merchant of venus   

Updated Nov. 23, 2012

 2012 WBC Report  

 2013 Status: pending 2013 GM commitment

Eric Wrobel, MD

2012 Champion

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
2012     Eric Wrobel     59

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Eric Wrobel        VA    12    148
  2.  Bill Crenshaw      VA    11    126
  3.  Joe Abrams         CT    12     72
  4.  Eyal Mozes         MD    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.  Doug Faust         NY    12     18
 24.  Richard Irving     CA    10     16
 25.  Peggy Pfeiffer     FL    07     16
 26.  Rich Meyer         MA    04     16
 27.  Eric Monte         NY    12     12
 28.  Ken Gutermuth      TX    11     12
 29.  Patrick Shea       VA    10     12
 30.  Kevin Wojtasczyck  NY    07     12
 31.  Abby Cocke         MD    02     12
 32.  James Hopkin       CA    00     12
 33.  Chris Gnech        PA    12      9
 34.  Frank McNally      MA    06      9
 35.  Tom DeMarco        NJ    03      8
 36.  Gary Dickson       CA    02      8
 37.  Lauren Hickok      PA    00      8
 38.  Ray Stakenas Sr    NC    05      4
 39.  Jim Fardette       ae    04      4
 40.  Lynn Ribeiro       NH    01      4
 41.  Tom Browne         PA    12      3
 42.  David Fritsch      VA    08      3

2012 Laurelists                                                Repeating Laurelists:

Doug Faust, NY
2nd

Eric Monte, NY
3rd

Chris Gnech, PA
4th

Joe Abrams, CT
5th

Tom Browne, PA
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, 2012

John Koski, NC
2005

Eyal Mozes, NY
2006

Ewan McNay, CT
2008

Debbie Gutermuth, NC
2009

Joel Tamburo seems more optimistic than Roderick Lee.

Bill Crenshaw, John Sizemore, Patrick Shea and Eric Monte

To Infinity and Beyond!

The Merchant of Venus tournament started on Monday this year in an effort to boost attendance that had slipped under 50 last year. 23 players braved the unfashionable, Western spiral arm of the galaxy to find their fortune and a spot in the semifinals. A few players met a cruel fate in this round: Craig Reece opened by rolling 1-1-1, but was able to find shelter on Space Station Planet and later repeated the feat and topped it by using the Mulligan Gear for another 1! Ouch! (But this incident earned him the fictional "Water in the Gas Tank" Award.) Henry Dove won the nonexistent "In for a Penny in for a Pound" award, by paying to pass a 30 penalty oval he found and then running into a 40 penalty for his trouble. On the other hand, Debbie Gutermuth and Eric Monte found Relic Yellow Drives on their first roll -- sometimes hunting taters works and sometimes it doesn't. Eric, along with Vassili Kyrkos, Richard Meyer, Larry Loiacono, Gero Niemeyer and Tom Browne were first to $2000 in cash & deeds to win their games.

In Heat 2, 31 players blasted off from Galactic Base into the open space of a vacuously empty Ballroom B. Keith Corbino brought his impressive, homemade Merchant of Venus set to the festivities. There were fragmentary reports that one of the players finished with a score of $130 -- one of the lowest scores ever. It is unknown what disasters befell this unfortunate soul, but it is encouraged they try again. Similar fates have been recovered from in the past. Much better fates befell Joel Tamburo, Eric Wrobel, Bill Crenshaw, Rod Davidson, Luke Kolaszar, William Herbst, Chris Gnech and Henry Dove, who won their ventures into the great unknown.

The last heat saw several semifinal regulars (including yours truly) on the outside looking in. 24 players once more made their way through the galaxy for fun and profit. One clever, though ultimately not successful, ploy was made by Richard Irving: Short only $10 from buying a factory good, he bartered away his shield to get it and then used the commission to buy the shield back! Last to join the qualifiers were Kevin Wojtaszczyk, Ken Gutermuth, John Sizemore, Doug Faust, Frank McNally and Patrick Shea.

The number of entrants topped out at 59, up 11 from 2011.

The semifinals featured 14 of the 20 winners plus two alternates, Joe Abrams and Tom DeMarco. Playing in the (slightly) closer to absolute zero conditions of the Wheatland room, Eric Wrobel, Eric Monte, Doug Faust and Chris Gnech advanced to the Final. Joe Abrams & Tom Browne took the closest seconds to score alsoran laurels. The 2nd ranked Wrobel was a two-time champion. His three adversaries didn't have a MOV laurel between them.

The Final was a tight affair. Wrobel went out to an early lead, but was quickly caught by Monte who found the Relic Yellow Drive and Spy Eye and Chris who picked up a couple hitch hikers and took them to the Base. All four players held about $1,000 in deeds when the milk run of Asteroid System(7b)-Inhabited Moon via Telegate (9b)-Water World (10)-Jungle World via Telegate (2)-Ice Planet (4a) started to dry up. Wrobel won a couple of key races and varied up the routing to bring the engine home in first with $3,056 to be the first to claim three MOV titles. He was followed by Faust with $2,433, Monte $2384 and Gnech $2,251.

Next year, this tournament will take on a flight of fantasy. There may be some adjustments, but I expect the Number 1 rule to continue: Have fun!

Full results:
Finalists (Ranking determined by score in Final.)

1) Eric Wrobel: $3,056
2) Doug Faust: $2,433
3) Eric Monte: $2,384
4) Chris Ghech: $2,251

Semifinalists (Ranking determined by score in semifinal game.)
5) Joe Abrams: $2,637
6) Tom Browne: $2,619
7) Vassili Kyrkos: $2,548
8) Ken Gutermuth: $2,527
9) Rod Davidson: $2,323
10) Tom DeMarco: $2,198
11) Kevin Wojtaszczyk: $2,150
12) Frank McNally: $2,086
13) Bill Crenshaw: $2,038
14) John Sizemore: $1,619
15) Patrick Shea: $1,614
16) William Herbst: $1,380

Rest of field (Ranking determined by score of best heat game)
17) Henry Dove: $2,227
18) Joel Tamburo: $2,222
19) Richard Meyer: $2,158
20) Gero Niemayer: $2,136
21) Luke Koleszar: $2,085
22) Larry Loiacono: $2,042
23) Gary Dickson: $1,909
24) Eyal Mozes: $1,898
25) Tom McCorry: $1,885
26) Bob Woodson: $1,879
27) Paul Gaberson: $1,840
28) Anni Foasberg: $1,818
29) Keith Corbino: $1,804
30) Philip Shea: $1,795
31) Daniel Farrow IV: $1,785
32) Charles Hickok: $1,761
33) Roderick Lee: $1,761
34) Chris Entwistle: $1,760
35) Ray Stakenas: $1,728
36) Debbie Gutermuth: $1,712
37) Greg Romano: $1,703
38) Barb Roeper: $1,672
39) Richard Irving: $1,628
40) Jessica Shea: $1,455
41) York Dobyns: $1,448
42) Harald Henning: $1,435
43) Malinda Kyrkos: $1,404
44) Michael Holmquist: $1,338
45) Alan Stancius: $1,201
46) Alyssa Gumkowski: $1,177
47) Kyle Greenwood: $1,120
48) Kris Correira: $1,048
49) Keith Ferguson: $995
50) Stephane Dorais: $950
51) Geoffrey Entwistle: $910
52) Kevin Koch: $900
53) Wade Fowble: $853
54) Eugene Hourany: $764
55) Craig Reece: $757
56) Bob Mozzi $700
57) Kathy Stroh: $700
58) Fred Roeper: $620
59) Qroovr Naqrefba: $130
(name in alien transliteration to protect the extremely unlucky.)

Kevin Wojtaszczyk, top ranked Eric Wrobel and Vassili Kyrkos

GM Richard Irving (right) shepherds his finalists.

 GM      Richard Irving  [11th Year]  NA
    rri12@sbcglobal.net   NA

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