Heads up to Tails
By: Chris Avery

Greetings fellow coin flippers!  The issue I would like to discuss today is,
obviously, coin flips.  I feel that there are 5 main types of flippers.
There are the high flippers, low flippers, fast flippers, slow/lopsided
flippers and then there are the cheating flippers.
The high flippers are ones that like to flip their coin either too high, far
across the table or just plain crazy.  These people are notorious for
dragging a 3-minute game on to 5 minutes.  You can easily spot them by the
little sliver of glimmering light high in the air or an opponent that will
be constantly blocking a misguided flip from flying off into oblivion.
These players are constantly playing with Haunters, Dark Charizards, or
Kangaskhans.  The best way to deal with these people is to either bring a
spectator who will catch the lost coin, or sit with a wall behind you so the
coin does not go far.
The second type of coin flipper is the low flipper.  While not as bad as the
high flippers they are constantly being asked to reflip the coins because
the flip itself did not get enough air time to set the odds to 50/50.  These
people like to use the minimum amount of cards that require coin flipping,
as they tend to be a little self-conscious about their flips.  The best
solution to these people is to set a standard such as, at least 3
revolutions in the air.  These people will then be encouraged to flip higher
flips and thus improve the quality of the match.
The Fast flippers are the experts at coin flipping.  The coin is often seen
flying at dizzying speeds high into the air and landing on the table with a
resounding Ding!  These people often need the room required of the high
flippers but not the fetching required of them.  These people are seen
playing with the status effect cards such as Jigglypuff and the (ack!) base
Haunter.  The best strategy for these people is to watch that they are
flipping the same turn after turn.  A sudden change in style could tip you
off to something going not their way.
The slow/lopsided flippers are people who are new to the whole coin flipping
concept.  They usually grow into one of the other types quickly.  The coin
flips seen are those that flip high but only revolve about two or three time
in the air.  Beware of these people because they may be a cheating flipper
in disguise!  The best thing to do with these people is to make sure that
they constantly flip this way and really are a new-bee.  Then cut them some
slack.  They are often seen playing with cards that require an excessive
amount of coin flipping so as to master the new skill.
The last type of coin flippers, the coin cheaters, are the worst type.
These people are often a hybrid of both the high and low flippers, changing
their style when you start to catch on to them.  Cheating flippers are often
seen flipping way too low so they can control the outcome, or flipping an
"Official flip" that is nothing more that 2 revolutions in the air.
Starting heads, going tails, heads, tails, heads, tails, hits table and
bounces heads.  If you don't think this is possible try a Geodude dealing
110 damage two turns in a row.  It can be done. (Unfortunately to me)  The
other tactic they will try is to have the coin "accidentally" fall off the
table when they see the outcome not in their favor.  Others will catch the
coin in air and using slight of hand (Which happens very often) take a quick
peak at the coin before revealing the outcome, which is magically in their
favor. Or perhaps the people who stop the coin from spinning, often way too
early for you to clearly see the outcome before their hand is on top of it.
These people are often seen playing with the Geodudes, Kangaskhans, or Dark
Charizards seen in the high flipping type but with an exceptionally high
success rate.  You can always weed out these people when they refuse to
evolve the Geodude into Graveler or play a breeder on it when given the
perfect opportunity.  The best thing to do with these people is to
constantly ask them to reflip the coin and insist that they do not interfere
with the flip.
The next topic I would like to cover is the coin its self.  While there is
always the coin supplied with the pre-made decks you can always revert back
to the good ole' American currency.  Some people say that the coin that is
supplied with the pre-made deck is fairer than the American currency.  I
disagree with that statement.  I have seen people peel back the sticker to
place a thin piece of paper before re-applying the sticker.  While this may
not seem to effect the probability an experiment done proved that doing so
made it 10% more likely to land heads than tails. A flip of a standard
quarter vs. a coin fixed in this way had the following results: quarter came
up heads 106/200 (53%) while the fixed coin came up heads 122/200 (61%).
This may not seem like much but it just might give you the 10 extra damage
to win a match.  Thus the coins provided just encourage a player to set the
match.  Remember that you have the right to request your opponent to use a
standard US coin.
The last topic is one that is extremely annoying to me.  Many people think
that it is very unexceptionable to use anything but a quarter.  I however
disagree with this as well, in fact one of my luckiest coins, is a regular
old 1971-penny.  Many people laugh out loud when I pull out my coin but they
soon quit down when ole' Lincoln is pulling 80 damage with a Dragonair.
Besides being very easy to find, people are more willing to lend you, rather
give you, a penny while a quarter is harder to come by.  Other coins such as
a dime and nickel are more likely to stay on the table being as they do not
bounce around as much.  Which leads me to the fact that coins, which do
bounce around, are a cheaters worst nightmare.  Being unable to predict the
outcome makes it very hard to cheat.  And the smaller the coin the more
bouncing the coin will do and stay on the table.
With all that said I would like to say in conclusion that whether you are a
high flipper, low flipper, or the dreaded cheating flipper, watch out.
Because with many games being decided on the flip of a coin make sure that
you not only play the cards your way but the coin too.