Notes From Meeting

Thanks to Sniper, Jagger, Developer and MAV for attending BRC Online #02 with the new App which worked very well along with Zoom.
 
Will arrange #03 for say Friday 15th May.
 
Results as follows, the Bluff cleaned up!!!!!😎🤠🤠

BIG BLUFF






Another great night - thanks guys. Much better User experience app than the last one / once you got used to swiping right .....wait- isn’t that a different app🤣🤣🤣🤣. Some ridiculously arssy hands by the player that seems to always get them ...... and unusual guest appearances made for interesting times.
 
Let’s savour these games by not having them too often / let’s try for 30 May 👍.
 
Cheers,
 
Mav

Notes From Sniper

On-line BRC Meeting No. 1 notes
 
In addition to the feedback from BB, please find hereunder a few notes from me on on-line BRC Meeting No. 1 held on Friday 3 April 2020. 
 
It was a most enjoyable evening of on-line cards (using the EasyPoker app) and good cheer shared amongst the enthusiastic participants via video-conferencing on Zoom.
 
I think I speak for all in attendance (BB, Mav, TC Jagger and myself) in declaring the event a great success.  Many thanks to –
▪  BB for coming up with the idea, exploring and finding the EasyPoker app, and organising the event; and
▪  Mav for organising the video meeting on the Zoom platform.
 
Jagger’s Zoom connection was a bit flaky so in the event he turned off video and reverted to audio.  As you would all appreciate, this was a great improvement.  Obviously, he has either selected a cheap low-performance Internet plan, or used up his data allocation, or failed to pay his Internet bill, or some combination of these.  Luckily, this in no way interrupted the card-playing and we could hear him clearly so all was good anyway.  Everyone else had good connection via Zoom.
 
BB and Mav both applied background pictures to their Zoom images – BB was apparently sitting in a giant gaming room and Mav was at one stage in a Sheik’s palace with Mary and at another time travelling backwards in a train.  All good fun.
The EasyPoker app seemed to work well – BB even took his phone with him and kept playing when he went off for a leak.  His laptop stayed where it was so he disappeared from Zoom during this minor diversion (no video or audio, thank goodness).
Full deck Texas hold ‘em with no wild cards was certainly more limiting than we were used to and required a re-set of expectations.  However, believe it or not (I’m struggling with this myself), we had two instances of four-of- a-kind - amazing!!
We often mention the catering of BRC meetings.  In this instance it was a case of do-it-yourself.  We were all able to have a few drinks without worrying about drink-driving, but moderation was exercised by all anyway.  Mav provided guidance to all participants of where to obtain Greek sweets, and during the course of the night helped himself to a serving of what looked to me to be galaktoboureko.  The rest of us had a few nibbles but were otherwise reasonably restrained.  Notably, in this instance Jagger did not spill any drinks, which is unusual.  Now I come to think of it, while he often spills drinks at BRC meetings, it never happens when he is at his own home.  Maybe we should commission a study on this phenomenon, or alternatively ask Rose how she has successfully dealt with “the problem”.
 
To those who thought on-line cards and remote contact would be lame and lacking in spirit, my suggestion is please give it a go and join us.  There was plenty of the usual banter, and some of the less desirable aspects of our traditional games were negated – no misdeals, no misunderstandings about the rules, no arguments about who had the best (i.e. winning) hand.
BB has proposed Friday 24 April for the next on-line BRC.  I hope to see quite a few smiling faces that evening via Zoom.  For most of us it’s not as though we have other commitments – sport and entertainment events have been cancelled and all venues are closed.
 
Regards to all, and best wishes for Easter.
 
Sniper

Notes from Sniper

Please find hereunder a few notes on BRC 94 held at Mav’s Carss Park hangar on Friday 7 February.  Apologies for the delay in producing these notes – I’ve been very busy (including performing in a concert where we sang “You’ll never walk alone”!!) and am in Thredbo as I write.
 

1.  Thanks to all members who made the journey to Carss Park.  It was a most enjoyable evening, as always.
2.  Special thanks, of course, to Mav and Mary for excellent hosting including plentiful and delicious goodies which put smiles on the faces of all in attendance.  I agree with Mav that the galaktoboureko had just the right amount of syrup – yum!
3.  The venue is excellent but the potential for a Federal “sports” grant to make it even better was canvassed, in light of the fact that it satisfies the key (and possibly only) criterion – a favoured electorate (that of the Prime Minister).
4.  Regrettably, Punter was not able to attend on this occasion.  Surely, he can’t believe that having to travel more than 3,500 kms each way is a justifiable excuse!  There must have been some other reason – possibly one (or two??) of the local heavily tattooed women?
5.  It was disappointing to hear that Banker’s mountain retreat (and primary residence) had suffered major vegetation damage during the recent bushfires due to a back-burn.  The good news was that the buildings were not damaged so in practice the back-burn was probably the lesser of two evils.
6.  Jagger announced that his fourth grandchild is on the way, which was delightful news.  He then alarmed us all by saying that he is populating Australia.  We thought it was his offspring that were having children at the present time, not him!
7.  During a discussion regarding the recent major storm event that hit and significantly damaged Sydney and its surrounds, Rok made the observation that according to news reports the resultant runoff might increase Sydney’s water storage to 70% of capacity (a noteworthy increase from just above 40%).  GT, the ex-Sydney Water operative, assured us all that there was no way 70% would be achieved.  Just one week later (13 February) the verified storage level was 75.1%;  it’s now more than 80%.
8.  Congratulations to GT on ordering a brand new BMW X2 – a new car is always an exciting purchase.  For those who didn’t hear the detail (I was fortunate enough to sit next to GT), he has made a number of special requests after researching the options available across the world.  Is anyone surprised?
9.  And, so to the card playing
     ·        Unusually, we used 7’s and up short decks for the entire evening.
     ·        It was unbelievably noisy, with most members making mischief.
     ·        There was a major controversy when Developer claimed to have a straight flush but wasn’t able to nominate the cards it comprised.  Jagger then claimed the win.  Later GT said he thought Developer did have a straight flush, but the cards had been cleared.  Developer spent much of the night demanding that Jagger hand over $20 worth of chips, to no avail.
     ·        There was an instance (the details of which I can’t remember because I am a doddery old “senior”) where a player nominated what he thought was his best hand but on inspection it was found that he had a better one and was (unexpectedly to him) the winner.  A suggestion was then made that when a player nominates what he believes is his best hand then he can’t later claim a better one.  I must say, I don’t agree with this proposal.  In my view if a player has paid right through to the end of a round then he is entitled to make use of the best hand he actually has. 
     ·        As mentioned by Jagger in his email detailing the results, in one round Rok gave Jagger a shock by beating Jagger’s five aces with a genuine straight flush – up to the final nanosecond Jagger was confident that he had the best hand.  It was one of those memorable moments.
     ·        I do remember having a five aces hand similarly beaten by a BB genuine straight flush, but this instance was not unexpected – BB simply needed one particular card to make the best possible hand.
     ·        Banker made extensive use of various versions of “good, bad and wild”.
     ·        I seem to remember a few instances where there were very few community cards – as few as three.  This was probably due in part to the 7s and up short deck.
     ·        Mav claims that he only won one hand the whole night.  I wasn’t keeping track, but I believe him.  All I can say is – “bad luck”.  Maybe he should call in the Spanish Inquisition, which I believe got a mention.
     ·        In no less than two instances, Professor was sitting on what was clearly the winning hand, but declined to bet.  In each case the final round of betting resulted in a “free card” (no bets), so due to his reluctance to bet (and everyone else having ordinary cards) the pots were very small – hoist by his own petard.  
     ·        Overall, the cards were very much smiling on BB who won many hands and was the winner on the night in convincing fashion.  Congratulations BB!  Others should be afraid – he’s back in the black and back on track.
10.  I can’t think of much else, except to remind all members of Mary’s charity swim – 10km in 30 days, and she has already swum 11.9km (fantastic achievement – congratulations Mary), but I’m sure it’s still possible to provide some sponsorship in recognition of the great effort and in support of sick kids.
11.  I look forward to catching up with everyone on 3 April at Rok’s place (advice for Developer – the suburb is L U G A R N O) for BRC XCV {95}.
 

Best wishes and regards.
 
Sniper


Notes from TC Jagger

Dear members ,
 
Thanks to Mav for hosting XCIV (94) and providing the food and drink for the evening. One thing I have noticed is that we are drinking less as we get older. !
 
I am sure Sniper will provide the details of the evening.
 
I enclosed the results of Game 1, 2020 FYI.
 
Bigbluff finally returns to the winners circle. The first time since Dec 2017.
2nd and 3rd place was decided by only a single chip!, between Sniper and Rok. Rok achieves 3rd position by winning a hand with a genuine straight flush blind siding TC Jagger holding the 5 Aces using 3 cards in hand. Pushing TC Jagger to 4th position.
 
2020 has started and hope all have a great year ahead.
 
Regards
TC Jagger