Cat Blues: The Big Gig Review: Hold 'Em Joker

About Cat Blues: The Big Gig, from BoardGameGeek:

Bid for the hottest blues bands and book your big gig as you compete for the most mouse tips. Bid with your hand of cards to assemble a better hand and book quartets of cool cat musicians. Jokers can fill-in for missing musicians, but be careful - these erratic entertainers can hurt your reputation! Compete to book the widest variety of bands across three connected games. Spice up your venue with the included Serenading Sevens expansion. Cat Blues: The Big Gig is an evolved edition of Reiner Knizia's classic card game: Cat Blues (also known as Katzenjammer Blues). It is the second title in Bitewing Games' Crown Jewel Selection line (the first being Zoo Vadis). The additions and changes to the original game (all designed, developed, tested, and approved by Reiner Knizia) include the following: The game has returned to its original intended range of 2-4 players. Players can replenish their hands up to four cards after melding quartets - creating interesting new tactics while preventing overly punishing rookie mistakes. Each session takes place across three sets (instead of one), allowing players to enjoy evolving strategies while competing for new Quartet Tokens and valuable Big Tips. A new Serenading Sevens expansion has been introduced that will no doubt have players swooning for their lucrative bidding and melding power. Each card value features 15 cool cats illustrated by the talented Alisha Giroux, meaning that every quartet you meld will boast a uniquely charming combination of musicians (unless you desperately drag more than one erratic Joker on stage). -description from the publisher