merchant of venus   

Updated 11/15/2011

 2011 WBC Report  

 2012 Status: pending 2012 GM commitment
Bill Crenshaw, VA
2011 Champion

Links

 

Event History
1991    Duane Wagner      24
1992    Kathy Stroh      21
1993    Michael Anchors      41
1994    David Thompson      43
1995    Greg Mayer      56
1996    Tom Stokes      48
1997    Mark Hunter      78
1998    Greg Mayer      80
1999    Steve Crenshaw     67
2000    Debbie Otto     68
2001     Bill Crenshaw     72
2002     Charley Hickok      60
2003     Luke Koleszar      64
2004     Eric Wrobel      64
2005     John Koskl      50
2006     Eyal Mozes      39
2007     Kathy Stroh      47
2008     Ewan McNay      57
2009     Debbie Gutermuth      57
2010     Eric Wrobel      64
2011     Bill Crenshaw      48
 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Bill Crenshaw      VA    11    126
  2.  Eric Wrobel        VA    11    118
  3.  Joe Abrams         CT    09     66
  4.  Eyal Mozes         NY    11     61
  5.  Luke Koleszar      VA    09     58
  6.  Steve Dickson      CA    10     56
  7.  Debbie Otto        MO    00     56
  8.  Charles Hickok     PA    11     55
  9.  Ed Wrobel          VA    03     52
 10.  Chuck Foster       TX    06     42
 11.  Kathy Stroh        DE    07     40
 12.  John Koski         NC    05     40
 13.  Lance Ribeiro      NH    05     40
 14.  Jeff Bakalchuck    NY    02     40
 15.  Steve Crenshaw     VA    99     40
 16.  Greg Mayer         MO    99     36
 17.  Vassili Kyrkos     NY    11     36
 18.  Debbie Gutermuth   NC    09     30
 19.  Ewan McNay         CT    08     30
 20.  Tom Stokes         NJ    10     24
 21.  Duane Wagner       NJ    07     24
 22.  Phillip Shea       VA    09     22
 23.  Richard Irving     CA    10     16
 24.  Peggy Pfeiffer     FL    07     16
 25.  Rich Meyer         MA    04     16
 26.  Ken Gutermuth      TX    11     12
 27.  Patrick Shea       VA    10     12
 28.  Kevin Wojtasczyck  NY    07     12
 29.  Abby Cocke         MD    02     12
 30.  James Hopkin       CA    00     12
 31.  Frank McNally      MA    06      9
 32.  Tom DeMarco        NJ    03      8
 33.  Gary Dickson       CA    02      8
 34.  Lauren Hickok      PA    00      8
 35.  Ray Stakenas Sr    NC    05      4
 36.  Jim Fardette       ae    04      4
 37.  Lynn Ribeiro       NH    01      4
 38.  David Fritsch      VA    08      3

2011 Laurelists                                             Repeating Laurelists:

Eric Wrobel, MD
2nd

Charles Hickok, PA
3rd

Ken Gutermuth, NC
4th

Vassili Kyrkos, NY
5th

Eyal Mozes, MD
6th

Past Winners

Duane Wagner, NJ
1991

Kathy Stroh, PA
1992, 2007

Greg Mayer, MO
1995, 1998

Tom Stokes, NJ
1996

Mark Hunter, MO
1997

Steve Crenshaw, MD
1999

Deb Otto, MO
2000

Bill Crenshaw, MD
2001, 2011

Charlie Hickok, PA
2002

Luke Koleszar, VA
2003

Eric Wrobel, VA
2004, 2010

John Koski, NC
2005

Eyal Mozes, NY
2006

Ewan McNay, CT
2008

Debbie Gutermuth, NC
2009

Eric Monte, Gary Dickson, Vassili Kyrkos and Patrick Shea

John Corrado, Eric Wrobel, Gary Dickson and Kevin Wojtaszczyk

When Traveling Through a Worm Hole, Don't Find Half of It!

The first heat opened on Wednesday morning suitably enough with eight tables taking place in the vast empty space that was Ballroom B. The closest game was Table 1 where all three of the other players would have won if they had but one more turn, even though the winner, Eric Monte, had a minor glitch during the first turn with his Mulligan Drive equipped Clipper - he rolled a 1-1-1-1 and rerolled one for a 2. (But it was a far cry from the eleven 1's in twelve dice from a few year's back.) On Table 4, Richard Irving - using an early Spy Eye - went past a Relic Yellow Drive to claim a Mulligan Gear. The fakeout paid off in victory as the Drive was still there when he returned to the Asteroid System. The other winners in Heat 1 were Ewan McNay, Eric Wrobel, Vassili Kyrkos, Eyal Mozes, Paul Gaberson, and Bill Crenshaw.

Heat 2 filled seven tables Thursday evening in Marietta. Another close finish occurred at Table 10, where Debbie Gutermuth ended with $2,072 but finished second to Kevin Wojtaszczyk. At Table 15, Jim Fardette claimed he found the worst Jump Start ever (probably due to a small number of Telegates found), but still managed a close win. The other winners were Jason Wagner, Charles Hickok, Ken Gutermuth, Doug Faust, and John Corrado.

The third heat on Friday filled five tables in Vista C. Here, Aaron Fuegi won the closest game of the tournament over Michael Holmquist - by a single credit, $2,009 to $2,008! (Though it is possible to win with less value in cash and deeds because you have to declare victory on your own turn and you can be the recipient of commissions to put you over.) The other winners were: Patrick Maloney, Alex Gesing, Rich Meyer and Richard Irving (the only double winner).

14 of the 19 winners and two alternates appeared in Limerock for the semi-finals on Saturday. It was a good day for former champions with five still in the running. In SF 1, 2001's Bill Crenshaw edged Debbie Gutermuth (2009), Alex Gesing and Richard Irving. Ken Gutermuth cruised to a relatively easy win in SF2 over Jim Fardette, Patrick Maloney and Eric Monte. In SF 3, defending champ Eric Wrobel, kept his title defense alive with a win over John Corrado, Kevin Wojtaszczyk and Gary Dickson. 2002's Charles Hickok cashed the last golden ticket by a mere $130 over Vassili Kyrkos, Eyal Mozes (2006) and Doug Faust.

The Final featured three former champions and an overdue fourth (Ken). Bill used the Jump Start which he found early to establish a loop only he could use because of the Jump Start and won a relatively easy win given the quality of opposition. Eric finished second - just missing his repeat. All four winners selected a science fiction DVD as a supplemental prize provided by the GM.

All players did a great job upholding the first rule of this event: Have Fun!

2011 WBC Merchant of Venus Tournament Complete Standings:

Finalists (ranked by position in Final):
1)Bill Crenshaw, $3,077
2)Eric Wrobel, $2,525
3)Charles Hickok, $2,160
4)Ken Gutermuth, $1,976

Semi-finalist (ranked by score in semi-final)
5) Vassili Kyrkos, $2,871
6) Eyal Mozes, $2,867
7) Debbie Gutermuth, $2,845
8) John Corrado, $2,459
9) Alex Gesing, $2,372
10) Jim Fardette, $2,353
11) Richard Irving, $2,343
12) Doug Faust, $2,292
13) Patrick Maloney, $2,078
14) Kevin Wojtaszczyk, $2,017
15) Gary Dickson, $1,845
16) Eric Monte, $1,663

Players of Heats (Ranked by score of best game, * = won heat, but missed SF)
17) Jason Wagner, $2,179*
18) Rich Meyer, $2,089*
19) Ewan McNay, $2,078*
20) Paul Gaberson, $2,055*
21) Aaron Fuegi, $2,009*
22) Michael Holmquist, $2,008
23) Gary Libby, $1,893
24) Philip Shea, $1,892
25) Tom Vickery, $1,876
26) Luke Koleszar, $1,848
27) Patrick Shea, $1,824
28) John Sizemore, $1,814
29) Stephane, Dorais, $1,784
30) Chris Entwistle, $1,756
31) Tom McCorry, $1,650
32) Chris Gnech, $1,646
33) Joe Abrams, $1,571
34) David Hitchcock, $1,540
35) Walter Hnatiw, $1,410
36) Nikki Bradford, $1,390
37) Jessica Crandell, $1,376
38) Bob Woodson, $1,344
39) Tom Browne, $1,299
40) Sean McCullough, $1,151
41) Debbie Anderson, $1,114
42) Mark McCandless, $1,080
43) Wade Fowble, $992
44) Don Tatum, $980
45) Chris Brandt, $880
46) Eric Caron, $772
47) David Matheny, $748
48) Joshua Gottesman, $653

Bill Crenshaw watches as GM Richard Irving seeks a path
through the cloud on his way to the only double win of the heats.

The finalists playing for all the Space Dust had no less than
five Merchant of Venus titles between them.
 GM      Richard Irving  [10th Year]   1505 Caceras Circle, Salinas, CA 93906
    rri12@sbcglobal.net   NA

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