Veni, Vidi, Vici!

In Auction, you are looking to be the first to accumulate sets of collectibles and/or cash that totals $7500 and declare victory. This is accomplished by winning auctions, selling items for cash and knowing when to keep bidding and when to drop out at just the right time.

We had 27 participants (up 1 from a year ago!) put their skills to the test across 4 Heats. Heat 1 winners were Bruce Monnin, Bruce Reiff and Lexi Shea Burns. Heat 2 winners were Luke Koleszar and Chris Gnech. Heat 3 winners were Andrew George, Michael Shea and your GM, Vassili Kyrkos. We had 16 players for the fourth and final Heat. Justin Tagg took down the table of Andrews (Gardner, George and Joy) while Steve Cuccaro, Stuart Tucker, and Michael Buccheri all picked up wins in the only heat they played. Andrew George wound up as the only one to participate in all 4 Heats. That’s commitment!

We had 12 Heat winners for the Semifinal but only 10 showed up as Luke Koleszar and Steve Cuccaro had conflicts other event Semifinal. The remaining players were randomly split into two 3-player and one 4-player games. The final would be the three Semifinal winners in a 3-player match.

Semifinal #1 featured 2-time former champion Bruce Monnin, 5-time former champion Bruce Reiff, and Vassili Kyrkos. As he did last year, Bruce Monnin ran away with it as his total of $9570 more than doubled the combined totals of the other two “participants”.

Semifinal #2 had another former champion, 3-time winner, Michael Shea advancing with a total of $7740, narrowly edging out Andrew George’s total of $7360, Justin Tagg’s total of $7270 and Chris Gnech’s very respectable fourth place total of $6500.

Semifinal #3 didn’t have any former champions but Michael Buccheri was about to change that. He defeated Lexi Shea Burns and Stuart Tucker easily with a score $8000 versus $3690 for Stuart and $2760 for Lexi. Michael moved on to the finals.

The finals pitted Bruce Monnin (Bruce) , Michael Shea (Michael S) and Michael Buccheri (Michael B) in a tense 3-player contest.

Michael S got it started by winning the first auction, paying $490 for some Miniatures. He recouped almost all of that back by selling some Coins for $480 and then tried to sell some Figurines but the bank refused to pay! Michael B won the ensuing auction and paid $160 to Michael S.

Auction 2 saw Bruce win some Queen Anne Parlor for $600 and then sell some Figurines for $400.

The third auction was won by Michael B with a bid of $320 for Coins. He then sold Rare Miscellany, collecting $540. He tried to sell some Prints but they turned out to be an Imitation and he collected nothing.

The Prints were put on the top of the collector stack to be sold next but the opening bid was too high for all 3 and the Prints went unclaimed.

Michael B won the next auction, paying $310 for Figurines. Michael then sold some Coins for $480.

Round 6 saw Michael S win the auction for Rare Miscellany, paying $720. He sold Figurines for $280 and as a result of a Special Value Card also received an Inheritance, a free card from the top of the collector deck. Next, he tried to sell some Tapestries but the bank once again refused to pay so, in the ensuing auction, Bruce won and paid Michael S $180 for them. Michael’s third and final sale was Sterling for $360. He also turned over another Special Value Card, this time revealing the Rich Collector coming to buy all the Jewelry. Michael S collected $800, Bruce collected $2200 and Michael B collected $2000.

Round 7 saw 2 Buyer’s Cards come up for auction along with some Coins. When the dust settled, Michael S secured the winning bid by paying $1620. He immediately recovered that money by selling Rare Miscellany at 100% value for $1440 and then selling a second Rare Miscellany for $180. He also revealed another Special Value Card, a Lot Sale, meaning 3 items would be put up for bid at the next auction.

Bruce would win the Lot Sale of Sterling, Prints and Antique Clocks with a bid of $1160 but he did not sell anything.

Round 9 proved to be the decisive round and Michael B won the auction of Rare Miscellany with a bid of $530. He was able to sell Sterling for $720 and using his Buyer’s Card, he was able to buy the two Figurines that were out on the board in the 25% Warehouse section. That gave him the full set of Figurines worth $3200 plus $4920 in cash for a total of $8120 and the victory! Bruce finished second with $4890 and Michael S third with $4220.

Michael Buccheri won the only heat he played, his Semifinal game and the Final all in the same day. Not bad for a few hours of fun gameplay!

Thanks to all for coming out and making this tournament so much fun! Can’t wait for next year!