RED

“Black!” Linda called out. A coal colored circle was lying in her palm.

“Red!” Cindy answered. She raised a ruby disk between her thumb and forefinger. Both looked eagerly at you. You looked down nervously. No matter what color you had, you had to play the first round. The trick was to sit out as many of the games as possible. Even if you won a game, having to drink would make it easier for the girls to beat you the next time you had to play. Linda flashed you a smile as you showed that the chip in your hand was red.

“You can go first.” you told Cindy. You dumped the chips from the bag to the ground between the two of you. Cindy adjusted the frame used to hold the chips so that it was between the two of you. She sent the chip in her hand down the center column of the game’s frame. You dropped the red ship in your hand and picked up a black chip. After a moment you slid it down the center column as well. Cindy picked up a red chip and placed it next to her first chip. You slid a black chip on the other side of her first chip. The two of you alternated sliding chips into the frame. Each move seemed to get faster and faster.

“Shit!” Cindy called out after each of you had played nearly a dozen chips. You pulled your hand away from the frame as if it were on fire. After looking a moment, you made the play you had been about to make when Cindy had called out. The blonde grimaced. There were four black chips in a diagonal.

“One of the keys is choosing what to take off.” Cindy explained, “The more you reveal the more likely you are to distract your opponent. However, the more likely you are to be distracted as well. While showing my bra might distract Pat, it isn’t going to affect you or Linda, so it will have more of an adverse impact on me than my opponents…So…” Without any further ado, Cindy reached down and pulled off her left shoe and tossed it aside.

You released the chips from the frame and scooped them into the bag. Linda took the bag and handed you beer. After a quick shake, she reached in and pulled out a chip. She handed it to Gillian who pulled a chip. Finally, Cindy pulled out a chip. After a moment, the three girls held up their prizes and compared them.

Who gets to sit out the second game?