The critical round at seven: how the mafia buys a vote

The critical round at seven is the most tense round of the game for the mafia. If the teams are already assembled on both sheriffs' lines, only one thing remains: to persuade the deciding hand to vote with you. The best means of persuasion here is the "rocket" (fact, interpretation, call to action). But that is rare, and the author of "50 Shades of Red" devotes the chapter to something else: buying a vote by the count of the game. These schemes let you buy not one but two or more red hands through a run-up. They work when one or several blacks are not checked by the real sheriff and an unchecked civilian was removed in the round at nine.

The standard scheme for any non-critical round

The first and absolutely standard scheme of the mafia: nominate your own black, who looks suspicious to the town, under the first hands. If the mafia does not do this, the blacks will have problems with the count of the game. Why does the scheme work? Residents prefer to colour themselves with tie splits and withheld hands and usually do not put many hands on the first candidate. So the probability of removing the first candidate of all those nominated is minimal. For a black you can boldly attack your own player, nominating him under the first hands.

Result: the civilians end up with a miscount, and they consider the version that there is one red player between you. This is how a vote is bought for 3 against 3.

Scheme 1. The sheriff is dead, a red check decides the outcome

The red check is still at the table and decides the outcome of the vote. The first mafioso attacks his own black. The latter attacks back. The third black gives a speech of this kind: "The players are nominating each other, so there is one red in the link. I am not ready yet to decide which of them is mafia. I am red, there is a red there. So by the count of the game, no. X (a civilian) is mafia. I nominate player no. X."

In simple words: two blacks make a run-up while the third closes the table onto another candidate.

Scheme 2. All three blacks are alive, the sheriff has no black checks except the don

Here the false sheriff can buy two red hands at once with his speech. How? Say that the black team is the sheriff and two black players (from your team). By the count of the game, two civilians of the real sheriff will turn out to be mafia. These hands are yours.

On the other hand, ordinary mafiosi can also buy hands for their false sheriff by tying him and the reds into one team. The speech goes like this: "No. 5 is the sheriff, and nos. 7 and 2 are black together! We remove them one by one!" (No. 5 here is the real sheriff, no. 7 is your false sheriff.) You stand in a counter-team with no. 5 against nos. 2 and 7. No. 2's hand is bought, and you deliver your deciding vote together with him at 3 against 3 on no. 5.

The author's footnote reservation: if the sheriff has two live red checks, only one hand can be bought, the deciding one.

The main thing: persuading one person

The author stresses that the described schemes are standard but not very widely used. In any case most games follow the scenario of persuading the one person who makes the decision: the player who is red in all versions. It is his hand that must be bought. You can play freely and even "tear your throat" in an attack against your own mafioso: the main thing is that, thanks to these actions, the red finally decides to remove a civilian for the mafia's victory.

The sweet player in the critical round

The author of "Mafia in the Style of Zen" describes the role of the "sweet one" in the black team: a mafioso who has mixed among the civilians so well that he cannot be found by building teams. In hard situations he is the one who secures the win. In the critical round, when the known blacks buy a single vote, the sweet one adds the fourth hand and the mafia wins. The role is played simply: give the best speeches and voice some suspicions that your black players may be who they are. Know the measure and proceed from the plan for the game: you may voice suspicions, but you should not gather votes. A common mistake: playing against your own false sheriff when he speaks better than the real one. In this case you must support your player's line and help buy votes (more in the lesson "Roles in the black team").

Fouls as a weapon

The author speaks separately about fouls. Over a game you have three chances to cut into the game outside your own speech, and many thoughtlessly spend them on jokes. Yet a foul is a game action, a move. With it you can:

• save the town from a break by shouting the right tie split;
• hammer the last nail into a player of the opposite team;
• make a run-up with your black;
• knock the opponent off his train of thought during his minute;
• destroy the opponent's key argument with your counter-argument;
• change the players' minds and gather hands for removing the player you need.

So at least two fouls must be kept in reserve for the decisive round. Fouls and other tournament techniques are covered in more detail in the third-level lessons.

Matching the table

To buy a vote you need not to show yourself in all your glory but to be on the same wavelength as people. A pattern of speech and thought that differs too much from one's own is hard to take in: a hardened logician cannot understand an emotional player, and a beginner cannot get into conclusions by the count. Brightness and showing off can harm your image: "white crows are not loved and may be voted for simply because you are not one of them". Safety lies at the base of similarity: when you are the same, you are predictable and can be trusted. For buying votes and for "sitting out" to the late rounds it is vital to speak in the same words, at the same pace, in a similar style. Play from the other players, not from yourself.

For the red: how to recognise it

It is important for a red to recognise these schemes. Signs (the Academy's conclusions from the described schemes):

• two nominate each other while a third confidently calls a fourth a civilian, referring to the "count" (scheme 1);
• a player tries to link you with a red and asks to remove both in turn (scheme 2);
• a player attacks his own partner so furiously that the arguments end in emotions (the run-up).

If you are offered to buy a hand by the count, check the count yourself: how many reds on each line, who is unchecked, and whether the mafia can win 3 against 3 with a single decision.

Example (made up for the Academy)

Seven players, the sheriff was killed at night, red check no. 4 is at the table. No. 2 nominates no. 6 and says he is black. No. 6 answers in kind. No. 7 takes the floor: "The players nominated each other, so there is one red in the link. Who is black I cannot decide yet. I am red, so no. 4 with the red check and no. 3 remain. By the count it turns out no. 3 is mafia. I nominate no. 3." If red check no. 4 believes the count, he puts a hand for removing no. 3, and the mafia gets 3 against 3. The red here must ask: whose check confirmed the count, and why can we not play first with those who nominated each other?

Self-check questions

1. Why is the first candidate of those nominated rarely removed?
2. How do you buy a hand through a run-up, and what does it threaten the red with?
3. What role does the sweet player play in the critical round?
4. Why are two fouls kept for the decisive round?

Practice

Write a 40-second sample speech for schemes 1 and 2. Check whether it can be refuted in 20 seconds. Then play the critical round with partners, one of them playing the red check, and see on which word the bought hand slips away.

Typical mistakes

• Using a scheme without the count.
• Applying the "rocket" to your own black when nominating for the run-up.
• Playing against a false sheriff who speaks better than the real one.
• Spending fouls on jokes and being left without a reserve for the critical round.
• Showing yourself off instead of matching the table.

Source of the idea. The chapter "The critical round for 7 players. Mafia" and the section on fouls and matching the table in tournament play from Dmitry Novik's book "50 Shades of Red" (2021); the description of the sweet player from "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The example, the signs for the red, the questions and the practice were written for the Academy.