Meaning, they didn’t teach players anything enriching and important at all.

Among the veterans of Klaverjassen many have agreed that Klaverjass made them into a better person. Not in the shallow sense that the game made them better players adept at winning games with ease but in the sense that they were able to enrich their spirits in an unconventional manner. At first, not only did the game teach them the meaning of humility, hard work and diligence but later on also taught them how to win graciously and more importantly taught them to see other people as equals, not in skill or ability but in character, spirit and identity. When looking at things in this perspective, one can truly see that there is something more to games than simply winning.

Sadly, everything revolves upon winning and earning money these days and as a result people usually play to win. However, playing games with that kind of attitude only diminishes a game’s true worth to one’s character and spirit. People have forgotten that there is more to life than just winning and getting rich. This should not be the case, for such outlooks only collects empty victories. Not only does this perspective tarnish the human soul but also destroys human character. People should look to games like Klaverjassen with respect and treat the game as a means to becoming a better person.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

Creating an Online Hartenjagen Website

With over a million people surfing the Internet at any given time, the chances of you meeting people who share your passion for Hartenjagen are high indeed. In some cases, the passion for the game is so high that talking about it is simply becomes not enough anymore. This is where an online Hartenjagen website comes in. Creating such a website can be both profitable to you and helpful to a lot of people. Though creating a website dedicated to the game might sound like a lot of work, the rewards to be gained are all worth the effort.

The first thing you need to do is to find a suitable host for your online Hartenjagen website. Though there are a lot of servers, which will be happy to accommodate your new website, be sure to choose carefully as some of the setup might not be the best for you. If you’re willing to dole out cash, its much more practical to start off in a virtual private server. However, if you don’t want to spend any money you can opt to go for standard web hosting but this has it’s own drawbacks. The next thing you need to do is to find a suitable domain name. Remember, most people judge through names so pick one that’s not only catchy but also original.

Once you’ve got your web host and your domain name, you can now plan for the contents of your website. In this department, you can ask help from some of the Hartenjagen players that you’ve met over the Internet. There is no doubt that they’ll do everything in their power to help makes your online Hartenjagen website a success. However, if you doubt your would-be members’ skills on such matters you could always do a little research on how to optimize your website yourself. The next step is to publish your website. There’s not much problem here as there are many tools to help you.

Once you’ve got your online hartenjagen website up and running, the next step would be to invite your online hartenjagen friends and have them become members of your website. Once that’s done, congratulate yourself for you have just created you very own online hartenjagen community, which is no small feat! Once that is done, all that remains is to optimize your website to increase awareness of its existence and make continuous updates based on member inputs.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and hartenjagen online

Contributing to an Online Hartenjagen Community

In any online Hartenjagen community, the truth of the matter is that the members are its blood and life. Without them the community would wither and pass on. Members can do a lot to help the community and other people as well by contributing various resources to the community. Contributions can come in many conventional forms. It may come in the form of an article, an interesting thread, and even in the form of online game advice.

Members opting to contribute to their online hartenjagen community through an article need to be aware that there are certain rules to uphold. One such rule is the rule of submitting original articles. Though the temptation to plagiarize one from other sources and then publish it as your own is great, the trouble you’ll get in return if you get caught is too much of a hassle. The best way to go is to write something original and the easiest way to do that is to draw upon your experiences with Hartenjagen online or offline otherwise.

Though writing an article greatly helps a website, not everybody is willing to give the time to do it. If you’re the type of member with this dilemma, you could always go for opening an interesting thread. The real beauty about this is that you don’t do majority of the work. If your thread is an interesting one, given time, it will most likely grow and become one of the most featured and frequented stops in your online Hartenjagen community. Another neat thing about opening threads is that the topic may have nothing to do with Hartenjagen at all. What this basically means is that you are free to open threads about humor, trends, events, tournaments, and other concerns online hartenjagen players might have.

Though writing an article and opening interesting threads can help the community exponentially, nothing helps other members more than offering online advice. Though this privilege should be reserved for the most experienced players in the community anyone can do it if he or she is confident enough in his or her skill. In giving advice always keep in mind that you’re doing it to unlock a player’s potential and not to brag about your skills. This means that you’ll need to keep a friendly tone when communicating with the various members of the community. But regardless of what sort of contribution you’re going to give to your community, always remember to have the best interest of the community in mind. After all, you’re doing this to help the community in the first place.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and online hartenjagen.

Challenges of a Successful Online Klaverjassen Player

Though many online players might agree that playing Klaverjassen online is a very fun experience, all of them know that being successful at it is a completely different story. As most people know, the game is played with four players in two different teams, each vying for the chance to win the highest possible score within each trick. The fact that the online version of this game makes it into an online team game where trust and cooperation are an essential aspect for success only makes it that much more difficult to become a successful online Klaverjassen player.

In a normal game of Klaverjassen, cooperating with your teammate is hard enough. Now imagine the challenges one has to face while playing the game online. Online klaverjassen, has many added obstacles that impede harmony with your teammate. One of which is the obvious physical isolation as a result of sitting in front of your computer to play the game. Though this might not sound much of an obstacle, believe the words before you, it is. It is from the simple fact of you being isolated from your teammate that other more specific obstacles tend to arise. Being a successful online Klaverjassen player means that one has to overcome each and every one of these challenges one by one.

One good way of becoming a successful online klaverjassen player is to become familiar with the different signaling techniques commonly used in the game. As one might recall the game allows for the use of signaling. Signaling is a good medium, which significantly increases your team’s performance during online play. However, this isn’t really a full proof solution as you can never fully account for how your opponents will react in different situations. As such veteran players agree that the only real reliable thing you could do is to practice your game as much as possible.

In any endeavor, experience will tell you that there is no real other substitute for practice and hard work. This is the truth that all successful online Klaverjassen players need to learn in order to become great online Klaverjassen players. Not only does practicing the game make you better at playing it but also the experience you will gain will allow you to adapt to different game situations much easier. This makes you that much harder to deal with and this also allows you to play at the pace of your partner without too much hassle.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Klaverjassen and the Jass Family

As most players might have read about, Klaverjassen is a Dutch card game, which is quite popular nowadays. However, not everybody knows of the fact that this Dutch game belongs to a family of card games known as the Jass family. The Jass family is mainly composed of ace-ten card games developed in Europe but derived from Klaverjassen. This means that not all members of the Jass family hail from the Netherlands. Almost all European countries have their own version of the game but only the most popular ones will be listed here.

One of the most popular members of this family hails from the country generally regarded as the country home to the most beautiful city in the world, France. This Jass family member is known as Belote. Although it is one of Klaverjassen’s more younger cousins, it is nonetheless one of the most popular card games in all of France. Its popularity is such that you could even see people at some of France’s most secluded provinces playing the game. It has a lot of similarities with Klaverjassen, among which includes the use of the 32-card deck. However, unlike the Dutch game, Belote is much more lenient on the number of players in the game as its rules allow the game to be played with three or two players.

Another member of the Jass family though not a single card game but a group of card games, which have gained high regard and recognition from card game players, is Swiss Jass. Swiss Jass hails from Switzerland and it can’t be stressed enough how popular these games are in that country. In fact, these games are so popular and have such deep cultural influence in that part of the world that other card games, not even remotely having anything to do with the Jass family or Klaverjassen for that matter, originating from that country are described as a kind of Jass.

The next Jass family member hails from Germany, it is called Klabberjass. This one is also so popular in the German region of its origin that tournaments with fabulous prices are held each year. Being a popular card game in the tournament scene, it has some of the most regulated well-versed rules developed for any card game, even rivaling that of Klaverjassen. These rules allow for a quick resolution for any problems that might arise during game play. Like Belote from France, and some of the Swiss Jass card games like Coiffeur-Schieber and Plus-Minus Jass from Switzerland, Klabberjass, is also lenient on the number of players allowed to play a game.
Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.

Hartenjagen: 4 VS More

As any player knows, Hartenjagen is a card game played with four players strict, no more and no less. In fact in its early days, having more than four players in a single game was quite unheard of. However, in the years following its initial conception by the Dutch and its spread all across Europe, Hartenjagen began to spawn a number of new variants. While most of these variants were focused on altering the penalty points in order to add new twists to the game and make it more interesting, some of these variants focused on altering the number of players.

In Hartenjagen, the number of players participating in a single game has great significance and impact. Not only does the number of players dictate the entire pace of the game but it also sets the bar on the level of game play. There has been a friendly debate among players regarding the variants that alter the number of players. Some players argue that four-player Hartenjagen, like the original version, is the best as it perfectly personifies the character of the game. According to them, Hatenjagen is like Chess, you can’t play a decent game of Chess with three players. Three player chess just isn’t right, much like how the non-four player versions of Hartenjagen take away the very essence of the game itself. On the other side however, some players argue that having more than four players raises the bar on everything and adds a whole new dimension to the game.

Like any other debate, both arguments have their own merits and demerits. On one hand, four-player Hartenjagen does epitomize the game’s essence but it doesn’t do anything else. It doesn’t allow the game to grow into anything more than that. On the other hand, more player versions do have potential to add new dimensions to the game and grow beyond but they do however tend to be quite unstable and most still need fine tuning. It is still unclear whether these new variants will revolutionize the game or not. However one thing is clear, as the original game continues to rise in popularity, its variants will also continue to see a lot of action as well. For now, these more-player variants are recognized and accepted as true variants of Hartenjagen but only time will tell whether or not they’ll replace the original game as one of the most popular card games of all time.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and hartenjagen online

The Cancellation Hearts Variant of Hartenjagen

Cancellations Hearts is one of the better-known more than four player variants of Hartenjagen. This variant is the perfect variant to play during large gatherings. It’s a great way to socialize with new people, especially other Hartenjagen players, who might find this variant fresh and full of new and exciting challenges. This variant is usually played with 6 players but can easily make room to accommodate up to 11 players. The great thing about this variant is that even seasoned players won’t have too much of an advantage as this variant will surely be unlike anything they’ve ever played before.

As the game is played with 6 or more players, the usual Hartenjagen tactics won’t be as effective here and it’s not supposed to. One of the main objectives in this variant is to have fun and socialize with different people through a friendly game of en masse Hartenjagen. Aside from the fact that the game is played with 6 or more players, this variant follows pretty much all the same rules as Hartenjagen, well being a variant and all, one expects it to do so. Nonetheless, it still possesses a few characteristics that set it apart from the original game.

One such characteristic is its use of the cancellation rule. As this variant is played with 6 or more players and uses two decks, the chances that players will be putting down the same cards are high indeed. The cancellation rule states that as soon as this happens both cards will cancel each other out. Meaning, they are omitted from the trick, however, any penalty points they might garner still goes to the person who wins the trick.

Another characteristic that sets it apart from the original Hartenjagen is its rule on the passing of three. As there are more than four players in this variant, this new passing of three rule makes it so that players won’t keep passing to the same player over and over again. This variant’s passing of three rule, follows the sequence left then right, after that two left then two right and finally a stay or hold hand, which means no passing. Though this might sound simple enough, in an actual game this is very confusing. To ensure fairness during the passing of three phase of the game, players need to agree on who should take note of the sequence. This variant is really an exciting as well as stimulating variant to play. It adds a whole new dimension to the game thereby improving the overall fun aspect of Hartenjagen.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about hartenjagen and online hartenjagen.

Practicing Klaverjass Online

Are you interested in the Dutch card game known as Klaverjass but don’t have a way in which to practice the basics? Well, you’re in for some good news! The Internet is home to a lot of things including a handy Klaverjassen flash game. To those who might not understand what a flash game is, it is not a type of card game but a type of computer game utilizing adobe flash. There are quite a number of flash games in the Internet and to find them, one only needs to type it in the search query on one’s Internet browser.

Getting back to topic, the Klaverjassen flash game, referred to above, is the perfect tutorial tool for new players. Why? This particular flash game is different from Klaverjassen online because it doesn’t involve any human players at all. Though this flash game is only limited to computer opponents, the programming is quite advance and would still prove to be a good challenge for new players. This online Klaverjassen game even makes it easy for new players to get acquainted with the essentials of the game. It has an eye-pleasing interface so that even if new players spend hours practicing their Klaverjassen tactics they wouldn’t suffer any eyestrain.

As mentioned before this game is the perfect tutorial tool for new players. One good reason for that is the fact that the game has a help button located in the game’s opening menu. Clicking on this button brings up the game’s tutorial on how to understand the game interface and more importantly understand the rules of the game. During the tutorial, the game takes you on a walkthrough of how a game is played. Once you’ve read through the entire walkthrough you can start playing the game and get to know some of its automated functions. The game features excellent automated functions that allow new players to truly play Klaverjassen without any hitches.

Another useful function new players might find helpful is the game’s show card rankings option. Clicking on this button displays a quick summary of the card values for the ordinary cards and trump cards. To the right of the game’s display, players will find a lot of useful game information like what the trump suit is or how many rounds have been played. Players may even find a record of their score and accumulated meld points. Although this is an addictive practice environment for new players, one should always keep in mind that Klaverjassen isn’t about beating computer opponents. It is about having fun with other players.

Jan Kaas is specialized in writing about klaverjassen and online klaverjassen.