Last updated 2:00 EST, 27 July
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Release

As of 5:15 EST, the update has released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

• 3.4GB on PS4
• 3.2GB on Xbox One
• 2.9GB on Steam
• 2.6GB on Social Club.

On the note of releases... Some countries will not be able to access certain content from this update due to gambling laws. Thankfully though, players from these countries will still be allowed to download the update in general.

Money for Diamond Casino

For ways to make money to afford the new DLC content, along with methods to make an empty lobby to do CEO/MC work, check the Mega Guide.
Tips

• You only need $50,000 to register as a VIP! If you have at least that much, you can register as a VIP for 4 hours and get access to VIP missions (which can be done in an invite only session), giving you a lucrative way to save up.
• If you own both a crate warehouse and vehicle warehouse, you could use them together to make more money overtime than you could by using either exclusively. Use your sourcing/exports between crate pickups and sales, and you'll be getting the best of both worlds, gaining from the postive money-making aspects of both.

Content and Prices

Content that has initially released with the update.

Southern San Andreas Super Autos

• Weeny Issi Sport - $897,000
• Vapid Caracara 4x4 - $875,000

Legendary Motorsport

• Annis S80RR: $2.6million
• Enus Paragon R: $905,000
• Obey 8F Drafter: $718,000
• Truffade Thrax: $2.3million

Penthouses

• Cash Pad: $1.5million
• Party Penthouse: $3.78million
• High Roller: $6.5million
• "Design Your Own": $1.5million

Penthouse Customizations

• Colour options: $215,000 or $258,500
• Pattern options: $92,000 - $210,000

Penthouse Addons

• Lounge Area: $400,000
• Media Room: $500,000
• Spa: $800,000
• Bar and Party Hub: $700,000
• Private Dealer: $1.1million
• Office: $200,000
• Extra Bedroom: $200,000
• Garage: $800,000

Gambling

As this is a Casino-centric update, there's plenty of ways to gamble away your hard-grinded money.
The gambling in this game centers around a new form of currency, called Chips. These chips are pretty much like real-world gambling chips, with a one-to-one dollar value, except you keep your chips when you leave the casino. Chips are an actual currency in GTA Online, as they can be used to purchase exclusive items from a shop inside the casino, along with being used to bet with when playing the Gambling Games, listed below

• Slot Machines: There's plenty of options to choose from, but they all perform the same way. Spend some chips, and let the RNG decide whether or not you earn anything from it.
• Blackjack: Casino style blackjack with up to four simultaneous players, all of which play against the dealer. Anyone who beats the dealer individually wins, anyone who the dealer beats individually loses, and if the dealer gets Blackjack (an Ace and 10/face-card), everyone immediately loses. Assuming your initial hand isn't a Blackjack, you have the option of doubling-down, which doubles your initial bet with the caveat of only being able to hit once.
• Poker: Three-card poker. You make your bets, check your hand, and similar to Blackjack, each player wins if their hand is better than the dealer's, and the dealer beats whoever has a worse hand than him. While there is no option to double-down, how much you win does depend on how good of a hand you have. The better your hand, the more you win. Also, while you can fold your hand, you lose your initial bet anyway.
• Horse Racing: Pretty much standard horse racing bettering. You choose a horse, you put your money down, and if you bet correctly, you get double the amount you bet in return. Otherwise, you just lose the amount you bet.

To gain more chips, there is a counter inside the casino where you can buy them, however you are limited in how many you can buy per day (real-world 24 hours). As standard, you can buy a maximum of 20,000 chips per day, but if you own a penthouse of any tier, you can buy up to 50,000 chips per day. Chips can also be traded in for money, but there does not appear to be a limit on this. No matter how many chips you win from gambling, it appears that you can trade them all in at once for the equivalent dollar value.
Lastly, there is the Wheel. It's a roulette wheel that you can only spin once per day, which costs $500 per spin. There are twenty reward slots, and since some rewards are in multiple slots, they have greater chances of being selected. The biggest note about this wheel however is that there is one slot in which you can win a free car! What makes this so significant is that since the car takes a 1/20 slot on the wheel, that means you still have a 5% chance of winning a free high-value vehicle! Compared to most online games, that's pretty much the most generous RNG you can get.

Business and Missions

coming soon

FAQ

Are there any differences between the penthouses
For once, yes! Well, technically... they're the same basic property layout, but each option gives you different addon options.

• The Cash Pad: The basic Penthouse with no property addons available . You cannot purchase a garage, extra bedroom, lounge, etc. with the Cash Pad. You can, however, purchase penthouse customizations (colour and wall patterns).
• The Party Penthouse: Gives you certain of the addon options: the main Penthouse, the Extra Bedroom, the Lounge Area, the Spa, and the Bar and Party Hub. You are locked to these options, no more, no less.
• The High Roller: Gives you all of the property addons as standard, and the most expensive penthouse customization options... this means that you cannot choose your own colour and wall patterns with this version.
• The "Design Your Own": ...What should be the standard option. It gives you the basic penthouse and allows you to choose which addons and customizations you want, with an extra cost for each one, of course. Just get this one. You can also renovate this option later, allowing you to purchase more addons and change your customizations later.

What do the Penthouse Addons do?

• Lounge Area: Allows you to purchase the other Penthouse Addons (except for the Extra Bedroom and Garage, which are the only items addons that can be purchased without a Lounge).
• Media Room: You know the cinemas around Los Santos? The ones that play a few 5 minute animated films on repeat? That, but in a Penthouse.
• Spa: Gives you access to a hot tub and a Personal Stylist. The Stylist's services are the same as the ones spread around Los Santos (hair, contacts, and make up), but they're all free.
• Bar and Party Hub: Allows you to consume drinks that instantly intoxicate your character, along with access to special arcade games that aren't available anywhere else in the game.
• Private Dealer: Allows you to play gambling games in your penthouse.
• Office: Adds a standard computer, a Gun Locker, and a money vault (don't get excited, it's just aesthetic).
• Extra Bedroom: Bedrooms in owned properties in GTA Online are used as spawn points, so why can you pay to have an extra one? Because you can now allow a friend of yours to claim it! The Extra Bedroom allows a friend of yours to use your penthouse as a spawn apparently, though the exact implementation of this is not completely clear.
• Garage: Access to the Penthouse's garage bay.

How do I get the armored car?

• To recieve the Enus Paragon R (Armoured), you have to complete the Diamond Casino's mission series, which you must own a penthouse to access. Once of the missions are complete, you'll be given the vehicle for free! But remember, it's uninsured and you only get it once, so immediately go into passive mode and take it to the nearest Los Santos Customs to insure it, or else you could lose the vehicle permanently.

Passive Mode

Good news, passive mode has been fixed!

• Passive Mode can now no longer be active when using a weaponized vehicle
• A Passive Mode cooldown of 2 minutes is now in place for players who have just killed another player
• Players now must wait 5 minutes before they can activate Passive Mode again after disabling it
• Players now must wait 30 seconds before they can disable Passive Mode after activating it

These changes make is so that grievers can no longer abuse passive mode, or at least no where near as easily. If you start to get the upper-hand on a griefer and destroy whatever death-machine they're using to troll you, or if you confront them in a death-machine of your own, they can't abuse Passive Mode to try to get the upper-hand on you!

Solo Session

Check the Mega Guide for ways to push yourself into a public Online session with no one else in it. Keep in mind that some missions and abilities are unavailable if there's no one else with you though!

Bugs and Glitches

• Apparently on PS4 and Xbox One, you must have full size of GTA V available to download the update, so if you have less than ~60GB free, you may have trouble downloading the update. This does not mean that the entire game is re-downloaded, it just means that the update may not download if you don't have that much space available.

Credits

Special Thanks: u/Rebored_Warrior - Sent me the official patch notes link!

• u/LordMcze - Information on countries that restrict players from gambling functions.

NOTE: We are out of room. Post continues here: https://www.reddit.com/d100/comments/8w13in/lets_finish_businesses_and_trades_in_a_frontie
Some people are attracted to the frontier of civilization for the adventure. Others might be drawn there for a host of reasons; looking to make coin in a new market, keeping ahead of the law, spreading their faith, bringing order and strengthening the borders of their homeland, or perhaps a noble house has too many scions and hopes that one late-born member might make good with his share of the family coffers.
Let’s build a list of NPCs with businesses and trades in a frontier outpost or settlement.
I’m about to introduce simplified kingdom building mechanics to my Pathfinder Campaign. Basically, it allows your adventurers to govern and grow the settlement they are based in. So I’m looking to make a list of businesses and trades that might be compelled to put stakes down in a frontier outpost with colorful NPCs that might provide plothooks and role-play opportunities.
In my campaign the adventurers are getting a charter from the local military to rebuild a settlement in an abandoned town they have just cleared out of undead and bandits (nominally). It will begin as a outpost to the guard, but can be reoccupied by the former residents, serve as homes for new wonderers, refugees and eager enterprisers. It’s a location that can attract low-fantasy motifs of traditional trades but also allows for interlopers from the feywilds and other planes. So businesses could range from the mundane, such as tanneries or grain mills to the exotic and arcane like a drug den but where the intoxicants are dreamscapes from the feywilds.
Interested in storyhooks and interesting npcs. If you are familiar with any kingdom building mechanics feel free to drop in any additional info that might help GMs—building stats, building costs, settlement effects. Just descs are fine too.
Edit: Feel free to suggest similar businesses already on the list if you have a different spin on it. A little competition is healthy.

d100	Name	Desciption
1	Bottlejaw’s Barbershop (and Dentistry)	The spinning helix of the barber pole atop the shingle of criss-crossing razors and shears placemarks Bottlejaws Barbershop. Edmund Bottlejaw, an always-smiling halfling whose pleasant demeanor might be a professional front has a ramshackle building with very expensive touches. Perhaps the centerpiece is a shiny leather-upholstered hydraulic chair that adjusts not just for the variety of heights of his customers, but also comes with restraints when his work involves the occasional tooth extraction. Busts of humanoids showcase different styling and services, including a dwarf sporting beard-wigs intricately plaited and an orc with a hairpiece dramatically adorned and dyed. He is assisted by a silent and brooding young aasimar, Rajar, who mainly sweeps and appears to be able to provide the muscle.
2	Erastil’s Blessings: Seed bank and lending Library	An elderly human and a baby-nursing half-elf woman came into town on an elk-drawn tarp-covered carriage. Most of their belongings were stacks and stacks of practical books, almanacs, manuals, plants guides and many copies of Parables of Erastil, the holy text of the elder god for a traditional way of life. Molthuse and Nirmal are a fount of practical knowledge. They set up quiet places to read and reference their library in a simple wooden structure, allowing visitors to copy information on paper available for purchase. Nirmal is also in charge of a thriving garden, often pressing cuttings and seedling to visitors. Near the entrance of the library, stands pots of seedballs for sale, seeds of useful plantlife and nutrient packed in mud.
3	The Central Prospect	A small shed with a stable door, operated by Able, an elderly dwarven fellow with a bald head and long grey scraggley beard. The "store" provides basic tools for prospecting, crow bars, shovels, pick axes, gold pans, etc. Able also has well documented maps of the area showing points of interest.
4	Riverbottom Candleshop	Wendy Riverbottom was one of the first inhabitants of area, in fact only the oldest explorers can even remember her moving in. One question always comes up when they see her shop, “Why a Chandler in the middle of nowhere?” to which she gleefully replies that everyone enjoys the light aroma of a candle or a well-crafted bar of soap. She’s open to share her history about the world but strictly adamant against anyone going downstairs to the workshop and seeing the crafting process.
5	The Loose Stool	A tavern run by a dwarf named Kirgan. The interior looks nearly as rundown as the exterior of the building. Creaky floors, tables with uneven legs, and to top it off, the bar top is only 3 feet high to cater to Kirgan's shortness. He is old, even for a dwarf, sporting long gray unkempt hair. He is rather grumpy, always having something to complain about. Don't you dare ask him about the scar on the side of his face or you'll regret it. All that aside he sells great ale by the barrel to travelers interested in taking the party to go
6	Aegert’s Breads	The small cart parked in the center of the settlement has become a familiar sight to the residents. The cart serves as the shop for Joarr Aegert, the resident half-orc baker, to sell his breads. While his rolls and loaves are nothing fancy, they are tasty and filling. Joarr is saving up to buy a small home so that his wife and children can come join him. He misses them dearly, and they him.
7	Illia's Rug Shack	The hunch-backed, plump-faced woman who runs this decrepit store out of what was once a large tool shed doesn't have a set price on a single one out of the dozens of crude rugs she sells out of the dusty shack, but despite her condescending demeanor she is usually willing to let potential customers haggle for them. Illia is almost never seen outside of her store and nobody is quite sure how she gets her rugs. Secretly, Illia is a hag who uses the store as a front for her child peddling business. If you go to the back door at night and knock in a specific pattern, then mention her secret passcode: "worm food," she will sell you any of the children she keeps locked in the back bound and gagged, for the right price. Illia has an orc bodyguard who can usually be seen standing outside the front of the store smoking a pipe.
8	Pete’s Pelts	Pete mostly mumbles, but he is an excellent hunter. Pete sells pelts and dried animal meat. He also sells assorted hunting supplies. He has a small shack he lives in. His furs and other wears are hanging in a barn just outside guarded by his old dog, Grungy . Pete is also a master fletcher and will build specialty arrows for you for the right price.
9	Mat’s Maps	A man named Mathew who sells maps next to his twin brother.
10	Map’s Mats	A man named Mapthew who sells mats and rugs next to his twin brother.
11	Coinz4Shineez	A small stall operated by a group of Goblins. They exchange gems, gold, anything of value for coins. They offer a favourable rate, but will not haggle. Loot is placed on a set of scales, and the appropriate coins appear in a small chest. The loot then goes in the chest and disappears. They are underwritten by a noble wizard in the capital.
12	B'Rody's General Store	This recently widowed Dragonborn has packed up her wagon caravan in the South and set up shop in the North where her remaining family can be found. She's made her fortune dealing in exotic goods and just wants a bit of peace and quiet. Caution: She is known to breath fire at shoplifters. (pro. Bah' Rudy)
13	M'uhctek's Market	Ash M'uhctek, a half-elf moon druid and initiate wizard that leans heavily towards the teachings of Solonor Thelandira, owns the largest produce stall in town. Carries a bit of everything in his wagon and loves to trade. He struck a deal with the local council for a farm and the large swath of forest behind it to remain untouched. In return he uses Plant Growth to bolster harvests in the province. Oddly enough he does this in every town he visits and has set up quite a few franchises and private wildlife preserves.
14	Black Books:	Bernard Black is the owner of this small, dusty and very disorganized book shop. He is a disheveled misanthrope, cynical alcoholic, and a proud chain smoker. He has a strong disdain for people and avoids interaction with his few customers as much as possible. On occasions where he is forced into interaction with customers his response is snarky and mocking. The shop has an incredible collection of books, but almost all of them are in terrible condition — Bernard has read them all.
15	Laif and Kheem's Frontier Furnishing	Laif is a viking as he is pictured in books and on the embossments of viking shields. His majestic beard is always waxed and his posture is proud and loyal to the gods of order and justice. Kheem is a mounted archer as is portrayed by legends and frightened battle reports of the tribes of the tundra. His beard is like that of a mighty dragon and his shoulders are guarded by the heads of beasts whom he hath' slain.The two are united only by honor and their great adventure, of which they are the only survivors. Having done their share, they traded in the one or other limb for experience and settled to construct the settlements of your oncoming NPCs. (They are actually still pretty badass, but Laif can't speak common!)
16	Ar-Og's very good tools	Ar-Og is a troll or possibly orc, or a half-breed of some sort. We don't know. His temper is as slow as dripping tar, and nothing seems to get him into anything related to the bloodrush of those whom he possibly is related to. Except if you question the quality of his tools. Which, as he proclaims, are very good.If you need a hammer, or perhaps a bizarre axe to chop trees which grow in nooks of some stone canyon, just barely out of reach from a regular axe, he is your man! Or possibly troll.
17	Questionable Ehrnard's Questionable Products!	Look, there's nobody for miles - the last shepherd you saw was literally just an unsupervised dog. Really, that there's any store at all is a small miracle. Thinking anything about the economics of running this store would have clued you in on the questionable nature of its owner and products. But what you see is what you get and some of the products don't seem terrible. Plus, it's not like you can be picky, just watch your pack while you're inside.
18	Infernal Delights Diner	This seemingly quaint diner has a charming and flirty red teifling cook by the name of Pot and a demure and empathetic server ‎aasimar‎ by the name of Cake. These two are always playfully arguing with one another and always seem to know just a bit more than they should about their customers. They are in fact an angel and a devil who have abandoned their posts and now reward or punish customers in mysteriously karmic ways. Locals don't know exactly what goes on in the dinner but they know its a good way to test whether visitors are trouble makers or future friends so often will send any new visitors to the dinner.
19	Gregarious Gnome Gebby's Quality Used Golems!	Gebby is a fast talking, slick haired, and sharply dressed salesman with a bevy of used golems of all types. He provides them to rent or own but if you to fail return the golem in time he will charge a generous interest rate and if it comes back too damaged? Well you break it you buy it! The golems are useful for protecting the town and building houses and Gebby makes a good deal of coin providing their services but he might be willing to give a discount if you can help repair some of his damaged golems or help retrieve a late payment or two.
20	Keara's Bar & Barbershop	Keara Blackblade is a retired dwarf soldier who has opened up her dream business. She serves fine drink and will trim your hair and beard into fine styles. She loves her job and she assures you she cuts hair best when drunk. Her husband Nug Blackblade a cigar chomping grump runs the bar while she cuts hair and is less pleased about the work than his wife if only because his supply of drink is constantly running low.
21	The Spit	A tavern housed in a small two storey building. The tables are placed around the walls, and a staircase rises to the next floor at the back of the room. In the centre of the room is a fire pit, with meat of unknown varieties cooking on spits over the flames. The proprieter is a friendly Orc-ish fellow (he's part Orc, so he's Orc-ish) by the name of Grub. The upper floor is a mezzanine that circles the inside of the building. There is a hole in the centre of the roof that the smoke billows from. In bad weather, Grub will hoist a canvas sheet over the outside of the hole, filling the building with smoke.
22	Watery Fowls	A tavern on the main trade road with a short-tempered and incompetent Elven owner Basil, his wife Sybil, a Dwarven chef called Munnuel, and an Aasimar receptionist called Polly. Basil is spectacularly racist, and tries to micromanage everything, to hilarious consequence.
23	Poe and Shaun's Potion Shop	There they were, two Halflings with a dream. They wanted a store where they could test their experimental potions and make a little money on the side. Their potion shop is covered in bottles, hanging down so people must brush them aside to even make their way to the counter. A constant bubbling and hissing from mixtures can be heard throughout. Poe handles the social interactions while Shaun can be found in the back, wearing thick goggles and testing out their experiments. Sure they have some of the boring regular potions one might find at any store, but where's the fun in that when you could have a gander at Potion Experiment #626?
24	Prickly's Fortunes	Within a large cactus resides an equally prickly dryad. This sarcastic and snarky dryad is willing to trade fortunes and, for major deeds, resurrections in exchange for environmental activities. She is tuned to the frontier and can sense any potential threat to the wilderness of these lands and request a task capable of her visitors, so a farmer will get their fortunes told by planting some bushes but an adventurer? Well, she will likely expect more.
25	Hunters and Slayers	Triplet Catfolk Rangers running a beast and monster slaying company. Prrrr favors monstrosities, Grrrr favors beasts, and Hsss favors staying at the office selling the hides, meat, teeth, and other goods his siblings harvest from their hunts. They are always willing to share the profits for an especially dangerous hunt.
26	Grilled Bears	A wilderness survival store with a focus on the essentials like rope, knives, tinderboxes, etc. They sell a proprietary magical canteen that refills to full whenever it is emptied. Sadly, the contents only refills with water, and it always tastes like urine. The owner, known as BG, has a habit of overstating his knowledge and lies constantly about his past in the elite guard.
27	Meer Ray	A kind Tabaxi fellow offering lessons in surviving the wilderness. Starting with the basics of building a fire and making camp, patrons can progress to more advanced skills like tracking, hunting and herbalism. Ray also has a selection of survival tools available, but they tend to be more advanced than his competitor GB's wares.
28	Rocky Rambler's Rolling Canyons!	"Hi, I'm Rocky Rambler! Have you recently moved onto a new property in a sparse frontier and need to remodel your landscape? Then boy, do I have the product for you! Get new Landscape Rolls TM! Ever bought rolls of sod? The cheap dead grass rolled up in bundles? Well now you can buy rolls of just about anything! Want a green meadow filled with blooming wildflowers? Slap it down, roll it out! Want bumpy landscape with rocks and cactus? Unroll it like a rug! Or even a babbling brook for relaxing white noise? They may leak, but they're loaded with fish! You want a heavenly cloudscape? Well, it'll likely float off once you lay it down, but we've got 7 left over from a refunded order! For the next week and a half, buy any two landscapes and get a roll of Clouds absolutely FREE (with purchase of any two outdoor landscapes, offer invalid with wooden floor rolls and interiors, limit one cloud roll per person per day, offer not valid on Thursdays, taxes and fees may apply, offer not valid to Cloud Giants, Cloud Dragons, or Air Elementals. No Refunds, all sales are final). So Come on down to Rocky Rambler's Rolling Canyons! Located adjacent to Rocky Rambler's Animal in a Bottle Warehouse and Enchanted Boot Emporium!"
29	Cold River Shipping Company	Running up in the northern frontier near the Frozen Pines, the Company consists of a fleet of canoes, rafts, and barges along the rivers. Mainly shipping smaller goods or individuals across the rivers and streams, it is a loose outfit put together by four half-orc brothers with native help. They plan to gather enough funds to buy a ship good for breaking ice flows and make their business legitimate.
30	The Silver Sledge	This mining corporation was formed earlier on during the beginning of the frontier by a prominent dwarf miner, Fuaser Robishau. Earning his fortune early on through a large silver payload, which he and his family defended savagely, he has now sponsored several other mines under his new corporation. He mainly favors fellow dwarves who come to work for him, setting them up as work crew bosses and foremen. He does not mind the cheating of common workers, but any who undercut him, even fellow dwarves, are often found outside of town with a pickaxe lodged in their skull.
31	Hedge Mage Headquarters	The frontier proved a great opportunity for up and coming wizards wishing to establish a name for themselves after completing their apprenticeships. Founded by the gnome Fullbery "School Marm" Washup, the headquarters functions as a secondary academy, lodging, and work area, but also as contact for services requiring magic. While the work is not nearly as precise or as epic as from master wizards, it provides affordable and regular services.
32	The Stoor	"Come on up, don't be shy. Sure it's not much but—oh pardon me, let me pull that carpet back down o'er the box, er, shop here. But we got just what you need this far out. What things? Oh you know, lots of things. Many things. I keep them tucked behind this box for safety is all. It's one of them bags o' holdin'... but a box. Oh these? These rocks? Oh these are, uh, rocks... the finest rocks in the land. No better rocks out there, I got 'em all righ' here. And I spent a fair bit o' time searching for them, no need to thank me. Now are you buyin' a rock or not?"
33	Graves Lost & Found	An unusual partnership with an greedy female Ratfolk Ranger named Rugel and a noble female Centaur Cleric name Clover. The two seek out the frontier for unmarked graves of fallen travelers. Clover performs rights upon the corpse, speak with dead to find out who they are, burns the body, and recovers the ashes. Rugel tracks the bodies down, steals anything of value off the body, investigates for any clues regarding the identity of the person, and gets info when Clover speaks with dead about any other treasures the dead may know of. They are hired to find the graves of lost travelers and return the ashes or they will try to return the ashes if they get the name of the family of the perished traveler. They also have a shed of unidentified ashes they hold on to. The information they get from the dead can also be purchased from this odd pair.
34	Belix's Obelisks and Menhir Workshop and Delivery	Belix appears to be human in most respects, if one of prodigious dimensions. What might give an observer pause is his incredible strength, evident as he works his trade, literally carving out a natural wall-face to produce oblong menhirs that tower over most people and easily hefting the pure rock sculptures as if it were no heavier than a sack of feathers. It is rumored that the menhirs might be the source of his strength, but none of his customers appear any more vital. However no one can deny the charm of his simple but impressive handiwork, the Founders Stone a simple giant obelisk that towers in the town square, being an excellent example. He is always working on a few extra obelisks and menhirs just in case despite the limited market, but in his many hours of downtime he hunts boars, with one or two always on a spit roast at his quarry. He’ll accept coin, but some have discovered he will barter nearly any task or item for a potion, any potion. He appears to be looking a particular potion, but he’s willing to try any in his maniacal quest.
35	The Outlook	A small tavern with a few spare rooms for any travelers making their way through. It's a nice place to stop at if you need to rest up and take stock before heading out. The main draw though are the scouts that like to hang around and guide any newcomers. There's a bit of competition among the scouts as business isn't exactly thriving this far out. The unspoken agreement among them is they each have a specialized area of what they know and they stick with it. Know ahead of time where you're going if you want a guide from here or else there's sure to be a bar fight among the guides. As troublesome as it sounds, these guides are certainly experts of their area.
36	Eastwood's Stables	This gruff cowboy is a literal cow-boy. A Minotaur that gave up the life of a bounty hunter to raise and sell horses to those in need. A loner who prefers the company of horses he known to be fair if rude. One would be wise not to cross Eastwood, he is as dangerous as he looks.
37	Ranch and Menagerie Grove	This Druid Grove is home to a Druid Collective that both protects and sells the creatures kept within the grove. They provide some of the animals within the grove for hunting or labor, for a price, as long as excessive damage is not done to the frontier. They have also been know to go out to hunt down poachers that threaten the wildlife of the frontier. They are willing to provide services if one brings them rare beasts of the frontier to be protected within the grove.
38	Big Dog's Casino	Run by Big Dog, an awakened bulldog, this high-end casino is where those who have earned their riches in the frontier can socialize and gamble in safety and fun. Big Dog is a mysterious dog seeming to have lived through several major events in history and is far more clever than he appears at first glance. He has somehow convinced a cyclops, Snake Eye, to man the door and a pair of bugbear brothers, Blackjack and Roulette, acting as muscle within the casino itself. His employees are remarkably loyal and protective of Big Dog, which is good because he has far more enemies than any dog should.
39	The Holy Church	An aged Cleric Elf runs a church of the town known only as Father and rumored to have come from the Fey realm. A child that was possessed by a demon was visited by the Father and it is said that when he walked into the room the Demon-possessed child went silent, then screamed, and the demon banished itself. The grounds of the church is truly hollowed ground as one can feel the divine energy radiating from it to the point that it glows ever so slightly at night.
40	The Public Library	Run by a Kitsune Bard Loremaster, named Shu, and her adopted daughter, a Changeling, named Frell. These two shapshifters gather knowledge from the frontier and record them into the books of the library, making magical copies to send to other libraries around the world. They are willing to pay for any unique knowledge you may offer and the library is free to use for anybody though there is a donation box. Usually only one will be in the library as the other would be searching the frontier for unique plants, creatures, or lore to add to their books.
41	Normal Carpentry	This place is completely normal. It does carpentry. There is no sinister basement. There is no evil cult. Its just a normal carpentry shop. We are not aberrations.
42	Under Well Shop	A well has appeared though its waters seem toxic and its seems a shop is attached to it underground. It's keeper, a cloaked in Drow, possess goods only found within the underdark. The shop owner will tell you a creature is within the waters of the well polluting it and it needs to be slain to purify the water.
43	Lake Town	A nearby lake has had a settlement of aquatic races move in. A gillman named Ted runs the trading post between the town and the lake. He holds a bevy of goods created and harvested by the citizens of the lake.
44	Tim Tim Tom's Cobbler Store	Tim Tim Tom is a true master cobbler. A halfling who makes the highest quality shoes in the frontier, perhaps the world. His shoes are incredibly comfortable and near indestructible as his skill is so polished it seems divinely touched. Nearly everybody in town has a custom pair make for them despite the incredible prices he charges as he is willing to take payments over the course of years for permanent residents. But if adventures want a pair of his shoes you will need to gather some of his rare material.
45	Jackdaw's Discount Weapons	Jackdaw is a weaponsmith who gets about half of his stock from adventurers passing through with weapons they looted off of fallen foes. As a result, much of his loot is eclectic and unique in its style and material.
46	Fangjaw's Proteccy Clothez	A lizardfolk armorer who doesn't speak great common, but makes damn good armor, whether it be metal or hide. He moved out here because in the bigger cities, his accent proved more of a deterrent than out here.
47	Athena's Aegis	A female former gladiator who specializes in making magical protective shields. Especially those that can be thrown into the enemies' faces. (Captain America style)
48	Lone Star Courier	A courier service that gives zero regard for the safety of their deliverymen and as a result, will rarely refuse a contract. However, they are also always looking for new couriers.
49	Goldie's Bank and Storage Services:	This bank (one of many) is run by gold tinted Kobolds serving a particularly organized and neurotic Gold Dragon, Goldie, who uses the holdings as their hoard. The bank holds onto goods and money allowing it to accrue interest as long as the holder checks in once a year. If the holder does not show during a year the treasure is held but no interest is gained. Treasure can be retrieved if proof of ownership or holder returns and a holding fee is paid. If the holder is found dead and the initial insurance is not paid the treasure becomes the property of the bank. The bank will often set up bounties to determine if the holders are alive or dead and request proof of either. Killing a holder during a bounty mission has serious consequences and those who kill holders or those who have not paid off their loans have especially high bounties put up by the bank.
50	Gible Gom's Circus	A strange circus that seems to pop in and out of existence within the town. Run primarily by Goblins and Hobgoblins they put on exciting acrobatic and athletic feats, enchanting performances, and spectacular magical tricks. The people are a bit wary but those who go seem to truly enjoy the show and miraculously the only money lost is that willingly spent. Some very angry looking elves from the Fey have been seen staring at the circus but they vanish before anybody gets close. Gible, the circus master Hobgoblin, seems nervous and is seeking help regarding the elves.
51	Helding’s Hardware	Helding's Hardware is a small tool shop run by the owner and sole employee Javis Helding. The store is a small but well-kept building situated between two larger buildings on either side, making the clay brick shop appear even smaller. Multiple racks line the walls and form aisles in an orderly fashion, each one holding his collection of a certain tool. Hammers, shovels, saws. Javis almost always has something that fits the bill, and if he doesn’t, he’ll make sure the blacksmith starts working on something that does. Javis himself is a burly halfling, an uncommon combination of words that nonetheless describes the 4-foot high bundle of good humor and masculinity. Nothing matters more to him than his tiny shop and the people he meets there. Those that know him know that when they walk through his door, they will get the best help he can provide.
52	Fettlepox's Studio	Mauxi Fettlepox is a lanky figure who while known to be temperamental exercises the best manners. His business is not so much a storefront as a narrow alcove where he stacks the canvases he paints. On the sidewalk he places a few easels displaying of his most recent work—typically a maelstrom of frenzied brushstrokes that coalesce to an enthralling simulacrum of his subject. When the easels change, it is a minor event, with even critics pausing to update their opinions. It has become a habit to drop a coin in a tin bowl beneath the work, the clinking announcing each viewer. There’s often an unsettling quality to the work even as they are undeniably captivating, much like the man himself. His ethnicity, heck, even his race, is difficult to place—human might be the best guess going by his ears and dun pigmentation. But there’s something other about him. There’s some talk that he might seal a part of his subject’s soul in his paintings—that’s surely hogwash… But why can’t he never be found in his room at the tavern he rents out? And how does outdrink the stoutest dwarf with none the worse for wear?
53	Cold Justice Law House	Judge Jaws, a lizardfolk Inquisitor, judges the criminal of the frontier with his lawmen. Deputy Chill a Water Suli and Sheriff Scorch a Fire Suli. Chill is a Ranger and Scorch is a Monk. Chill finds and Scorch runs down and beats them senseless. Recently they found a bandit camp and need some help taking them down.
54	Frenti Chartered Architect & Assoc.	In a display of her skills, the entrance to Aleski Frenti’s offices are accessible via a mechanical contraption she calls “the elevator.” A balcony encircles her office allowing visitors to circumambulate and observe the vista of the growing outpost. The office itself is busy with workspaces covered with blueprints and designs. Tableaus with maps and plans can be wheeled around the space; a number of draftstables have active building designs underway; and a giant table allows for papers to be spread widely with many half-drunk cups of a some brown syrupy liquid scatter upon it, sometimes apparently serving as paperweights. A narrow winding staircase apparently leads to Aleski’s quarters. She is often found bent over a blueprint, scribbling notes with her sleeves folded to her elbows. Her assistant, a young gnome, Jerfery often follows behind her collecting the scraps of paper in her wake. While she is retained by the Council, she can be hired by private individuals either to design or consult.
55	Cool Winds' ButcheAnita's Fight Club	An androgynous undine named Jacky (isn’t too hung up on pronouns) and a half-orc who goes by Anita run the cold store and butchery. Jacky is undoubtedly the face of the establishment, and apparently responsible for the cool temperature generally and the arctic chill in the meat room. Jacky does the more traditional butchery, trapping game, quartering and dressing carcasses, and preparing and preserving meats. They have become a regular supplier to a few homes and businesses but they will handle meats on request. Anita is reticent and gruff. However, she hosts a “secret” fight club after hours once a week in the meat room with Jacky’s reluctant consent. Victors, and scrappy losers, even, can expect eye contact, discounts and even a smile from Anita. The fraternity of brawlers is becoming a real thing in the outpost.
56	Sir Calleb Dallas's Home for Orphans and Wayward Children	Sir Calleb Dallas, a human, was from a high ranking noble family who tried to become more selfless and charitable by opening an Orphanage in the frontier. Unfortunately his noble upbringing has left him ill-suited to frontier life and dealing with rambunctious children. To make matters worse his family has cut off funding to his orphanage! This desperate situation has caused the eldest and most dedicated orphan, Red an 60 year old Elf (technically still a child), to run off into the frontier for some treasure to save the orphanage. If you can go find and rescue Red, Calleb is willing to give up a treasured family heirloom as a reward.
57	Expose Inc.	Expose Inc. is a trio of mystery-solving reporters. The blond male trap master Aasimar named Ascot is the leader of the group. The clumsy attractive redhead half-elf sorceress in purple robes is named Dnger Pronee is the interviewer, and the female bespectacled gnome loremaster, Jinkies, is the head researcher and writer. A monster is scaring off the new owners of the Belfast Manor, will you help them capture the creature and get the story?
58	Fey Pharmaceutical Delights	A skinny cowardly Drow Fey Druid in a green shirt wearing a brown mushroom hat, named Norville, runs a shop with drugs of various effects from both the Fey realm and the Underdark. His best friend is an awoken equally cowardly talking dog, named Dooby. Both act as if effected by their product but they are in truth just silly and simple. Will trade product for delicious food. They will give the very best of their product if you get the legendary God Dog Biscuits for them to snack on.
59	Markus the Canoe-Maker	Markus… he doesn’t make canoes. It’s a just a moniker that stuck for the meticulous way he hollows out the corpses of the departed that no one claims, making careful anatomist sketches and inks. Otherwise, he provides sombre, brief, professional funeral services, minus the homilies, demonstrating a savant-level knowledge of faiths and cultures. Those services go a long way to balance out the gaunt, sallow wizard’s macabre pursuits—that and his restraint in raising the dead. In fact, he’s probably the best person around for an exorcism or discreet consultation about the ol’ family ghost. Perhaps unsurprisingly he’s quite the expert in pathology, either coming to unerring conclusions or withholding his judgment. When in doubt, he will simply cast speak to the dead, a task that the local law have been known to require.
60	Quality Custom Magic Jewelry	This ant colony is a hive mind that burst out of the ground and created a house sized ant hill. No one is sure how they came to be or where they come from but they seem friendly enough. To create the jewelry a person must sacrifice an item of great sentimental importance to the customer, high quality gems, precious metals or rare bones, a cup of the customer's tears, a pint of customer's blood, and 25 pounds of sugar and/or sweets. The ants will take the items and work for 2 weeks to create unique magical jewelry usable only by the customer or their heirs with abilities that match the customer's personality. They can only make one such item for each person though they can still make high quality normal jewelry if the raw material and 10 pounds of sugar and/or sweets is provided. If the ants see you as receptive they may ask for help in stopping their former master from finding and enslaving it. Their former master is a wizard that has changed himself permanently into an ant monster that can control ants psychically.
61	Lydia’s Arbor	The dryad Lydia welcomes all visitors to her small arbor, maintaining a staff of workers to harvest the fruit trees she nurtures. Parents have learned that they can safely keep their children in her care. Adventurers short on coin might spend a night under the canopy of her orchards. In exchange of a favor, she might even woodshape an enchanted object. She is well-versed in the medicinal properties of her plants. That a dryad would choose to make a home in a frontier town would rightly surprise a visitor. Much like others of her kind, Lydia began her life with an aversion to civilization. It was only when her grove was met with destruction, not by the woodmen that were pushing back the forest, but by an enormous wildfire that her destiny was altered. Lydia melded herself to her oak tree, resigned to her fate when a druid compelled her to withdraw. The human druid took her back to a hamlet and kept her alive. Though weak, she wandered the hamlet drawn to its oldest tree, amazed at the care the inhabitants took to that tree in particular. She swallowed her bitterness at how this tree could survive amidst humanity who destroyed so much of nature and communed with the elder tree. That experience changed her. The druid led her back to the tree that she had bonded with. There a sapling had sprung where the giant oak once stood. She carefully uprooted the sapling and set out to find another frontier town where she could set her roots, and possibly proselytize a green way forward.
62	Fritz's Magic School Wagon	This small yellow wagon is larger on the inside and can house an entire class of students. It can also transform, shrink, grow, and travel between the planes. The teacher is a powerful human fey sorceress. With her iguana familiar and class in tow they take the wagon on magical educational trips. She is looking for some chaperones to help her on her next grand trip to hell!
63	The Doll Maker	This quaint little shop is surprisingly dark. Inside are countless dolls and stuffed animals of very high quality though some look off-putting and creepy. The shop owner is a vampire named Dex who who drinks from a heart of never ending blood. He really loves his dolls. Dex has a private collection of old, possibly haunted, dolls. If you promise to care for them, Dex will give you one of his special custom-made dolls or stuffed animals. They are very special dolls.
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From the beautiful minds of u/no4u, u/generic_brand_cola, u/IAMA_llAMA_AMA, u/ASzinhaz, u/Kardinalin, u/Table_Bang, u/Papenhausen, u/generic_brand_cola, u/Hwga_lurker_tw, u/Woopdeedo, u/Ytumith, u/ceilius, u/FadoraNinja, u/WitchDearbhail, u/Patchwork18, u/SquiddneyD, u/GhastlyKing, u/ThePragmaticPimp

Funfair: Blockchain Solutions for Gaming.
For those of you unfamiliar with Funfair. Here's a brief overview:
Funfair was Founded in 2017, and is an Ethereum-based platform for online casino gaming.
Founded in 2017, FunFair is an Ethereum-based platform for online casino gaming. The online gambling market is predicted to be worth $60 Billion by 2020. Funfair isn’t actually a casino, instead, they licence out the underlying gaming technology to casinos and other gambling platforms.
One of the brilliant things about Funfair is that they market their software to casinos that mainstream audiences already use.
Now, the major challenge faced by casino operators today, especially online casino operators, is the question of trust in their offerings. To put it simply, users are reluctant to trust these services. Players feel insecure about the true odds of the games they’re playing, even if those odds are made available by the casino site.
The reason being, current server based gaming infrastructure is vulnerable to tampering and fraud. And players have no way to verify that everything is fair in the games they’re playing.
Now, Funfair have been able to solve the problem of trust, in online gambling. By building technology that cannot cheat anyone. Funfair runs on Blockchain, and Ethereum smart contracts it offers players a transparent, fair and publicly audit-able gaming experience. Player protection and provable fairness are guaranteed.
Transparent RNG ensures that the games are provably fair. Game logic is verifiable and run by Blockchain smart contracts.
Unlike other Blockchain casinos, Funfair games play as fast as any traditional online casino.
No bank account is required, so deposits and withdrawals are virtually instant. There's no need to trust a casino with your funds because funfair games let you play straight from your Crypto wallet. Winnings for every game are held in escrow by the Blockchain and paid out instantly.
For operators, fewer servers, fewer databases, fewer security & technical staff, as well as fewer internal personnel, means that costs are significantly reduced. And, no fees or charge-backs for the operator.
Funfair powered casinos' run on Blockchain, which is resistant to hardware failure, power outage or attack.
In short, Funfair casinos are faster, easier, and cheaper to create than traditional software.
The Funfair Team: Now, the team. The team is an all star team of 50 plus individuals. The leadership are industry veterans and experts in the gaming field. Arguably, the most accomplished team in Crypto. When you consider their combined gaming industry experience, relevant entrepreneurial and business experience, as well as an extraordinary track record of prior success, in the gaming industry. I would, at least, put the team on the same standing as the team at ripple, but would have to award the Funfair team extra points for their prior track record of success in the gaming industry.
Jez San OBE: Jez San the CEO and Co-founder of funfair, came to the project with an extensive background in gaming and online gambling that stretches back to 1982, as well, he has a more modern appreciation and experience in Cryptocurrency circles.
Jez received his first computer at the age of twelve in 1978. Within a year he'd taught himself assembly language for several microprocessors.
He founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in high school as a way to get software consulting jobs with large companies. He worked on security systems with British Telecom and Acorn. In 1984, at 18 years of age, he started developing his first game, Skyline Attack for the Commodore 64, he also co-wrote a book, Quantum Theory, about the Sinclair QL. And, he became a wizard (admin) at Essex MUD, the world's first multiplayer online role-playing game.
His late-1986 game Starglider for the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga sold hundreds of thousands of copies (earning him £2 per copy in royalties). The money helped launch Argonaut as a larger company that started hiring other people in 1986.
In 1996, Argonaut received external funding from Apax Partners and was publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2000.
He also helped found ARC International when it was spun out from Argonaut in 1998 and was its largest shareholder on IPO.
Between 1999 and 2002, he founded Codeplay and is currently the majority shareholder.
He received an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in 2002, the first explicitly awarded for services to the computer game industry.
He founded Crunchy Frog Ltd, which in 2005 became online poker company PKR. An online poker room that allowed users to play poker in a virtual reality setting.
In 2008, he co-founded mobile application developer and publisher Origin8. Which produces iPhone and BlackBerry software, and has offices in London.
Jeremy Longley: The CTO of Funfair is Jeremy Longley, who was a co-founder of PKR.com. Longley has extensive experience in both 2D and 3D game creation and in the past has led teams to develop innovative HTML5 and Android products, cashier systems, account management features, and third party system integrations.
He also has an MA in Computer Science with 1st Class Honours from Cambridge University. He seems to be a dominant figure behind a lot of the tech at Funfair.
Oliver Hopton: Funfair’s third founder, Oliver Hopton, has over 15 years experience building gaming products. Including 10 years as Software Development Manager at PKR and 18 months as CTO at EveryFan. He, along with Longley, also appears to be a leading figure behind a lot of the tech at Funfair.
Stefan Kovach CCO at Funfair: Stefan was previously Marketing director at PokerStars for nearly 12 years.
James Harrison Director of Corporate: James was Compliance and Licensing Director at Gaming Realms for 3 years, and CEO at AlchemyBet for 5 years, 5 months.
The FUN Token: FUN is the native token that powers every aspect of the Funfair gaming ecosystem. It is the betting chip that pits player against casino, the financial reward paid to developers for their games, and the fuel that enables key processes on the network.
Ownership of individual tokens is anonymous.
A total of just under 11 billion FUN tokens were created on June 22, 2017, and no more will be created. There are 5.3 billion FUN in circulation. With this fixed supply, the token is deflationary and should experience increases in price over time as demand for it increases. Furthermore, Funfair singe all FUN that are collected as fees. Singe is a term that refers to very very long-term cold storage, and with the potential to be destroyed, when the regulatory atmosphere permits. Taking these tokens out of circulation, in this way, should also put upward pressure on price.
Importantly, casinos' must stake enough FUN to cover payouts / winnings. Which basically means that a lot of FUN will be locked up in the networks growing list of casinos'.
Now, we are currently in a major bear market. But, do stop to remember, that this does not reflect on Funfair. What is does reflect on is the current state of the market. Markets are cyclical and I, personally, expect a recovery and corresponding bull market will be forthcoming (Just my opinion).
Partnerships: Funfair have a number of partners.
Spike Games is one. Spike Games is a well-known creator of slot games. Funfair partnered with them in April this year. Spike are assisting in the creation of new Blockchain versions of popular slot games.
Big Wave Gaming is another partner. Big Wave is a Sydney based slot game creator, with a focus on Asian markets. The partnership was created to give Funfair better access to Asian markets.
And of course, RakeTheRake. Rake the Rake is the largest and most reputable Rakeback affiliate in the worldwide poker market today.
CasinoFair: Funfair has launched the first brand to go live on their network: CasinoFair.
CasinoFair, under its tagline ‘Famous for Fairness’, goes beyond traditional limitations and offers players the fairest experience possible using decentralization of the Blockchain as well as Fate Channels, which is Funfair’s proprietary version of generalized state channel technology.
Players use FUN to play, directly funded from their Crypto wallet, a growing range of premium games are available on CasinoFair. Including Funfairs latest titles, Wheel of Fun, Fate of Thrones and FunDice, along with a host of popular casino games such as European Roulette and Blackjack.
CasinoFair will only get bigger and better, as Funfair evolves from offering a service to the Crypto community to disrupting the mass gaming market.
Sales Funnel: Funfair is currently putting a lot of emphasis on optimizing CasinoFair's sales funnel. This will make it significantly easier and faster for players to start playing on Funfair powered Casinos' going forward!
Funfair is also putting a lot of emphasis on players being able to purchase FUN directly at the Casino.
We can expect to see these improvements in the weeks, and months ahead.
Funfair players can look forward to a significantly streamlined entry into FF powered casinos'.
New Games: Funfair also anticipate a steady roll out of new games over the coming weeks and months! Including space slots and pirate slots, two more wheels, an Alice Cooper slot, as well as, a fishy slot, from outside game developers. Along with some other stuff too. There's a lot happening at Funfair. The Fishy slot is apparently insane and something to really watch out for. These games will add to Funfairs ever expanding line-up of games.
RaketheRake Casino: Also, the second Casino on the Funfair network is set to be launched this quarter. It will be operated and marketed by RaketheRake. For those of you unfamiliar with RaketheRake, they are the largest and most reputable Rakeback affiliate in the worldwide poker market. RaketheRake currently work in conjunction with all of the top poker rooms to increase traffic to their casino sites and secure the best Rakeback deals for their players. The Funfair powered casino will be the first casino owned and operated directly by RaketheRake.
Funfairs Competitors: Funfair has a few Crypto-based competitors but is far ahead of the competition. Nevertheless, with the popularity of Blockchain gambling, as well as the sheer size of the market it wouldn’t be surprising to see more competitors enter the space.
Decent Bet, Edgeless, and Dao.Casino are some Blockchain-based casinos. However, by licensing out their tech to casinos, Funfair isn’t in direct competition with these projects. Instead, Funfair faces competition from platform providers in the traditional online gambling space such as Kambi, Gig, and EveryMatrix.
In Summary: I'd have to say I rate Funfair very highly among all the Crypto projects out there. They have excellent leadership, with a proven track record of success, a great team, a lot of industry experience, a great concept, and a working product to back it up, strong Tokenomics, with FUN being needed to fuel every aspect of the Funfair network. Additionally, all fees are singed, as well as, casinos' having to stake enough FUN to cover casino payouts.
If anyone can find a silver-lining in the current environs it's gonna be the best and brightest of crypto folks.

OOC - This is told from the perspective of Malachi and I will try to stay in character as much as possible while telling it.
Gesh, a nice place if you like dragonborn looking down their snouts at you, just for the simple fact you were born human. bah. that's where our mission took us this time out, and right proper important mission it was. The long and short of it is we failed in our objective, and may have a potentially dangerous and reinvigorated adversary working against us… or perhaps not. Let me tell you the whole of it and you can be the judge.
An elderly gnome tinkerer, Carix do be his name, had been retired by the fangs. If some of you hear that name and recoil in horror I wouldn’t blame you. To call Carix a mere tinkerer is a disservice. He is an artificer of great renown, known far and wide as the architect of some of the most terrible, murderous and destructive items deployed by the fangs Malachi spits as he says fangs Carix chose to retire to the island of Gesh, which as any sailor worth his salt knows is the southern most and largest island in Dragon Scale Bay. It is a place of many carnal pleasures and delights, gambling, fighting, drinking, whoring and the like. name your pleasure and odds are the goods and services you seek can be found on Gesh.
We left Audrian’s and headed to cold bay. There we secured passage to Gesh on a pleasure cruise by forging some paperwork to make it appear two of our party (Simaron and Aryndall) were well to do merchants, very well to do with how we painted them up. They also disguised themselves. Simaron appeared to be a dragon born (Ooc I think Aryndall disguised himself as a dragonborn as well, but I can’t recall exactly) They had made their riches selling supplies and accoutrements to slavers. Rick and I were to act as their bodyguards, and the poor Clang was relegated to being a hand servant to the two lords. The voyage takes us 6 days. Along the way Simaron and Aryndall make acquaintances with a rich uncouth dwarf by the name of Ragnar. Ragnar likes his drink, gaudy jewelry, and other opulent signs of wealth to be visible for the whole world to see, but beyond that he appears to be an honest dwarf. His manners were… less than someone of his apparent station should have. There was also a lovely half-elf lass by the name of Selina that will play a role later on.
As soon as we were on the ship we began to hatch a plan to “obtain” Carix. We need him alive, but how to make this happen. The plan we agreed to was upon arrival at Gesh we would gather information about Carix. Then under some pretense of needing a specialized invention (a better manacle system, or dungeon perhaps) we would reach out to him. He would be plied with drink. At some point Clang would spike his drink with a certain type of flower he had. This flower makes one more amenable to telling the truth. We could get some information from Carix (why he left the fangs, his feelings on the fangs, his interest in joining us, etc.) If that didn’t lead to a completely amicable solution then Aryndall has a box that can contain people. They can only exit if they know a certain tune that apparently only he knows. The caveat is they have to enter the box willingly. Seemed like a solid plan, and we banked on Carix innate curiosity getting the better of him and entering the box, potentially with Simaron as well so he would feel better about going in the box… the best laid plans and all that nonsense.
Even though we were on a pleasure cruise we decided it be best to keep a watch going all the same. I wasn’t too sure our forgeries had been seen as legitimate and was waiting for trouble to come our way at any moment. Also while we were devising our plans in our rooms it wasn’t impossible for us to have been spied upon. The paranoia, tension and constant alertness took a toll and drained me, but it worked well with the bodyguard persona Rick and I had adapted. Ha! It would appear ol' Malachi is fast becoming a master of disguise! Ha! Who’d have thunk it! Round bout the third or fourth morning we awoke to discover Simaron’s slippers had been stolen! Stolen from the very rooms we were staying in. We aren’t entirely sure when it happened as we had a watch in the room, and no one saw a thing. Left with little choice we approached the captain of the ship and informed him of the theft. Simaron revealed that slippers were magic and the captain was doubly aghast. Aghast at the theft and more so that the items stolen were magic contraband! Simaron smoothed it over though. Aryndall walked the ship feeling about for magic items and oh boy did he find some! Apparently the captain was quiet the collector of illicit wares himself and indeed the entire ship seemed to radiate with a certain magical aura. There was one other room that contained a magical item as well, and we would find out who’s room that was that very evening. In the interim the captain had all the servants rounded up and “questioned” about the theft. It was obvious what kind of questioning he’d been up too when half the servants were absent at dinner and the half that were there had visible bruises, and walked with limps… he’d not gone easy on the poor bastards. Clang had managed to avoid being questioned with a bit of trickery and luck to aide him.
Simaron and Aryndall sat with their normal dinner guest Selina and Ragnar. The dinner was subdued. Everyone seemed on edge that there was a thief aboard the ship and that they hadn’t been caught yet. Also many lamented the fact that the service was less than adequate due to many servants being unable to walk at all. A sorry lot of bastards if ever I did see one. Somewhere into dinner the lady Selina as if Simaron would join her on deck. There it was revealed that she was the thief who’d stolen his slippers. She knew they were magic and attempted to blackmail us. Simaron negotiated her silence, return of the slippers and securing us passage back to Cold Bay for 1/6th of the “profit” they intended to get from the sale of their wares. She agreed.
Simaron paid Ragnar a visit that night and played him in a game of checkers. This was no social call though. The slippers needed to be returned through “Official” channels. Simaron carefully placed the slippers on top of one of Ragnar’s bags, unbeknownst to the drunken Ragnar. He played two games of checkers and we left the room. The next day the slippers were returned by the captain and the rest of the voyage passed without incident.
Gesh… I suppose it’s nice if you’re the right species or a towering minotaur. Humans are less than pond scum here so be wary if you’re human just mucking about in Dragonborn lands.
we find out many things. The current champion of the arena is a green dragonborn named Garr. He’s undefeated in 6 months. He fights for no lord, or faction. He fights for the joy of fighting. For the thrill of it I reckon. Aye, I understand it being a warrior myself, but I don’t seek it out if it can be helped. Seems far too many in this resistance are looking to pick a fight, or kill someone when they could be captured and made to be useful. Kill fangs where we find them, aye, but none fangs… doesn’t bode well for the future of us, and we may be viewed by the people as just another form of tyranny, but I digress. We find out that Carix likes to drink, and has been banned from entering the colosseum. You see there is a casino in the colosseum and Carix never lost… not once. Not a single copper. Not sure if his cheating was proven or not, but he was banned all the same.
We were informed Carix was fond of drinking at the pleasure palace. We head there and find him seated at one end of the bar all by himself. He had a pair of bodyguards clad all in black, from head to toe. They were barely noticeable as they stood perched along one wall of the bar. The only move they made was when the towering form of Rick approached them and tried to engage them in conversation. They both turned to look at him and then looked back straight ahead. Cold customers if ever I did see any. I’d think twice about tangling with that duo, but that’s just my estimation of the situation.
It was Aryndall who first approached and engaged Carix. They talked for a few minutes before Simaron joined the conversation and they both tried to get the gnome to agree to a meeting at his house, or somewhere more private, but Carix was having none of it. Carix had a mug that walked itself over to a specialized tap, filled itself and then walked back to him! It was incredible! The conversation continued for a few minutes and that is when Carix dropped a bombshell. He can tell Aryndall is an Aasimar. Mind you Aryndall was disguised and doesn’t show his wings, but Carix knew. Didn’t guess, didn’t ask, he knew. he saw through every deception and knew. Simaron then tried one last ploy to get to the gnome. Carix admits he is bored here on Gesh and didn’t like being retired. Simaron ask if he would like to build weapons to use against “an unbeatable for” Carix says he always plays for the winning side. Simaron then all but tells him he wants to recruit Carix to build weapons against the fangs. Aye, he didn’t say it outright, but if I could figure it out, I am sure a sharp old gnome like Carix knew exactly what he meant.
Carix then changed his demeanor. He admitted he didn’t have a very large laboratory here on Gesh and so couldn’t build much at all, even if he was inclined to. And he may be inclined if he was plied with gold. To this end he makes a proposal. He wants us to go to the casino, place a device on the roulette wheel and place a bet on double zero. We agree. When we enter the casino Rick and I cause a distraction and of course the dragonborn are just looking to pile on the poor human tangling with the minotaur. As we are causing the distraction Clang (made invisible by Simaron) places the device on the roulette wheel. Aryndall places a 200 GP wager on double zero and Simaron laughs and says “only 200, I’ll bet 400 on double zero!” the dealer checks with the pit boss who approves the action and the wheel is spun… I don’t recall seeing anyone more pale in all my days than that poor dealer when the ball landed on double zero!
The pit boss returns and ask us to follow him into another room. Clang (still invisible) retrieves the device. We enter a large room and we are met by the owner of the colosseum, a Tiefling named Crowley. He says Simaron and Aryndall were very lucky to win so big on their very first bet. He then turns towards Carix who enters the room. Carix points to us and says “yes, those are the people I gave my device to. They cheated you Crowley” Crowley bows in assent and says Carix is welcome back to the colosseum anytime. Carix then leaves with his all black guard and Crowley’s guards attack. I won’t say it was a tough battle. I have had gelatinous cubes, and snow hags hit me harder, but it was a frustrating battle for many reasons. Mainly Carix now knew there was a resistance, had betrayed us and was getting away while we tangled with Crowley and his men, who honestly were just doing what any wronged merchant would do. After Crowley was down and all the guards I gave a healing potion to Crowley. As he woke I had a knee on his chest. I told him Carix had framed us and we weren’t his enemy. I began to secure him so we could take him as Aryndall searched his pockets and asked where the money was. Crowley pointed off to a reinforced door and Aryndall found a ring of keys on Crowley’s person. I was just securing some knots when Simaron unleashed a blast of energy into Crowley’s chest killing him. I was enraged. Here was a man we could use for information in the future. He could be made to see reason that Carix was the one who had betrayed him. Carix had played us all. We could have used Crowley as a source of information on Carix whereabouts. Carix has great love for the colosseum. He could tell us when he returned and where he was in addition to being a potential and much needed “fence” for the resistance, all that potential now dead on the ground. I shook in anger and cast Simaron a blood chilling glance, but this wasn’t the time or place to have it out. Our fight had no doubt not gone unnoticed and it was time to be gone. We grabbed what gold we could and made haste to the dock…
I can’t tell you how we managed to get out of the colosseum, but by the blood of the people we did. Selina was good to her word. We gave her a share of the gold and we boarded a ship back to cold harbor just like that. We arrived in cold harbor and returned to the island. I am left with a lingering feeling of dread and apprehension. I am pretty sure that willy gnome Carix knows there is a resistance, a resistance of some kind anyway. If he is well and truly as bored as he says he may go to the fangs and request to hunt us down. He said he always goes with the winning side, and he enjoys a challenge. He may consider hunting down a band of rebels who are hell bent on destroying his former masters a worthy challenge indeed. We need to get to him and right quick. I hear tell there is a town hall meeting coming up. I have a few things I’d like to talk about. Aye, I have a few things indeed.

all following data assumes all upgrades

1. cayo perico

• Intel prep guide.

This content is boring as shit so I'm not at all inclined to learn to min-max. You arrive, take some loot, then leave. That's literally it.

2. Casino Heist

• Do one of each approach to unlock canceling. Then, when the vault contents is cash, call Lester to cancel casino heist while still in the casino during the Scope Contents mission. Upon restarting, it will be gold or art.
  
• Alternate between Big Con and Aggressive, never Sneaky. Hard mode for more money, and it's not that much harder.
  
• Gruppe Sechs for entry disguise, NOOSE for exit. Sewer entrance for Aggressive, Security entrance for Big Con. Staff exit for both.
  
• Pick Manchez bikes; use sewer tunnel at top of LS River to escape police, come out the other end on the highway.
  
• Don't fucking do this content with randoms. heistteams
  
• Buy the hacking practice; it will pay for itself. Learning the fingerprint hack is a valuable skill. Don't buy the vault door.
  

3. Diamond Casino

Casinos are specifically designed from the ground up to take your money. Please do not be surprised when the casino takes your money.
Games:

• Slots: very low chance of very high return - avoid.
  
• Blackjack: rigged in dealer's favor - avoid.
  
• Roulette: extremely low odds - avoid.
  
• 3-card poker: skillful players can make a decent profit off it.
  
• Lucky Wheel: Spin, and if you don't like the result, force-quit/disable internet connection before it stops and issues the reward, go back in and try again.
  
• Horse racing: noticeably random but lesser odds still win slightly more often.
  

Horse race glitch: no longer effective; leaving for posterity

1. Pick any horse; which one no longer matters due to adjusted odds.
   
2. Click and hold the increase bet arrow. Do not release mouse button until step 4.
   
3. Immediately drag mouse down to 'place bet' button; total bet should be 200.
   
4. Keep holding click for at least 8 seconds into the race. You can go for 10, or whatever works for you for best return.
   

What happens is for the first 7.5 seconds of the race, the bet counter continues to increase in the background up to 10,000. So you bet 200 chips but the game thinks you bet 10,000 from the beginning, and rewards as thus.
Host all casino story missions: $1,000,000
Participate in all casino story missions: $100,000 and free Enus Paragon R armored
Additional casino work available via Ms Baker on phone.
The penthouse's optional 'office' does not connect to any of your businesses; it is purely cosmetic/roleplay.

4. Nightclubs

income per hour:
Documents - $4k
Weed - $4.5k
Cash - $7k
Bunker (guns) - $7.5k
Meth - $8.5k
Cargo - $8.5k
Cocaine - $10k
Special orders give +10% profit, negating Tony's 10% cut
Avoid selling 90 or more units at one time, as one sale is bugged and can not be completed with a Pounder.
Tony's cut caps at $100k; sell over a million. Sweet spot for sales is over a million return, but under 90 units.

5. GunRunning bonker

Generate $7k stock every 7 minutes; set timers for one minute per $1k stock
Supply depletion in 2 hours, 20 minutes (140 minutes)
Product; units = value
25 = 175k - 1 sale vehicle; 262,500
50 = 350k - 1-2 sale vehicle; 524,000
75 = 525k - 2-3 sale vehicle; 786,000
100 = 700k - 2-4 sale vehicle; 1,048,000
Divide $ by 7,000 to get current total units
Resupply idle procedure:

1. Fill bonker supply by stealing
   
2. Select option to buy supplies (at $15k)
   
3. Quickly enter any Contact Mission
   
4. Proceed straight to apartment, Clubhouse, Hangar or Facility and have your character watch TV. A low or mid level apartment is ideal to minimize resource use; less on-screen graphics to render
   
5. Go AFK or tab out for 2 hours and 10 minutes, then complete the Contact Mission
   
6. Return to Freemode; wait for text message to confirm supplies arrival
   

tl;dr - effectively purchase $75,000 worth of supplies for $15,000, the cost being more than covered by the Contact Mission. Repeat as desired to fill bonker. This also fills nightclub.

6. Import/Export

Fill vehicle garage with every vehicle; export only High vehicles. Having remaining Standard and Mid ensures only High will be sourced.
Collection - 'Uninsurable' and 'End of Empires' only:
Osiris 'SLEEK'
T20 'DEVIL'
X80 'MAKEBANK'
Roosevelt 'OLDTIMER'
Z-Type 'BIGMONEY'
ALL COLLECTIONS
Talk to Assisstant, use Pegasus Concierge to leave the office in Cargobob, pick up and deliver sourced car.

7. doomsday bullshit

fuck this content, but it pays... kinda
Act I: $812,500
Act II: $1,187,500 - best act for cash grinding
Act III: $1,500,000
First Time (each Act): $50,000
All in Order: $500,000
Loyalty 2 Players: $75,000
Loyalty 3 Players: $175,000
Loyalty 4 Players: $375,000
DD Criminal Mastermind: the worst effort:reward in the game
2 Players: $750,000 - faster and easier to do Act II twice
3 Players: $1,750,000
4 Players: $3,750,000
tl;dr - do 4-player Loyalty and In Order then forget about it, though this is pretty solid grinding for players with little game time available to them

8. Classic Heists

Fleeca Job - 2 players, $143,500
Prison Break - 4 players, $500,000
Humane Labs - 4 players, $675,000
Series A - 4 players, $505,000
Pacific Standard - 4 players, $1,250,000
All In Order and Loyalty Challenges, $1,000,000 each. Criminal Mastermind, $10,000,000. Do all at the same time for $12,000,000 total payout at the end, with rewards for setups and finales etc close to $13,000,000.
First Person Challenge - all of the setups and finales - not necessarily in order - with First Person Camera Lock setting on - $100,000

9. special cargo, hangar cargo, biker biz

nope. The grind and sale time, effort and cost are not worth the reward. Sure, you'll make money doing it, but this content is tedious, frustrating, time-consuming and overall just not fun. Also, their hourly income makes them just not productive to do when you have much more profitable activities for your time and investment.

10. shit to do while cooldowns

• Headhunter, preferably in a Hunter, or at least a Buzzard or Oppressor
  
• Haulage, using Hauler MOC truck
  
• Piracy Prevention, in a chill session when need a RL lunch break
  

Follow instructions; become unreasonably wealthy. Also, join a fucking cartel already; you have no excuse not to be in chill, helpful sessions with like-minded colleagues.
Friendly Lobbies:
/SecuroServ - cross platform
/ceofriendly - PS4
/MCCEO - PS4
/FPGL - XB1
/PCEO - XB1
And, last but certainly not least, gtacartel

Lessons learned from poker pros and applying these skills to sales.
Gambling has the potential to wreck peoples’ lives. But hitting the jackpot results in life-changing wealth. Personally, I’m usually not the gambling type, the odds are against you and result in long-term losses.
However, in poker, your skills and strategies can swing the odds in your favour; a seductive appeal that lured me in. The same goes with sales.
Learning how to sell like a poker player can boost your performance as a sales person. The worlds of sales and poker are closely aligned, and many of the skills that it takes to consistently win big pots can also help close big deals.
I began playing poker socially with friends and family, and after learning the game, progressed to cash games, tournaments and online play. In an attempt to be better (and win more money), I studied poker professionals to find a predictable and profitable strategy. Unfortunately in a game as mathematically complex as poker, there’s no single, perfect strategy that works every time. However, you can greatly improve your chances of success with a particular formula.
I found that in order to be successful at poker, it takes preparation, hard work, structured game plans, acute competitiveness, calculated risk-taking and emotional intelligence. Sound familiar?

Creating a Game Plan

By far, the best decision I made was creating a methodical process for every point in the game. I studied the best percentages based on mathematical probability for each position at the table and tailored my strategy for each. For example, when in early positions, I only play premium hands, reducing my vulnerability and increasing my “power,” based on a limited amount of knowledge of opponents’ decisions.
In later positions, I extend the hands I play because I have more information to base my decisions on, as other players made their plays before me. While the cards are important, the positioning is crucial.
Prior to this, playing without strategy left me feeling lost and uncertain. I knew the other players could smell my weakness. But after creating a playbook, I could optimise my results, be confident in my decisions and also stay focused. I now play by calculating risk versus reward and expected value. The repetition and consistency mitigated the weaknesses in my game, because I was playing with a formula rather than winging it.
This also translates into my sales career. Prior to creating a playbook for sales, I had similar feelings to my early days of poker. Without a clear process, I had no control of the interactions with prospects and stumbled my way through calls. There’s nothing worse than having no confidence and being walked all over.
My results improved dramatically after creating scripts and objection responses for cold calling, discovery calls, meetings, follow ups and inbound calls. I’m now able to gather the correct information from prospects and progress from open to close with a structured set of questions and objection responses. The repetition and consistency reduced the weaknesses in my sales process, because I’m using a formula rather than winging it.
This isn’t to say the game plans are set in stone; rather, they’re moulded with clay. They’re structured, yet adaptable to the situation. If the players at the poker table are really tight, I can play more hands and be more profitable. If the players are really loose, I can wait until I get only premium hands and be confident they’ll call with mediocre hands. The same goes with sales, I’m structured, yet adaptable to each situation, but the strategies work best with a strong foundational game plan, for both calls and emails.

Gathering Information

A huge part of poker is the ability to gather information about the other players, so I can gain context of their style and decision-making. This way, I can make better and more profitable decisions based on their game plan or lack-there-of.
How do you do this? You ask questions, listen and observe.
Often when I arrive at the table for the first time, I’ll sit-out until the Big Blind reaches me, to get a gauge on the table dynamics. It’s basically like doing your background research on prospects before you cold call or cold email them.
Once I’m in the game, I’ll play my game, use my strategy and pickup intelligence on the other players as I go. I’ll take mental notes (or actual notes if I’m playing online) of their aggression level, how often they raise, call and fold, what points they fold, what cards they play when they reveal them at showdowns, etc. I actually developed a piece of software to track other players’ statistics at the table, so I could make more informed decisions But that’s a story for another time.
If I detect someone is folding 75% of the time to a raise on the Turn, that means I can make a raise against them every time and no matter what cards I have, that particular play will be profitable over time. It’s like betting on Black on Roulette when 75% of the wheel has black squares, but the casino still pays 2x your bet. It takes the cards out of the equation, and focuses on ROI.
But then, if the player calls or raises me, it provides me information that it’s likely he has a pretty strong hand. My raises ask questions, and his actions provide informative responses. I can now manage these responses and progress toward the goal. This strategy lets me minimise my losses and maximise my wins.
The same goes for sales. Learning how to sell like a poker player can be very effective because the person asking questions and gathering information is the one in control of the conversation. They can deploy their strategy and progress to the goal, whether that is a meeting or closing the deal.

Creating a Brand for Yourself

This also relates to gathering information, but focuses on portraying a particular image at the table. Do you want to look like a serious player and intimidate? Do you want to look casual, friendly and fly under the radar? Or do you want to be the weird, dishevelled person that’s uncomfortable at the table?
How do you stack your chips? Are they in a neat pile in correct denominations or in a mess? Are your nails cut or long? Is your hair short and styled or unstructured and messy? What’s your physique like? What clothes are you wearing?
These factors often depict the player’s poker style. If they stack their chips neatly, dress well, have their nails cut, and style their hair, then they commonly play “neatly” too, meaning they’re “tight” in their approach. The opposite is also generally true: a player with long nails, scruffy clothing and messy hair, with unstructured chips is more “loose” and plays a wider range of hands.
When I play, I dress smart with a button-up shirt and fitted pants. My hair is neat, my nails are short, BUT I keep my chips messy. Why? I’m exuding an image of professionalism and confidence so players are wary of my presence, but confusing them with an unstructured facet. Poker is a game of information, and I want to deceive my opponents with my branding.
The lesson here for sales is branding yourself for the correct purpose. What’s the purpose of sales people? To build a relationship and trust with prospects, so they’ll become a long-term client.
Hence, I aim to brand myself as successful and confident, which exudes positivity and professionalism to instil comfort in the prospect. This is easier when the interaction is visual (i.e. an in-person meeting or video conference) but can also be conveyed through tonality and articulation over the phone and email. Not to mention, when you feel good physically and mentally, it translates to your performance.
Tailor your branding to your target market, and then go slightly above. When pitching lawyers and real estate agents, I was always clean-shaven, wore a fitted suit and shiny shoes to match their level, but wore a tie, which added extra professionalism. I want to be the one in control of the situation, and branding adds to this dynamic as it pre-frames you. Please note: some lawyers and agents wear ties, but mostly only for court and upmarket houses, respectively.

Downswings, “Bad Beats” and avoiding “Tilt”

A big component of poker is natural downswings. When playing mathematically, you can do everything in perfect strategy, and the odds go against you multiple times in a row.
For example, say I’m playing roulette and 75% of the wheel has Black squares but the casino still pays 2x your bet. Just because it’s profitable to continually bet on Black, this doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be a run of 5, 10 or more Reds, where you’ve now lost a fair bit of money.
“Tilt” is poker-slang for letting emotions take over your decision making, rather than using logic. This can happen after bad beats (big losses), a long session without a break, or even multiple big wins. When emotion clouds your judgement, you begin “gambling” for luck, rather than using strategy and mathematical calculation.
Great poker players recognise that these downswings are bound to happen, just like great sales people recognise that you can’t close everyone. Not every lead or prospect is going to convert. Alternatively, when you’re doing really well, it may not continue forever. There are peaks and troughs in all aspects of life, and this is the nature of the sales profession. The goal is to be persistent and consistent.

Actionable Insights to Sell Like a Poker Player

The successful poker players we see are the ones winning the big tournaments, basking in the money, drinking the expensive booze and socialising with beautiful people. Their success is the sum of preparation, hard work, structured game plans, acute competitiveness, calculated risk-taking and emotional intelligence.
Our job as sales people is to craft a game plan (strategy) that puts us in the best position for success. What are the best questions, phrases, and responses for every situation to progress the interaction?
Gathering intelligence on the landscape, market and prospects is crucial to give you context for your decisions. Branding yourself to suit the environment allows you to be perceived in a certain light.
By continually executing the game plan, we can swing the odds in our favour and capitalise on the opportunities created. They analyse their successes and their failures and improve their craft. This is how to sell like a poker player and improve your results.
Fortune favours the bold.
TL;DR - both poker and sales requires preparation, hard work, structured game plans, acute competitiveness, calculated risk-taking and emotional intelligence.

UPDATED 10/17 AT 8:00 A.M.
If you know of an event that isn't yet listed, please post a comment and I will add it to the list. Events listed in bold are weekend highlights!
FESTIVALS/EVENTS
Magnificant Intentions Music Festival | Friday - Sunday | Magnificent Intentions Music Festival is the brainchild of DC-area musician Ryan Walker (of the bands The Beanstalk Library and The Cowards Choir). The idea for the festival was sparked when Ryan was watching the Grammys and realized he had a plethora of friends in the area who make music as good as (if not better than) what was on display at the awards show. Taking place at IOTA Club and Café in Arlington, VA from October 17th through the 19th, the festival takes its name from a quote by Charles Dickens, calling DC the “city of magnificent intentions.” Curated and produced by Ryan, along with band mates, friends and other key members of the DC-area music scene, the festival will be a three-day showcase and celebration of a wide variety of high quality acts from the DC area. Recommended by EPiC212.
Adams Morgan PorchFest | Saturday, 3:00 p.m. | It may never be easier to get up close and personal with the musical talent of Washington than at the second annual Adams Morgan PorchFest when the front porches of homes and a few local businesses are transformed into intimate performance spaces to be enjoyed by anyone who happens to stroll by. Inspired by similar PorchFest events across the country aimed at creating a family friendly, neighborhood-based alternative to the nightclub music scene, Adams Morgan’s version will span an eclectic range of styles from Brazilian, Irish and jazz, to indie rock, children’s music and even Egyptian Nubian folkloric. Adams Morgan PorchFest is free to the public and presented by Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District in partnership with Cultural Tourism DC.
DC Author Festival | Saturday, 9:30 a.m. | Enjoy readings, workshops, and over 70 local author and publisher vendor booths. Presented by DC Public Libraries.
DC United v. Chicago Fire | Saturday, 7:00 p.m. | Come cheer on DC United during their last regular season home game. DC can clinch 1st place in the East going into the playoffs and qualify for next season's Champions League if they get a tie or win. Recommended by doriangray512 and stonewallnilgoals. spanish_bread shared "a heads up to people who might want to buy tickets at the stadium. The game will most likely sellout so try and get your tickets before then!"
Let's Get Lucky Casino Night! | Saturday, 7:00 p.m. | For three special hours, guests will test their luck at craps, roulette, blackjack, poker, and the money wheel. At the end of the night, winnings can be used to purchase raffle tickets for exciting prizes! The $95 ticket price includes 1,000 Lucky Dog Dollars to start the fun. All proceeds from the event will benefit Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, a volunteer-run 501c3 working to save dogs and cats from certain euthanasia. Recommended by L2Forest.
Lit Up Ball at Artisphere: Bond, James Bond Theme | Saturday, 8:00 p.m. | Attendees are encouraged to don their best 1950s-60s attire for an evening of intrigue and glamour, by way of Ian Fleming’s iconic James Bond. Highlights include a jazz orchestra performing 1950s-60s and Bond-inspired music, dance instructors showing era-appropriate dances, raffles for wide variety of prizes and prize packages, desserts, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available for purchase by credit/debit cards. Prizes for best 1950s-60 style attire!
MeccaFest | Saturday, 12:00 p.m. | For 72 hours every October, Washington transforms into the epicenter of American hip-hop during Howard University’s annual homecoming weekend. Enter MeccaFest, a day-long concert being thrown in Southeast Washington by a group of bootstrapping Howard alums. The festival’s bigger names include robotic rap balladeer Future; R&B lothario Jeremih; teenage hit-makers Rae Sremmurd; go-go legends Backyard Band; Black Cobain, a local rapper who still has the best stage name on Earth; and Elle Varner. Event highlighted by The Washington Post.
Mimosa March | Saturday | Enjoy six special editions of the champagne classic -- all INCLUDED in your ticket -- as you explore six of Dupont Circle's best bars during this all day mimosa adventure. You also get specials on food pairings, liquor pairings and additional beers. A portion of ALL proceeds will go to Stand Up For Kids charity.
Bethesda Row Arts Festival | Saturday - Sunday | The Bethesda Row Arts Festival transforms four blocks downtown Bethesda into an outdoor art gallery featuring fine arts and crafts for sale from 190 museum quality artists in the Bethesda Row area of Bethesda, Maryland. Here is a link to the Festival map showing artist booth locations, parking, dining, shopping and more.
Claude Moore Colonial Farm AUTUMN MARKET FAIR | Saturday - Sunday | Warm yourself by the fire and enjoy the splendor of autumn with crisp local apples and hearty breads. Stop by the Shady Pig and Turkey Tavern for a cup of mulled wine before you begin your holiday shopping at the many tradesmen's and merchant's stalls. Period food, beverages, and wares available for purchase. Recommended by hysilvinia.
Fredericksburg Fall Home Show | Saturday - Sunday | The Fall Home Show is a great place for homeowners to knock out their to-do lists! Over 100 vendors will be on hand to give advice on any projects or repairs your home needs. Plus you can get your holiday shopping started early with high-quality crafts, including home decor, specialty foods, knick-knacks, clothing, photography, pottery and more! Recommended by alicelily.
Noir City DC: The 2014 Film Noir Festival | * October 18 - 30* | Following on the 12th edition of Noir City in San Francisco, this year’s edition goes international, exploding the long-held belief that noir stories and style are a specifically American phenomenon. Focusing on the years immediately following World War II, this year's festival features classic noir films from France, Mexico, Japan, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Norway and Britain, as well as a complementary sampling of homegrown Hollywood product. Familiar American stars such as Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Orson Welles, Dan Duryea and Lizabeth Scott share the screen with international superstars Jean Gabin, Olga Zubarry, Toshirô Mifune, Ninón Sevilla and Yves Montand. The 21 films in this series should leave little doubt that the cinematic movement known as "noir" spanned the globe, and its style, sexiness and cynicism crossed all international borders.
Oyster Festival | Saturday - Sunday | Its that time of year once again. When, for oyster lovers, the St. Marys County fairgrounds near Leonardtown transform to nirvana. Oysters served up raw, scalded, grilled on the barbie, on bread, on the half shell, stewed, nude, cooked in savory sauces, in salads, even in desserts, just about every way imaginable and then some. Theyre here for the eating and enjoying at the Annual St. Marys County Oyster Festival. This year's festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 18th and 19th at the Fairgrounds on Route 5 just south of Leonardtown. Recommended by fuji96.
Tysons Fall Harvest | Saturday - Sunday | Bring The Kids For the 1st Annual Tysons Fall Harvest Festival! Stroll through the arts and crafts booths and taste some of the fun flavors of Fall. It is all here for the reaping… bring your family and friends and carve out some special memories!
World of Montgomery Festival | Sunday, 12:00 p.m. | The World of Montgomery Festival at Westfield Wheaton on Sunday October 19th will celebrate the diverse cultural heritages which play an active role in the lives of Montgomery County residents and communities. The festival showcases this rich diversity through food, music, dance, traditional arts and hands-on projects for children and families.
HALLOWEEN/HAUNTS
National Building Museum Haunted Historic Ghost Tour | Friday, 8:00 p.m. | Explore the haunted past of the National Building Museum. See a different side of the Museum on this lantern-light tour. Mysteries and surprises await as you explore the dark side of our historic building. Recommended by alicelily.
Wicked Women Burlesque Show | Friday, 9:00 p.m. | As Halloween approaches, evil invades your town with a new name: The Love Show! This event is 21+.
Raven's Night | Saturday | Raven’s Night, Metro DC’s most unique, hedonistic and artistic Halloween event, ushers in the season on October 18, 2014 at The Birchmere. Now in its fourth year, this sensational modern take on the traditional masquerade ball celebrates every devilish trick and sexy treat of Halloween. The theme for 2014 is Sci-Fi Phantasm…so fire up your retro rockets, check your fuel intake, and prepare to blast off into another universe!As with past years, Raven’s Night: Sci-Fi Phantasm 2014 includes three distinct events woven into one: mesmerizing world-class dance performances at The Cabaret Macabre; a dinner concert featuring live music; and a pre-show event combining an alternative World’s Fair-styled exposition and sideshow, including Tarot card readings, magic and belly-dancing. Recommended by t-readyroc.
DC DEAD | Saturday - Sunday | Explore the hidden hallways of Fort Fringe in NW Washington, DC. Salvage supplies and maybe save humanity...but watch out, the undead are lurking just around the corner. DC DEAD is an immersive game - you will be chasing Zombies and Zombies will be chasing you! Please come prepared to stand, climb stairs, scavenge for supplies and dodge that fatal swipe from the infected Undead! Recommended by bonnieirisheyes. Half price tickets available here.
Pumpkin Harvest Days at Butler's Orchard | October 4 - 26 | Bring your friends and your sense of adventure and come out to the farm to enjoy a crisp autumn afternoon full of fall fun. From learning about the pumpkin life-cycle to picking their own pumpkin, children will learn about how food is grown and harvested while engaging in enjoyable, educational learning stations. Recommended by alicelilly.
CULTURE
Zola Jesus at the Hirshhorn After Hours | Friday, 8:00 p.m. | We invite you to join us on October 17 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hirshhorn Museum, view our new exhibitions Days of Endless Time and At the Hub of Things: New Views of the Collection, and to be part of the dynamic future of the Hirshhorn and the Smithsonian. The evening includes late-night gallery hours, curator-led tours, film screenings, and a live performance by Zola Jesus. Recommended by doriangray512.
AAFSW Art & Book Fair | Saturday - Sunday | Thousands of used books, paintings, art objects, jewelry, textiles and treasures from around the world plus CDs, DVDs, maps, ephemera, stamps, coins, paper money and much more will be available to the public at Art & BookFair 2014.
White House Fall Garden Tours | Saturday - Sunday | This fall, the White House will be opening its gardens and grounds to visitors on Saturday, October 18 from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM EDT, and Sunday, October 19 from 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM EDT. During this event, visitors can see the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Rose Garden and South Lawn of the White House. Additionally, the White House Kitchen Garden – the first vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden – will be accessible to guests. This event is free and open to the public; however, a ticket is required for all attendees (including small children). The National Park Service will distribute free, timed tickets at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion located at 15th and E Streets Northwest on each tour day beginning at 9:00 AM. Tickets will be distributed -- one ticket per person -- on a first-come, first-served basis.
Friends of SW DC Public Library Book Sale | Saturday - Sunday | Hundreds of new books: bestsellers, fiction, non-fiction, vampires, cookbooks, job search, and more!
CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE WHY NOT?
National Christmas Tree Lighting Ticket Lottery | Opens Friday, 10:00 a.m. | On December 4, 2014 the National Park Foundation and National Park Service will present the 92nd annual National Christmas Tree Lighting. Nationally known entertainers and a United States military band add to the celebratory evening in which the President of the United States is invited to light the National Christmas Tree and bring a message of peace to the nation and world. The application period for the 2014 lottery begins at 10 a.m. (ET) on Friday, October 17 and ends at 10 a.m. (ET) on Monday, October 20. To register, visit recreation.gov and sign up for an account. Return to the recreation.gov home page and click the National Christmas tree link. Click the "Apply Now" button that will appear when in the upper right hand corner you're logged in at recreation.gov.

First, let me say thank you to all of our wonderful readers, users, subscribers, lurkers and whoever happens to stumble bum into our little islands, /Oahu and /Honolulu, in the vast ocean of the Innernet. Hope 2017 was good to you and hope 2018 will be even more better...so...to rock it in properly, here's a handy dandy guide I've put together using a variety of sources.
Please verify the information on your own and be aware, there may be changes for any kind of reason. If there are any mistakes or if you'd like to add your own, post a comment here or shoot me a PM.
Your 2017 Guide to the Best New Year’s Eve Events and Fireworks in Honolulu - From Honolulu Magazine
Eighth Annual New Year’s Eve Party of the Year
SATURDAY, DEC. 30 ­AND SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Party your way into the new year with a two-day festival featuring the electro-pop duo behind “Roses,” “Closer” and “Something Just Like This.” One ticket gets you access to The Chainsmokers concert at Aloha Stadium on Saturday, followed by a countdown to 2018 at Aloha Tower on Sunday with more than 30 bands and DJs on nine stages (including Walshy Fire of Major Lazer), Eat the Street food trucks and, of course, a spectacular fireworks display.
Saturday: Aloha Stadium, 99-500 Salt Lake Blvd., ‘Aiea, 5–10 p.m., all ages; Sunday: Aloha Tower Marketplace, 1 Aloha Tower Drive, 7 p.m.­–2 a.m., 18 and over; $135–$300, purchase tickets here.
Hideout NYE
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Start 2018 right dressed in all-white at The Laylow Hotel’s New Year’s Eve masquerade. Mingle with mysterious guests (thanks to complimentary masks!) out on the open-air lānai and by the pool while you listen to live performances by DJs Revise and Tittahbyte and get your drink on at not one, but two, bars.
2299 Kūhio Ave., 9 p.m.–2 a.m., $50 for the first 200 guests, $75 at the door, purchase tickets here.
Majestic! New Year’s Eve Cruise
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
All aboard Atlantis Adventures’ Majestic! for a New Year’s Eve with an ocean view of the Waikīkī fireworks, delicious appetizers, celebratory party favors and a complimentary glass of Champagne for a toast at midnight.
Pier 6, 1 Aloha Tower Drive, 10:30 p.m.­–12:45 a.m., $173, purchase tickets here.
Monte Carlo Casino Night at 53 By The Sea
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Try your hand at being James (or Jane) Bond for a night at 53 By The Sea’s glamorous New Year’s Eve party. This black-tie-optional event features casino favorites such as blackjack, craps and roulette, live music, a cigar lounge, a martini bar and a view of the Waikīkī fireworks from the terrace lānai. Each ticket includes casino cash, hors d’oeuvres, drink/cigar tickets, a Champagne toast and party favors.
53 Ahui St., 9 p.m.­–1 a.m., 21 and over, $150 per person, $250 per couple, purchase tickets here.
New Year’s Eve Celebrations at Hilton Hawaiian Village
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Best known for its Friday-night fireworks in Waikīkī, the Hilton Hawaiian Village outdoes itself with its New Year’s Eve show. The resort invites both visitors and locals to the Great Lawn for live entertainment by Henry Kapono and contemporary surf-rock band Dukes of Surf, a four-course dinner, cultural activities and an impressive fireworks finale over the lagoon.
2005 Kālia Road, 7–11 p.m., all ages, kama‘āina rates: $206 (child) or $256 (adult), purchase tickets here.
New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party at SKY Waikīkī
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Start the new year with a bit of mystery at SKY Waikīkī’s annual New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party. Dress to impress in cocktail attire and a mask for a night of hosted appetizers, an open bar featuring Ketel One Vodka cocktails and Veuve Clicquot Champagne and, best of all, a room full of masked strangers. Listen to a live performance by L.A.-based DJ William Lifestyle as you watch Waikīkī’s iconic fireworks show from the top.
2270 Kalākaua Ave., 19th Floor, 8 p.m., 21 and over, $150­–$300, purchase tickets here.
New Year’s Eve Pineapple Drop at Mililani Town Center
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Forget watching the Times Square ball drop on TV—you can see a 12-by-6-foot pineapple drop in person, right here on O‘ahu. The Mililani Town Center pineapple will drop at 7 p.m. HST (midnight in New York), making this one New Year’s Eve party that you can bring your kids and even your grandparents to. Listen to live music by Mike Love and Maunalua, win prizes in the #WeAreMililani selfie contest, be a part of a massive group dance to the “Electric Slide” and more.
95-1249 Meheula Parkway, #193, Mililani, 2–8 p.m., free, click here for more information.
NYE 2018 Presidential Suite Party: Kaleidoscope
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Say goodbye to 2017 in style at the Moana Surfrider’s exclusive New Year’s Eve soirée. This ultra-luxe private party takes place in the hotel’s Presidential Suite on the penthouse level with an unobstructed view of the Waikīkī fireworks. The evening begins with live performances by local artists Starr Kalahiki and Taimane and a variety of cirque performers. Keeping with the kaleidoscope concept, the party’s theme and its menu will change every hour.
2365 Kalākaua Ave., 9 p.m.–2 a.m., 21 and over, $750, purchase tickets here.
Rock-A-Hula Midnight New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Show
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Skip the typical New Year’s Eve parties for this midnight edition of Rock-A-Hula that takes you on a musical “Hawaiian Journey” from the 1920s to today. With Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Katy Perry tribute artists, hula and fire-knife dancers, a gourmet dinner and fireworks visual effects on the big screen, this show will have you rockin’ into the new year.
2201 Kalākaua Ave., Building B, Fourth Floor, 9:45 p.m.–12:45 a.m., all ages, $61 (child)­ to $185 (adult), kama‘āina rates available, purchase tickets here.
Star of Honolulu 2017 New Year’s Eve Cruise
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Sail into the new year on this midnight cruise featuring live entertainment, party favors and a prime view of the Waikīkī fireworks. Your choice of either a three- or five-course steak-and-lobster dinner comes with a Champagne toast to 2018.
1 Aloha Tower Drive, 10:15 p.m.­–12:30 a.m., $89­–$257, purchase tickets here.
The Countdown 2018 at Stripsteak Waikīkī
SUNDAY, DEC. 31
Dance the night away at this New Year’s Eve party hosted by renowned nightlife veterans Blaise Sato and Flash Hansen and featuring sounds by DJs Delve and Hooligan on the Grand Lānai of the International Market Place. Stripsteak will offer a special New Year’s Eve dinner menu with final seating at 8 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
2330 Kalākaua Ave., #330, 10 p.m.–2 a.m., 21 and over, $20–$50, purchase tickets here.
Ring in 2018 with These Fun New Year Cultural Celebrations in Honolulu - From Honolulu Magazine
First Day Hike
MONDAY, JAN. 1, 2018
The first sunrise of 2018 is at 7:09 a.m. Join more than 700 people who hike to the top of Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail to greet the new year. There’ll be a pū (blowing of a conch shell) followed by an oli blessing and taiko drummers. You’ll be hiking in pitch darkness, so bring a flashlight and arrive before the gates open at 5:30 a.m. to claim a parking spot. It might get chilly and windy at the top of the trail, so bring a light jacket.
Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail
Hatsumōde 2018
MONDAY, JAN. 1, 2018
Usher in good luck for the new year with your first temple or shrine visit in 2018. This Japanese custom is called hatsumōde. Listen to the sounds of taiko drums, eat ozoni mochi soup (a New Year’s soup with mochi rice cake and seasonal vegetables), then let the Japanese shishi lion lightly bite your head for good luck. Pro tip: Park your car for free at Damien Memorial School and catch a complimentary shuttle to the event.
Free, midnight to 5 p.m., Hawai‘i Kotohira Jinsha – Hawai‘i Dazaifu Tenmangu, 1239 Olomea St., (808) 841-4755, e-shrine.org
Hatsumohde New Year Celebration
MONDAY, JAN. 1, 2018
If you’re planning to stay up late, visit the Daijingu Temple of Hawai‘i between midnight and 3:30 a.m. to receive a blessing from a Shinto priest. You can buy a lucky amulet and a paper fortune to bring you good luck in 2018. Expect 6,000 people there. If you want to arrive earlier to beat the crowd, there will be a blessing on Dec. 31 at 10 and 11 p.m. Parking is available in the shrine’s parking lot and at the Boy Scouts parking lot across the street.
Free, midnight to 4 p.m., The Daijingu Temple of Hawai‘i, 61 Pū‘iwa Road, daijingutemple.org
Fukubukuro
SUNDAY, DEC. 31, 2017–MONDAY, JAN. 1, 2018 (INTERNATIONAL MARKET PLACE)
MONDAY, JAN. 1, 2018 (ALA MOANA CENTER)
Fukubukuro is a Japanese New Year’s Day custom in which retailers fill bags with mystery items and sell the bags at a discounted rate. At Ala Moana Center and International Market Place, you can take part in the tradition. For example, a mystery bag selling for $50 will contain at least $100 worth of merchandise. Here’s how it works: You can visit the participating stores, including Kate Spade New York, Godiva, Eden in Love and Reyn Spooner, to pick up a mystery bag. Sorry, you can’t open the bag until after you buy it. What’s inside? It’s a surprise! Expect limited quantities and long lines, so plan to hit up your favorite stores early.
Price varies, 9:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Jan. 1, 2018, Ala Moana Center, alamoanacenter.com/en.html
Price varies, 10 a.m.–10 p.m., Dec. 31, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018, International Market Place, shopinternationalmarketplace.com/holidays
New Year’s ‘Ohana Festival
SATURDAY, JAN. 14, 2018
Celebrate the Year of the Dog at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i’s ‘Ohana Festival. This is a kickoff event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of gannen mono, the first Japanese immigrants to settle in Hawai‘i. There’ll be a craft fair, keiki games, food booths and more. Pro tip: Park your car for free at the University of Hawai‘i’s parking structure, then catch a complimentary shuttle to the festival.
Free, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Mō‘ili‘ili Field, jcch.com/events/2018-new-years-‘ohana-festival
LIST: New Year's Eve events across Hawaii to ring in 2018
K5 / HNN
Oahu Fireworks Displays
Aloha Tower Marketplace Display times 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and midnight.
Barge fronting Kahala Avenue 10:30 p.m.
Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort Lagoon 11 p.m.
Offshore barge, Waikiki 12 midnight
The Kahala Hotel & Resort 12 midnight
Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina, Coves 1 and 2 12 midnight
Turtle Bay Resort 11:59 p.m.
Oahu New Year's Eve Events
Mililani Town Center Pineapple Drop
After a two-year hiatus, the beloved Pineapple Drop welcomes the new year with the lowering of a giant illuminated pineapple. The man-made pineapple stands at 12 feet tall and six feet wide, and lights up with more than 2,500 bulbs. The parking lot between Consolidated Theatres and Chilis opens to attendees at noon with entertainment, lion dances and activities to follow.
The pineapple will be lowered at 7 p.m. to coincide with the New York City NYE Ball Drop.
8th Annual Party of the Year
This two-day event begins on Saturday Dec. 30. Headline group The Chainsmokers will perform at Aloha Stadium on Saturday. All ages welcome. Then revelers will return Sunday to celebrate the start of 2018.
The best 2017 New Year's Eve parties and events in Hawaii - Hawaii Magazine
OAHU
New Year’s Eve 2018 at Buho Cocina y Cantina
Who needs a New Year’s Eve bash when you can have a fiesta? Set in the heart of Waikiki, this chic Mexican restaurant opens its rooftop bar as 2018 makes its arrival. Honolulu-based DJ Toma will be providing the night’s soundtrack, while you enjoy margaritas and authentic Mexican cuisine. 21+, starts at 10 p.m., $50 general admission tickets, 2250 Kalakaua Ave., fifth floor, Waikiki, buhocantina.com.
New Year’s Eve Celebration: The Seven Kingdoms at RumFire
Party oceanfront around the Sheraton Waikiki’s pools with a perfect view of the midnight fireworks. Couple this with a constant mix of DJs, live entertainment and the famous RumFire bar for an unforgettable night. 21+, 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., $120 general admission tickets, VIP packages and separate Champagne Room bookings available, 2255 Kalakaua Ave., Waikiki, rumfirewaikiki.com.
New Year’s Eve 2018 Masquerade Party at Sky Waikiki
You’ll find the best view of Waikiki at Sky Waikiki’s rooftop lounge. An upscale dress code is strictly enforced at this New Year’s gala (men must wear collared shirts, pants and dress shoes), and masquerade masks are highly recommended. Food and drinks will be on sale all night long, with the hosted bar featuring Ketel One Vodka and Veuve Clicquot Champagne. 21+, 8 p.m. to midnight, $200 general admission tickets, 2270 Kalakaua Ave., 19th Floor, Waikiki, skywaikiki.com.
Star of Honolulu’s New Year’s Eve Midnight Cruise
If you’re looking for a different way to ring in the New Year, consider boarding the Star of Honolulu at the Aloha Tower Marketplace. While sailing beyond Diamond Head and down the Kahala Coastline, enjoy a three-course dinner, a view of the Waikiki fireworks and onboard entertainment. All ages, 10:15 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., $195 general admission tickets, 1 Aloha Tower Dr., Honolulu, starofhonolulu.com.
8th Annual Party of the Year
Party with the masses at Aloha Tower Marketplace with 30 bands and DJs, featuring Walshy Fire of Major Lazer. There will also be food trucks and the island’s largest fireworks show. Choose the Sunday-only pass at $45 for general admission, or get a two-day pass ($135 early general admission) and attend The Chainsmokers concert the night before on Dec. 30, too. For more information, visit tickets.nyehawaii.com.
Where to party on New Year’s Eve - Frolic Hawaii
8th Annual Bud Light New Year’s Eve Party of the Year
7 p.m.
Aloha Tower Marketplace, 1 Aloha Tower Drive
$45-150
Tickets
More than 30 bands, musicians and local entertainers are performing on seven stages and venues throughout Aloha Tower Marketplace. There’ll be lots of libations, as well as food from Eat the Street food trucks. The night’s capped off with a stellar fireworks display above historic Aloha Tower.
New Year’s Eve 2017 Great Lawn Gala
7 p.m.
Hilton Hawaiian Village, 2005 Kalia Rd.
$300
Tickets
Hilton Hawaiian Village’s New Year’s Eve celebration features performances by Hoku Hanohano Award-winning Henry Kapono and Dukes of Surf. You can also enjoy a four-course set dinner—sashimi salad, Pacific crab and kabocha pumpkin bisque, petite filet mignon and butter-poached Maine lobster, and chocolate tasting trio—and a fireworks finale to top off the evening.
Tiki Drop 2018 Waikiki New Year’s Eve Party
7 p.m.
Tiki’s Grill & Bar, 2570 Kalakaua Ave.
$79 plus tax and tip
Tickets
The annual Tiki Drop Party overlooks Waikiki Beach, with two live bands, a DJ, dancing and great views of the fireworks. The full dinner menu is available along with a special prix fixe menu featuring a filet mignon and petite Tristan lobster tail duet. Oceanfront Dining VIP and Oceanfront Lanai VIP party packages are also available if you want to bring the whole gang.
New Year's Eve Pineapple Drop
2 to 7 p.m.
Town Center of Mililani, 95-1249 Meheula Pkwy.
Free
Live entertainment starts on the Kanikapila Stage at 2, Mike Love and Maunalua headline from 5:15, and a countdown synced to the New Year's Eve ball drop in New York's Times Square begins at 6:59. At 7 p.m. Mililani's famous lighted pineapple drops, leaving plenty of time to go find another NYE party somewhere. Free Pineapple Drop lightup fidget spinners with $25 purchase.
Bill Maher’s 7th Annual New Year’s Evening of Comedy
7:30 p.m.
Blaisdell Concert Hall, 777 Ward Ave.
Tickets from $45.50
Tickets
For the seventh year in a row, Bill Maher will be ringing in the New Year on Oahu. This evening of comedy will be extra special this year because Maher will be performing alongside actor and Grammy-nominated standup comedian Bob Saget (Full House) and comedic impersonator Reggie Brown as Barack Obama.
SKY Waikiki – New Year’s Eve Masquerade Party
8 p.m.
SKY Waikiki, 2270 Kalakaua Ave.
$150-300
Tickets
Masks are highly recommended for this annual event. Tickets include hosted food offerings—including duck pot stickers, jalapeno poppers, crab dip crostini and more—a hosted bar and entertainment by guest DJ William Lifestyle. VIP reservations are also available and include exclusive dining offerings with hosted bottle service.
Under the Sea
8 p.m.
Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa, 2365 Kalakaua Ave.
$125
Tickets
Ring in 2018 with a splash with the Moana’s “sea-tacular” New Year’s Eve party. The evening features Polynesian dancers and fire knife shows, live music by Taimane and Manoa DNA, fun kids’ activities, an oceanfront fireworks show and more. VIP cabanas and tables are available for an elevated NYE experience.
The Seven Kingdoms
8:30 p.m.
Sheraton Waikiki, 2255 Kalakaua Ave.
$120
Tickets
Revel in the night at Sheraton Waikiki’s “Seven Kingdoms” NYE extravaganza. Dress to impress and enjoy amazing oceanfront views of the midnight fireworks. Complimentary validated parking is good for up to four hours.
Hideout NYE
9 p.m.
Hideout at The Laylow, 2299 Kuhio Ave.
$50
Tickets
Embrace 2018 at the Hideout’s New Year’s Eve masquerade. This party’s taking place at the pool deck, since the two DJs and two bars will be too much for the open-air lanai and firepits to handle. Tickets include complimentary masks, tasty appetizers and a champagne toast, so all you need to bring is your best white attire.
Monte Carlo Casino Night
9 p.m.
53 By The Sea, 53 Ahui St.
$150
Tickets
You can bet on a great night at this black-tie event. Enjoy gourmet hors d’oeuvres, live music, a martini bar, cigar lounge, dancing, raffle prizes and more. Play your hand at the High Rollers table and ring in 2018 in style.
Hawaiian Brian’s Crossroads Soulgasm
9 p.m.
Hawaiian Brian’s Crossroads, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd. (concert room to the left)
$10
Tickets
Celebrate the new year with a House, Funk and Soul party! This party features award-winning musician, producer and DJ Cevil of thePeople’s party. There'll be goodies and giveaways from 9 to 10 p.m., so go early. There’s no better way to ring in 2018 than with some feel-good vibes.
Kahala Masquerade Ball 2018
9 p.m.
The Kahala (Maile Ballroom, poolside under the stars), 5000 Kahala Ave.
$250
Tickets
Sip on champagne and ring in 2018 in style at The Kahala. The evening kicks off with buffet-style food stations in the Maile Foyer from 9 to 11 p.m., with bar service and a nightclub and dancing area. Then, continue the party poolside with live music, a photo booth and midnight fireworks. Event tickets include complimentary tiaras, beads and festive hats at check-in, and noisemakers will be distributed at 11:30 p.m. Complimentary parking is included.
Addiction’s Winter Ball 2018
9 p.m.
The Modern, 1775 Ala Moana Blvd.
$40 (pre-sale), $60 (general admission)
Tickets
Count down to 2018 with DJs and dancing. Enjoy a VIP champagne reception at 9 p.m.; presale tickets are available until Dec. 29. To book your table reservation or for more information, visit [email protected].
Buho Cantina
10 p.m.
Buho Cocina y Cantina, 2250 Kalakaua Ave.
$50
Tickets
Celebrate under the stars at Buho Cantina’s rooftop venue. Ring in the New Year with DJ Toma and an epic annual bash! Dress to impress; for VIP reservations, contact [email protected].
Dave & Buster’s New Years Eve Family Fun
5 p.m.
Dave & Buster’s Honolulu, 1030 Auahi St.
$39.96 or $46.26
Tickets
Enjoy food and fun with the whole family to ring in the New Year! Designed for families, this event is from 5 to 8 p.m. and attendees can choose between two food-and-games package options. They include an appetizer buffet, dessert, unlimited soft drinks, Power Cards, a video ball drop to ring in 2018 and more.
AAA Hawaii Offers Tipsy Tow Service For New Year’s Eve
To help remove drinking drivers from the road, AAA Hawaii is offering its Tipsy Tow service during New Year’s Eve. The service is available from 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, until 6 a.m. Monday, Jan. 1. Tipsy Tow is available in the areas served by AAA Hawaii.
AAA Hawaii encourages party-goers to plan ahead for a sober ride or use a designated driver if attending a gathering. But if those plans fall through, motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver may call 1-800-222-4357 for a free tow home of up to five miles. Callers simply tell the AAA operators, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” to receive the free tow and ride home. A regular AAA Hawaii-contracted roadside assistance service truck will be dispatched. Tipsy Tow is unique in that it provides a driver with the option of a safe ride home for themselves and their vehicle instead of driving while intoxicated.
Callers need to keep in mind that the service excludes rides for passengers, is restricted to a one-way, one-time ride for the driver and the destination is limited to the driver’s residence. Reservations are not accepted. Drivers can expect to pay the rate charged by the tow truck contractor for rides beyond five miles.
“We want motorists to be aware of the high crash risk from drinking and driving associated with the holiday and encourage them to think twice about getting behind the wheel if they have been drinking,” said AAA Hawaii’s General Manager Liane Sumida.
According to Hawaii state data, impaired driving continues to present a significant problem in Hawaii and poses a danger to public safety. Of the state’s 95 traffic fatalities in 2014, 52 (55 percent) had alcohol and/or drugs in their system. Nationwide, in 2016, crashes claimed 37,461 lives, and 28 percent died in crashes involving drunk drivers. An average of one alcohol-impaired driving fatality occurred every 51 minutes, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
New Year’s Eve traditionally is a time for home parties, as well as outings to restaurants and bars, and other excursions and gatherings. These activities contribute to a relaxed atmosphere and more drinking, according to Sumida.
“It takes only one or two drinks to slow physical and mental skills and affect vision, steering, braking, judgment and reaction time,” Sumida said. “Drivers should be aware that the law enforcement agencies are using extra patrols to look for drinking drivers during the holiday.”
Drinking drivers frequently don’t plan for other ways to get home because they are concerned about retrieving their vehicle. They cite the expense of taxis and time inconvenience as the major reasons they don’t use alternative transportation, according to AAA Hawaii. Today, more options are available including designated sober drivers, public transit and ride-hailing services.
People convicted of driving under the influence could lose many of the most important things in their lives, such as family, job, dignity and money. AAA Hawaii estimates that a first time DUI conviction can cost approximately $15,688 or more in fines, penalties, restitution, legal fees and insurance costs.
AAA Hawaii advises those who celebrate New Year’s Eve to keep themselves and others safe and avoid DUI arrests by following these safety tips:

• Always plan ahead to designate a non-drinking driver before any party or celebration begins.
  
• At social events, designate non-drinking drivers who can get everyone home safely.
  
• Never serve alcohol to those under age 21. It’s illegal and dangerous.
  
• Never ride as a passenger in a car driven by someone who was drinking alcohol – even after one drink.
  
• Call a friend or family member for a ride home if you’ve been drinking.
  
• Keep a cab company or sober ride telephone number in your cell phone and wallet so you can call for a ride home.
  
• As a party host, offer non-alcoholic drink alternatives and provide a gift to guests who volunteer to be designated drivers; provide overnight accommodations to guests who’ve been drinking.
  
• Take the car keys away from friends and relatives who have been drinking.
  
• If you encounter an impaired driver on the road, keep a safe distance and ask a passenger to call 9-1-1 (or pull over to a safe location to make the call yourself).
  
• Remember: prescription, over-the-counter medications and illegal drugs also can impair your ability to drive safely.
  

Although Tipsy Tow is offered by AAA Hawaii and other AAA clubs, it is not a nationwide program. Check with your local AAA club for availability. Visit PreventDUI.AAA.com for impaired driving facts, transportation alternatives and expert advice. AAA encourages visitors to Take the Pledge to drive drug and alcohol-free.