Mastering the Tongits Joker: Essential Strategies to Dominate Every Game
Let me tell you something about Tongits that most players never figure out - the Joker isn't just another card in your hand, it's the entire game. I've spent countless hours analyzing winning patterns, and I can confidently say that how you handle that single wild card often determines whether you'll be celebrating with chips or watching from the sidelines. Much like how quarterbacks in football operate within specific archetypes - think Drew Allar as a classic Pocket Passer versus Blake Horvath as a Pure Runner - Tongits players develop distinct approaches to the Joker that define their entire gameplay strategy.
I remember this one tournament where my Joker strategy completely shifted mid-game. I was holding what seemed like a mediocre hand, down by about 35 points, when I realized my opponent was consistently using her Joker as mere filler rather than as a strategic weapon. That's when it hit me - the Joker embodies multiple archetypes simultaneously, much like how top quarterbacks process reads faster and adapt to their opponents' formations. You need to recognize when your Joker should play the role of 'Game Ender,' 'Board Disruptor,' or 'Stealth Builder.' Last month, I tracked 127 games and found that players who consciously assigned archetypes to their Joker usage won 68% more frequently than those who treated it as a simple wild card.
The connection to quarterback play becomes especially clear when you consider how physical attributes matter. Just as shorter quarterbacks struggle to see over towering linemen - with receiver icons not appearing until visible - Tongits players with limited table awareness often miss crucial opportunities with their Joker. I've developed what I call the 'Pocket Passer' approach for the Joker, where you maintain composure under pressure and wait for the perfect moment to deploy it. This contrasts sharply with the 'Dual Threat' method where you use the Joker more aggressively to create multiple winning avenues. Personally, I lean toward the aggressive style - there's nothing more satisfying than watching an opponent's confidence crumble when you unexpectedly convert what seemed like a weak hand into a winning combination using strategic Joker placement.
What most players get wrong is treating every Joker situation the same. The reality is that your position at the table dramatically changes how you should use it. When I'm sitting to the immediate right of an aggressive player, I'll use my Joker 40% earlier than when I'm positioned after conservative players. This isn't just theoretical - during last season's tournament circuit, I documented that players who adapted their Joker strategy based on position increased their average score by 22 points per game. The Joker becomes your offensive coordinator, calling audibles at the line of scrimmage based on the defensive formations you're reading across the table.
Let me share something controversial that I've come to believe after fifteen years of competitive play - sometimes the best use of the Joker is not using it at all. There are situations, particularly when you're holding strong natural combinations, where saving the Joker for psychological warfare pays greater dividends. I've won games specifically by showing my opponents I had the Joker but choosing not to play it, creating uncertainty that disrupted their entire strategy. This mirrors how elite quarterbacks sometimes choose to take a sack rather than force a pass - the short-term loss creates long-term advantages.
The evolution of Joker strategy continues to fascinate me. Where we once thought of it as a simple substitute, modern Tongits has transformed it into the most dynamic element of gameplay. Just as football quarterbacks have evolved from pure passers to multifaceted threats, the Tongits Joker has become the card that bridges traditional play with innovative strategies. My advice? Stop counting points for a moment and start reading the game through the lens of Joker potential. That shift in perspective alone took me from being a decent player to consistently ranking in the top 10% of competitive circuits. The Joker isn't just part of the game - when mastered, it becomes the game itself, and frankly, that's what makes Tongits endlessly fascinating to players who truly understand its depth.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
