Archive for January, 2009
Posted on January 29, 2009 - by admin
The Extended Uses of Bingo
Gambling is gambling, the puritans would say, and would strive to keep it under wraps and away from the pure and innocent minds of children. But innovative minds have seen the ‘good’ in the ‘bad’ and in the nineteenth century, bingo was widely used in Germany for educational purposes to teach children spelling, animal names and multiplication tables.
Apparently, teachers in America also use bingo in the classroom. It would be more than an adequate replacement for flash cards. The 5*5 matrix can better represent a network of associations. It seems an ideal method for teaching meanings of related words, especially for those who are learning English as a second language. The matrix might also make a better mind map than those in existence. Teachers of language can really exploit the format to help students generate their own personal thesaurus. And if it can be electronically generated, ‘Bingo’! The colors and bright pictures, not to mention the ease of manufacture, would reinforce the lesson, for sure.
Bingo has actually touched the everyday lives of even non-gamblers. The “bingo logic” of chance numbers is used on the now-popular scratch cards. Each card has a pre-drawn number that is hidden until the card is scratched. When the consumer scratches the card, he ‘matches’ the number against the winning number, and if he is lucky, gets a car or a refrigerator or a free trip or whatever. Even a puritan would not refuse a free trip, would he?
Posted on January 3, 2009 - by admin
Swift Deals At the Poker Table
Picture this! It is the usual evening time at the great hall with its unique bar and counter, and there are several games of poker in progress. The atmosphere is tense, and you hear the shuffling of the cards being dealt on each table and the whispering voices of people, some sitting and some standing, while some are leaning against the wall or on the backs of the chairs already occupied by players. Most of them are excited, anxious, and driven by an urge for that quick buck. They are making the most of the situation by betting on the cards laid face down, and are either smoking or drinking, or both. An occasional shout rises up from one of the benches followed by deep sighs, exclamations, and often annoyed thumping on the poker table as a pot is claimed by the winner. The great game of poker is in full swing.
Poker is a game played by two or more players. The game is played by previously setting the rule for the winner, with either a high hand or a low hand. Poker usually proceeds in an anticlockwise direction and the first round begins with a forced bet. Each player either tries to match the previous bet money, or folds, or withdraws. The previous bet can be either matched or raised as the case may be. When all the players have either folded or matched the previous bet, the round ends. If there is more than one player who stays matched while others have folded, then the hands are shown and the winner takes the pot. If only one player has folded then the pot money is divided amongst the others.
