[HPforGrownups] Re: The trouble with Quidditch

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 168987

simon harris wrote:
>> Bart: That was really my major point, and why I couldn't come up
>> with a playable Quidditch game (once again, if the Snitch scored 50
>> instead of 150 points, the games would be played more or less the
>> way JKR describes it).

Shaun:
> Something that may have been missed in considering the scoring of
> Quidditch, and whether or not 150 points is appropriate for the
> Snitch or not is that the vast majority of Quidditch games we have
> seen are school games. The scoring patterns that are seen in school
> games may have very little to do with the scoring patterns seen in
> competitive Quidditch.

Bart:
I was making the assumption that the two teams are on the same class as 
each other.

Simon:
 > The 150 points was based on the prize money in one of the
> first games of Quidditch. IMO I think JK picked this vale to help the
> plot along not to help the game of Quidditch along in the real world.

Bart:
No, the prize money was based on the 150 points. Don't confuse WW 
chronology with JKR chronology. Besides, if 150 points WERE written in 
stone, all you have to do is raise the point total of the goals. I'll 
bet you a galleon and 23 sickles that the WW isn't as obsessed with base 
10 as the real world; just make the goals 30 points each and everything 
works.

There is a real version of poker. It's called "Red Dog". Very dramatic 
game. You'll see it described SCARNE'S GUIDE TO MODERN POKER (John 
Scarne, who was consulted by every major casino in Las Vegas as well as 
the U.S. government on gambling, was the first person to write books on 
card games with a knowledge of statistics, not to mention a knowledge of 
cheating techniques). Even Scarne only included it for completeness. As 
a game, it is virtually unplayable. However, it is often used as a plot 
for a short story, usually played by a bunch of people stuck together in 
one place, because, although it is normally quite boring, it can lead to 
quite dramatic moments, especially if the author has control of what 
cards show up.

Quidditch is JKR's Red Dog Poker. It was not designed to be played; it 
was designed to create dramatic moments for the hero. Earlier someone 
pointed out how, in PS/SS, the security system seemed to be designed to 
create a challenge for 11 year olds, not someone who could break into 
Gingrotts and get away (I have mentioned that it can be inferred from 
DD's later statements that this was his intent, although there's 
considerable disagreement about the accuracy of this interpretation).

Bart