March 28, 2006 |
Back at Chez Nerdahl for another bout of game night. Karla had an ulterior motive in requesting the first two games, as she was going to a work game night on Friday, and she wanted to bring her own games rather than play poker.
| Coloretto |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 32 | 1 | |
| Dan | 22 | 2 (Tie) | |
| Lee | 22 | 2 (Tie) | |
| Karla | 20 | 4 | |
Notes: Played a quick game of Coloretto, which I won by not worrying so much about being hosed. Karla played to hose a little much, and Lee would panic in situations that didn't call for panic, and not draw a string when he should have taken one. Dan played like Lee did, and that, and a bit of luck (I managed one of the three wilds when I was trying to "greed it up") resulted in a fairly easy victory.
Karla didn't remember the "start with one card" rule and hassled me about it more than she should have.
| Gang of Four |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Mike | 30 | 1 | |
| Dan | 42 | 2 | |
| Karla | 87 | 3 | |
| Lee | 100+ | 4 | * |
Notes: We're starting to get the hang of this one, and it was much more fun. After the first round, things were at a typical 4 to 3 to 3 to 0 start. Then, I launched an awesome hand, one that pinned Lee with 15 of his 16 cards. The score after the second hand was:
Mike: 4
Karla: 36
Dan: 36
Lee: 60
It was the best hand of this I'd ever had and I was smiling. Karla said, "Don't be too proud of yourself," and vowed a vengeance that never came. But it did light a fire under Dan, who played exquisitely. The next two hands were close calls, but Dan nailed Karla and Lee for 18 points in hand number five, and the score stood at:
Mike: 12
Dan: 36
Karla: 59
Lee: 83
After that, it was just a matter of time, and Dan managed a beautiful final hand (our 8th). I was suspicious of what Dan was doing and barely managed to get rid of just enough cards. I had contemplated throwing in a three of a kind to keep my flushes around, but I worried that Dan would get rid of all his, and I was right to fear. Had I kept those two extra cards, I think I would have lost. Lee took a huge hit (probably in the 40's), Karla took 20 more points, and I added 18 to my own score. Dan, as you may have noticed, only gained 6 points over the last 6 rounds, whereas I gained 26. He would have smoked us if I hadn't had that one great hand early on.
| St. Petersburg |
| Results | |||
| Player | Score | Place | First Time? |
| Dan | 129 | 1 | |
| Lee | 129 | 2 | * |
| Mike | 117 | 3 | |
Notes: Next up was St. Petersburg, as Karla ducked out on us, her ulterior motive of learning the games she wanted to play on Friday night fulfilled. I taught Lee the rules quickly, gave him some advice, and off we went.
Dan was hosed out of the aristocrats early on and managed to get a lot of points out of buildings. Lee and I recovered somewhat, but Dan's early Mistress of Ceremonies (in round 3, I believe), also kept a high point pressure on me for most of the game. His buildings were better, and he was also getting more money from his buildings until I scooped up a Bank. Then I was the money man, but my buildings were tremendously inferior, and though I managed a couple aristocrat upgrades, Dan was keeping pace during the aristocrat phase thanks to a Judge and a Mistress of Ceremonies.
Lee played a mixed game between Dan and me. He was shorter on money, as he was going for buildings too, but also had more aristocrats than Dan (though they weren't as lucrative).
I had a chance to end the game one round earlier, which would have kept Dan's aristocrats points low, but it would have given Lee the win, as he would have had more aristocrats than I did. I figured I could get a great building this round, then scoop up a couple more aristocrats to max out. Instead, Dan nearly caught us in aristocrats (6 to my 7 and Lee's 8) and got even better buildings, expanding his lead. The only thing that kept me in the ballpark was my Pub...and Lee had one, too. At the end, Dan and Lee tied in points, and as Lee had less money than Dan, Dan won.
Still, there was controversy, as Lee thought that a player, in essence, "buys" those final VPs (i.e. you "turn in" your 10 rubles for 1 point). If that were the case, Dan would have had 2 or 3 left to Lee's 7 or 8. But the rules don't say that. Each player gets to keep the points and the money that got the points. So Lee conceded defeat after a final check of the rules.