by Nataliya "Shader" Kostenko
Why do I want to go to the Clontarf Shuffle IV, you ask?
Well, first of all, I’ve been to all the Clontarfs thus far, and I have never failed to have a great time there. And I’m not really even super into gambling. In fact, that’s one of the best things about Clontarf–you don’t have to be a whiskey-chugging, cigar-smoking, Gambler’s Guild type of person to partake. Sir Tao has made games of chance accessible and available to all, even the inexperienced, mathematically-challenged, and heavily-taxed among us.
You don’t need deep pockets full of coins to have fun gambling all day. Just for showing up, you’ll get free, special tokens to use. And at the end of the day, you can convert anything you’ve managed to win into raffle tickets. Then, you can use those tickets to win fabulous prizes. And there’s a second, special ticket raffle too, for a super fancy mystical magic item, I hear.
Ever innovative and forward-thinking, this team (Tao, Kara, and Aeston) makes sure to incorporate something new every year. This time around, it’s Questo–where you choose quest locations, monsters, and artifacts to gamble on. I expect this will be as fun and exciting as Dino racing was last year, and can only hope it will be equally as profitable for me personally.
There will also be the standard array of gambling games, board games, a newbie Poker tournament to help get your gambling career started, and a Stacked Deck tournament for the casino veterans in our midst. And fear not if you don’t fancy the notion of sitting still playing cards all day. There will be quests to go on and adventures to be had, courtesy of Kara.
I’d be remiss not to mention the snack-stravaganza that Feastocrat Lady Kyomi puts on each year as well. There is always a wide selection of hors d'oeuvres, and you won’t be walking away hungry!
The last and best part is that all the excess funds from this event will be going to charity. So, you get to not only walk away with a belly full of delicious food yourself, but also help to ensure that the charity, End 68 Hours of Hunger, plays its part in feeding children in need across the country. Sir Tao will be matching funds raised, and he is ready to be bankrupted (though I’m not sure how the rest of his family feels about that).
Looking forward to seeing you all there! Wear your lucky socks and don’t whistle indoors.
–Shader
