Johnny Lodden Thinks
Johnny Lodden Thinks is a party game originally from the poker community, named after Norwegian poker player and gambler Johnny Lodden. The game is very simple and needs nothing but two or three people. It can be played anywhere and is not only great for parties, but for any other occasion as well.
✍️ November 6, 2018
Equipment for Johnny Lodden Thinks:
- Two to three players
- Alcohol
Procedure and rules of the drinking game Johnny Lodden Thinks:
One player is the Lodden Thinker. The other two players bet on what the Lodden Thinker thinks. The player that loses the bet has to drink.
In the first part, a player makes a suggestion on what to bet on. The topic doesn’t matter as long as the answer is a number. An example would be the number of women with whom a person has slept, how heavy a person is or how many Kebabs Will Smith eats in a year.
The Lodden Thinker has to come up with an answer to the question and either types it into his cell phone or writes it down on a piece of paper to ensure a fair game. It does not matter what the correct answer to the question is, only the Lodden Thinkers answers to the question matters. It is important that the Lodden Thinker gives his answer to the best of his knowledge.
In the second part, the other two players have to find a number. The first player takes the “Under” (all numbers below this number) side of the number and the second player the “Over” (all numbers above this number including the number itself) page.
How to settle on a number
The first player provides a number to start the bet. The second player can either say a bigger number or accept the “Under”. If he takes the “Under” he owns all numbers that are smaller than the number of the first player and the other player automatically receives the “Over”. If he takes a higher number, then the first player can again choose a higher number or take the “Under”. This goes on until a player takes the “Under”.
After a player has taken the “Under”, the Lodden Thinker announces his answer and the player, whose number is closer to the number wins. The loser has to drink and the game can be played with a new question.
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Johnny Lodden Thinks for two player
It is also possible to play Johnny Lodden Thinks in a bar with only two people. The two players have to pick a question first and then ask a third person acting as a Lodden Thinker. This game can also be used as an icebreaker.
Example Questions for Johnny Lodden Thinks
- On a scale of 1 to 10. How high would the waitress estimate the attractiveness of your group?
- How many kilos does a hippopotamus gain in the first 6 months of his life?
- How many pounds of meat does a lion eat in a month?
- How many virgins play in the German women Bundesliga?
- How many YouTube Views has Justin Bieber with his videos in total?
- How many hours does it take a person with a spade to dig a 25 meter by 25 meter swimming pool?
- How many dolphins are there in the world?
- How many women are in love with a member of One Direction?
- How many goals did Wayne Gretzky score in his NHL career?
The Origin Story of Johnny Lodden Thinks
The game was invented by the two poker professionals Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. To make poker more entertaining, it is common for poker players to invent various bets (so-called “sidebets”). Betting which color the first card has on the flop or whether an ace appears on the flop. Eventually these kind of sidebets became too boring for them and they started betting on different things such as the height of the Eiffel Tower. But finding the right results was too much of an effort, so they just bet on which answer to that question would be given to another person. That evening, Johnny Lodden was also present and so this game was named after him. Johnny Lodden is a Norwegian poker player also known for his sidebets. In the original, the game is called “What does Johnny Lodden think?”. In the meantime, it is usually abbreviated to Lodden Thinks and enjoys great popularity far beyond the limits of poker.
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Dangers of Johnny Lodden Thinks as a drinking game
As fun as Johnny Lodden Thinks as a drinking game is, please drink responsibly and don’t drink and drive!
