Anyone for roulette?

Organise events to meet up and drink Port.
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Anyone for roulette?

Post by uncle tom »

Sitting in a traffic jam on the M6 yesterday (the first time since it opened that I've really regretted my refusal to pay for the M6 toll..) I got to pondering the notion of devising a system for selecting from my oldest Crusted Port bottles.

The idea then came to me of numbering the oldest 36 bottles and using a roulette wheel to choose, with a score 0 indicating the oldest bottle. 35 of the bottles would then have a 1/37 chance of being selected, and the oldest a 2/37 chance.

Then it occurred to me that others might have odd collections of bottles (port or otherwise) where occasions to drink them need a little coaxing.

An annual Roulette Dinner, with lists of bottles shared in advance, and an online casino 'borrowed' the night before to provide each participant's bottle number?

- Or is this total lunacy?
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I think that sounds like rather a fun thing to do. I'd be in. How about spring 2016 when you're back from holiday?
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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jdaw1
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by jdaw1 »

Please say more.

• Is each guest meant to bring 36 bottles, one of which will then be chosen? And, after drinking, to take thirty-four home?

• Or do nine-ish people each bring four bottles, some then being chosen by spin. So some guests have several drunk; some have none drunk?

• Or something else?
CPR 1
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by CPR 1 »

This sounds fun I am up for joining the lunacy!
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

jdaw1 wrote:Please say more.

• Is each guest meant to bring 36 bottles, one of which will then be chosen? And, after drinking, to take thirty-four home?

• Or do nine-ish people each bring four bottles, some then being chosen by spin. So some guests have several drunk; some have none drunk?

• Or something else?
Here's my interpretation:
  • Identify 36 bottles from your cellar that you are trying to choose between when deciding what to drink next. These could be 36 different bottles or 1 bottle written down on your list 36 times. Or something in between the two.
  • Assign each bottle a number.
  • Attend a bottle selection evening at the Boot & Flogger. Bring a blind bottle with you (different from the bottles on your list) and your list of numbered bottles.
  • Eat steak, drink port and generally gossip.
  • Around 10pm, suddenly remember that you are together to choose the bottles which will feature at the "Roulette Offline".
  • Using some form of random number generator - but a roulette wheel would be in keeping with the theme - choose at random between the 36 bottles on each list.
  • A week or so later, reconvene and drink said randomly selected bottles.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Joined: 23:43 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Near Saffron Walden, England

Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by uncle tom »

Here's my interpretation:
Identify 36 bottles from your cellar that you are trying to choose between when deciding what to drink next. These could be 36 different bottles or 1 bottle written down on your list 36 times. Or something in between the two.
Assign each bottle a number.
Attend a bottle selection evening at the Boot & Flogger. Bring a blind bottle with you (different from the bottles on your list) and your list of numbered bottles.
Eat steak, drink port and generally gossip.
Around 10pm, suddenly remember that you are together to choose the bottles which will feature at the "Roulette Offline".
Using some form of random number generator - but a roulette wheel would be in keeping with the theme - choose at random between the 36 bottles on each list.
A week or so later, reconvene and drink said randomly selected bottles.
That could work - small roulette wheels are not hard to find..
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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DRT
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by DRT »

Do we need someone in a short skirt to be sitting atop a tall stool next to the roulette wheel to control the spinning?

{I'm not volunteering}
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

DRT wrote:Do we need someone in a short skirt to be sitting atop a tall stool next to the roulette wheel to control the spinning?

{I'm not volunteering}
What was the name of our part French - part Armenian waitress from The Bung Hole?
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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DRT
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by DRT »

AHB wrote:
DRT wrote:Do we need someone in a short skirt to be sitting atop a tall stool next to the roulette wheel to control the spinning?

{I'm not volunteering}
What was the name of our part French - part Armenian waitress from The Bung Hole?
Indeed.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by uncle tom »

Do we need someone in a short skirt
Could that be the 'forfeit' for presenting the cheapest list of bottles? :D
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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DRT
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by DRT »

uncle tom wrote:
Do we need someone in a short skirt
Could that be the 'forfeit' for presenting the cheapest list of bottles? :D
No, that would smack of elitism. Perhaps we could ask for a volunteer from the B&F?
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
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Re: Anyone for roulette?

Post by jdaw1 »

This is not my thing. I am willing to provide light assistance in matters in which I am most skilled, but do not wish to play.
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