Quite an eventful round. Despite the position rot13(fhpxvat), Hero decided to raise the stakes regardless, reasoning that Hero was already in bad shape if the probability of winning an individual hand is significantly less than 50%. With no turning back for either side, it was inevitable that somebody would end up holding a dead 8-cube that has no further effect on the match.
At least Hero managed to avoid the ignominy of not acquiring an empty column for the entire game. The club suit is looking promising and with several Eights unseen, there might be a potential space in Column 5. Still, drawing three Aces when the name of the game is not Canasta was never a good sign. Hero even sacrificed a turnover in column 3 which would have exposed two more Aces. Meanwhile Villain is enjoying the rot13(fuvgfubj), knowing that he has no more cube-decisions to make and can focus entirely on watching Hero suffer.
It’s hard to reach a dead-lost position when there are still 30 cards in the stock, so don’t write off the good guys just yet – especially considering that I’ve seen Hero come back from worse game states. Meanwhile IM Bug continues on his merry busking ways, entertaining his Spider-Solitaire-playing friends with the strains of Eights and Fives (sung to the tune of Lightly Row). And Bug will probably start adding Jacks into the mix as well.
Round 3 bring it on!
Edifying Thoughts of a Spider Solitaire Addict 