The new format eliminating the semifinals worked well, with Brett Mingo, Ewan McNay, and Jeff Ridenour advancing to the finals based on large one game wins and Bill Crenshaw, Mark Smith and Kevin Sudy advancing based on a win and decent showing in their other heat. Ted Simmons, Winton Lemoine and Phil Bradley each won heats but not by enough to advance. Venice and Genoa racked up the most wins with three each. London had a pair of wins, Barcelona and Hamburg one each, and Paris was shut out the year after dominating play in 2004.

The finals were hotly contested from the start. Venice (Mark) and Barcelona (Kevin) got off to typical good starts, with Paris (Brett), London (Jeff) and Hamburg (Bill) hanging on. Genoa (Ewan) got squeezed early and often. After getting Seaworthy, London went on a Metal run, grabbing four, and then got a Metal shortage. London also became the beneficiary of a dumped Metal card and Barcelona got a gift Silk card, the combination of which unfortunately skewed the game. London zoomed to a huge lead, buying Renaissance on Turn 5 with Erasmus credits! Barcelona was within range, with Venice, Paris and Hamburg far behind and Genoa barely on the board. Venice, Paris and Hamburg engaged in a three-turn Urban boycott to extend the game and give everyone a chance to catch the leaders.

London got beaten back severely and when he passed on buying Cathedral on turn 6, never had another chance to do so. Barcelona filled the void left by London, but London's Black Death play reined him in. In the meantime, Venice, Paris and Hamburg expanded at will and left each other alone. Hamburg was done in by Barcelona's three Master Art discards of Grain (when Hamburg held four), Timber and Timber and never seriously challenged. Paris amassed huge cash reserves and had Interest & Profit, but neglected to buy Laws of Matter. When London played Alchemist Gold on Paris on the last turn, Paris lost a whopping $148!

In the meantime, Venice patiently acquired Spice after Spice without being contested. On the penultimate turn, Hamburg deduced Venice had Pirates/Vikings and successfully Wind/Watermilled it, but since Hamburg only had one card, Venice W/W-ed it right back. By then it was too late to stop the Venetian juggernaut and Venice's final Spice payout merely confirmed the foregone conclusion. Barcelona held on for second, and Paris fended off Hamburg for third. London finished 5th and Genoa never threatened.

Final scores: Venice 2242, Barcelona 1950, Paris 1714, Hamburg 1620, London 1568 and Genoa 609.

2003 PBeM Tournament Results:

The 2003 BPA PBeM tournament has concluded as Jason Levine survived past the 57 entrants to capture the wood.

With the 5-player final, bidding for capitals was low with only newcomers Eric Hupin ($4 for Paris) and Ed Lathioor ($3 for Barcelona) bidding for capitals. The first two turns saw standard openings with only Famine and Silk being played. The third turn saw Jason Levine (London) start down his winning path by playing three leaders (the first of a total of nine he would play) and picking up cheap advances. Starting with Turn 4, Jason would leverage his leaders and large token bids to build a lead in both income and advances. London went last each of the last five turns.

Eric Hupin (Paris) leveraged a double cloth payout of $160 in Turn 6 to stay in contention in advances but in the end his Misery, 500 points behind the leader, would leave him 66 points behind.

Bill Crenshaw (Venice) used Spice payouts in Turns 6,7 and 8 to stay in contention and make his patented late game run. This run would, however, end up just short as Jason managed three out of four wins in Grain provinces with the final expansion to gain two misery boxes on Bill (100 points) with a Famine play on the Final Card Play. This misery proved to be the difference as Billl fell just 21 points behind the champion.

Final positions were Jason Levine 1st (London), Bill Crenshaw 2nd (Venice), Eric Hupin 3rd (Paris), Ed Lathioor 4th (Barcelona), and Harald Henning 5th (Genoa). Arthur Field took 6th as the highest ranking alternate.