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Cribbage, Gin Rummy, Dominoes, Backgammon and Other Game News
28 April 2007
On April 28th, 2007, a professional dominoes player Travis Newsome, also known as the "Zen master" and the "Wizard of OZ"
walked away with the PDA Championship. Travis Newsome who frequently plays dominoes online at GameColony, beat Charles Smith in the finals.
Travis Newsome is the leader of "The Dominators" domino team that includes Jerome Wooten, Nate Tsegay and Mark Jackson -- also frequent GameColony players.
"We will continue to DOMINATE the league and "SLAM" anyone in our way," said Travis Newsome after his victory in PDA dominoes finals.
04 April 2007
Today GameColony has introduced a new game: Pyramid-13 Solitaire.
Pyramid-13 becomes GameColony's 23d game. The object in the game is to clear the pyramid by clicking on open cards that sum up to 13 points.
13 February 2007
As reported by Robert Moojus, ACC Cribbage Commissioner:
A cribbage player Scott Buhrow (MrB_IA218), pegging out of Tennesee, bested a field of over
560 peggers to be crowned the winner of the 2007 American Cribbage Congress
Tournament of Champions.
In a hard-fought final round, Scott defeated Warren Sondericker from
Milwaukee, taking the best of 5 by a score of 3-2. Warren, a Life Master
Two-Star, was seen trying to sell his soul to the devil in the final game,
but Scott overcame this plea.
Scott also qualified in the ACC Open and reached the playoffs!
Scott is the first player from the ACC Internet Program to win this
prestigious event.
We congratulate Scott on his fine showing in the TOC.
27 November 2006
New: Fast GameColony Backgammon for Windows
In addition to Java backgammon, GameColony has just launched one more backgammon program: Fast GC Backgammon for Windows
It works on all Windows platforms except a very old Windows 95.
This new Windows Combo Program offers a backgammon-centric interface to all GameColony games. It also offers a very fast non-java backgammon. All other GameColony games are available as Java within this windows combo program. Fast Gin Rummy for Windows is planned for March, 2007, followed by Fast Cribbage for Windows.
4 November 2006
Playing skill games can improve your health!
A June 2003 study published in the New England Journal Of Medicine found the cumulative risk of dementia significantly
lower for elderly persons that played chess, checkers, backgammon or cards on a frequent basis compared to
those who do not. These studies appear consistent with the reduction of the risk of Alzheimers.
From the article "Fun and games help to ward off Alzheimer's" -- (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98 March 13:3440)
“Researchers at Case Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland compared the
leisure time activities of more than 550 people, nearly 200 of whom went on to develop Alzheimer's.
Researchers found that those who had engaged in stimulating activities throughout their life-everything from reading, doing crossword puzzles, and playing bridge, chess, or board games to visiting friends, practicing a musical instrument, and bicycling-were 2 1/2 times less likely to get Alzheimer's.
The mental simulation created by playing bridge, a game comparable to gin rummy in many significant ways,
was found to stimulate the immune system in a preliminary study conducted in 2001.
(Marian Diamond et al, Mental Stimulation Increases Circulating CD4-positive T Lymphocytes: A Preliminary Study. 12 Cognitive Brain Research 329-331 (2001)
The health benefits of skill activities such as skill games were mentioned in the study: Coyle, Joseph, "Use it or Lose it – Do effortful Mental Activities Protect Agianst Dementia?", 348 N Engl J Med 2489, June 19, 2003. See also, Joe Verghese, et al, Leisure activity and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly, 348 N Engl J Med 2508, June 19, 2003.
2 November 2006
Did you know that US President G.W. Bush and Karl Rove play gin rummy?
From Washington Post Tuesday, November 2, 2004; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A17111-2004Nov1?language=printer
"...aides said the president was ... playing gin rummy with Rove, his senior adviser, in the conference room of his Boeing 747. Bush even agreed to join a gin rummy tournament with seven aides."
We'd like to suggest that they join our TD-Managed multi-player Gin rummy tournaments at GameColony.com!
Playing games of skill such as gin rummy is good for one's health -- see Playing skill games can improve your health!.
26 August 2006
RPS game (based on Rock, Paper, Scissors game) is coming soon. RPS game has many nuances and it's not as simple as it appears at first glance. RPS rules, however, are really simple. To start playing, there are only three things you need to know:
- Rock wins against Scissors
- Scissors win against Paper
- Paper wins against Rock
That's all there is to it! You are now ready to start playing and get a hang of the game. Once you get deeper into the game, read more & you'll see -- IT'S ALL IN YOUR HANDS!
Play RPS Online
23 August 2006
Cribbage Game Tips aricle was updated.
The article contains game hints that should be very useful for both experienced cribbage players and for beginners.
21 August 2006
Playing Games Online graph and article was introduced.
The graph shows online player distribution at GameColony.com. You can find opponents to play with you online in Gin Rummy, Cribbage,Dominoes, Backgammon, Pyramids, etc. at all times of day with players at different skill levels.
Saturday, 29 July 2006
The following cribbage updates were introduced:
- During their turn to move, cribbage players can now sort (move) the cards in their hands by dragging the cards.
Note: you can't drag any card beyond the rightmost card or leftmost card. If you do that, the dragged card would return to its original position.
- We have changed how the played cards in cribbage are displayed. For players (as opposed to watchers) we now show the played cards in a way that makes it obvious who played which card when.
The played cards are shown with the vertical shift such that the cards played by the player on the bottom are shifted towards the bottom, etc.
Enjoy the Games!
Thursday, 13 July 2006
GameColony has introduced a new game option in cribbage. Among several other updates was a new color scheme selection in dominoes.
For cribbage, Cribbage Rules' page was updated with the following information regarding the new game option:
Players may also elect to play at the table that either shows or does not show the played cards in hand.
Table Option to Show or Hide Played hands
There are two schools of thought in face-to-face cribbage regarding whether to show played hands or not.
One is that you show the cards and the other is that you do not. In order to reduce an advantage of one person over the other, the cards should be shown.
If the cards are not shown, the player with more acute memory has a distinct advantage over the opponent.
In the ACC (American Cribbage Congress) face-to-face tournaments and in ACC Grass Roots play, the rules state that the cards are to be shown.
By default, at GameColony the played cards-in-hand are now shown as smaller cards next to the clock. Experienced players, however, may want to uncheck the table option "Show played hand" which would give a player with better memory skills an extra advantage. In the lobby view, the table with a non-default option of not showing the played cards-in-hand is marked with 'n'.
Friday, 30 June 2006
GameColony has introduced a new graphical look for the game lobby.
The dynamic table icons now appear in the table list and the players' avatars are now shown
in all player lists and invitations. These new features were introduced for all multiplayer games: Gin Rummy, Backgammon, Cribbage, Dominoes, Canasta, Pool, Chess.
The new dynamic graphics are intended mostly for newcomers (like former MSN Zone players) so that they can adjust to the site and understand what's going on and which table is free to join.
GameColony has designed the new dynamic icons to be sufficiently eye-catching and yet relatively tiny and unobtrusive so that they occupy the smallest possible portion of the table listings screen and do not interfere with the overall lobby view and functionality.
Tuesday, 13 June 2006
Microsoft representative has announced that Microsoft will not be able to patch Windows 98 and ME against a serious security loophole discovered in April 2006.
Fixing this security issue in ageing software would require a major re-write of the Windows Explorer program used in these very old
operating systems.
All Microsoft support for these very old Windows 98 and Windows ME systems ends on 11 July 2006. Because of this, per Microsoft repr
esentative, Microsoft is not prepared to fix any existing security loopholes and bugs in Windows .
On Microsoft's security blog, there's the following official note from Microsoft: "We strongly recommend that those of you who are still running these older versions of Windows upgrade to a newer, more secure version, such as Windows XP SP2, as soon as possible."
Jun 10, 2006. 13 players took part in the first ever online PDA (Professional Dominoes Association) High Roller tournament with substantial cash prizes. The first prize (331 $Tickets) went to DOMINOSBEST. Second prize (165 $Tickets) went to ShowMe_PDA. Third prize (55 $Tickets) went to Abu_Ahmedd.
Jun 9, 2006. The first Pyramids 250 $Ticket giveaway Super Jackpot tourney has started. Although Pyramids game has just been launched, it has already proved to be quite popular among the players. See if you can resist playing Pyramids.... or join the fun!
Pyramids game is an exciting twist on a classic Tri-Peak Solitaire card game. Pyramids features engaging animations built around the theme of ancient Egyptian Pyramids. Other current Super Jackpot tourneys include Poker-Rush and Rush-21 Solitaire -- each a $300 Tickets giveaway tournament.
Jun 8, 2006. Buckman, a PackMan-style game has been updated. The game now features a different maze for the second (final) level. As opposed to original PackMan, aside from 3-D graphics and cool sound effects there's a whole new dimension for players -- they can compete in various on-site tournaments to win cash prizes.
Jun 7, 2006. As Microsoft Zone's Cribbage Closes, Cribbage at GameColony.com Welcomes ACC Cribbage Players.
Gamecolony is now a new home for American Cribbage Congress (ACC). Full text available HERE
Jun 7, 2006. There's a new Gin-related article at GameColony.com.
The article is available HERE
Jun 1, 2006. A new Pyramids card game has been launched today at GameColony.com. This 20th game on this site was launched on the 7-year annivesary of GameColony.com!
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