ECC member Dan Marko is running the Chicago Marathon this coming October. Dan is participating in the marathon for charity, raising support and awarness for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. If you are interested in supporting this worthy cause, check out Dan's web page by clicking here.

And Dan is only $100 short of his goal, so please give just a little, and with your help we can help Dan pass his goal -- and be thankful he's the one running and not you.

If you've ever had a conversation with God, but wondered why S/He hasn't answered back, now you can ask Him/Her. Thanks to the Internet, you can now have a two-way conversation with the big Guy/Gal. Click here to start your conversation now.

And yes, we realize we're going to Hell for this, but we promise to save you a seat.

This week's weather provided by the meteorologists at WFLD-TV Fox Chicago.

TUESDAY 80 / 61 Partly Cloudy
WEDNESDAY 79 / 65 Partly Cloudy
THURSDAY 81 / 61 Partly Cloudy
FRIDAY 82 / 64 Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY 78 / 61 Partly Cloudy
SUNDAY 77 / 62 Thunderstorms

In our ongoing attempt to keep making game play interesting for ECC members, our next Variation Night is Sunday, August 17th at Charlie's.

It'll be an encore of a favorite from last year, the Six- Game Variation. Players will play six games of euchre (instead of the usual five), and drop their lowest score. That's right, no need to worry about that Festering you got in game 4!

And as a reminder: No, your scores from variation night do not count in your overall average.

If you have any other questions, please ask Sunday director Geoff Dankert.

Friday, August 15: Beginning of Bicycle Grand Prix Of Euchre, Doubletree Hotel Oak Brook (details below)
Sunday, August 17: Variation night: I Got Six (see above)

Sick of those endless poker shows on TV? Wondering why no one's come up with the "World Series Of Euchre?" Well, guess what? Someone has. And it's coming to Chicago's suburbs!

The Bicycle Grand Prix World Series of Card Games is holding an open tournament at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook on the weekend of August 15th. It's expected to attract players from across the country.

Registration costs $99 per person, and the website promises $10,000 in guaranteed cash prizes. That could buy you a whole bunch of pitchers.

For more information or to register, click here. Let's show 'em how we play!

Our apologies to Craig Hines, who actually won the bar tab on July 30th. We must have seen something shiny, and got distracted.

If you haven't seen this month's Chicago magazine (the "Best of Chicago" issue), be sure to check out page 91 where you'll find our very own Euchre club listed as the Best Euchre Club in the city! Go us!

"Sorry, I just can't get it up." - ECC member and marathon man-in-training Dan Marko. We think he was talking about cards ...

Congratulations to the following winners!

Tue, Aug. 5: Reggie Owens with a 55!
Wed, Aug. 6: Phil Forbes with a 55!
Sat, Aug. 9: Geoff Dankert with a 51!

Dear Hoyle --
I play frequently with a partner who insists on analyzing every freaking hand trick by trick. "I threw off a spade, so if you'd led one back, I could have overtrumped his diamond, and then bled them with my bower and came back with clubs blah blah blah..." Is it ever polite to tell people like this to go suck an egg, only in much harsher terms? - Tired Pupil

Dear TP:
Polite? Not so much. Warrented? Well, maybe. Aside from giving you a headache, listening to the over-analyzers can also give you some handy tips into how they play together -- which gives you an advantage. Not only can you predict what cards will be played, you can play against that strategy, which can really screw things up.

But then there are the over-analyzers who are lost in a fantasy world. My favorite is the "if I'd only had both bowers, three other trump and the lead, my loner would have gone through." Um, sure.

So if you find yourself at a table of over-analyzers, a simple "guys, the hand is over, let's move on" should suffice. And if it doesn't you can always hum a little tune to yourself -- the game will be over in no time.

If you have a question about Euchre strategy, ECC club rules, relationships or just life in general, send an e-mail to resident expert Hoyle at euchrechicago@yahoo.com. We promise all e- mails are anonymous.