Nick Paciorek, Scott Driessen, Jon Izer and Stephen Squibb. Scott won it all in the fourth hand with Jonathan finishing third. Nick was one of three scoreless players in Hand 1 and got an early exit in the musical chairs elimination system.	Blair Morgen, Rob Kilroy and Alan Arvold patrol their corner of the table. Blair fell just two points short of victory in Hand 3 while Rob was being ousted. Alan got his walking papers as the low man after two hands.

As usual, the games played quickly, none were close to pushing the three-hour time limit. We had several newbies, many regulars including no less than nine former champions, and some returning veterans who had not played in several years. All had a good time, apparently. Lady luck remained fickle, as evidenced by several former champions who did not win their heats, though several tried all THREE times. So the mix of victors qualifying for the Sunday Final that has the honor of ending WBC included many new and familiar faces.

There were 13 tables in the three heats and consequently only those 13 winners were qualified to advance to the Final - a process which saves several hours by jettisoning a semi-final round. By tradition, the Final starts at noon on Sunday - the last event to get underway on travel day when people are anxious to hit the road or catch their flights. We've had about the same number of winners persevere for the past three years - averaging about eight finalists. This year, there were 12! This required using the Lost Battalion Games Ship Card Deck, and adjusting the 'Low Man Out' rule to eliminate the two lowest players for the first two hands. As expected with such a wide horizon, many played standing up to improve their vantage point. This was going to be a long battle.

The first hand proceeded slowly, but banter was active, with low scoring. At the end with the leaders tied at 33 points, three players were still scoreless, necessitating the dreaded elimination die roll to dismiss 2005 champ Wade Fowble and Nick Paciorek - the only repeating laurelist. Hand 2, now down to ten players, went faster, with the lead standing at 69 points. Alan Arvold, making his first Final appearance since 2004, and first-time finalist Jeff Miller were the next two excused, both having nine or less points. Now down to eight players, the third hand gained both speed and scoring. Blair Morgen, back in the Final after an eight-year absence, fell just two points short of the title with 98 points and a substantial lead over the pack which could muster little more than 70. So we went to a fourth and deciding hand, with seven players, Rob Kilroy having been eliminated as low man on the totem pole in his first Final appearance since 2001. As expected, Blair drew lots of attention, as the leader should, whilst others were quietly sinking anything they could as quickly as possible. Prizes were few, so who knew what was in that Sunk Ship pile. At the end of the day, Scott Driessen, an absolute newbie, won it all, with 142 points, more than half of them (73) in the last hand - to collect his first WBC shield. Blair, who had come so close to winning it a hand earlier, overcame a deluge of attacks to survive and take second. The whole affair took over four hours, and was concluded as tables were being taken down around them in a now largely deserted hotel.

Wade Fowble, Mike Windle, Tim Hitchings and Blair Morgen vie the deadly waters of the first hand. The latter three finished 4th, 2nd and 6th respectively.	Jeff Miller, Patrick Mirk and Wade Fowble at the outset. Wade's suffering was brief - being in the first pair ousted as low man after the first hand.