August 22, 2006 |
With Game Night back at our place, we managed to get Scott, Karla, Mike, Jim, and Dan in attendance.
| Can't Stop! |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | 3 (6, 8, 2) | 1 | |
| Scott | 2 (7, 10) | 2 | |
| Jim | 0 | 3 (Tie) | * |
| Mike | 0 | 3 (Tie) | |
Notes: I've lost my notes from this game, so I'm going by memory. I remember that Karla said, "I suck at this game, because I never stop!" So she stopped fairly frequently, and after nabbing both 6 and 7, she managed to close 2 a swift two turns later, just edging out Scott.
Jim and I were different ends of the same last place stick. I started slow and got nowhere until the game was pretty much over, and Jim had lots of pieces out there, but they were spread pretty thin, and when he got close to something, someone would close it.
| Oasis |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Scott | 65 | 1 | |
| Jim | 60 | 2 | * |
| Karla | 52 | 3 | |
| Mike | 46 | 4 | |
| Dan | 22 | 4 | |
Notes: I was trying to bring Princes of Florence to the table, but Dan wanted to play Oasis, so I deferred to his wishes and brought it to the table. Dan soon regretted it, as his offers kept getting passed over, and he never really managed to get anything he wanted or needed, as his pitifully poor total can attest to.
I had a large number of camels and tiles (except rock), but I never managed that awesome multiplier. Though I managed a good camel score, I scraped and scrounged for multipliers for my other two tiles.
Scott and Jim had ample multipliers, and Karla managed a few late. Scott had been sitting on a bunch of them early, and Jim monopolized the rocks, scooping up most of his points from them.
| Royal Turf |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Karla | £1950 | 1 | |
| Mike | £1900 | 2 | |
| Dan | £1600 | 3 | |
| Scott | £1050 | 4 | |
| Jim | £600 | 5 | |
Notes: To wrap up, we went with Royal Turf, which is one we hadn't played in a while. I started with my Earl Grey complainin', but then I used it to my advantage later in the game.
In the first race, Jim and I had Earl Grey stuck in the back, but then a couple of crazy rolls got him across the line in first place. Albino and Red Fox (the pace-setter) managed second and third. Caramello took last. First round scores:
Dan: £600
Mike: £500
Karla: £350
Jim: £300
Scott: £200
Earl took first again in the second race, but Dan only put one bet on him, while I anticipated the love-in for Earl Grey and put two bets on him. My big coup, though, was getting Nougat to set the pace AND take second with only my bet on him. Karla's beloved Albino again placed, this time in third. Red Fox, with no bets, took last. Second round scores:
Mike: £1100
Dan: £1000
Karla: £750
Scott: £450
Jim: £400
In the last round, I anticipated Dan's double bid on Earl Grey, so I put a double there, too. I left Earl to be moved by Dan and Karla, though Karla abandoned him to move Sahara Wind and Albino, who took 1st and 3rd, respectively. The Albino placing - thanks to the way the dice are handed around, Karla getting to move her first choice when she rolled - was particularly galling, as it cost me a big score from my other horse (Red Fox, I think) and gave Karla the victory, as she overcame a £350 deficit to pass me by. Jim's Othello took last.
It was an odd set of races. Othello kept getting the same card that I don't like, so I avoided him. Caramello never got a good card either, and the one good Nougat card was parlayed by me into a productive round.