My good friend Scott has just made tenure (hooray Scott!) Anyway, in his tenure quest Scott travelled over the world in an effort to make his name known in the academic world and in the course of his travels he always managed to find people to game with in whatever city he was in.
Setting some roots in upstate NY, Scott decided to gather some of the cool people to him for weekends of games. We made our first appearance last year and reattended this year and had a blast. As I get older, I find air travel less appealing. The planes seem to get smaller and the waiting times and inconveniences seem to grow. So, Robely and I were not in the best of moods when we arrived. After a quick lunch and a few cigareetes, at least I was in a better mood. At least in a mood to present myself and the Robely to the hotel.
Poker
Saturday night seems to quickly becoming a tradition for these events to have a poker tournament. I was hesitant about joining, as I usually stink in tournaments. I get too excited and play off the cuff and bleed myself out of chips quickly. But I managed to get in the mood and settled in to a fun little table. I was matched with Don, Robely, Tamara, Rob, Scott M and another Rob. Tamara giggled like a school girl and was there to have fun, but in the first two hands she was able bust out both Robs and in another few hands busted Don out. Things were looking grim, but Robely took up the charge and quickly relieved Tamara of a chunk of chips. Scott and I sat aside and tried to avoid being collateral damage. Somehow though I was able to drag a few chips out of people and finally bumped Scott out allow Robely, Tamara and myself advance to the big table.
Now it was time to play with the serious players. We joined Larry, Alan and Donna for the finals. Larry clearly had the chip lead and decided to bully us on the first hand (at least I thought he was). The man had a pocket pair of jacks and I had an ace-nine. I figured I'd call his bluff and refuse to be pushed around. Soon, I was all in and as we revealed our cards after the flop I only showed a pair of 9s. It looked like it was all over for me, but then on the river comes my ace. Larry wasn't out but he was hurting. The rest of the tournament went the same way, me making some stupid decisions and getting paid off on the river. Soon that became my new moniker. "River King" and "Fifth Street" were bantied around. The funny thing was that when it came down to the final three, it was Tamara, Robely and myself. I was the clear chip leader and at Alan's urging just started betting without looking at my cards. Soon Tamara was out and Robely was only down to 400 in chips. Robely didn't hold it against to me though as the prize for the tournamnet was a Golden Nacho. Golden Nachos were tickets for a priority drawing off the prize table, so called because they were goldenrod triangular tickets.
Thursday night Robely and I got to see Scott's new house and his partner Ken. They haven't closed yet and it needs some work, but it looks like a really good start. I was especially jealous of the wonderful addition which Scott and Ken will use for a game room (on the bottom) and nifty office (top floor)). Great windows and eventually a wonderful of their lakefront (which is overgrown right now). Afterwards Scott and Ken took us to an interesting Vietnamese restaurant. It was different from any other Vietnamese cuisine I've had before but not in a bad way.
By the time we returned to the hotel it was getting late, but Don was game for teaching the Great Space Race. I ended up winning this one by being the sole survivor after two laps. Then it was off to bed to get ready for some serious gaming on Friday.
Robely woke up early and wandered off to the sites of Syracuse. I dragged out of bed and headed down to breakfast alosn, but found Ken B. and had a decent meal and conversation. With 3 cups of coffee in me and a full stomach it was off to gaming.
I started off with Age of Empires III with Ken, Erin and Ian. Erin beat Ian out by a small margin. So far, the only time I have seen the capital building strategy fail, so maybe there is hope.
Then it was off to try Scott's prototype with Don, Michelle and Don. A stock market game that I somehow managed to win. I can't wait for it to get published as I want to try and figure out what I was doing right :)
Then I was kidnapped (not really) by Don and McBeth for a day of piratey themed games:
Lords of the Spanish Main (Scott, Don and Mcbeth)- I didn't really care for it. The rules seemed a little fuzzy and it started off really slow. We gave up after a couple of hours.
Hispaniola (Scott, Don, Mcbeth and Robely)- one I introduced and that was not well received. Basically a trick taking game with a little board play based on the tricks played. Scott slaughtered us.
Caribbean (Don and Mcbeth)- Don brutalized us in this blind bidding game, but now I know some of the strategies, I could give him a challenge.
Jolly Roger (Don and Mcbeth)- another simple tricktaking game with a piratey theme. Mcbeth managed to stay awake long enough to this one.
At this point Don and I checked in with Robely (who was sick most of the weekend). Robely and I congratulated on his graduation and gave him his presents. I was going to join them and Connie for dinner, but ended getting roped into the ice breaker. After establishing teams, we set off to complete the task Scott set for us, which consisted of five people each holding a length of rope in one long chain and attempting to tie a not in one of the center ropes, without letting go. Harder than it sounds and my team certainly didn't win, but we all had fun trying and scared a few passerby I'm sure.
Winds of Plunder (Michelle and Mcbeth)- Don gave us the rundown on this one before running off to dinner. A great influence game with five different area to control. Additional card play keeps the game from getting too predictable.
Perikles (Mcbeth, Michelle and Scott M)- Not a pirate game (unless you count the Persians), but one that I was requested to teach. Michelle caught on fast and managed to pull out the win 7 points ahead of Scott M.
Saturday came and went in a blur. The morning kicked off with Scott's flea market. Where Scott tries to clean out his overflowing closets. He wasn't alone and I managed to pick up a copy of the German version of Funny Friends.
Revolution: The Dutch Revolt (Mcbeth as the Reformers, Jeremy as the Burghers, Michelle as the Hapsburgs and myself as the Catholics)- I was hoping to get in a five player, but no such luck. Another game I was asked to teach and one which I relish. I had my best game ever, but Michelle caught on quick again and beat me by half a point (15.5). The Burghers and Reformers never really got off the ground- maybe next time.
Dschamal (Scott and Jen)- One of those dexterity games, actually an assortment of games. The first game involved the three of digging our hands into a bag and attempt to pull out a correct piece for set building. The second game involved only two people digging their hands in and trying to find the right piece for their tower.
After the poker tourney, I got in a game of Lowenherz (Robely, Ron and Larry)- It has been a while since I played this one. We all thought Ron was winning until someone pointed out Robely's sneaky strategy. I ended up acting as the dupe and thwarting both Ron and Robely giving Larry the win. I definitely need to play this one more often.
For the last game of the night Michelle and I got Evan to teach us one of Alan Moon's prototypes. 'nuff said.
Sunday came bright and too early. Robely had to get up early than I to conclude her secret
contest and ride herd on 16 gamers.I managed to get in two games of Tier auf Tier (with Evan, Scott M and Tamara) before I got busy checking us out of the hotel. I managed to get back just in time for the prize table and wrapup. Robely ran and hid, so as to not have to take a game home, but I stuck around and managed to get a shrinkwrapped copy of Age of Empires III (which hopefully Don will mail back to me).
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, fighting through airport security (aka Syracuse gestappo) and performing contortionist act is our plane seats for 3 hours. Other than that I look forward to seeing everyone next year and doing it again.
To see some pictures
