Ben Gardner, Steve Brooks and Rob Kircher in a semi-final win by Brooks but he failed to distance himself enough from Kircher who made the Final as the best second, and then reversed the tables on the three winners for the title.	A well-rested Reiff runs out the clock on Bruce Monnin and Vassili Kyrkos in the semis, but then did a bit too much clock watching before the Final. I feel soooooooooooo guilty asking him to get up at 4 AM.

23 Auction buyers appeared for the first heat, coincidentally and conveniently scheduled right after the WBC auction. Lisa Gutermuth won her board with Prints and Queen Anne furniture over regulars Kate Tallion and Rob Buccheri. The always smiling Vassili Krykos beat Laurie Wojtaszczyk, Jeff Mullet and Carol Haney with coins and cash. Ken Gutermuth beat Ewan McNay, GM-in-waiting Bob Wicks and Nick Smith. Rob Kircher won his board by $200 when the deck was exhausted over young Michael Wojtaszczyk. Jon Lockwood won the admiration of the group by beating both Arthur Field and Kevin Wotjtaszczyk. And in the final board, Bruce Reiff toppled defending champ Steve Cuccaro, Wilson Knight and Sean McCulloch.

Another 13 players were added for Wednesday's heat including the triumphant return of Marilyn Koleszar, back after a long absence. Unfortunately for Marilyn, Bruce Monnin proved an inhospitable host by winning her board in a romp. Young Ben Gardner continued the destruction of the Kolesar klan by beating son Luke and Jeff Cornett with Sterling and cash. Bob Wicks showed his bona fides to host the event next year by downing Euro shark/2007 Caesar Rapheal Lehrer. Lastly, in a showdown of former champs David Brooks ended the title defense of Steve Cuccaro by punching his own ticket to advance.

Nine of the ten winners opted to continue and the decision was made to go with three 3-player games and advance the best second place to the Final. Reiff 'ran out the clock' with a print and tapestry set to win with $6820 when the deck ran out. Gutermuth dominated his board with Queen Anne and Tapestries to the tune of $8140. David Brooks won the third match with Queen Anne and cash. Rob Kircher was fortunate enough to have $150 more than Vassili Krykos and advanced from the loser's bracket to face three former champions.

The fateful agreement was made to play the Final the next morning at 8. Don Greenwood, hearing this, talked Bruce into a 4:30 AM tv interview. The final score reflected Bruce's condition at the time and speaks well of our Convention Director. The only non-winner from the semis, Rob Kircher, added to his growing plaque collection by scoring more than the other three combined when it counted with a Figurines, Miniatures and cash score of $8560. Ken was second with $3770, David third with $2030 and Bruce, who had to be awakened by the end, had $1480.

Bob Wicks and 2007 champ Jon Lockwood are unable to prevent two-time champ Ken Gutermuth from advancing to the Final in the third semi-final game.	The finalists get a private game in the Boardroom. I guess it pays to be a big shot ... unless you have to do early morning tv interviews. Smile for the camera, Bruce.