Katie "Shocker" Elliott, Special GM Rolinda "Ma" Collinson, 2007 champ Jeffrey "The Head" Hacker, and Alan "Tick Tock" Arvold hit the streets.	John "Bugs" Elliott, Ashley "Angel" Collinson, Karen Roberts, and Jacob Nixon try to beat the clock and each other as the two newcomers earn their monikers.

After thoroughly ventilating the Viper just a few weeks before the tournament, Rolinda "Ma" Collinson once again took the GM reins. As expected, Chicago-wide seductions rose with the influx of the fairer mobsters. However, gang violence continued apace despite the gentler hand pulling the trigger on her Chicago typewriter.

The Final was an odd affair with no one able to collect the G's despite the presence of two past champs and a Top Ten laurelist. Half-way through the game, the five mob bosses had less than three grand between 'em. As a result, the lot switched to monopoly strategies, and only one ever managed to collect any real dough. In the end, our new Godfather prevailed by piling up real estate around the city for his illicit rackets and stills. It was Nick's third title in Gangsters and his third triumph of the week and his tenth overall.

While Ma and her mob were well prepared to run the tournament, the transition to Class C put more lead in the air than a cop car tailgating a lorry full o' Ma's finest moonshine.

In 2012, we'll smooth the road faster than a donut shop can divert coppahs by makin' a few changahs: 1) Arrivin' players will select the experienced or non-advancin' novice divisions. 2) Novices will watch a 15-minute rules video (which will also be on the website in advance) or short one-topic strategy session (if they already know the rules). 3) Novices will compete for the Junior Godfather award. 4) Helpful announcements and reminders will be posted on each table. 5) The time for all aspects of each move will be limited to three minutes.

Plus this coming year player's mob badges will be barcoded and scanned for admission to our speakeasy (with all your preferences saved from last year). The computer will assign games to get players seated with others of similar preference and playing even faster than normal (and even keep mob families on separate tables). Even better, after each heat, the system will prepare reports for the kiosk, semis, and "The Don." In addition, results and statistics will be kept and available 'till youse 're pushin' daises. Youse won't even have to guess how many new opponents you have in each game or how many rated games you've played before! But that's not all. If youse orders now, we throws in free ginsu knives with every heater.

The streets of Chicago will be a different place in 2012. Just as wet, noisy, and dangerous, but easier and more fun alls the same. Youse can bet yer trench coats on it—just don't try takin' no donuts away from no coppahs if youse wants to live to tell the tale.

Justin "Sticky Fingers" Wagner seems a tad intimidated by Craig "No Cigar" Reece whose haberdashere has supplied him with vintage duds.	"Ma" Collinson and her five finalists: "Strings" Hamel, "The Roach" Gardner, "Dangerous" Galullo, "Dusk" Henning, and "Iron" Entwistle.