san juan [Updated October 2007]  

Sampler Showcase Pre-Con

2007 WBC Report  

   2007 Status: pending December Membership Trial Vote

Pete Stein, OH

2007 Champion

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Event History
2004    Jeff Mullet     123
2005    Bill Salvatore       48
2006    Bruce Reiff       43
2007    Peter Stein       42

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jeff Mullet        OH    07     40
  2.  Bruce Reiff        OH    07     32
  3.  Bill Salvatore     MD    05     30
  4.  Pete Stein         OH    07     20
  5.  Rob Kircher        RI    06     18
  6.  Bill Murdock       NY    05     18
  7.  Tom McCorry        VA    04     18
  8.  Eric Brosius       MA    05     12
  9.  Nate Hoam          OH    04     12
 10.  Eric Lenhart       PA    05      9
 11.  Alan Kaiser        OH    04      9
 12.  David Platnick     NY    07      8
 13.  Arthur Field       SC    06      8
 14.  Raphael Lehrer     MD    07      6
 15.  Trevor Bender      WA    05      6
 16.  Ken Richards       SC    06      4
 17.  Jennifer Scancella PA    05      3
 18.  Chris Kamm         NY    04      3
 19.  Richard Irving     CA    07      2
 20.  Suzanne Tuch       NY    06      2

2007 Laurelists

Bruce Reiff, OH
2nd

David Platnick, VA
3rd

Raphael Lehrer, MD
4th

Jeff Mullet, OH
5th

Richard Irving, CA
6th


Past Winners

Jeff Mullet, OH
2004


Bill Salvatore, MD
2005


Bruce Reiff. OH
2006

 

 Matching the WBC attendance totals in a Pre-Con was a good sign. Unfortunately, the Sampler Showcase it was part of may be cancelled for lack of volunteer demonstrators - thus ending any Euro Pre-Con.

The huge dropoff in attendance from its debut year is typical of Euro tournaments in their first year where many players are trying the games for the first time in a form of scheduled Open Gaming. 

Guppy or Piranha?

In 2007, the powers that be decided to replace Attika with San Juan as the first official euro tournament that was run during the Sampler Showcase pre-con.  Last year,  Attika experienced a large decline in attendance when it was held as a pre-con.  So we were very happy that this year's San Juan attendance was approximately the same as last years'.

We went with the two-player version and four swiss prelliminary rounds.  We also used the optional rule that the first player started with five cards and the second player got six.  Both players then discard down to a hand of four cards. Players were not forced to play all rounds, but at least three wins were required to advance to a single elimination bracket.
 
After four one-hour rounds of play, 13 players managed the required number of wins and the brackets were completed.  No one was too surprised when defending champ Bruce Reiff made it through one side of the bracket unscathed to the Final.  Now we all just had to find if euro shark David Platnick or fellow Cabbie Pete Stein would be Bruce's victim, er opponant.
 
After a well-played game Pete Stein bested David to make it an all-Cabbie Final.   Some people were seen congratulating Reiff on his impending victory.  
 
The GM placed a call to Columbus, Ohio to inform Pete's WBC trainer, Mike Zehnal that his pupil was up against the dreaded Reiff.  Pete's Sensei was heard shouting, "Don't look into his eyes, Pete!"  But Pete wasn't worried.  He had outlasted former champ Jeff Mullet as well as well-known sharks Marvin Birmbaum, Raphael Lerner, Eric Brosius and many others in what was a pretty strong field.
 
As play began, Bruce and Pete were playing fairly even the first couple of turns.   But soon there was murmering in the crowd that Pete was playing some pretty strong cards and Bruce was not.  The crowd began to sense that something strange and unforeseen was in the offing.  Last year was supposed to be a fluke wasn't it?  Could the self-deprecating Stein win wood twice in the same decade?
 
When all was said and done,  Pete had polished off his master and claimed the first official wood of WBC.  Within an hour, CABS WBC training fees were doubled for 2008.
 
Here is a sampling of quotes from BPA members when told of Pete's win over Bruce.
 
"Really?!?!?"  ( Eight times.  Nine if you count one member who said it twice)
 
"No, who really won?"
 
But none more classic than Bruce's own daughter, Nicole.  "Really?  Uncle Pete really beat you Daddy?  Are you serious?"
 
Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's tournament and to Pete Stein for being a good sport about all the ribbing he got before the Final and even after winning. Pete got the last laugh and even changed his Consimworld tagline to "Never lost a two player final to Bruce Reiff with a plaque on the line".

 GM      Jeff Mullet  [1st Year]   NA
   jamullet@frognet.net   NA

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