[07 Aug 2021 12-07pm ET] Tea Party: 22nd Annual Boston Tea Party

[Administrator]

We're rolling into our 22nd year of celebrating all that is BVA, and we're inviting you to join us. On Saturday, August 7, our controllers will bring you seven uninterrupted hours of ATC coverage across the entirety of the Boston ARTCC. That includes Boston (KBOS), Bradley (KBDL), Providence (KPVD), Manchester (KMHT), and The Cape. Staffing will be available from 12-7pm ET. Hope you brought your Charlie Card!

We strongly recommend pilots avoid the delays at KBOS and help balance the traffic by flying to the regional airports with local ATC coverage.

We're continuing the tradition of hosting our annual Tea Party Poker. Pilots fly to staffed airports earning poker cards, and at the end of the event will have the opportunity to win great prizes from our sponsors. Official Tea Party Poker 2021 rules will be posted at a later date so stay tuned!

[Evan Reiter]

As is tradition, we welcome all pilots to participate in Tea Party Poker during event hours! This year, anyone participating will have the chance to win prizes from A2A Simulations, Gaya Simulations, Orbx, TheFlyingFabio, and TorqueSim Aircraft Development.

 

What is Tea Party Poker?

 

Tea Party Poker is a fun game that gives pilots a chance to win some some terrific prizes from our event sponsors! While there is absolutely no requirement to participate in Poker, it's become an annual tradition that many of the pilots take part in.

 

If you choose to participate in Tea Party Poker:

• Each time you land at a Class B, C, or D airport inside ZBW, send BOS_PK_CTR a private message and you'll get a reply with one virtual 1 poker card (if the airport you land at is staffed, you'll get 2 poker cards).
• You have to fly to airports that are at least 50nm apart (straight-line distance).
• Once you obtain 5 cards, you can keep flying, discarding and picking up new cards to help better your hand.
• The pilot with the best hand at the end of the event wins, and has their pick of available prizes.

The full set of rules is listed below.

 

Great Prizes Available!

 

 

We're excited to work with a number of great developers from the community to offer prizes to participants of Tea Party Poker. The first-place participant will have the choice of available prizes while each subsequent winner will be able to choose from remaining items. 

 

Prizes

 

Tea Party prizes include:

1. A2A Simulations: Winner's Choice of Product
2. Gaya Simulations: KBID for MSFS
3. Orbx: Winner's Choice of Product (anything available on OrbxDirect)
4. Parallel 42: 1 copy of Trent Palmer's #FreedomFox (upon release), 1 copy of The Skypark
5. TheFlyingFabio: Tier 1 Twitch Subscription
6. TorqueSim Aircraft Development: Winner's Choice of Product (SR20, SR22, Islander, Turbine Islander, Pocket Rocket)

The prizes will be available to Tea Party Poker pilots and the air traffic controllers who participate in the event. We are grateful to the sponsors above who have donated these prizes to the community! 

 

Rules

 

All pilots who choose to participate in this competition are agreeing to abide by the rules below. The competition rules may be modified for clarity or other reasons without prior notification to participants. Please refer to this page for any updates. These rules are current as of August 8, 2021. The Events Coordinator shall have final say in all questions or disputes regarding this competition, and will be responsible for determining the winners.

 

The full rules governing the contest are:

1. Event Duration: The poker game starts at 12:00pm ET on Saturday, August 7 and ends at 7:00pm ET (1600z to 2300z).
    
2. How To Play: A pilot is eligible to draw virtual poker cards by completing any Eligible Flight during the event. At the conclusion of a flight, a pilot may contact the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) via private message (PM) to obtain the poker card(s). The event official will respond via private message advising the pilot of the cards they have received.
   1. When contacting BOS_PK_CTR to obtain a card, your PM should include:
      1. Flight origin and destination.
      2. VATSIM CID and email address (first message only).
   2. Pilots will receive:
      1. First drawing: two poker cards.
      2. Subsequent drawings:
         1. Two poker cards, if the landing is at an airport other than KBOS that is staffed by a Tower controller.
         2. One poker card, if the landing is at an airport staffed "top down" by an Approach or Center controller only, or if the landing is at KBOS.
   3. Pilots may contact BOS_PK_CTR to obtain a card after landing at the intended destination and once at a safe/appropriate location. Once the 'card request' message has been sent, pilots do not need to wait for a reply or card assignment; the next flight may begin immediately. 
       
3. Notification of Winners, Prize Priority: By entering the contest and providing your email address to BOS_PK_CTR, you consent to Boston Virtual ARTCC emailing you should you be a winner. (If you are not a winner, we won't contact you, nor will we retain your contact information beyond the conclusion of the event.) Winners will be notified at the email address provided within 14 days of the end of the competition and will be able to choose from the list of prizes available in order of their poker hand. Winners must respond to their prize notification email within 48 hours to confirm their priority and select a prize. Winners who do not respond within 48 hours will lose their priority to select a prize, but may still be eligible for any remaining prizes at the time they reply to the email.
    
4. How To Win: The pilots with the strongest poker hands at the conclusion of the event will be the winners. The number of possible winners will be equal to the number of pilot prizes available. Pilots must hold a full hand (5 cards) in order to win; therefore, pilots must complete, at a minimum, 3 eligible flights to qualify. Winning pilots will be allowed to select from a variety of prizes in order based on the strength of their respective poker hands:
   
   
    
5. Eligible Flights: An Eligible Flight is any flight that terminates in a full-stop landing at a towered airport (controlled by Tower, Approach, or Center) within Boston ARTCC (ZBW) during the scheduled event times and complies with the restrictions below. Flights that originate outside ZBW airspace, and flights that originate before the start of the event, may be considered eligible provided they comply with the restrictions below. If a pilot is not certain whether or not a flight will be eligible, they should contact the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) via private message prior to departure.
   1. The flight must be between airports that are at least 50nm apart (by straight-line distance). 
   2. The destination must be a towered airport (surrounded by Class B, C, or D airspace).
   3. The pilot must remain connected to the VATSIM network for the duration of the flight.
   4. VFR pilots must file a Flight Plan prior to departure that includes, at a minimum, their aircraft type, origin, and destination.
   5. The event ends promptly at 7:00pm ET (2300z) and any flights that conclude after this time will not receive a card.
       
6. Discarding: Pilots who hold a full hand (5 cards) may try to better their hands throughout the stated event times by completing additional flights. Pilots wishing to do this should advise the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) of the card(s) they would like to discard at any point before receiving new cards. At no point shall a pilot hold more than 5 cards in their hand.
    
7. Designated Event Official (BOS_PK_CTR): Issuing and tracking of pilot cards will be conducted by a designated event official. Cards that each pilot has in their "possession" will remain unknown to all other pilots until the event is complete. A pilot may verify their card holdings with the designated event official via private message. All replies to card verification requests will be returned via private message.
    
8. Number of Decks: The competition will use a minimum of one deck of cards (52 cards) to start with, and the cards will be issued at random. Once this deck has been exhausted, a new deck will be added. Cards that are discarded will be placed back into the pool of available cards.
    
9. Duplicate Cards: It is possible that a pilot may mistakenly receive a duplicate card during the event. If this happens, it is the pilot's responsibility to notify the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) as soon as possible. Hands containing duplicate cards are considered "illegal" poker hands and will not be eligible to win.
    
10. Tracking of Poker Hands: Poker hands will be tied to a pilot's VATSIM CID, not their name or callsign.
     
11. Exchanging of Cards: Trading, exchanging or transferring of cards between or among pilots will not be allowed at any time during the event.
     
12. Withdrawal: A pilot wishing to withdraw from the game must notify the designated event official (BOS_PK_CTR) by private message, or if unavailable, one of the BVA controllers staffing a position. The pilot's cards will be returned to the deck(s) and made available to other competitors to collect. Once a pilot has withdrawn, they may not attempt to re-enter the competition.
     
13. Shared Cockpit Flights: Cards are issued to flights, not pilots. Participants who choose to fly together in the same aircraft (i.e., shared cockpit flying) will be considered as a single flight and receive one set of cards. For the purposes of the competition, the name and CID of the pilot who messaged BOS_PK_CTR will be considered the pilot who is participating in the competition.
     
14. Disqualification: Pilots who are disqualified will not be allowed to re-enter the competition. The Events Coordinator will have the final say in any disputes regarding pilot disqualification. A pilot may be disqualified from the competition for:
    1. Failure to comply with VATSIM COC.
    2. Refusal to comply with ATC instructions.
    3. Attempting to cheat or circumvent the competition rules.
    4. Providing false/misleading information to the event official.

Disclaimer

 

In no way should this competition be seen as a promotion or simulation of gambling. There is no purchase necessary to play or win. Gambling is not endorsed by Boston Virtual ARTCC or any of its affiliates, including VATUSA, VATSIM, and the event sponsors.

[Bobby Watkins]

Is there a place to get a list of staffed airports. That way it will help with preflight planning and routing

[Andrew Hobgood]

So excited for this, as it's my first big BVA event since joining the community.  I have a couple of questions about the rules and the above points, sorry if I'm missing something obvious...

If a pilot completed three flights with at least one to a towered, non-KBOS airport, couldn't they a acquire full hand of 5 or more cards in only 3 flights vs. 4?  (2 cards from first landing, then two cards from at least one of the subsequent landings)
 

If I'm landing with four cards already in my hand, and expecting two more, how does discarding work?  Do I have to discard one before receiving my two new cards, or do I discard after receiving one, or both?

Thanks!

Edited August 6, 2021 by Andrew Hobgood

[Evan Reiter]

Sorry @Bobby Watkins and @Andrew Hobgood, meant to answer these but somehow I didn't. Hopefully everything went smoothly yesterday! 

 

On 8/6/2021 at 11:10 AM, Bobby Watkins said:

Is there a place to get a list of staffed airports. That way it will help with preflight planning and routing

We didn't and typically don't provide a list because it can be difficult to know exactly who is attending and where the staffing will be. In times of crisis, we sometimes move someone from a Class C position to a place where coverage is more critical. This year, we were fortunate enough to have staffed ALL Class C airports, along with KACK. However, that's not always the case, and we generally debrief with the controllers to see what their feedback was. Although we all love coverage, sometimes it can be better to consolidate the staffing in a smaller region, giving everyone a little more to do. I haven't had the chance yet to collect feedback on this point from yesterday.

On 8/6/2021 at 12:40 PM, Andrew Hobgood said:

If a pilot completed three flights with at least one to a towered, non-KBOS airport, couldn't they a acquire full hand of 5 or more cards in only 3 flights vs. 4?  (2 cards from first landing, then two cards from at least one of the subsequent landings)

Good point! This is a holdover from a previous version of these rules. Will get that corrected!

On 8/6/2021 at 12:40 PM, Andrew Hobgood said:

If I'm landing with four cards already in my hand, and expecting two more, how does discarding work?  Do I have to discard one before receiving my two new cards, or do I discard after receiving one, or both?

I would say the best practice is to advice the BOS_PK_CTR position of the one card you wish to discard, at which point you'd get the two new ones. Hopefully that's what actually happened yesterday.

[Evan Reiter]

Thanks to the 40 pilots who competed in Tea Party Poker during yesterday's event! I haven't had the chance to collect feedback with the controllers yet; hopefully everything went smoothly. 

 

Over the next few days, I'll touch base with the volunteers who were on-site to get results and then start emailing the winners. Normally, the first-place winner has to pick their choice of prize before I can move on to the next-place winner, so it may take me a few days to get through to everyone. Once the winners have been established, I'll post an update to the thread and let everyone know the full results! 

[Bobby Watkins]

Its all good it was a great event. Controllers did a great job.

 

[Mehmet Noyan]

This was an absolute blast.  Thanks so much for organizing it guys.

[Andrew Hobgood]

On 8/8/2021 at 5:23 PM, Evan Reiter said:

I would say the best practice is to advice the BOS_PK_CTR position of the one card you wish to discard, at which point you'd get the two new ones. Hopefully that's what actually happened yesterday.

 

All went smoothly from my viewpoint... the staff behind BOS_PK_CTR were patient and helpful, and I had an absolute blast flying around New England picking up cards.  Awesome job by all the controllers!  Thanks for what you do!

[Evan Reiter]

Congratulations to our 2021 prize winners! Philip had the winning hand with a Full House, followed by two fluhes. The full list of winners: 

1. Philip - choice of Orbx product
2. Frederick - choice of Orbx product
3. Chad - choice of Orbx product
4. Patrick - A2A Comanche for Prepar3D
5. Brian - Gaya Simulations' KBID for MSFS
6. Chris - Subscription to TheFlyingFabio on Twitch
7. Brant - SR22 for X-Plane
8. Bobby - Parallel 42's The Skypark
9. Matt - Subscription to TheFlyingFabio on Twitch
10. Owen - Subscription to TheFlyingFabio on Twitch 

Thanks to the many pilots who participated!