Tournament Games

New forum added

2009-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

We recently added a forum to our site which is located at http://forums.tournamentgames.com. At the time of this post, there are not a lot of posts, but it is slowly gaining momentum. Please take a part, and off your suggestions, tips or just ask a question. We would love to have you!

New Site Release

2009-07-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

We've just released the latest version of the Tournament Games Website. This version has a wider layout, and several enhancements to the tournament browser. Faster page load times, as well as several minor fixes.

We have also released updates to TG Pool, and Pseudo-Ku, and will make them standard updates for all players early next week. We addressed the problem with a "stuck" pointer in Pseudo-Ku, and in TG Pool, there is a new feature called the "Super Ball". We will add tournaments that will incorporate this new feature next week. More details on what it is, coming soon. Thanks for playing! -tg

Get an rss feed for this blog

2009-06-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TournamentGames

Build It, They Will Come - Change it They Might Leave

2009-06-09T09:40:00.001-07:00

http://ezinearticles.com/?Build-It,-They-Will-Come---Change-it-They-Might-Leave&id=2404080

It's Your Nickel, Make it Last!

2009-06-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

http://ezinearticles.com/?Its-Your-Nickel,-Make-it-Last!&id=2434157

Compressed files, and less of them, mean a faster site.

2009-06-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks the TG team has been hard at work tuning up the site. The main focuses have been faster response times and easier navigation. Rodger has not seen very much daylight lately, and his eyes are glazed and permanently imprinted from the back-glow of his lcd screens. He came out of his hole only for the basic necessities of life, with a focused intent on finishing this most recent project.

With the discovery of some really helpful tools (YSlow in particular), he was able to accurately pinpoint bottlenecks, and remedy them. Page load time for the default home page was virtually cut in half.

Drop by and tell us what you think
http://www.tournamentgames.com

And don't forget to follow us on twitter!
http://twitter.com/tournamentgames

Tweet... Tweet!

2009-06-01T10:22:00.001-07:00

You can now follow us on Twitter! Every 30 minutes, we will post a sampling of our tournaments with the leader, top score and a link to the standings. As we progress with our RSS we will incorporate more Tweets. Stay Tuned!

http://twitter.com/tournamentgames

New game coming soon!

2009-05-08T09:00:00.001-07:00

We are currently working on a new game to add to the Tournament Games lineup. I cannot tell you yet what it is, but it is a very popular game, and will be improved with the addition of tournament competitions! Check back soon, and inquire about becoming a beta tester.

http://www.tournamentgames.com

New version of Mental Blocks and Jack Black

2009-04-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Last week, we released updates for Mental Blocks, and Jack Black. The Mental Blocks update included some much needed graphics updates. Jack Black got a face lift also, and a fix for an animation bug that popup up every once in a while.

Sometimes as the game (Jack Black) was running, there could occur a little hiccup on the computer, which can happen on most any computer from time to time. The result was that a played card would appear to fly onto the screen from out of nowhere. This should be resolved in this latest version.

Just go to http://www.tournamentgames.com, and click on the "Download Now" button. At the bottom of the page you will see a link for "Other Downloads". YOU can find the updated game downloads there.

Thanks for playing, and be sure to tell us what you think!

TG

New version of Fast Match to be released soon

2009-03-26T19:40:00.001-07:00

We have been working on an update to our popular "FastMatch" game, we are doing some spring cleaning, that I hope you will all be happy with. We will put a news item on the console, with a link so that you can download the free update. As always, Thanks for playing our games!

Firefox Plug-in

2009-02-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

We have been working really hard on a new addition to Tournament Games. Our new Firefox plug-in will let players enter our tournaments through their Mozilla Firefox browser! We have supported playing games from Internet Explorer for a couple years now, and before that, the games were played from our "Tournament Console" only.

Within the next couple weeks, we will support all three, Internet Explorer, Firefox as well as our standalone "Tournament Console". With the number of Firefox users on the rise, we figured we could not put if off any longer. And we are very pleased with the results so far. In the coming days, we will ask for beta testers to help us locate any issues that may need attention.

Thanks to all our players for their continued support, and allowing us to provide you with what we feel is the best in skill gaming on the net today.

-Tournament Games

Another update 'Round the Corner

2008-11-14T10:34:00.000-08:00

The next version of the Tournament Games Software will have "Skinning" incorporated. With skinning, you can totaly change the look of the tournament console. This, combined with the "Themeing" in the last release, you can personalize your Tournament Console, just the way you want to. We are very excited about these recent updates, and hope you welcome the changes as well! Thanks for playing our games, and we'll see you on the leader board!

- eric

New Software Release Coming Soon

2008-09-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

For all of you who are playing on Version 8 of tournament games, we are almost done with the latest version of Version 10. It will be available in 2 flavors, the web plugin version, and the stand-alone version. This version is our fastest most stable yet. If you have ay questions, don't hesitate to ask!

http://www.tournamentgames.com

TG Stage 2

2008-07-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Finaly after lots of hard work, we are ready to release phase 2 of our new site upgrade. This release will be a full fledged release of our new v10 TG plugin. We have also added some site enhancements as well. Hopefully things will be easier to figure out and the site will allow you to move around more simply. It has been a long time in the works, and there will still be some work to be done, but mostly just polishing. Let us know how you like it!

Pretty smooth, all considering...

2008-06-10T10:24:00.001-07:00

This was probably our biggest upgrade that we have tackled at tournamentgames.com. First off, we moved our main servers to a local hosting facility, which boasts a very big fibre optic connection to the internet, at any point in time, they only ulilize around less that 1 percent or so of the available bandwidth, so we have effectively eraticated any bandwidth bottlenecks. Along with that, we migrated the site over to new servers. These servers, are probably 4 times faster than what we had before. Along with that, we are using the latest Operating systems on the servers, and the latest in database software.

Now, we did have to take the site down a while this morning to do some reindexing on the database, cause we found that it just was not as responsive as it should be. So after a couple hours waiting for that to complete, we brought everything back up. All seems ok now. There are still a few loose ends that we will need to give attention to, but all in all, it was a smooth upgrade/migration especially considering the magnitude of the changes.

Honestly, I have to give a lot of credit to Rodger. I handily delegated most of the responsibilities to him, without cutting him any slack, and he graciously followed through on everything. Good Job Rodger.

So, our next big step is getting everyone where they are overjoyed to use the v10 console. We have had a few complaints, which is expected. We get that every time we change something. I guess, people by nature, do not like change. But the funny part is, most all changes we make are conglomerated from suggestions that we get over time. Maybe it is just our interpretations of what you guys want. We try real hard to make it like you want, really.

Keep the suggestions coming, but please, give us specifics. We really dont know what to do if we are told, "I dont like it", or "It's hard to use", etc... Tell us exactly what you dont like, or particularly what is "hard to read", etc. I bet we fix it most of the time, before the next day, seriously. (Excluding ideas that would not benefit the majority). And we have to take the responsibility of deciding that, since we have a good idea of what everyone wants, thanks to the feedback we receive.

Anyway, thank you for your patience through this Major site update!

eric

Getting ready to flip the switch

2008-05-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

... or change the dns, whichever you prefer. We are almost constantly working toward streamlining TG, as well as removing potential "Bottle Necks". The most recent project we are working on, consists of migrating some servers to an another facility with a bigger pipe to the internet, as well as having more complete backup power possibilities. There are some upgrades in the background as well, faster servers, cleaner code and we will soon thereafter, be releasing the latest version of TG, v10. Some of you are already using this version, yet there are even more updates in the latest version.

Preceding the switchover, Rodger will be releasing a patch for the V8 Console, this small patch will be aware of the new servers, which will hopefully minimize any interuptions in your game play.

As always, we welcome your feedback. We want everyone to enjoy TG, and expect that your suggestions will only make TG Better.

eric
http:/www.tournamentgames.com

Lessons learned this week

2008-05-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

1. just cause its plugged in, does not mean that it's plugged in.
2. when it looks like all the (old) dll's are being reloaded, they probably are.

A power outage a couple days ago caused a problem with one of our servers, the previous day, we migrated our DNS. After getting the server back online, we had some complaints that they could not connect via the Tournament Console. I thought at first it was the DNS migration. Turns out that my Vista machine at home could not connect via the console either, but I could get to the website, just not, using https://. Hmm, (All the other guys at tg were ok, but none of them are running Vista).

--------what i thought earlier----------------------------
For some reason, there is a problem with some computers viewing our https (SSL) pages. I am not sure how to go about fixing this, as we have most of our players online with no problems. Somehow, it must be an issue with caching and internet explorer. I made some changes here just now, and going to see if that helps. If it is a caching problem, it should resolve itself. I am afraid to admit, I dont know when! Keep us posted via the support link

what it was:
the system repair (from power outage) replaced a SSL file with an older one, this older one was not compatable with "newer" browsers. After reloading the latest Service Pack, the files were back up to date. This also fixed another "fresh cropped" problem with another service on the machine.

So, I learned, always make sure you have the latest "Stable" update to any of your softwares! Make it a point to have a Check day, where you go through your computer(s) manually and freshen everything up:)

Sorry this took so long to find and squash. -ej

Jack at Large

2008-05-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

The little brown box :)

2008-05-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I thought, there might be something in the mail. I walked out to the box to check, and the UPS guy drove up. "You Tournament Games?", yup... He went back into his van and brought to me a little brown box that had the words Cracker Barrel on it. Glory Be!. I told Rodger about it as soon as I walked back in. I am going to send Carla And Jack, theirs. Now it is up to Carla to locate a Cracker Barrel in their neck-o-the-woods.

I Called Gerald and told him. Oh, he was happy. Shoot, it's Cracker Barrel! I am going to attempt to get pictures of everyone enjoying the gifts. Most of us are dis-conjoined in our offices right now, so it may not be all at the same exact time

Thanks everyone!
Most Especially DaintydanaSA, Brad Montgomery, Innuendo44, MeAngie, Ladyria, & Shadooby too!

checking the mail, you should be..
(o_0)
yoda
tournamentgames.com

New Servers, Busy as Bees

2008-05-01T11:46:00.001-07:00

We are currently building up our new network, replicating everything we have, and testing, testing and more testing. The new server facility as a much bigger pipe to the internet, plus the servers are stronger. We hope this results in a faster, more fun experience for all you players. We should be ready for beta testing in the upcoming weeks.

Why should I PAY TO PLAY at a game site?

2008-04-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

There are many so called FREE GAME SITES on the internet. There are sites on the internet that are just HOBBIES for the creators and they are doing it for FUN and they pay the expenses to run their site. All the other Commercial web sites have to have income to stay in business. The question is how do the FREE GAME SITES pay their expenses if the site is free for the game players. The anwer is ADVERTISING REVENUE. This advertising revenue comes from the game players viewing the advertising displayed during the games and on their web site. This is not too bad as the player sees the ads and can elect to click or not click on an ad. However many FREE sites will go a step further and put Spyware on your computer without your knowledge or approval. Also some web sites will sell your email address or other person info to their advertisers. If you ever wondered why you get so much SPAM and how that SPYWARE and VIRUS got on your computer this is the answer.

We at Tournament Games think a much more open and honest approach is to charge the players for the service they receive (Economical Entetainment). We have tournaments with entry fees as low as .01 so anyone can afford our entertainment.

So are the FREE GAME SITES really FREE if you have to spend time and money dealing with SPAM and SPYWARE.

You will never get SPAM, SPYWARE, or a VIRUS from Tournament Games.

An interview with Jack Pearson

2008-03-27T10:49:00.001-07:00

Pretty interesting history

http://www.gameroommagazine.com/index.php?main_page=infopages&pages_id=9

Brad and his Free Tournament

2008-03-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

BradMontgomery wanted to sponsor a Free Solitaire Tournament with a two dollar prize. After a little thought, we decided to put them up. At last check, almost 300 entries in just over an hour! Money for free is attractive I guess :). Have Fun!

TG and Me

2008-03-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

I remember going to an interview for a programming job with Tournament Games. I thought to myself, "How far back in the hills is this place?". After around 25 minutes of driving outside my hometown, almost to the end of a very long dead end road, I arrived at a driveway with Pearson on the mailbox. Whew! Finally found it! Well, I thought i found it. Turns out that the driveway was a mile or so long. Winding my way through woods, crossing a creek, passing a couple of barns, I found myself being stared at by a horse, donkey and a few dogs.... Is this the right place?

I continued another quarter mile, and finally see a home. It was a log cabin, nestled in the trees on the bank of the Cumberland River. Paradise! I get out of my truck, welcomed by cold wet doggy noses and paws on my chest. I notice a fishing boat tied to a tree in the water nearby, and a John Deere tractor waiting patiently for its next trip through the woods. I knock on the door to what seems to be a garage, and am welcomed inside by Jack. To me this did not look like a technically advanced place, but I soon learned that it was. Computers were blinking, hard drives chirping and screens displaying players from all over the world, who were at tournamentgames.com, playing Tournament Solitaire.

Somehow I convinced Jack to hire me. I cleared out a spot, set up a workstation and began to dig in to the inner workings of the site, soaking in all I could.

Not long afterward, we decided to move in to a real office, So we found a vacancy in town, and relocated all of the servers. It was nice, but we had to climb stairs to get to inside, it was not bad, heck it even had new carpet! This was in 2001, TG was already 4 years old, and I was like a little kid in a toy store. Not long after this, one of the original employees moved to a different job, and I was left with all of the programming responsibilites, and server duties. I was overwhelmed at first, but one is suprised on how much you can learn in a short amount of time when you have to.

Fast forward a few years. We figured, why not own our own office? It costs about the same as rent, and we can build equity. So we found a building that was for sale just a couple blocks away. Again, we moved all the servers (there were more this time around) and set up shop in what we now call home. Everyone had their own office, the servers even have their own air conditioned room. We were happy. During all of this we continued to streamline the site, add new games (and remove some!).

Since we were all small town folk, taking care of our players seemed second nature. We just treated our players, not as text on a screen, but as real humans. And you know what? We still have some of our original players. And we hope to keep you around for years to come.

Well, there's a little history for you. I used to say, "See you on the leader board", but since I get clobbered everytime I try to enter a tournament, I just say...

"Have Fun!"

Why skill game tournaments are fun.

2008-03-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

The thing that makes skill games fun is you are competing against other real people. This is unlike Casino sites where you compete against the house and the house controlls the odds. They can adjust the odds to what ever the traffic will bare. Skill games have been around for years and there are skill game tournaments occurring daily in thousands of locations. Just look to your nearest country club where tournaments occur several times each week, or your local Bowling alley. Normally the entry fees are small and the winners prize is small which means no one expects to get rich. People are looking for good entertainment where they can pit their skill against others, The risk is small the reward is small but the thrill of winning is big.

The house takes a percent of each jackpot to cover the cost of developing the games and running the site. So the house has no stake in the outcome of any tournament. There is a winner each tournament and the house gets their percent regardless of who wins. The house however does have a responsibility to insure that no player has an unfair advantage by cheating or hacking the games.