Some new mobsters bone up on da tip sheet. Nobody outprepares John Pack at running a tournament.	GM John and his main squeeze Sharee welcome a coupla new mugs to town for the shootout.	From fedoras, period name tags, and framed awards to squirt guns, no accessory is left unprovided.

Before beginning the game, the finalists innovate to compensate for a missing joint marker. We used the Level-9 joint marker. As far as I know this is the first recorded use of a Level-9 joint marker! To legitimately use this marker, of course, one would have to own all nine brown joints and then upgrade at one level per turn to reach level 9 (instead of simply declaring a monopoly victory) - which would take a minimum of 15 turns!

The starting and final positions of the 2006 Final (in order of finish) were as follows:

Thomas "The Mumbler" Richardson (Green; Moved Fourth)
Start: 5/1/2, Shop 'n' Save, Franklin Hostel, Serva's Market, $400
Finish: 6/1/1, 2 hits, 0 seductions, 6 joints ($3,000), $11,500

Nick "Dusk" Henning (Yellow; Moved First) -
Start: 5/1/1, Brzkowski's Imports, Ambassadors' Club, Jaeger's Clothier, $400
Finish: 5/1/1, 0 hits, 3 seductions, 4 joints ($2,500; 3 of 6 Blue), $8,300

John "The Viper" Pack (Red; Moved Second) -
Start: 5/1/1, Downtown Bus Station, Westgate Hotel, SMC Cartage Co.,$400
Finish: 4/1/1, 2 hits, 4 seductions, 7 joints ($2,900; 2 of 4 Red), $2,900

Steve "Dancin' Man" Cameron (Brown; Moved Third) -
Start: 5/1/2, Brizelli's Riverside, Greenwood Park, Hotel Belgrave, $400
Finish: 6/1/2, 3 hits, 1 seduction, 4 joints ($1,900; 3 of 8 Yellow), $4,900

All of the finalists save $400 during the initial setup and gang purchase. Each has two joints of one color and is poised for a first-turn upgrade. While the Viper begins with three green joints, only Dusk begins with both one-jump joints of his chosen color. Here's a turn-by-turn account reconstructed from my notes with some additional comments added after reflection:

Turn 1 - Dusk upgrades, vamps the Viper's Racketeer, and scores a payoff of $1,600 with the Public x2. We're off to the money races already! The Viper uses the cops to raid Brzkowski's Imports, vamps Dusk's Racketeer, and pulls in a paltry $300. Dancin' Man nets $600 for his Thug. The Mumbler vamps the Viper's Racketeer - showing what a vamp magnet the Downtown Bus Station is - and picks up $500 with his Thug.

Comments: The better players are all aware of the Downtown Bus Station and ready to pounce. It's dangerous to keep a Racketeer there these days!

Turn 2 - Dusk vamps the Viper's Racketeer again and scores another big payoff of $1,200 using the Public x3 in Brzkowski's. The Viper flees from the Vamps in the Downtown Bus Station after upgrading it to Level-3; his Thug brings in $400. With only one move, the Viper intentionally leaves the Public x3 in Brzkowski's in an attempt to focus the other players' attention on Dusk. Dancin' Man moves the Public x3 to Brizelli's Riverside and collects $1,300. The Mumbler bring in the cops to raid Brizelli's, seduces Dusk's Thug off the map, and then returns the Public x3 to the map to patronize the Franklin Hostel.

Comments: I'm down to one move already - road pizza on the other players' path to victory! Dusk's triple payoff at this point should have made him the magnet for cop attentions for a long time to come, but as you'll see it doesn't have that effect. Even though my move may look unwise, it pretty much ended my hammering. The location I fled to? The Caravan Club. This was intentional as I was already looking for a backup strategy at this point.

Turn 3 - Dusk vamps the Viper's Racketeer for a third time in as many turns, buys two Thugs for $600, and collects nada. The Viper buys a Racketeer (to get back up to 3) and collects $600. Dancin' Man sends a new cop after the Viper's Thug.

Comments: At this point, I've been vamped four times (which ends up being my final seduction total). I'm hammered. In fact, the other players only have four seductions among them all at the end of the game! My Racketeer purchase was based on my green roll of one and my other lousy rolls (including a blue six).

Turn 4 - Dancin' Man vamps Dusk's Racketeer and collects $600 from the public. The Mumbler collects the same amount.

Turn 5 - Dusk scores with both Public x1 and Public x3 to collect $2,300. The Viper's Vamp returns Dusk to the two-move range while boosting his own moves back to two; however, he collects a paltry $100. Dancin' Man sends another cop toward the Viper's Thug. He tries to move the Viper's Vamp to begin extorting. "I think I should'a collected that extortion!"

Comments: Dusk's four big payoffs to this point should have put everyone on Red Alert.

Turn 6 - The Viper collects his first $1,000. "I'm gonna have it framed!" The Viper also manages to turn all the cops away from his criminal Vamp and Thug (which are now in the same joint). The Mumbler uses the public to score a $1,200 payoff.

Turn 7 - Dusk pulls in $1,500. The Viper again sends the cops to Brzkowski's. Having utterly failed to collect cash (as a Bus Station Strategy is intended to do), the Viper buys a red joint and moves to another. Dancin' Man rolls 1,1,2,2,2. "A roll to replicate," says Dusk. "That's a pretty nice roll." The crime level (7) draws a comment - "This is almost a law-abiding city now." Dancin' Man buys a Vamp and upgrades his second yellow building (Greenwood Park) to Level-3. Mumbler steers Barney Fife away from his criminals. "Dusk, start a gang war!" - The Mumbler "We cordially invite you all to attend a St. Valentine's Day Party." - The Viper "Hey, we all get a plaque!" - The Mumbler "You could surrender now and go get your plaque" - The Viper

Comments: The game really becomes a lot of fun once the players get to know each other and start to play their comments to each other. The squirt gun helps people remember that it's a fun game even when it's an intense Final!

Turn 8 - The Viper buys his seventh joint and his third red joint. Barney Fife radios for help. Cop #7 answers and moves in. The crime level stays at 7. Dancin' Man collects $200 with the public. Dusk to The Mumbler, "You're not the leader because of joints - it's because you have a boatload of money."

The Viper to the Mumbler, "The public will go away if you fight." "Thanks, Viper. What would I do without you?" Dusk to the Mumbler, "Payoffs are before shootouts." "Thanks, Dusk. What would I do without you two?" Mumbler eliminates the Viper's red Caravan Club.

Comments: It's easy to see the Red Monopoly threat - which the Mumbler quickly dispatches. Not so easily seen are the mounting piles of cash held by the Mumbler and Dusk.

Turn 9 - Dusk (aka "Antonio Banderas" because of his t-shirt) breaks even for the turn. Viper collects his second $1,000 bill. Cop #8 headed towards the Viper's Vamp and Thug. Dancin' Man leaves the public in the Downtown Bus Station. Viper collects his third $1,000 bill. Greenwood Park at Level-3 pays $1,800 to Dancin' Man. However, that Public x3 then moves to the Ambassadors' Club and pays the Mumbler $2,400 (for a total payoff of $3,200). His Thug slips behind Cop #7. "These cops need to be like Antonio Banderas," says Dancin' Man.

Comments: It appears the Mumbler managed to score a payout in one of Dusk's joints, but we didn't catch it at the time. My cash level is so low that Dancin' Man doesn't have to worry about leaving a big public in the Bus Station.

Turn 10 - The Mumbler to Dusk, "You have three seconds left." "Viper, go back to writing!" The Viper returns to the Caravan Club after buying the other three red joints. Dusk and the Mumbler repeatedly sing, "C is for Cookie. Is good enough for me."

Are Gangsters competitive or what? "I'm going to the bathroom." - Dusk. "You have 30 seconds. Go!" - The Mumbler.

Dancin' Man takes out the Viper's red Hawthorne Hotel. The Mumbler collects $3,100 including a big payoff at Brizelli's Riverside to declare victory with $11,500. (The Viper is still writing and hasn't clued in that the game is over. "What happened?")

Here's what the Mumbler had to say for himself, "Dusk is a clumsy BUM! Viper, I Ü· you. Dusk said I sucked. Chuck Norris is WAY cooler than the Viper. WAY! Åh Something tells me we need to have him talk with Willy Wonka.

"What game is this?" - Passerby. "Gangsters!" - Everyone in unison

Comments: Two huge payoffs in a row vaults the Mumbler past Dusk, denying Dusk his third championship in a row. The final totals show it was close. I manage to re-establish a Red Monopoly threat only to have it blown away once more - as I still managed to attract more attention than either player with a large cash pile. There's no question why winning with cash is so much easier. The Mumbler's big Racketeer allowed him to manipulate the public effectively and win with the "Sneak up the Cash" strategy that's won three championships in a row.

Congratulations to Thomas "The Mumbler" Richardson for winning it all in his first WBC Gangsters Tournament! Thomas brought his father and brother with him to the tournament this year - where all three qualified for the semi-finals. Apparently they can play some pretty good games right at home! The Mumbler's style of play is very much like our previous Godfather and runer-up this year, Nick"Dusk" Henning. Who will prevail next year?

For more details, statistics, and information about this year's tournament as well as announcements for next year, go to http://www.gameaholics.com/gsr_wbc/gsr_06_yearbook.htm!