Nothingness: I would disagree - that is I think it would be pointless to do any research of the first few rounds.

That is if everyone else bids in the 20's and you bid in the 50's - you lose 30 points. 30 points almost makes no difference in the game, and it still amusing to watch people try to get low first bids in the 20's when the points saved are basicly pointless that early in the game.

3 things would need to be researched.

1) The end game of players - about last 5-6 rounds of a game.

2) When they go for the bonus. For example: 6 people left. 5 people have 2,000+ points, 6th person has 0 points left. Who will just maintain and bid 1, and who will go for the bonus - and how high will the bid for the 500 point bonus.

3) mid-game could use a little research also. For example, last low bid was 2,000. Everyone still has over 10,000 points - what will people bid. Who will bid about 1,000 over the low 2,000, and who will bid double the last low bid (4,000). If I see a good mix of these 2 types of people, my bid is 3,500.