NAQCC Jun 2012 Challenge


Calls of stations making 20 points or more for a certificate and Participation Point:

          Hands   Points
KC9SNC      10      30

Calls of stations making 1 to 19 points for a Participation Point:

          Hands   Points
KU4A        2       3 
W9UX        6      18
K3WWP       4       7
K1IEE       5       9
N8XMS       5       9
VE3FUJ      1       1

Soapbox:
KU4A: Pretty good bands this month, so not difficult to get this participation point. Always fun, because often the other guy is QRP as well. Finished up two poker hands on June 25. Will take the rest of the month off and get ready for WARC bands July 1!

W9UX: Had fun but challenge was harder to complete than I thought it would be. 72, Terry W9UX #0033

K3WWP: Too many DX and contest QSOs during June (but that's a good thing!). 115 in contests which don't count for the challenge, 92 DX stations likewise, and only 22 regular USA QSOs to work with. That meant only 4 possible hands and 2 were one pair, 1 no pair, and 1 two pair. No high point hands. However it doesn't matter. I mastered the first ever European Chapter Challenge, being the first one to do so. Also 44 states in the FD challenge more than doubled the mastering requirements of 20 states there. All in all, a very good month despite a slight disappointment in the Poker challenge. Thanks to anyone who worked me for one of my 229 June QSOs.

K1IEE: This type of challenge is not my favorite. It does however accomplish the task of getting me on the air and participating in NAQCC events. Still fun to do. Thanks to all, 73 Dick

VE3FUJ: Again I did very poorly condx just did not favour me when I did find time to be on. My Garage doubles as a small shop, and this time of year, when I can leave the Car out, is the time I make " Hay " as I'm not able to when the Car is in. Brion #3011

PREMISE:
This challenge was originally suggested by Randy KB4QQJ a few years ago and each annual re-run has become more popular. The 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 QSOs 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 K4s 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 K3s 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 QSOs you make in the month are made into the best possible hand. The next 5 QSOs likewise, and each 5 QSOs 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.

AWARDS:
A certificate and Participation Point go to everyone who makes it to 20 points and submits their results before the deadline.

A Participation Point goes to everyone who makes at least 1 hand, but does not make it to 20 points and submits their results before the deadline.

PRIZES:
Some challenges involve a prize. Check the Prize page in the main section of the webs site for more info.

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

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:
Hap - K7HAP
8532 Canterbury Dr.
Annandale, VA 22003

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