The Score Pad

Scorekeeping in Gorilla has its own methodology. The easiest way to understand Gorilla scorekeeping is to look at a completed score pad for a game of Gorilla.

Starting at the top, the score pad reveals that the game was played between Richard and Jon. The name Jon is underlined because he is the odd partner. The date is essential as a point of historical reference.

Next comes the heart of the score pad, the chart with three columns labeled M, P, and I. These columns represent the three possible outcomes for a hand of Gorilla. The Made column is for the hands that the partnership won. The Possible column is for the hands that were possible to make with perfect (possibly clairvoyant) play. The Impossible column is for hands that were impossible for the partnership to win.

The score pad shows what happened in the order that it occurred. This game started with four made hands, then there were three impossible hands, then three possible hands, then an impossible hand then three more made hands, etc. The reads like a book, left to right, top to bottom. Each row in this chart represents what is called an inning of Gorilla.

It is always easy to decide where to put the mark. It is put in the current inning if (and only if) it can be placed on the right of all of the other marks in the inning. If it cannot be placed on the right of all of the marks in the current inning, then the mark is placed in a new inning.

Three situations cause a new inning to be started.

1. The first hand of a game.
2. When the previous hand was impossible (I) and the current hand was not impossible (either M or P).
3. When the previous hand was possible (P) and the current hand was made (M).

Notice that the marks are not all the same size. The different marks denote which partner dealt each hand. The marks for all hands dealt by the odd partner are taller and touch the base line for the inning. The marks for all hands dealt by the even partner are shorter and do not touch the base line for the inning. Looking at the score pad it is clear that Richard dealt the first hand of the fourth inning.

To the right of each inning are the running totals for each column. Each number is written down as soon as it is definite. In the example, the 4-0 were written down as soon as the first impossible hand in that inning had been played. The 3 was written at the start of the second inning. Any time the outcome of the current hand is not the same as that of the previous hand, at least one more number can be added to the running total. Two numbers in the running total can be filled in when going from a P hand to a M hand, or when going from an I hand to a P hand.

At the bottom of the score pad is the statistics section. This section is filled out at the completion of the game. The following statistics are kept:

pride

How well the partnership played. This is the ratio of the number of hands made (the M column) to the total number of hands that were possible to make (total of the M and P columns).

generosity

How generous the Fates were to the partnership in this game. This is the ratio of the number of hands that were possible to make (total of the M and P columns) to the total number of hands.

game pride

There are three values that are possible for game pride. Game pride is one if the partnership won the game, or if they did the best that they possibly could have done (nothing in the P column). Game pride is zero if the Fates won the game but the partnership would have won the game if they had won all of the P hands. Game pride is undetermined if the Fates won the game but the partnership would not have won the game if they had won all of the P hands. In this case a question mark is written down for game pride.

pitching

This is the generosity ratio for the hands that each player dealt.