Cue the new pool league

Posted on 14/07/2009 by Mike Bainbridge
Games, Lab Life

Now things are settled in the new office, we’ve re-launched the ever popular pool league.

Having a pool table in the office is great. A quick 5 minute break away from your desk to make a coffee is all you need for a quick game! It’s also great for a bit of banter, and general catching up.

The league runs on an ‘old school’ Mac (it’s a part of IT Lab history) which records the results on a database each time our budding Paul Newman's go cue-to-cue on the hallowed blue felt.  Being the geeks that we are, the database uses a clever algorithm to work out points and hey presto…we have an automatically updated league!

To celebrate the re-launch of the league we’ve got a shiny new trophy on order. We’ll have monthly winners – who’ll have the distinction of keeping the trophy on their desk each month. At the end of 12 months, each individual winner will play a knock out to see who gets to keep it.

Work hard, play hard!

Risk update – the latest attempts at world domination

Posted on 8/07/2009 by Rich Adams
Games, Lab Life

After snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the previous game, Adam Carvalho’s tactical approach to world domination has finally paid off. In fact, he will officially be taking control of the world at lunchtime today – once he sees off the dilapidated forces of Rich Adams in East Africa.

Ben “Kamikaze” Woodhouse and Katherine “Lucky Hands” Whitley were the early casualties this time around. The game then developed into a three horse race between Mr Carvalho, Justin Samuel and Mike Bainbridge.

It was uncharacteristic aggression (and some canny reinforcements) that finally propelled Adam into the driving seat. He first broke his peace accord with Justin (who is still annoyed) and swept into North America. Then, after a valiant effort from all parties, he defeated Mike’s West African and South American forces before finally seeing off Justin in Europe.

Perhaps one of the most surprising outcomes is the inevitable second place for Rich Adams – after some of the worst dice rolling ever seen in the Smithfield area. This can, however, be largely attributed to him having absolutely no territories worth conquering, and everyone else having bigger fish to fry!

World Domination, Round 2.

Posted on 26/06/2009 by Matthew O`Neill
Games, Lab Life

With the horrifying spectacle of Robbie Miller's fanatical beige armies successfully conquering the world freshly seared into our minds. It's with a rather world-weary determination that we begin the second round of Office Risk.

Risk, as most people will fondly remember, is a turn based strategic board game where up to 6 players battle it out for the humble task of complete and utter world domination. The game requires hefty amounts of fox-like cunning, Napoleon-esk military strategy, and some luck filled rolls of the unforgiving dice.

The game started with Justin Samuel, Robbie Miller, Richard Adams, Adam Carvalho, Jenni Lew, and myself. Despite having only reached day 3 of the campaign today, we have already witnessed the swift defeat of Justin Samuel in Greenland and the annihilation of Jennie Lew in Mongolia, by the ever expanding gold armies of Adam Carvalho.

With it now down to just 4 players and Adam's menacing gold troops controlling much of the world, it’s up to the recently formed African, Australasian, and European Co-operation Act (AAECA) of 2009 to try and put a stop to his reign of terror.

Office Risk is yet another great after work activity bought to us by the IT Lab Social Committee, and you know what... the world isn't going to take over itself.

A new poker league begins

Posted on 26/06/2009 by Mike Bainbridge
Games, Lab Life

Following the success of the Big Ideas poker tournament earlier in the year, a new league kicked off on Wednesday 24th June.

The league runs on a twice-weekly (Wednesday and Thursday after work)basis for 10 weeks. Each player donates £1 towards the end of season prizes every time they play. Players are scored on the position they place based on the number of players taking part (so the more people playing on a particular night means more league points available). At the end of the 10 week run, the best 5 scores of each entrant are used to determine a league position and the top 8 go into a “final table” playoff.

For those of you familiar with poker, we play a Texas hold ‘em, no limit game. £1000 of chips are distributed and starting blinds are 10/20 and increase every 30 mins to keep the game ticking along.

Moving to the new office in Smithfields has meant we now have an almost perfect room to play in, and with some new members of staff showing interest the pool of players is growing. What really makes the poker nights are the good humour between players and the total mixture of skill levels and enthusiasm. A great way to socialise and pit your brains and wits against your colleagues!