A poker primer:
I've been playing a lot of "Love of Magic" this past week and thought I could pass on what I've learned in hopes of helping anyone having difficulty with this facet of the game. There's strategies and tactics that you can employ to improve your progress and allow you to defeat more powerful adversaries early to get the most out of your excursions to Elsewhere.
First off the basic objective in each turn is to make an allowable 'hand' across three of the cards in the middle of the 'table.' A 'pair'--two cards of the same value like two kings or two sixes--is the lowest playable 'hand' for each round. Next is two pair (like ace-ace-six-six-anything else) then three of a kind, rather obviously three cards of the same value like three queens. Above that you have a 'straight' which is five cards consecutively like two-three-four-five-six, (they can be in any order on the table so it could look like 6-2-5-4-3 across) then a flush which is five cards of the same suit and a full house which is three of one value and a pair as well, so 8-8-8-5-5.
The highest hands are four of a kind, five of a kind (achievable with jokers which are counted as any value or suit which helps you to a higher hand) and finally a straight flush which is five consecutive cards (again in any order on the table so it could look like 7-5-6-9-8 of clubs across the table) of the same suit. The best straight flush is called a 'Royal Flush' and is the ten, jack, queen, king, ace all of the same suit in any order across the table. There's some inconsistency in how jokers are counted at the highest end, as a ten with four jokers will not make a royal flush even though it should, and I've seen a five of hearts and four jokers get counted as 'five of a kind' even though that also makes a straight flush which is a higher hand. Just make sure you have top gems on both before you place the last card.
That brings us to the value and type of your gems, as they determine the result of each hand you play and modify the damage done or benefit accrued. All except Shields and Rage do a basic amount plus strength bonus plus the following extra:
Lightning: At 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 etc causes opponent to lose a turn--incredibly valuable at the beginning and end of each 'round.'
Fire: Does extra fire damage in subsequent turns, diminishing slowly over time.
Poison: Does extra damage at the very end of the round when the board is full and the cards re-dealt.
Ice: Reduces damage taken from target a minor amount for a turn or two
Rage: Increases 'Rage' which is a damage bonus done each subsequent round like Fire, even when putting Shields up
Damage: Does extra damage
Shields: generates a barrier which absorbs damage from attacks and fire damage
Every time you add to an existing value such as 'Lightning,' 'Fire,' 'Rage,' 'Ice' etc, you lose one, thus a 'Lightning-1' gem will add nothing to the 'Lightning' value if any already exists. Every time a Lightning or Ice value gives a benefit it decreases by the amount listed on the tool-tip, half rounded up for Ice (leaving you with half rounded down) and the amount it took to get the last Lightning bonus (4-10-20-30-40 etc).
When playing out a round it's important to realize the cards you place on the outside will eventually be part of an extra 'hand' at or near the end of the round when all five cards on that side have been played, which will automatically mean the opposite side has filled up as well. Thus you should avoid being the one to place the fourth card on any set of sides as that will allow your enemy to place the fifths and get a 'triple play' which can hurt like hell, especially when you've had Chloe and/or Molly spitting out Jokers. Only if you can see there's no hands likely to be made should you play the fourth cards on a set of sides, and remember he might well draw a joker. Better to 'discard' and let him make that play, which he will even if it means you'll get to triple-play him.
Which brings us to tactics during the round. First off notice the value of not playing the diagonals until the end. If both players just go on the top/bottom, left/right you'll be left with a board looking like a 'plus' sign. Only if you know your next attack will kill him should you be the first to play a diagonal in that configuration, as the one who makes the last play then will have completed five hands and get the benefits/damage done of all five hands. Since the player starts, unless someone discards/loses a turn, you'll be up when the board is full except for the diagonals and in most every case will have to discard. However a simple 'Llightning-4' gem, available from Adrian for a mere hundred pounds, will allow you to disrupt that rotation and place your enemy in the position of having to place the fourths on a set of sides. In addition, you'll get to see the rest of his hand before he plays first allowing you to take away a particularly good play he might have.
You're not going to always be able to get that position as the AI will play anywhere it can and if its best/only play is a diagonal/fourth it will do so, and so should you if it's a play that kills him or is a straight or better on a diagonal. Just make sure to stay away from playing the forth card on a set of sides unless you'll have him stunned by lightning or you can see there's not much chance of a hand being made on the the sides in question, not all that uncommon in the beginning.
When surveying a new deal, first look for any pairs or jokers lined up on the board already. Those are potential four-of-a-kind plays if you've got Molly and/or Chloe as with two jokers you can make any pair or any joker on the board into a four of a kind. That's what allows you to utilize the very best gems, available from Adrian for a mere 250 pounds, which give the very best benefits. A 'Lightning-7' gem will stun the next two turns, allowing you to gobble up all the best potential plays at the onset of a round, or grab the best spots at the end of a round and deny your opponent the possibility of a triple or quintuple play while you use it to get one or two more four-of-a-kinds from all those jokers stacked up on the sides and deny him the opening play in the next round as well, another especially dangerous time. This is an especially opportune time to use Chloe's 'spawn joker' ability as the odds of a potential four-of-a-kind lasting that long into a round are miniscule, but Chloe can generate one automatically employing that ability.
The second thing to look for is potential flushes and straights, the former easy to identify and rare because they must all be the same suit, the latter more common as you just need three cards within four of each other without any pairing up. These you try to ensure your enemy can't play on by playing them first or using lightning to keep him from playing until you can use them all up. If you can keep your enemy from ever getting anything better than a three-of-a-kind, odds are you can survive just about any battle.
A last note is once you've gotten a goodly collection of gems, that is a 'Lightning-7,' 'Lightning-4' and a 'Shield-4' and 'Shield-7' to go with the 'Rage-7' you get from Snowdrop's tormentor you can take Molly and Chloe and pretty much anyone else and beat most every monster in Elsewhere employing the strategies and tactics above. Remember to put all your attribute gains on 'Strength' as it's by far the most valuable on the Paths.
