Ask the Wizard #275

I'm about ready to release my latest Ask the Wizard column. This one features topics already being discussed, or recently discussed here, so let's not use this thread to post responses to those issues. You can follow the links in the column to do that.

As my loyal guinea pigs, I'm asking if you could let me know if you find any errors, typos, or suggestions for improvement.

Quote: Wizard

I'm about ready to release my latest Ask the Wizard column. This one features topics already being discussed, or recently discussed here, so let's not use this thread to post responses to those issues. You can follow the links in the column to do that.

As my loyal guinea pigs, I'm asking if you could let me know if you find any errors, typos, or suggestions for improvement.

Others can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe "hearts" should start with a capital "H" as it is a proper name of a game. If not a capital H then you should put it in quotes so as not to confuse it with the suit.

Quote: AZDuffman

I believe "hearts" should start with a capital "H" as it is a proper name of a game.

Would you capitalize poker, gin rummy or, oy, bridge?

Quote: SanchoPanza

Would you capitalize poker, gin rummy or, oy, bridge?

My normal spelling convention for casino games is I capitalize them if they part of the recent crop of new games that casinos are supposed to pay royalties to use. Common domain games, that have been around for decades, I don't. Pai Gow Poker is in a grey area. It is a part of the new breed of games but the inventor never filed a patent for it, so I tend to not capitalize it, but have gone back and forth on that one. That decision to not file for a patent on it has got to be one of the worst decisions in the business of inventing and marketing new casino games.

In the case of the hearts question, AZD made a good point about the Q&A being confusing, whether I was talking about the game or the suit. So I tend to agree that in that case an exception was called for, and to capitalize the game, but not the suit. Much for the same reason when I talk about baccarat I capitalize the bet Player, but not for the person playing the game.

My official "ask the wizard" proofreader is a real perfectionist, so I wonder if he'll ding me for capitalizing Hearts.

I seem to have time this morning for picky suggestions

Quote: Wizard

Kind of like how in a queue for a Vegas nightclub it doesn't matter your position in line for girls

changing to "Kind of like how, for girls in a queue for a Vegas nightclub, your position in line doesn't matter " seems better, otherwise it first seems like a line of guys waiting for an escort.

Quote:

One thing I have no idea about is what happens if a player sits down and starts playing during an ongoing community bonus, which the game will let him do.

rearrange to "The game will let a player sit down and start playing during an ongoing community bonus, but I have no idea how this impacts that player" I wouldn't want to alter your writing style, which I imagine sometimes reveals what it must be like to listen to you speak, but this one bothered me. Note I kept "kind of like how" in there in the first instance [g]

Quote:

What the plaintiffs in the lawsuit noticed was that if you purchased ten Extras then for the first and last digits the game picked one of each numeral. In other words, if you looked at the first, or last, position only then you would see all ten numbers from 0 to 9.

add a comma, "if you purchased ten Extras, then for the first and last digits "

add clarity, although maybe it's only me who needs it, "In other words, if you looked at the first, or last, position only then you would see all ten numbers from 0 to 9 in sequence " (assuming that's right)