I found the riddle page on pokerspace the day I joined. I tried a few, found them to be frustrating and annoying, but eventually solved them. As I solved more and more (at that point old riddles were still worth five or ten points) I became addicted to them. Now I'm like everyone else on the riddle page, losing sleep every Sunday night so I can get an early chance at the new riddle for the week. If you are reading this you are one of two groups, the addicted or the annoyed. The addicted are more than welcome; however, this was written for the annoyed.

Why solve the riddles? The riddles get you easy points. Now you're thinking "Easy? Maybe, if you wrote the riddle." For most of us they have become fun and something to look forward too. Hopefully after reading this they will be that way for you too. I decided to write this after seeing many threads complaining about the riddles. People have always written those threads, but there have been an increased amount of them in the last few months. Like I said before, getting annoyed is all part of your eventual addiction to the infamous pokerspace riddle. Now, on to what you came here for.

riddle vs puzzle

Before I start with the techniques used in the riddles I want to clear this up. Many people comment that the pokerspace riddles are not riddles. I have to partially agree with them. Most of us think of something like "The more there is the less you see. What is it?" as a riddle. However, there are many kinds of riddles, everything from a question using homophones to a mathematical paradox. The key is that you use logic to solve a question or problem. So the pokerspace riddles are riddles, just not in the sense that most people think.

the search

Many puzzles have used searching as a step to find the answer. There are two types I have seen, google and pokerspace. The first, google, requires you to put a certain word or phrase that you usually get from a previous step or steps into a google search. The information you are looking for comes as two possible things. Either a site that is in the results or a common theme to the results. If it is a site it is usually the first one that comes up. If it is a common theme look for a theme among all the results or something poker related in the results. The second, pokerspace search, requires you to search just pokerspace with the word or phrase. This will give you lots of info you don't need. Usually you need to look at either the first pokerspace member or the first news article that is in the results.

counting

Very often you will be given a number code in the riddles. Often this is used for counting purposes. This can be used in conjunction with a search (from above) or in the actual riddle text. If your code is 3, 5, 7 then you look at the 3rd, 5tth, and 7th letter or 3rd, 5th, and 7th word in some part of the text. Previous steps may tell you where to look. Also, there may not be a number code given. In this case try looking at the first letter of each word or the first word of each sentence or line.

codes/ciphers

This is the most common technique I have seen in the riddles. The methods are often very different, but once you get used to looking for codes it will be easy to spot them. A code can be simple such as alphanumeric, converting numbers to letters or vice versa. (a=1, b=2, c=3, etc.) Or it could be complicated like a cipher of the riddle makers creation. In this case a previous step probably gives you the method to decode what you need. There is another common code used in pokerspace riddles. I refer to it as the ODancing or Tethys code. This is because it was often used by frequent riddle creator ODancing and there is a picture key for quick reference on Tethys's page. This code converts cards to letters. There are many other codes to convert cards to letters that have been used, but this seems to be the most common one.

computer tricks

A few clever riddle creators have taken advantage of technology. There are several tricks I have seen and I'm sure many more to come. These can be things such as different colored text or a hidden link in the riddle text. These are the most difficult for me personally to catch because I am thinking about the riddle itself, not the medium on which the riddle is being presented to me. To catch these you need to "think outside the box" as they say.

the scavenger hunt

This is one of my favorite techniques. Who doesn't love a scavenger hunt? Several riddles have used this technique. Basically the riddle creator sends you from one link to another in a chain of clues until you reach the answer or information you need. An example would be if step one sent you to a band's website. On that site is a link to a specific casino. On the casino web site is the date of a poker tournament which just so happens to match the numbers you got as a code from a previous step. In this case I would bet the answer is the name of the tournament. I have even seen one clever use of this that involved the creation of a fake pokerspace member profile with two links. One link taking you in the wrong direction just to throw you off.

pictures

These seem to be the easiest of the techniques to solve. Almost every case where a picture is used you will need to figure out what the picture is. That's it. This may not be your answer, but there is no secret trick or hidden clue to the picture. If it looks like a fish, the information needed is fish. If it is a mountain the information is mountain. Using this information is the hard part of the riddle. There are three exceptions to this. One is a pokerspace logo. This usually means the answer is found somewhere by searching pokerspace. The second is a list of card suits. This usually tells you an order for decoding a list of cards or numbers. The third is the use of a famous picture. In this case you need to study the picture very carefully. There is something there, or not there, that you are meant to notice.

anagrams

This is the second most used technique I have seen. When you are sure you are correct, but you are getting KREOP. Try an anagram, mix up the letters to form a new word. In this case KREOP, mixed up can spell POKER. If you can find a poker related anagram in your letter jumble, it is probably the answer.

titles

I actually forogt this section the first time I posted this blog. I knew I forgot something. This section could go under hints, but it is so often used that I think it deserves a seperate section. Read the riddle title. Very often the title is not just some random phrase. It is a hint from the creator as to where to look or what one of the steps may be. If you don't know where to start try looking at the title and go from there.

steps

Most of the riddles as of recent use multiple steps. By this I mean that the first part of the riddle gives you some hint, the second part gives you another hint. Putting the two together gives you a new piece of the riddle. Solving the new piece gives you the answer. Not every riddle is the same formula, but the idea is the same. An interesting note here is to look at the points reward for solving a riddle. If it's only worth 500 points, then you are not looking for more than two steps, usually not even one. If it is worth 700 points, then "break out the aspirin" as the riddle forum users would say. This is almost always a multiple step riddle, probably somewhere around 5 steps give or take.

hints

Read the hints in the forum. Many times someone will post what they are thinking and it gives someone else just what they needed to solve the riddle first for 500 or 600 points. Pay attention to how people word what they write if they have already solved the riddle. If someone uses an odd phrase or quote, there is a reason. Figure it out.

answers

The answers are almost always poker related. This can be anything from a poker player to a common term used in poker to a famous casino. There are several riddles that do not have poker related answers, but most of them still use steps and clues related to poker. As a side note I have not seen an answer unrelated to poker for a very long time. Another note about answers is to check your spelling. Not only to see if you spelled it correctly, but also to make sure the creator did. That is not to say the creator is an idiot, this is done on purpose. There are some members who cannot solve a riddle with the clues and will try to use trial and error. By that I mean they will spend an hour or two entering every poker term they can think of to stumble on the correct answer. Many of the riddle creators know this and to prevent this will misspell words in the answer. For example, instead of the answer being "cracked aces" the answer will be "kracked acez".

riddle creators

For those who want to create a riddle I have one or two notes for you. Anybody can do it. If I've had several put up, then anybody can. Do not make a riddle so difficult it will never be solved. Pokerspacers want to enjoy solving this not get so fed up they leave pokerspace never to return. On that same note, do not make it too easy. Again, pokerspacers want to have fun solving it. If you want to have your riddle make it to the riddle page think of something clever that has not been done yet. Another riddle using anagrams and number to letter codes probably won't get there. Like I said above, I expect to see more clever uses of technology in our future riddles. Finally, if you submit a riddle they will tell you if they are going to use it. Yes, they got it. Just wait and see, it may not happen a day after you send it. Riddles are kept on file and if there is not a good one sent in that week they will go back and look through previously sent in riddles.

last note

Hopefully if you read this whole thing you feel I am worth listening to when it comes to riddles. I do not have the most first solved riddles or the most created, but I seem to know what I'm doing. If you're not sure I have the "credentials", I have sent in upwards of 20 riddles (5 have been used), I have been first to solve 3 times, and I am currently at 84 out of 90 solved. Although, I should note you cannot solve your own riddles, so I have one unsolved riddle. (Darn you ODancing, lol.) Also, for those of you here from the start, no I did not have the impressive 51/50 record some of you have, lol. I feel I have a pretty good record, not the best, but good. If you have any other questions please ask. I would love to make this the place for new riddle solvers to come for questions about the pokerspace riddles and to find out "why aren't they actually riddles?"