January 2012

GoldToken's Monthly News

It's 2012 already! Amazing how fast 2011 sped past us. December saw a whirlwind of activity on GoldToken. Here is the breakdown:

New Games!

• A new variant of Domination is now available, called Rail Domination! Kudo's to Mecir, and FixitDave for bringing this game to GoldToken!
• 6x6 Lines of Action
• 6x6 Scrambled Eggs
• 6x6 Parachute
• 6x6 Gemma
• Dice Salvo - a variant of Salvo where a dice throw determines how many times you can shoot
• Salvo Plus - a variant of Salvo where you can shoot as many times (at each board) as you have ships left
• Mini Reversi - Reversi on a 4x4 board
• River Camelot - a variant of Camelot where there are obstacles on the board - an impassable river in the center with two bridges across it, and three randomly placed trees. Credit for this game variant goes to Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe

Site Features!

• GoldToken has a couple new types of wiki links. All linking abilities available to players are listed on the Linking Within GoldToken page
• Hiding Album Photos - You can now configure your photo album to be hidden from anyone who is not logged in to the site - most notably, this will prevent your photos from appearing in results of search engines such as Google or Bing.
• New Profile Images Added - See the entire list on the info page Profile Pictures
• Double Elimination and Swiss style tournaments are now available for clubs. Club owners can check out Jacob1987's profile for more information.

The 2010 Olympic games have finished! to all the winners, The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club, the club with the most points, and to TrueIndian, GoldToken's top 2010 player!


Have a wonderful 2012 and play like you mean it!

--Badger

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In this month's newsletter, we have:

• Birthdays & Special Announcements
• 1st Stop Information
• Photozone Competition
• marcmandy's CrossWords
• Game Of The Month
• Best Recipe Contest
• Up Front & Personal
• Testimonial Of The Month
• Contest of the Month
• Interesting Club Of The Month
• Breaking Club News
• Olympic News

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Birthdays & Special Announcements

Birthday Wishes:

-- Happy Birthday to SIRI on January 2nd! - From { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club, { Club } and { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to Big Giant Head on January 3rd! -
-- Happy Birthday to GUINESS14 on January 4th! - From The Backgammon Tournament Club and The Pork Chop Club -
-- Happy Birthday to BrnIdGirl on January 5th! - From { Club } and The Innocent Instigators Club -
-- Happy Birthday to China_Blue on January 5th! - From { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to Toodles on January 6! - From The Pork Chop Club -
-- Happy Birthday to Callie on January 8th! - From The Pork Chop Club
-- Happy Birthday to Capricorn - on January 9th!
-- Happy Birthday to The TT on January 11th! -
-- Happy Birthday to GOPACKGO on January 11th! - From { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to Blackhawks Fan on January 13th! -
-- Happy Birthday to vlf on January 13th! -
-- Happy Birthday to ArkAngel on January 14th! - From The Pork Chop Club and The Backgammon Tournament Club -
-- Happy Birthday to adopt 3 on January 17th! - From { Club }, { Club }, The Backgammon Tournament Club, The Pork Chop Club and { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to gravyrun on January 17th! - From { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to HeartOnFire on January 18th! -
-- Happy Birthday to Loretta on January 18th! -
-- Happy Birthday to maggiefrommd on January 18th! -
-- Happy Birthday to Kinoko zoku on January 19th! -
-- Happy Birthday to MandyB on January 20th! - From The Pork Chop Club and { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to monkeytyper on January 20th! - The Pork Chop Club and { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to Dbledee on January 23rd! From The Backgammon Tournament Club -
-- Happy Birthday to jerseygirl on January 23rd! - From monkeytyper -
-- Happy Birthday to spellbound on January 24th! - From { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday to squirrel on January 25th! - From monkeytyper and The Pork Chop Club -
-- Happy Birthday to kittyrambo on January 26th! - From { Club } and { Club } -
-- Happy Birthday toHEATHER on January 31st! -


Anniversary & Other Wishes:

--Happy Wedding Anniversary goes out to Chuckc33 and Lori on January 5th! Many special wishes sent to you both! -

--Happy Wedding Anniversary goes out to furryfeet and his wife on January 22nd! Many special wishes sent to you both for your 46th wedding anniversary! -

* If you would like to announce any birthdays, anniversaries or other special events coming up for next month, please send GoldToken Support a message before the 25th of this month, so we can give them a shout out in next month's newsletter! (Please keep all announcements upcoming and not belated. Announcements submitted after the newsletter is published, can not be put in after the fact, we're sorry!)

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1st Stop Information

Site tips and helpful tools

Would you like to know how to use GoldToken's Goldies?

Goldies may be used on games, discussion boards, in messages and wikis, and are a fun way to express yourself.
Simply type two colons : : followed by the desired word and end with two colons.
There should be no spaces anywhere. Examples:

FACES	Goldie	Type this (with no spaces)...	or this...	or this...
Sad		: : SAD : :	: (	: - (
Smiling		: : SMILE : :	: )	: - )

No more excuses! Now you can have fun posting Goldies all over GoldToken! The entire list of Goldies are listed here:

• [ Goldies - Everyone ] The basic set for all players - includes how to create and use Goldies.
• [ Goldies - Silver ] Goldies for our Silver members.
• [ Goldies - Gold ] Goldies for our Gold members.
• [ Goldies - Platinum ] The complete set for Platinum members.
• [ Goldies - Platinum Quick ] The exclusive Platinum Goldies Quick List.

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Photozone Competition

Brought to you by: FixitDave

The Photozone Competition is back for the new year!!!

Theme for January is "Outdoor Fun"

With thanks to Badger, she has come up with a method of not having to rely on a 3rd party website to host your submitted images.
With the new method, all images will be uploaded to the Photozone Zepher profile.

Badger has also lowered the Membership level so all players from Guest to Platinum can submit their images for the competition.

More details will follow and will be posted as a News Item or on the Photozone DB.


Regards,
FixitDave

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marcmandy's CrossWords

Brought to you by: marcmandy

Really great news! Many of you missed marcmandy's CrossWords while marcmandy was recouperating, but the game is back in business. If you love crosswords, this game is for you! So run on over to the DB, where a new game awaits you!

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Game Of The Month

January's's game of the month is Whist! Join us in a fun Double Elimination Tournament by signing up today for The January 2012 - Game of the Month - Whist Tournament!

Just because you CAN take a trick, doesn't mean that you should. I see too many players using their high cards to win low value cards from the top of the talon. Do not use your Aces and Kings to win Two's and Three's, especially if the talon card isn't a trump. You should be trying to build the overall strength of your hand ready for the end game i.e, when the talon has been used up.

This doesn't mean you don't take any tricks at all, but try to use your middle strength cards (9's, 10's and Jack's) if possible, and hold your Ace's in reserve to beat your opponents high cards, or to win high value cards from the top of the talon.

In this game, suit length is as important as suit strength. If you are dealt a hand that has a void suit, then as long as that suit isn't trumps try and keep it void if possible. That way you can either trump your opponents lead in that suit if you want to win the card in top of the talon, or choose to discard a weak card if you don't want to win the card on top of the talon. However, keep an eye on the number of trumps played. If you run out of trumps and it's your opponents lead, then can lead to your void suit forcing you to discard and they will win the trick.

In games like whist you have to keep track of which cards have been played already. Because we play our games over days, weeks and even months you can't do that in your head, but at the bottom of the page our game administrators have kindly provide a list of all cards that have been played previously. This can be a great asset. For example if you are sitting with the Queen of diamonds in your hand, then check the list, if the King and Ace have already been played then you have the master card in that suit, so use it wisely.

Also, don't forget to count the number of cards in each suit that have been played. That Queen of diamonds may be the best card in diamonds, but if 12 other diamonds have already been played, then it is likely to attract a trump from your opponent (though that may be exactly what you want to happen).

Example:

Each player has 3 cards left. Your sitting with Queen diamonds, Jack diamonds, King trumps. Opponent has Four and Five of hearts, Ace trumps. It's you lead.

If you lead with King trumps, he beats it with his Ace and has two heart winners left. If you lead a diamond, he must either discard a heart, or take with his Ace trumps and lead back to your King of trumps. That way you win two tricks as opposed to you opponent winning all three.

We hope you enjoy it!

Special to *Rad* for writing this month's Game of the Month Nugget. You too, can write a knock-out Nugget and reap the rewards! If your Nugget is chosen as the winner for GoldToken's Game of the Month in GoldToken's Monthly Newsletter, you will win:

• Silver, Gold, and Platinum Members: a one month extension to your current membership
• Wood Members: a free membership upgrade
• Guests: a free two-month Silver Membership

So, what are you waiting for? Start writing! .

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Best Recipe Contest

December's winner is: Peanut Butter Pie

• Submitted by Callie

Peanut Butter Pie

Oreo Crust
24 Oreos crushed--use rolling pin or food processor.
Combine with 1/4 C melted butter and pat into bottom
and up the sides of a pie pan. Bake at 350 for 8-10 min.

Cool before filling.

Filling
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use creamy)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 16oz tub of whip cream
12 peanut butter cups, chopped coarsely, for garnish

Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and peanut butter together until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of
the tub of whip cream. Spoon mixture into crust. Place the remaining
whip cream over the top of the peanut butter mixture and garnish with the chopped peanut butter
cups.

Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.


GoldToken's Callie will receive a "one time" access to the entire list of site icons, and can select any one that is not currently being used by another player, regardless of membership level (Silver and Wood members can keep the icon for 1 year!). Please send a big to Callie!

January's recipe contest is: "Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Meals". The winner will be given a "one time" access to the entire list of site icons, and can select any one that is not currently being used by another player, regardless of membership level (Guests, Wood and Silver members can keep the icon for 1 year!). Rules:

• Entries must be posted by the recipe guardian/creator on the Cutting Board DB.
• Recipe must be original and have never been posted on the Cutting Board DB before.

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Up front & personal

Interview by: laura lee

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**
1. What brought you to Goldtoken?
a friend recommended the site to me.
How'd you choose your name for GT?
triwire is a term used in my business.

2. What interests you most on GT?
I am competitive, like to play quick games, not much into chat.

3. Do you belong to any of the clubs? How about the chat only clubs (birds, kitties, garden)?
not much interested in clubs.

4. What State or Country do you reside in?
California
Do you live in the City or Country?
country
What in your State or Country do you think tourist should definitely see?
California has a lot to see but I like the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Lake Tahoe area. I would also recommend the Black Hills of South Dakota.

5. What hobbies to you have?
I like to work in my yard.
What other interest do you have?
I play golf, play cards and go pheasant hunting in South Dakota in the fall.

6. Children?
yes, one
Grandchildren?
no
Do any of them play on GT.
no

7. Do you work?
yes
If so what kind of work do you do?
business owner, sell industrial screens and filters
Do you enjoy your job?
I work at home which has its advantages but I do miss socializing with co-workers at an office.

8. Any pets?
an old female dog named Goldie.

9. Are you under 30?___ 30 to 50? ___ or over 50?
I am 61

10. Are you looking foward to the New Year?
not really
Oh, why not?
my daughter will be starting college and I won't see her as much.


We would like to say to triwire for letting us step into their personal life for a bit.

If there are any questions you would like to see asked in future interviews, please let us know.
Laura
laura lee

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Testimonial Of The Month

Brought to you by: *GoldToken* Players

I have been playing on this site since 22 May 2002, and have found that this site is the best from all the others I play on. All of the players are polite. I still play on other sites, and find that I always recommend this site to all. I never have had any problem with anyone.

Keep up the good work & best regards,

babken

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Contest of the Month

January's contest of the month is Player of the Year. The winner will receive two extra months on their current membership, or, if Guest, a two month Silver membership.

All of GoldToken's players are special. But each year, we want to recognize those who stand out over and above the norm. GoldToken's Player Of The Year is not only a great player, but also one that is helpful, friendly, and makes playing here a joy. Each year, the top players of each game category who have not won in prior years will be selected in a special poll for the players vote. The poll for 2011's Player of the Year will run on Wednesday January 18th. Please vote for the most helpful and friendly player on the list!


________________________________________

Most Original Photo Album winner! You voted, and the winner of the Most Original Photo Album contest is Redhairchick. As the winner, she will receive two months added on to her current membership! Congratulations to Redhairchick!

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Interesting Club Of The Month

* Interview by: laura lee*

Sorry No club interview for this month....
If you are a owner and would like for your club to be interviewed, Please PM me.

Laura

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Breaking Club News:

Brought to you by GoldToken's roving reporter, PattyMac

About a month ago The Overall Competition Club was formed. The club's mission is to provide players with a competition involving all games played at GoldToken with emphasis on the most popular games. There will be prizes of 40, 20, and 10 golderos for the top three players at the end of the competition (which starts January 31st). They already have more than sixty members, but wants to make sure that nobody is left out. If your interested in overall competition or would like more information visit their club page or message the club owner 1926

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{ Club } is proud to announce that they will be celebrating their 10th Anniversay in 2012, a hearty Congrats goes out to the club and their members

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If one of your New Year's resolutions is saving money and cutting costs, this club is for you. If you have not used the { Club } lately you might have forgotten about it. They are still there and have updated all Wikis. This club is open to all and does not run or require any games or tourneys. Come join the savings at The Coupon Clippers Club, if you would like more information contact the owner funtobewith11 and happy couponing!

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The Prime Time TV Club will kick off the New Year by introducing a new game every two weeks until they have gone thru the assortment of wonderful games on the roster in GoldToken. Hoping all will participate to learn the new ones and revisit the forgotten ones. Hooray to GoldToken for your continued efforts to bring us new games and keeping this site as wonderful as it is!!

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"Club of the Month" is The Kitties Korner & Doggie Daycare Club...you have full use of the discussion board for the month of January 2012.

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Olympic News

Brought to you by: *GoldTokens* Olympic *Presidents*

The 2010 Olympic games have finished.

Congratulations to The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club the club with the most points in 2010!

Congratulations to TrueIndian top player with the most points!

2010 Olympic Winners!

Region with most points: The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club Club
Player with most points: TrueIndian
111 tournaments out of 111 are finished.

Team Scores
Club Score
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club 310.5
{ Club } 256
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Apollo Club 209.25
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Juno Club 201.5
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Minerva Club 200.75
{ Club } 164.5
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Vulcan Club 161.75
{ Club } 139
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Neptune Club 114
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Pluto Club 108.25
{ Club } 73.5
The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Ceres Club 59

A list of all the games and player scores can be found here [ Main: GoldToken Olympics 2010 ]

December's 2010 Olympic Winners! A big congratulations to these players & their clubs!

The Cribbage Competition in The 2010 Olympic Tournament Group 1 A Tournament
Cribbage	GOLD	The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club	cmacker
Cribbage	SILVER	{ Club }	ozallan
Cribbage	BRONZE	The 2015 Winter Olympic Team Jupiter Club	BlackHound

Congratulations to these players & their clubs! December's 2011 Olympic Winners!

The Wrench It Competition in The 2011 Olympic Tournament Group 2A Tournament
Wrench It	GOLD	{ Club }	Hamsarnie
Wrench It	SILVER	{ Club }	1926
Wrench It	BRONZE	{ Club }	McGoo98
Wrench It	BRONZE	{ Club }	sweetnuttins

Competitions are published when gold, silver & bronze winners have been determined

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Wanted

• Do you have a special story, poem or testimonial you would like to share? How about some club news, announcements or any other special events? Then don't delay, send GoldToken's Newshound your submissions today! We look forward to hearing from you!

** (Please note: All submissions are added on a first come first serve basis.) **

[ Main: GoldToken's Monthly Newsletter - Past Issues ]