air baron [updated August 2000]

ABN   
    19-22
   12-15      17-20     
   9-12    12-15     9-12  

           Maryland 1-2   Maryland 3  

John Coussis, IL

2000 Champion

2nd: Peter Busch, OH

3rd: Bruce Bernard, PA

4th: Gary Presser, NY

5th: Dee Ann Gehring, IN

6th: Brian Schott, MD 
Event History
1991    None      -
1992    None      -
1993    None      -
1994    None      -
1995    None      -
1996    Jack Jaeger      118
1997    James Garvey      110
1998    Fred Minard       94
1999    Ken Rothstein      117
2000    John Coussis     109
AREA Ratings
 1    Robert Hamel      1590
 2    Robert Sohn      1564
 3    Jerry Ohlinger      1563
 4    Lee Presser      1562
 5    Chris Storzillo      1557
 6    Ken Rothstein      1557
 7    Joe Pellicia      1550
 8    Justin Veazey      1536
 9    Michael Bacon      1535
10    John Coussis      1535

If Only I Ran this Airline ....

Thank you for choosing WBC. Has your copy of Air Baron been in your possession at all times? Has any stranger asked you to play Air Baron? All unattended copies of the game will be collected by the GM and may be used in the tournament.

There were a total of 33 games played in the four heats, all 5-player except for one 4-player game in the last heat. Ken Rothstein, the defending champ, was shut down in two heats, as was last year's runner-up, Bob Sohn. Jerry Ohlinger, another finalist from last year's tournament, made it to the semi-finals this year, but '96 defending champ, Jack Jaeger, did not. Graeme Dandy from Australia flew the farthest to play in the tournament, complaining of cramped legroom on his long flight.

The semi-finals consisted of 28 players (four no-shows), including Max Jamelli who won both his tables in the first two heats. The players were randomly divided into four 5-player tables and two 4-player tables (using the East version) to provide a field of six finalists. However, when Sunday morning arrived, only five finalists showed. Brian Schott did not, so he was given 6th place. The final lasted 22 rounds (three hours), and to our surprise the Government Contract never appeared, although the Strike occurred several times, the Crash twice and the "Oil Can" once.

The pink-and-green flamingo machine, Pete, made his HQ in Sacramento (hey, isn't Flamingo a Miami airline, son?). He won control of SFO, including the foreigns, by mid-game, and had a strong presence in DIA and LAX. He stayed out of debt, but unfortunately for him, he was terrible at Fare Wars, striking out three of four times. Although he temporarily held dominance of DIA and LAX toward the end, he failed to get that flamingo steamroller going and never capitalized on his two undeployed jumbos. Final score: 177.

Skyhigh Bruce chose Memphis for his HQ, which he lost halfway through the game because DFW became the hot hub for takeover attempts. After being driven out of DFW, he went $40 in debt to Fare War his way into control of DTW and DCA (driving John out of Pittsburgh) and dominance of JFK. An Oil Can at the worst possible time forced him to sell off his spokes in JFK and ORD. He reclaimed dominance of JFK by the end against little resistance, giving him 3rd place with a score of 140.

Gary established his Olympic HQ in San Diego and continually fought with Pete for dominance of LAX, failing three rolls against Lost Wages. Gary was the first to declare Fare Wars, first to drop events in the cup, first to buy jumbos, and the only player to gain a position in seven hubs at one time. He spent more time in Fare Wars than any other player and went $40 in debt. He successfully defended Omaha three times before selling it to help pay an interest loan. Gary fought with Bruce and John over DFW, and gained control of ORD. But he lost HOU and PHX to John during the mid-game. Final score: 101.

Toucan Dee Ann began with SLC (which she held the entire game) and bought strong presence spokes in ORD and JFK while dominating DTW and then ATL. Dee Ann's poor luck in Fare Wars was equal to Pete's, and she was the first to take out a small loan ($20). She was eventually forced out of DTW, JFK and ORD (losing Tokyo, too), but with help from her foreign in Rio she gained control of ATL against John, and at the 11th hour she momentarily drove a wedge into his MIA. Final score: 91.

Jet Stream John bought his HQ in Orlando and had control of MIA by Turn 4. He was the first to buy foreigns and grabbed control of HOU and PHX away from Gary. He temporarily had control of DFW during the mid-game, and was constantly counting his cash under the table because his chits came out of the cup so often. On Round 22, John grabbed control of DFW with high rolls, counted his cash one more time, then went after Omaha (the most contested spoke during the game) and KC for enough Market Share and cash to win his team game with a score of 329. That was noon on Sunday, and John had a flight to Chicago that evening. Because of delays at O'Hare, he was five hours late getting home. He spent those hours plotting his hostile takeover, but sadly his new Air Baron plaque didn't get him off the tarmac any sooner. Where's the justice?

 GM      Ben Knight  [3rd Year]   NA
    BenKnight7@aol.com   NA

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