Greetings fellow Tarock players:
Don, Marc and I tested the Slovenian waters Saturday at the Annual Tarock Tournament, Slovenian Cultural Center, Lemont, IL. There were 36 players in all and the small entry fee covered pizza snacks (homemade & otherwise) soda, coffee and prizes (beer was $5/pitcher). Everyone was very curious about us and I think they were quite surprised when Don made an early appearance at Table1 and stayed there for the remainder of the evening. Here are the results from an email from Marko P.:
"Olga K., Ceril's wife, who was at the first table ended up winning but it would
of
been great to see if Don could of pulled it off. My sister Helena took
second. Ceril K., took third. My brother Frank, shooting
up from last place after an announced valat took 4th. Congrats to all!
I will have pictures of the evening soon and will e-mail them as they become
available."
What Marko is refering to by saying "if Don could of pulled it off" is that Don had dinner plans and couldn't stay for the Championship Round (I think we all know that Don would have won! First prize is a really nice trophy and you get your name ingraved on it)
As it was, with us leaving early, we played from 1pm until 8:45. There were 9 tables - the players were assigned tables for the First Round by drawing cards (the kings started at Table1, Queens -Table2, etc.). Then each table played eight hands. End of the First Round. Everyone's scores were tallied and the top four players moved to Table1, next four to Table2, etc., eight more hands, end of the Second Round, tally scores, move to new table, you get the picture. There were six rounds in all plus the final Championship Round for the final four who made it to Table1.
The SCC rules are much softer than the rules we play by. For example, if your partner skeenches your mond you do not go down 21, pagat ultimo can be won if your partner wins the pagat on the final trick, if your called king is in the talona you can throw your hand in and just go down the bid points, etc. But overall, it was an easy adjustment to make and if you had a question, someone was always happy to answer it - and it was fun socializing, playing Tarock & learning a little bit of Slovenian along the way!