I assume most of you have seen this Magic info

I assume most of you have seen this Magic info – but just in case….

http://wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42a

The Details: The procedure will work like this. Starting with the player who will take the first turn of the game and proceeding in turn order around the table, each player announces whether he or she will take a mulligan or not. Then everyone who said they would take a mulligan does so at the same time. (If no one’s taking a mulligan, the game proceeds onward.)

If any players took a mulligan, then just those players repeat the process to see if any of them will take a second mulligan: First they announce yes or no, then all the yeses shuffle and redraw at the same time. This continues among the mulliganers until everyone’s satisfied with their starting hands.

Once you decide you’re not taking a mulligan, your starting hand is locked in. You can’t jump back into the mulligan process later.

 

Brian Baker

From http://www.hourglassdesign.net/misc/brianbaker.html

 

Brian Chetwood Baker, age 31, passed away in his sleep at his home in Bellevue on June the 6^th of 2009.

He was born December 5, 1977 in the Town of Coupeville to Chet and Janell Baker. He attended Coupeville Schools and graduated in 1997. Brian graduated from Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, OR, in 2003.

He went on to use his BS degree in Software Engineering Technology at a variety of companies. Most recently Brian was totally enjoying his third year with Microsoft, fulfilling a goal since high school.

Brian loved all games. Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, board games, computer games (started each morning with Nintendo) and especially card games. He enjoyed teaching Yo-Yo tricks to one and all. He especially enjoyed his role in judging Magic Card Tournaments in the Seattle area and organizing weekly events at the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue. His enthusiasm for these activities brought many friends into his life.

Brian is survived by his parents Chet and Janell Baker of Coupeville and his brother, Andrew Baker of Bellevue. He is also survived by his grandparents, Irene Baker, and Rolf and Darlene Valum all of Bellingham. He is further survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins and many wonderful friends. Brian was preceded in death by his grandfather Jack Baker and his uncle Jackson Frazier.

On Saturday, June 20^th, an informal gathering for all friends and family will be held to celebrate his life. Because of his love of coffee, this gathering will be an extended Coffee Break from 10-Noon at Sunset Terrace town park in Coupeville (in the family’s neighborhood – for directions use 1004 NE Summit Loop in Google Maps).

His remains will be scattered at sea at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to Epilepsy Foundation of America: epilepsyfoundation.org or Epilepsy Foundation Northwest, 2311 N. 45^th St. #134, Seattle, WA. 98103-6905.

“The comfort of having a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one.” Seneca

Brian Baker – God bless

I was just informed that Brian Baker – frequent Cascade Games judge, passed away in his sleep last night from natural causes. Our prayers go out to him and his family. 

I am shocked and sad. Brian was young and seemingly in good health.  He will be missed.

Tim

GP Seattle – thoughts

I wanted to send out a quick post thanking everyone for coming to the GP.  - And yes it seems that everyone came to the event.  1127 players in the main event is so huge. This is by far the largest turnout for an event in Seattle history – thanks all of you.

As some of you know – Mike Goodman – my operations guy – had a heart attack the day before the event. We were getting ready to start the day and make final preparations for the event and I got the call that Mike was in the hospital.  I rushed to the hospital and did what everyone does in the hospital – I waited and fretted.

This impacted the event by leaving lots of little touches undone. So if your wondering what some tables had double table cloths (black under green) or why the electrical hookups were in the wrong place, or why one vendor had 4 feet less space than the others or why the water stations were in the wrong locations or why sides were less than perfect –   it was all due to missing a final day of prep and more importantly Mikes help at the event.

The good news is that Mike is out of the hospital and back at work – healing well and eating a health diet now. So its all good – now. But for those of you who were impacted by the event problems – sorry.  At this point everything is uploaded and your ratings are up to date – except for the grinders. Those should be done ASAP.  

I do want to share a couple photos with you – one is a players plains walker shoes and a tattoo.

GP Seattle – Richard Garfield

I have confirmed with Richard that he will be signing at the Grand Prix on SUNDAY only. He plans on arriving at 12:00 – 12:30 and will be at the event for several hours.

I can’t tell you how great it is to have him at the GP.  This event is going to be amazing.

Tim

more rooms for people staying at GP-Seattle

I have just faxed the paperwork to the next closest hotel – as the marriott is sold out. The new hotel should have a room block set up with discounts for GP players. 

“Reservations can be made through our dedicated property reservations team at (253) 238-8000 or toll free at    (888) 862-3255.  Please advise your guests to ask for the “Magic – Grand Prix Tournament” group to ensure they receive the special room rate. Guaranteed reservations must be cancelled by 24 hours prior to arrival to avoid No Show/Same Day Cancel charges of one night’s room and tax.”

http://www.hotelmuranotacoma.com/

Looks pretty nice.

Tim

what vendors will there be at GP Seattle ???

Confirmed vendors – There are likely 1-2 more but this is the ones confirmed.

Tim

Cardhaus

over the edge

Pastimes

Troll and Toad

Gaming Etc

Strike Zone

Morgans Cards

Hot sauce games

Game Empire

Type 2 Magic

A place to game

Star city

GP Seattle Playmat

WotC has created a cool playmat that we will be giving out to people who register IN PERSON, ON FRIDAY of the GP weekend. Standard legal stuff- you know like quantities are limited, one per person that kind of thing.

So why no card art? The idea of the mat is to have lots of room for the artists at the GP do a sketch, have space for Richard Garfield or R&D to autograph it. This is a cool background for you to customize as you see fit. Make it your own GP Seattle memento. 

Tim

need to know how to assign prizes?

Want to give prizes based on wins/losses not position in the event?

Ever need to know how many people will have a perfect record after 8 rounds? 

Miki Urban has the web based tool for you – yes you can do it on paper – but why would you when you can just go tohttp://www.swisstriangle.net/

and enter in the number of players and click go

Thanks to Miki Urban for creating this very handy tool. Now he needs to build it for the iphone.

Tim

GP Seattle – menu

For those of you who like to know about food options – the food service on site sent me a list of what they will be serving and what they charge. Seems really good and reasonable (compared to hotel or convention center food)

As with all convention centers they will not allow outside food and drink – but there are food options fairly close by. But this seems really good to me.

Tim

BURGERS & SANDWICHES 

Hamburger  $5.50 

Cheeseburger  $6.50 

Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich $6.50 

Garden Burger $7.00 

Personal  Pizza $6.00  

HOT DOGS 

Jumbo All‐Beef Hot Dog $3.50 

Jumbo Chili Dog $6.50  

Corn Dog $3.50 

BEYOND 

Chicken Tenders  $5.50 

Flaming Chicken Wings $6.00 

Mac & Cheese $6.00 

Nachos with Cheese or Chili $3.50

GRABN’GO 

Jumbo Pretzel with Cheese $2.75 

Jumbo Cookie $2.50 

Brownies $2.50 

Yogurt $2.25 

Popcorn $2.00  

Chips $2.00 

Candy $2.00 

Whole Fresh Fruit $1.50 

BEVERAGES 

Bottled Soda $2.75 

Sports Drink or Juice $2.50  

Bottled Water $2.00