NAQCC Jun 2011 Challenge

Calls of stations making 20 points or more for a certificate and participation point:

NONE

Calls of stations making 1 to 19 points for a participation point:
VA2EPR
KU4A
N8XMS
K3WWP
K1IEE
VE3FUJ
KB1PBA

Soapbox:
VA2EPR - I made my poker hand from the top of Pic McKinstry in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada using my FT-817ND set to 2.5 watts and a W3EDP wire antenna. My farthest QSO of the day was with NS7P, about 2,300 miles away!

KU4A - I had so much fun on 30m during the May Challenge that I decided to try the June Poker Challenge as a 30m-only operation. First station worked was N8XMS. Busy month here, as I also did the June Sprint and the Field Day Challenge.

K3WWP - Too many DX (36) and contest (174) QSO's, neither of which count for the challenge this month. This may be the first challenge I have not completed to the fullest although I will get my participation point from eiher this or the FD challenge and keep my streak alive of getting a point for each challenge since we started offering them, and mastering all challenges before that as well. K1IEE - Found the bands very erratic. When I did get on it seemed like conditions were poor. Finally getting caught up on the required Spring chores that needed to be done around the house after the AK trip. 73 Dick

VE3FUJ - The Poker challenge certainly is ----- very challenging, having to be made up of consecutive QSO's as they come, with no finagling. That makes it so much harder. Of course I went on to finagle, (not having understood the Rules completely) thought I had it made, til I got a question from John "how can anyone be so Lucky and get them in that order?" Lesson Learned----- READ THE RULES AND UNDERSTAND THEM!!!!! Tnx John. Brion

PREMISE:
This challenge is to make poker hands from stations we work. Huh? - you say. Read on.

TIME FRAME:
The first day of the month 0000Z through the last day of the month 2400Z

RULES:
Work USA stations and convert their calls into poker hands as follows. NO Field Day, contest, or sprint QSO's may be used.

There are 4 suits of cards, and 4 letters that start USA call signs. Convenient, isn't it? So our poker 'suits' are A, K, N, W. Only the first letter of a call counts, i.e. KA4QQJ counts as K, not A. The number of our 'cards' is the first number in a call, i.e. K3WWP is a 3; special call K98IOO is a 9, not an 8; and K3WWP/4 is a 3, not a 4. Since there are only 10 'cards' in a suit, not 13 as in a real deck, a 0 is considered an ace and 7,8,9 are our 'face cards.'

Now that we have established that, here are examples of each poker hand, the odds (according to results from our first 3 poker challenges, not according to official poker rules), and the points assigned to it:


Royal Flush    - K6 K7 K8 K9 K0 - ?     10
Straight Flush - A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 - 281-1  9
Straight       - K1 N2 W3 W4 K5 - 93-1   8
Flush          - K1 K3 K5 K7 K9 - 70-1   7
Full House     - A1 K1 N1 N3 W3 - 19-1   6
4 Of A Kind    - A1 K1 N1 W1 N7 - 17-1   5
3 Of A Kind    - K3 W3 A3 K4 W7 - 6-1    4
No Pair        - K1 W3 A5 N6 W2 - 6-1    3
2 Pair         - K5 W5 N4 K4 A7 - 5-1    2
Pair           - K2 W2 A3 W5 N6 - 1-1    1

Obviously there are duplicate 'cards' in our 'pack'. In your 5 card 'hand' you may well have say, two K4's as in K2 K7 K4 K3 K4. Don't worry about it. In this example case, you can use the 5 cards as a pair of 4's or a flush. Just make whatever you can from the 5 cards without worrying if you hold duplicate cards. Consider it playing poker with 5 decks shuffled together. Hey you could even get 5 K3's in a hand which you could use as a flush or 4 of a kind (we're not counting 5 of a kind hands in our game). Again it's obvious there will be discrepancies between playing with call signs and a real deck of cards. Just deal with it logically or ask me (K3WWP) about it and we'll figure something out.

In the unlikely event you're not familiar with this popular card game, just do a Bing search for 'poker rules'.

Ours is a play what you're dealt game. The first 5 QSO's you make in the month are made into the best possible hand. The next 5 QSO's likewise, and each 5 QSO's in order after that during the month. There is no shuffling or discarding. No Six-Guns allowed at the table!

Add up all your points during the month and report it as described below in the Logs section.

I am really into this challenge, and can't wait till it starts. I hope you feel the same.

AWARDS:
A certificate goes to everyone who makes it to 20 points.

PARTICIPATION AWARD AND WEB LISTING:
To get a Participation Point and to be listed in the results you must make at least 1 'hand' during the month and submit a report.

LOGS:
For your report, simply tell us you made it to 20 points for the certificate or that you made at least 1 'hand' for the participation point and listing.

You may also include comments about the challenge.

Please preface any comments you want posted with "SOAPBOX:" so we will know what you want posted and what is private.

Send your results to:

E-mail:

You must type that address into your email program.

Subject must read: (your call) NAQCC (month) Challenge

For example: K3WWP NAQCC August Challenge

Postal mail:
John Shannon, K3WWP
478 E. High St.
Kittanning, PA 16201

All entries must be RECEIVED before the 10th of the following month at 2400Z.