Topic: Best Pets
This week's Best Pet comes to us from Gamesviller Snowberry0187 of Williston, FL. When this mother-to-be isn't cooking or hanging outdoors, she's spending time with her rambunctious pet, Narley!

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Snowberry0187 had this to say about her little man, "This is our talkative little trouble maker Narley. The photo captures Narley's face if you tell him 'No' long enough when he begs. Narley is my pride and joy but I can honestly say he is worse than a child. He constantly demands attention, never shares his toys with our other dog and throws temper tantrums when he does not get his way. A truly rare personality for a dog."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your pet today!

Topic: Members
Gamesviller Mamasqueak0 of Mesquite, NV, recently won a MAX jackpot of $3,333 playing Three-Eyed Bingo.

What was her moment of victory like? How did she come up with her curious GV member name? Find out below...

Gamesville: Congratulations! What was it like when you realized you won?
When I realized I won I was in total shock. I needed just one more number on my board in Three-Eyed Bingo and it came up--just like that! I've been playing at Gamesville since it opened in 1996 and have never even been that close to a jackpot win before.

What will you spend your winnings on?
The money will help with some Christmas shopping, since I am on Social Security and my daughter is unemployed at the moment with a three-year-old to support.

What three songs could you listen to for the rest of your life?
Three songs I would listen to for the rest of my life would be:

• Mercy Me - Imagine
• Brook Benton - Rainy Night in Georgia
• Cher - Believe

What do you treasure most in the world?
The things I treasure most are my granddaughter and my pets, they truly mean the world to me.

What does your Gamesville member name mean?
My daughter's nickname is Squeak because she is so little.  Her friend, who is also tiny, was nicknamed Pip. So we have a Pip and a Squeak. Soon after everyone started calling me MamaSqueak, my granddaughter is BabySqueak and my mother, who is 86, is called GrannySqueak.

What game would you like to see the Gamesville team create next?
I love Gamesville. I have been playing here since 1996 when you first opened and have met many wonderful people through chat! I don't know that if I would change anything about Gamesville and I think the variety of games is great.

Thanks, Mamasqueak0 - and congratulations again on your BIG win!

Topic: Resolved

Dear Gamesville community -

We're deeply sorry and embarrassed about the service interruption many of you experienced last night, into this morning.

Starting at around six o'clock eastern time on October 26, the Gamesville database entered an unstable state. No data was lost, but Gold status was not properly recognized across the site, GV Rewards values were incorrect or missing, and game rooms were no longer available for anyone (free members or Gold members) to play in. Internal monitoring failed to alert us to the situation so the problem persisted into this morning. Once the problem was identified, we immediately began working to fix the problem, and posting messages on the Gamesville Blog to update you on our progress and answer questions. Gamesville was fully functional by nine-thirty this morning, but that's little comfort to people who wanted to play in the hours before then and couldn't.

There aren't words to express how sorry we are for the frustration, concern, and disruption that we caused. At Gamesville, odds are great, you'll have fun time -- relaxing, hanging with friends, winning a prize you've always wanted. Last night, we failed to deliver, and that needs to change. That will change.

We are taking immediate actions to regain your confidence. More comprehensive monitoring is being installed to better recognize and alert us to problems, and help mitigate or prevent such outages in the future. We are also working on a more extensive communications plan to provide timely information to you, in a more convenient way. As a result, Gamesville will prove to be more reliable and responsive to you than ever before.

You deserved more than what you got from us last night. Everyone here at Gamesville hopes you'll give us the chance to welcome you back into our game rooms again and provide you with the positive experiences you've come to expect.

If you have any comments or questions about what happened last night, or anything at all, please feel comfortable posting here or contacting me at my personal email address.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com

Topic: Technical Difficulties

Gamesville is experiencing technical difficulties, and has been intermittently for several hours. Problems range from being unable to save avatar changes to not being able to play games at all.

We've heard from a number of frustrated people. Please understand, we share your frustrations: Every minute you can't play is another minute our business is failing to entertain you (which violates one of our core missions as a business) and is another minute we're not generating the revenue we should be.

Our engineers continue to work overtime to restore normal operations, and I hope to have good news to report shortly.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com

UPDATE 9:15 AM EST: Full service has been restored. Thank you for your patience during this outage--and see you in the games!

Topic: Members

The cash just keeps coming in Quick-Draw Poker as three BIG jackpots were hit this weekend for BIG cash! The first came Johnsgurl87 of Wolcott, NY, who cashed in quick for $82 Friday. Then on Saturday it was Kcmscheermom09 of Barbourville, KY, who took home her own $176. Finally it was Shelea11 of Rantoul, IL, scooping up a monster jackpot of $168 to close out the weekend of big winners.

So how did two winners cash in for MORE than the max jackpot of $100? Well that's because these members know the incredible value of a GV Gold membership; featuring ad-free gaming, bonus GV Rewards opportunities and DOUBLE jackpots in select cash games! Congratulations to all our Quick-Draw Poker jackpot winners from this weekend--plus the 61 (yes, sixty-one) people who won cash prizes in Bingo Zone this Saturday and Sunday... and to all our winners!

Topic: Weird Wire™
A premature baby boy who was born thousands of mile above the earth has been has been given free flights for life. AirAsia said 31-year-old passenger Liew Siaw Hsia went into labor on Wednesday's flight from the northern island of Penang to Kuching on Borneo island. The expectant mother had thought nothing of taking the flight as she wasn't due for another 11 weeks. But the baby had other ideas and mid-flight Liew started to feel labor pains. Luckily there was a doctor onboard who helped the 31-year-old mom give birth at 2,000 feet. The flight was diverted to Kuala Lumpur and both the mother and baby are healthy. Read the full story at Yahoo! News...

Topic: Recipedia

Whether you're planning a spooktacular party at home, or bringing a scary dish along to a social gathering, we have a particularly shocking recipe that'll be sure to frighten one or two trick-or-treaters from the table.

This Eye-Popping Soup will be sure to give your guests the willies as it stares directly into their very souls! This recipe is simple to create so let's take a look a what you'll need to construct this eerie creation:

 

Eye-Popping Soup Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes (28 ounces each)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 3 sprigs oregano or marjoram
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 pitted black Kalamata olives
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound bite-size bocconcini (mozzarella balls)
• 1 jar small pimiento-stuffed olives
  

Instructions:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is translucent for about 6 minutes. Add wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, stock, and oregano, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently until thickened for about 45 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove herbs and puree soup in small batches until smooth. Return to the pan and slowly pour in half-and-half, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper.

Then it's time to make the bugs: Use a toothpick to pierce each Kalamata olive 4 times (all the way through to other side). Insert a rosemary leaf into each hole to make eight legs. Insert two pieces of chive into the small hole at the end of the olive to make antennae.

Now time for the creepy eyeballs: Using a small melon baller, scoop out a hole from each bocconcini. Halve each pimiento-stuffed olive crosswise. Place a half, cut side out, in the hole in each bocconcini to make eyeballs. Ladle hot soup into shallow bowls and float 4 or 5 eyeballs in each soup, then place a bug on rim of each bowl.

Full prep and cool time: 1 hour

Want to share your favorite recipe with the Gamesville community?

Send recipes to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your detailed recipe, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Why you wanted to share this recipe

If we publish your recipe we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your recipe today!

Topic: Holiday Flare

To get everyone in the Halloween spirit we're calling on all Gamesvillers to show us their creative side in our new Gamesville Halloween Fan Photo Costume Contest. We're looking for your inventive, spooky and funny costumes to show off on our Gamesville Facebook fan page! Simply add yourself as a fan of Gamesville on Facebook and then upload funny or frightful photos of your favorite costume to our fan photos section. If our panel of judges selects you as our most creative Gamesviller we'll send you a copy of season one of NBC's Heroes on DVD and a cool 10,000 GV Rewards! First and second runners up will also each take home 5,000 GV Rewards for their creative effort! (See official contest rules)

How To Participate In The Gamesville Fan Photo Costume Contest

• Become a fan of Gamesville's Facebook page on or before Thursday, October 29th.
• Once you're a fan, post your Halloween costume photo to the fan photos section of the Gamesville page. Make sure to include your Gamesville member name so we know who you are!
• All submissions are due on Facebook by 6pm EST on October 29th.
• On Thursday October 29th the Gamesville panel of judges will review all the submissions and on Friday, October 30th will announce our winners here on the GV Blog!
  

If you're not yet a fan of the Gamesville Facebook page that's fine, just head to Facebook.com and become a fan of Gamesville on Facebook to participate. Then add your Halloween fan photo to our fan photos section by October 28th! Heroes season one and a ton of GVs could be yours!

Topic: Members
Gamesviller Crowell-ladycats of Crowell, TX, recently won a GIANT jackpot of $1,416 playing Magic 21.

What was her moment of victory like? What was the secret to her win? Find out below...

Gamesville: Congratulations! What was it like when you realized you won?
I was stunned! When I realized I had won it was almost 2am and it all happened so fast. I woke my husband up and said 'Honey wake up! I need your help, I won a Gamesville jackpot!' Of course he was very surprised and excited as well. Needless to say I couldn't go to sleep that morning, as I was just too excited, so I got all my paperwork done right away that morning.

What will you spend your winnings on?
I will be able to pay off an old gas bill so we can get our gas turned back on for the coming winter months, thanks to Gamesville of course! Then I will spend some on myself--I love jewelry, especially rings!

What do you do for a living?
At the present I am a retired housewife and mother, formerly I worked as a nurse and medical secretary. I loved the medical profession; it was very interesting and rewarding work. I also took piano lessons for ten years and have taught piano as well. I also play the organ, but prefer the piano.

What three songs could you listen to for the rest of your life?
Three songs I would listen to for the rest of my life would be:

The Gaithers - I Bowed On My Knees
Howard Goodman - Amazing Grace
Vestal Goodman - Till the storm Passes By

What do you treasure most in the world?
I treasure my family because they are very dear to me (my husband, son and two daughters). I am very fortunate to have them in my life.

What does your Gamesville member name mean?
My member name stands for the Crowell, TX basketball team for girls and my daughter also played football, both of which I am very proud of.

What was the secret to your win?
There was no secret to my win, I was just playing as usual and hoping to get lucky!

What game would you like to see the Gamesville team create next?
I would like to see another slot game or two, but otherwise I am happy with Gamesville and recommend it to all my friends. I spend a lot of time playing here, the people in the chat rooms are very nice and the GV Gold membership is great. Thank you so very much from me and my family and keep up the good work.

Thanks, Crowell-ladycats - and congratulations again on your BIG win!

Topic: Members

The weekend started early for one lucky Gamesviller as Mamasqueak0 of Mesquite, NV took home a MAX JACKPOT of $3,333 on Thursday in Three-Eyed Bingo! Then the cash windfall really began on Saturday as Traxxgirl of White Springs, FL on scored a cool $1,472 in Magic 21. Later on that day it was Klay63 of North Little Rock, AR who took home her own $844 in CatchUp CoverAll. And with her win came four Lucky Ball Winners, who each scooped up a quick $25 in cash! Congrats to the following Lucky Ball Winners: Sapphiregem41, Queen1932wa0, Ditzys and Freeflygirl1.

And not to be outdone: Just as I went to hit the POST button we had another big winner to congratulate, as Balsam12 of Sylva, NC just took home $716 in Magic 21! Congratulations to all our winners from this past weekend!