Tournament Information, Timetable, Format, History, Hall of Fame & Statistics --

PBEM Tournament Status --

Blood flowed in the streets of Chicago in 2001 as mob bosses competed fiercely for control. In fact, this year's tournament was the bloodiest in the combined history of the WBC/Avaloncon with the average number of dead gangsters in each game climbing to 8.40 (from last year's previous high of 7.39). Of course, it wasn't the winners' blood that was running down the gutters - in fact, the triumphant mobsters averaged only 1.20 gangsters gunned down per game (an all-time low)!

Averages didn't help Tim "Bite the Bullet" Evinger, who won the "Roadkill" Award for the second year in a row when his gang suffered ten casualties during the third heat! That's good news for Tim, however, since it was fewer than last year! Tim had stiff competition this year, however - Nick "Slumlord" Smith took nine casualties in the same game where Tim took his ten! Nick's consolation prize was winning that bloodfest (the other two players had nine more fatalities while vamps seduced 14 more)!

By comparison, the average game had only six seductions (returning to the all-time low after last year's high of 6.42). Of course, the winners did much better than everyone else - losing only 0.80 gangsters to vamps vs. the average of 1.50.

That's little consolation to Mike "The Nose" Anchors, the PBEM champion, who lost ten of his men to a pretty face during his semi-final match to win the "I Think She Likes Me!" Award - allowing Mark "Ladykiller" Love to advance! "The Nose" holds the PBEM record for mobsters lost to vamps too - losing 17 in a single game! Ladykiller's men, on the other hand, were the epitome of loyalty - with nary a single defection!

This was the bloodiest, most lawless, and wettest tournament ever. Many players don't even wait for the Thursday night Official Squirt Gun Heat to open fire! With the temperatures high, no one minded and there were even a few self-inflicted wounds! Next year the organization may put a contract out on passers-by who think squirt guns and game boards don't mix!

The big question on everyone's mind, as gunfire rang through the streets and seasoned mobsters were deserting their gangs left and right every time a dame batted her eyes, was who needed a pair of "Cement Overshoes" and a trip to the bottom of Lake Michigan? The nominees for our sportsmanship award were Fred "The Saint" Gosnell (last year's winner), Mike "The Nose" Anchors, Nick "Slumlord" Smith, and the winner, Kaarin "The Enforcer" Engelmann. The Enforcer helped improve the way the end of heats will be handled - while graciously taking a loss in her semi-final due to the old method. Further, Kaarin volunteered to run a heat - allowing Gangsters to retain a Friday heat. She also personally helped many novices to learn the game. Consider this trip to the bottom as our collective "thank you!"

Honorable mention for this year goes to Matthew "Hell Raiser" Hamel (the lowest AREA rated player) for finishing the tournament in 12th place - well ahead of his father, Bob "Strings" Hamel (the AREA ratings champion)! Despite his moniker, Matt was very well-behaved, so we can only speculate on his home life...

Finishing in 11th place was Christopher "Half Full" Hensley, who played and won his very first game in the fourth heat. If it weren't for two-time finalist, Nick "Slumlord" Smith, "Half Full" might have made the finals. As it is, he'll have to settle for the "Junior Godfather" Award!

Also deserving of mention is John "No Cigar" Poniske who ended the four heats as the alternate with the first and second place tie-breaks. Unfortunately, his semi-final didn't go any better...

This year's final featured two-time defending champion, Godfather Pitt "Sluggo" Crandlemire, Mark "Ladykiller" Love, Nick "Slumlord" Smith, and Paul "Da Spider" Bolduc. Pitt is the first mobster to ever make it to three finals in a row! On the other hand, this was "Da Spider's" first trip to the finals after several years of persistent effort!

The opening positions were as follows -

Da Spider: Downtown Bus Station (5 Racketeer), Taylor's Machine Shop (Vamp), Franklin Hostel (2 Thug), $300
Ladykiller: Ambassadors' Club (Vamp), Brzkowski's Imports (2 Thug), SMC Cartage Co. (5 Racketeer), $0
Sluggo: Brizelli's Riverside (Vamp), Greenwood Park (5 Racketeer), Serva's Market (2 Thug), $400
Slumlord: Palace Chophouse (2 Thug, Vamp), Belmar Theatre (6 Racketeer), Sadler's Stichery, $200

The finalists were all very good sports and played their game in the Victory in the Pacific room (where the GM thought he'd be playing as soon as he was out of the Adel Verpflichtet tournament "any minute now" - he eventually won it a couple of hours later). Fortunately, all the finalists are old, experienced tournament hands and managed without need for question or interpretation (even after the GM arrived)! They even made their own player chits and rummaged up their own timer!

At the fifteen-minute warning, all of the finalists agreed to bypass the normal 2.5 hour time limit and play the game to completion. In the future, the GM will offer this option to finalists at the start of every final - even if he doesn't have a round of VIP to play alongside!

Sluggo, the defending champion, caught Alzeimers early on as he rolled a six on the white die and then proceeded to move a public marker into Franklin Hostel - one of his favorite joints - giving $400 to Da Spider! Ladykiller out-did him later on by leaving the x3 Public in the Palace Chophouse (handing $300 to Slumlord) when he could have earned $1,200 himself by moving it to the Ambassadors' Club!

Finally at 2:30 am, Ladykiller managed to complete a Red monopoly and win it all! In the final, he was seduced six times and had both his Thug and Vamp eliminated at various points along the way! In second place, Slumlord had managed to purchase nine joints (slums all) and keep $7,900 away from his tenants! Two-timin' Sluggo was denied his bid for a three-peat though he still managed to salt away $8,100! Da Spider had managed to retain six joints (despite being the target of numerous attacks and nine total gang members lost when he threatened to win early on).

Ladykiller is the first player to win the final with a monopoly since Jason "Sticky Fingers" Wagner did it twice in '96 and '97. However, this win wasn't unusual this year as the percentage of wins by cash dropped to an all-time low of 62% (down from a high of 82% in 1999). On the other hand, wins with ten joints surged back to its most common level (21% after a low of 4% in 1999). Monopolists won 17% - an all time high percentage of games (including the final) and a massive improvement over last year's all-time low of 8%. Next year, as tournament playing-time is increased to 2:45, will joint strategies do even better? Will the blood flow increase again? Will the winners reduce their losses at the same time again? Come and find out!

The complete and current errata/FAQ for Gangsters is at http://www.gameaholics.com/gsr_clarifications.htm.