The sheriff at nine: how the leader votes

How should the sheriff vote at nine to gather arguments for the critical round and not lose information? The lesson covers two situations: without a found black and with one.

Voting without a black check

The sheriff's best choice without a found black is to create a car crash, even if there is a player who plays against you. This shows the town that you, as leader of the reds, do not need to save your own black with an extra hand. It gives killer arguments in the critical round if the false sheriff draws a team out of you and the one who stood in the vote: "A black player claims that I am in a team with No. ...? On his version I give away my own player, creating a sawing, instead of simply removing a civilian with a deciding hand. That cannot be."

You show an interest in increasing information at the table (more speeches). Your hand will not be the removing one, which strengthens your position in the critical round if, by the checks and logic, the departed turned out red (players from the teams of both versions voted against him, or at least blacks from among your known opponents). Statements about who removed whom will count in your favour: if your opponent raised a civilian (made a mistake) and you did not, that advantage can decide the game.

Most reds orient only on their own strategies for finding blacks, so every action needs to be voiced and backed with arguments: a red move you made may be absent from another player's picture of the world and pass by.

Why not finish off with a deciding hand even the one who plays against you? In the short term it is natural to remove the black at once, but it is more useful for the town first to look at the spread of hands and then to finish the player in a revote. In the context of the whole game you can sweep away the mafia team with strong argumentation in the critical round: "I have a player who plays against me, for me the blackest at the table. I made sure he gathered the needed number of hands and did not finish him off, so that the town got more information and all of you could work it out. Do you understand? That is why I am the sheriff by moves, deeds, speeches, card."

Voting with a known black player

You must always check that the mafia is nominated and put your hand for its removal. In the previous variant, without a found black, we may make a mistake; here we vote on a checked mafia player. This strategy lets you find the mafia that gives false checks: if the sheriff found a black on the first night but did not vote on him at nine, he is a mafia player who simply invented a check by the critical round.

What to do if the checked player has taken on the role of the false sheriff? You always vote with one hand against your opponent, and he must act the same way. Yes, he will not leave, but you need to put a single hand against him. Remember the significance of concentrated hands: there is a substantial difference between a spread of 3 against 6 (the sheriffs vote whom they want) and the situation 2 against 5 (the sheriffs withdraw votes against each other). In the latter scheme the blacks' hands fly more compactly (there are only two), it is easier for civilians to choose and to analyse the grounds of the spread. Here it is best to check the removing hands: having found a black among them, you have no doubt about the critical round. The sheriffs voting against each other not only raises informativeness but also reduces the probability of a civilian being raised at nine.

Nuances

• If you understand that the blacks are gathering votes against a strong civilian who determined the teams correctly, he must be saved. Possibly even by shouting out and voicing a black check before the vote, potentially activating a balance: the life of a red is worth more than gathering information. If the false sheriff then does not link you and the one you saved in one team, you can break the mafia with the statement: "I would never save for a black a civilian who could be raised. This is the collapse of the mafia. Now to the question of who the real sheriff is here."
• Raising three at nine without a known black in the vote is one of the worst ideas if you are not the one splitting or if you are not sure that at least one black, by the logic of the game, stands in the vote. Often a black player splits the table so that three civilians rise. Without known blacks who are not sheriffs, it is best to vote freely: the "leaders of the reds" against each other, the rest by grounds.

For the black

For the mafia team, use all the strategies described. The main thing: make red moves look black to the town and vice versa.

Questions for self-check

1. Under what condition can you save a red in the vote at nine to your own benefit, playing for the mafia team?
2. As a black player you can get around the rule of voicing a check to the table in the first round. How?
3. What to do if your team has no false sheriff and the real one with a red check wants to raise three?
4. Write down one or several main reasons for defeat with the sheriff's card.

Practice

Play out a round at nine in two variants: a sheriff without a black check and a sheriff with a check. For each analysis, name the arguments you have gathered for the critical round.

Typical mistakes

• Finishing off the opponent with a deciding hand at once.
• Not voting on a found mafia player.
• Raising three without a known black.
• Not voicing red moves.

Source of the idea. The chapter "A round of nine: voting as the sheriff" from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020).