Thursday, November 8, 2007

November 8, 2007 Session Report

Three newcomers to this week's session swelled our attendance ranks to 11 -- thanks to Jane, Matthew and daughter Olivia who joined regular attendees Clayton, Sarah, Eric, Nicole, Doug, Beth and Paul and myself to make this week's session a good one -- we got in a total of 11 different games: Parlay, Management Material, Showbiz Shuffle, Five Crowns, Phase 10, Ingenious, Ticket to Ride, Carcassone, Cartagena, Blokus and Category Five. Jane, Olivia and Matthew were exposed to a bunch of new games, and we hope they return to future sessions.

Details on some of the games played: Started with Parlay and it wound up in a win for Paul while Nicole and I locked in a close battle for second; Eric and Clayton brought up the rear. Doug, Sarah and Beth played Management Material and Showbiz Shuffle, two of the endless variety of unique card games Doug brings to spice up our sessions -- no report on who won either of those games. Meanwhile, the five of us in the Parlay group took on the challenge of a new game -- Five Crowns -- and Eric came out on top with Nicole second and Clayton third. Eric and Clayton made great starts but, while Eric managed to "go out" in every hand, Clayton faded a bit near the end, allowing Nicole to catch up and pass him.

By then, the newcomers Olivia, Jane and Matthew had arrived and we got them into a couple of games right away: Doug and Nicole introduced Olivia and Jane to Ingenious, and they also found time for two other club favorites (Blokus and Cartagena). Meanwhile, Paul and I introduced Matthew to Ticket to Ride and Carcassone. The other four players (Beth, Sarah, Eric and Clayton) locked horns in Phase 10, a game that Sarah introduced to the club a couple of months back. Clayton once again got off to a strong start, at one point going out right off the bat before everyone else had got a play. But, in the long run, Beth prevailed with Eric second while Sarah recovered to finish ahead of Clayton, whose run of good cards ran out as soon as it started.

We said good bye to Jane, Olivia, Beth, Nicole and Matthew, and the rest of us wound up the evening with Category 5. Doug recovered from taking 27 points in the first hand to win, breaking a tie for first with Eric who struggled in the final hand. Final scores: Doug 45, Sarah and John 57, Eric 61, Paul 69, Clayton 101.

I am looking forward to the fifth annual EuroQuest gaming convention this weekend in Timonium and hope to see many of your there -- otherwise, hope to see everyone at the club next Thursday, our last session before the Thanksgiving holidays.

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