Michael The reason there hasn't been a new newsletter in ages is partly because I have discovered a new hobby: to play the German card game Schafkopf with other people online on sauspiel.de Almost at any time of day or night, you can immediately find an open table where only one player is missing, and you just join in. And bam, you get the first four cards and the fun begins. For example, if Angelika announces that we are going somewhere in two minutes, I quickly sit down at the computer and play another game of Schafkopf.
At 7 PM local time in San Francisco, it's 4 AM in Germany, and the number of tables on sauspiel.de sometimes shrinks to two or so, and it can take a few minutes for a new group of four players to come together. But apparently, even at this ungodly hour, there are enough gambling addicts hanging around to play. According to the app makers, there are 190,000 registered users playing the game. Membership is 5 euros per month. However, if you limit yourself to tables with standard rules (no Farbwenz or Geier), it's free. Sometimes paying members urgently need players, and non-paying members are also allowed at the special table.
As I've already in mentioned in Rundbrief 03/2000, I play Schafkopf about every two months in a real game with people from Silicon Valley. After all, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung (illustration 3), this card game is on the list of endangered leisure activities in Bavaria. The online game effectively counters the decline of the tradition, as the mix of social networking and Schafkopf inevitably attracts new players. Additionally, the site keeps statistics on how many games you've played, how often you win, and it records each game so you can replay it later. The Sauspielers also offer an iPhone app, allowing you to make good use of those few minutes at the supermarket checkout. According to Sauspiel statistics, I've already completed 2,581 games in one and a half months, and assuming 2 minutes per game, I've wasted 86 hours there. No wonder no newsletter was produced!