AREA Ratings

GM: Bruce Monnin

[Best GM Award 1998 WAS]

Two Top-Six GM Nominations

Past Winners
Bruce Reiff - OH 1993, 1995, 2002 Ken Gutermuth - TX 1994, 1997 Bruce Monnin - OH 1996 Cliff Ackman - PA 1998 George Sauer - OH 1999 Kevin Wojtaszczyk - NY 2000 Arthur Field - SC 2001

Collecting by another name ... The Auction followed the same format as previous years, with the exception that the experimental "Enforced Rainbow rule was made mandatory. Each player who received more than two cards of any set during the initial deal was required to discard the excess card(s) and draw new. This was put in place to avoid any games being decided almost as soon as they began due to an overly good initial draw. The rule worked out too well, as it forced the GM to break up a probable game winning hand in the Mulligan round. 28 players participated in the Mulligan round. Debbie Bell, Paul Skrabut, Andy Gardner, Bruce Reiff, Arthur Field, Davyd Field and Thomas McCorry were all victorious at four-player boards. These winners earned automatic spots in the Wednesday semi-finals. 24 players showed up for the main tournament on Wednesday, including 12 new players to bring the total for the event to 40 unique entrants. Jason Bargender, Vassili Kyrkos, Luke Koleszar, Jim Reasoner and Thomas Browne won their four-player boards while Andy Gardner pulled off the double, notching wins in both opening rounds. That brought the total number of semifinalists up to 12, who advanced to the semifinals of three four-player boards. Debbie Bell was the only player to win her semifinal by achieving the $7500 in cash and collections before the deck ran out. She built a set of Prints and amassed cash by constantly rolling 100% values on her sales. Luke Koleszar won a truly strange semifinal, amassing only $3700 with a set of Tapestries and cash, as defense was the name of this game. The last semifinal was another defensive battle, with Arthur Field eventually amassing $5970 with a set of Coins and cash, nipping Bruce Reiff with $5570 and Thomas McCorry with $5530. As the best runnerup in the semifinals, Bruce also advanced to the finals. The initial card draw for the final saw no one draw true rainbows (cards from six different sets). Arthur started with two Jewelry, Luke with two Rare Miscellany, Debbie with two Jewelry and Bruce with a pair of Coins. Luke bought the first item, a Queen Anne. Arthur then bought a Print, and sold off a Coins and a Jewelry for 100% to restock his cash supplies. Another Print came up for sale, with the other players bidding Arthur up to paying $1000 for this $400 piece he needed to finish his set. The Jewelry Rich Collector then arrived, providing Debbie with $1800, Bruce with $1400 and Arthur with $600. Bruce then got a bargain on a Buyer's Card and an Antique Clock for only $720. Debbie followed by buying a set of books, but unfortunately only received 25% and 50% on the three items, hurting her cash position. The next several items were all sold for high amounts, usually above the 100% value for the cards, with Debbie picking up a Tapestry, Luke a Sterling ,a Queen Anne and a Rare Miscellany and Bruce a Sterling. Bruce then took over the game, buying a Glassware, selling off his two Antique Clocks and a Sterling, then buying a Queen Anne and a Tapestry with a Warehouse Deal. Then he used his earlier acquired Buyer's card to purchase a Glassware and two Miniatures from the board. The next item to come up was a Coins, which Bruce needed and bought to complete his Coins set to win the championship. Bruce's final total was $8020 from natural sets of Glassware and Miniatures, a Coins set with a Buyer's Card and $1920 in cash. Arthur Field finished with $6640, nipping Debbie Bell's $6580 for second. Luke Koleszar finished 4th, forlornly hoping for a long game, as he ended with only $540 in cash, needing one more card to complete several sets. Bruce passes on the GM reins to Kevin Wojtaszczyk as he moves on to the wild and wooly realm of Juniors GMing. Mulligan Round - Game #1 1st Debbie Bell 2nd Kevin Wojtaszczyk 3rd Ken Whitesell 4th Ken Good Mulligan Round - Game #2 1st Paul Skrabut 2nd Doug Galullo 3rd Nick Smith 4th Frank Arndt Mulligan Round - Game #3 1st Andy Gardner 2nd George Sauer III 3rd Tom DeMarco 4th Tom Browne Mulligan Round - Game #4 1st Davyd Field 2nd Jeff Cornett 3rd Ken Samuel 4th Bruce Monnin Mulligan Round - Game #5 1st Bruce Reiff 2nd Jim Garvey 3rd Carrie Lewis 4th Jeff Mullet Mulligan Round - Game #6 1st Arthur Field 2nd Jason Brown 3rd Jonathan Shambeda 4th Marsha Spiridigliozzi Mulligan Round - Game #7 1st Thomas McCorry 2nd Vincent Collura 3rd Luke Koleszar 4th Steve Cuccaro Preliminary Round - Game #1 1st Jason Bargender 2nd Laurie Wojtaszczyk 3rd Alan Bargender 4th Bruce Monnin Preliminary Round - Game #2 1st Vassili Kyrkos 2nd Gerald Lientz 3rd Jeff Mullet 4th Steve Cuccaro Preliminary Round - Game #3 1st Andy Gardner 2nd Jonathan Lockwood 3rd Ken Gutermuth 4th Ken Good Preliminary Round - Game #4 1st Luke Koleszar 2nd Ken Samuel 3rd George Sauer III 4th Ewan McNay Preliminary Round - Game #5 1st Jim Reasoner 2nd Thomas McCorry 3rd Debbie Garver 4th Carrie Lewis Preliminary Round - Game #6 1st Thomas Browne 2nd Steve Koleszar 3rd Kevin Wojtaszczyk 4th Mike Stanley Semifinal Game #1 1st Debbie Bell 2nd Tom Browne 3rd Jim Reasoner 4th Paul Skrabut Semifinal Game #2 1st Luke Koleszar 2nd Davyd Field 3rd Andy Gardner 4th Vassili Kyrkos Semifinal Game #3 1st Arthur Field 2nd Bruce Reiff 3rd Thomas McCorry 4th Jason Bargender Championship Game 1st Bruce Reiff 2nd Arthur Field 3rd Debbie Bell 4th Luke Koleszar