There is one type of player in Yahtzee that you will never ever fail to recognise, at least eventually. Why? Because they make it so bloody easy for you! In fact, they can be that noticeable that they can affect the entire room when they're playing. They can either reduce the rest of the competitors to chuckles of second hand embarrassment, or annoy the others so much they can form their own verbal lynch mob. They are the over emotional player.
Now, I have to say, of all the "player types" I have covered, there is no other type of player that I resemble more than this one. I'm not proud to admit it, but I can get pretty animated over a game of Yahtzee, almost to the point of tears. Yes, real, honest to god man tears. So please believe me when I say that more than any other type of player I have spoke about, this is the one that I absolutely know what I'm talking about, because I am one. And I promise you that I will bare my soul, warts and all, and I will give you 100% of the ugly truth of the over emotional player. This is gonna be tough.
I approach every single match with a positive mental attitude. Problem is, it can only take one duff roll for it to completely derail me. A lot of the time I can come back from this, but sometimes it leads me to make terrible decisions and before I know it, I've finished seventh in the match, sitting in a pool of my own sweat and tears. I know I'm not the only player in our faction that suffers from this, but I do believe I'm the worst. I can also testify to the fact that you would not have a hard time spotting me for exactly what I am if I was sat in a game alongside you.
You may not notice the over emotional player (or me) from the start, but that's only for one reason: they haven't started playing yet. As soon as they have taken that first roll, you will definitely recognise them for what they are. If they get a good score, they will glow with happiness like a little girl at Disney World. If they get a bad score, they will scowl and throw a tantrum like a little girl that's been told they've watched enough Bluey for the evening. When you get a little further into the game, you won't need to wonder how the over emotional player's performance is going. If it's going well, you'll be met with smarmy grins, cringey dancing and over confidence, like an online troll that refuses to leave the house so knows that they will never get their comeuppance. If it's going bad, sit somewhere else... like the next room. It has been known for these players (yes, including me) to scream a number of expletives that could shock your granny into an early grave or bang on the table and request some tissue to mop up the tears. After the match, If they've won, they will be full of beans and hyped up (not necessarily arrogant), on a genuine adrenaline high. If they've done okay, let's say it's a league match, they could be either just about normal or they could seem pretty frustrated, depending on how the league is going for them. If they've lost, y'know, performed like Stephen Hawking at a swim meet, you may have lost them for the evening. If this happens, it's best not to approach them and give them space to process their loss. They might come around eventually, but they need to be given the space and time to do so. Crybabies...
This is normally the moment in the blog post where I offer some tips on how to exploit these types of players, but for the over emotional player, it's really just common sense. This is probably the reason I do not do very well. First of all, If they're doing well, forget it. Work on another player. You will never shift their focus. When they're doing good, they're like a lioness defending her cubs, nothing is going to stop them. So don't bother wasting your energy. Secondly, if they're doing rubbish, get in there and twist the knife. Do whatever you can to put them off their stride. It won't take much, but you have to be careful not to get yourself fed with a knuckle sandwich, which also won't take much. The only time you might struggle to know how to throw the over emotional player off their game is if they are in limbo, still not knowing which way it's gonna go. This is where knowing your opponent intimately (not in the biblical sense, of course) can really help you out. You really need to get acquainted with their micro expressions, it may take a bit of practice, but it's doable.
I have tried my hardest to shake off the iron shackles of the over emotional player. But no matter how hard I try, I can't. My heart is permanently worn on my sleeve and this has proven to be a great detriment to my game. If you are an over emotional player like me, I am truly sorry that I don't have any words of comfort for you in regards to tackling this pretty debilitating personality trait. I have tried to be the strong, silent type, stay cool, calm and collected, but my silly emotions always seem to get the better of me.
Perhaps if you yourself have managed to overcome this curse you could let me in on your secrets, because honestly, I could do with them. So, I suppose the best, admittedly weak, advice I could give is try. Try to keep your emotions in check, channel your inner poker player and keep it all inside. Hopefully you can manage this and I'm just the oddball exception that proves the rule.
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