attika [Updated October 2005]  

2005 WBC Report  

  2006 Status: pending 2006 GM commitment

Nate Hoam, OH

2005 Champion


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Event History
2004    Jeff Mullet     55
2005    Nate Hoam     54

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Jeff Mullet        OH    05     33
  2.  Nate Hoam          OH    05     30
  3.  Jim Castonguay     PA    05     18
  4.  Lucimara Martins   MD    04     18
  5.  Bruce Reiff        OH    05     12
  6.  Dan Broh-Kahn      MD    04     12
  7. Eugene Lin          WA    05      9
  8. Cliff Ackman        PA    04      9
  9. Fred Minard         PA    05      6
 10. Andy Lewis          DE    04      6
 11. George Sauer        OH    04      3
           

2005 Laurelists

Jim Castonguay, PA
2nd

Bruce Reiff, OH
3rd

Eugene Lin, WA
4th

Frederick Minard, PA
5th

Jeff Mullet, OH
6th


Past Winners

Jeff Mullet, OH
2004


Certainly Not a Block Game ...

The Attika tournament in Lancaster was eerily similar to the first event at Hunt Valley. Last year, there were 55 players slugging it out and this year there were 54 competitors. As I was setting up the kiosk, a player remarked that the others had to do something about my picture being there too many times. (GM, winning last year) I told him I agreed and that I'd let him GM next year but I'd like to keep my picture in the winner's spot!

As happened last year, we had exactly 16 winners. And just like 2004, your freindly neighborhood GM was the only player to win in both heats. Other heat winners included Tom DeMarco, Bruce Reiff, Mark Delano, David Gagne, Ted Simmons, Phillip Burgin-Young, Luke Koleszar, Alan Kaiser, Bob Titran, Rod Spade, Jim Castonguay, Daniel Broh-Kahn, Nate Hoam, Eugene Lin and Fred Minard. Could it be deja vu' all over again with yours truly winning his own event? Alas, it was not to be. The semi-finals produced Nate Hoam, Jim Castonguay, Eugene Lin and Bruce Reiff to battle it out for the Wood.

Right from the get go, Bruce and Jim were at odds. As Bruce built his first buildings, Jim remarked that's where he wanted to go. Jim then built right next to Bruce. The next few turns they went back and forth about who was in who's area. Meanwhile, Nate and Eugene (who only had a few games under his belt) tried to fly under the radar. Soon Nate was in a great position to win. Armed with an amphore, four cards and ready to possibly connect for the win on his next turn, Nate looked ready. To my surprise, Eugene then did not block Nate's way. But I was pretty sure Bruce or Jim would do it. But, still muttering under their breath about how they had interfered with each other, to my surprise, neither one blocked Nate. Now, after analyzing the game, it was estimated that even if Nate had four of the same cards, he had at least an 80% chance of winning.

I about fell out of my chair when Nate drew three cards instead of going for the win. I thought to myself that Nate had blown his chance at his first ever WBC wood. Then came the bigger shock. None of the other players blocked Nate again! Six chances to keep Nate from winning and nobody stepped up. Nate now armed with what amounted to a guaranteed win, picked up what was to be his first of three century event first place plaques for the week.

Next year, I will be handing off the GM duties to a fellow Cabbie and stepping down to assistant GM. We are discussing the possibility of making it strictly 2-player games next year. I think there is more luck in the two-player game, but many players expressed frustration with other players not blocking wins when they were in a good position to do so. My fear is that going from 4-player games to 2-player games will require more sets than are available so if this happens you better bring a copy if you want to play. If you have an opinion, feel free to e-mail me with your opinions. And thanks to all the players who made GMing Attika a real pleasure the last two years.

 GM      Jeff Mullet  [2nd Year]   21683 Ringgold So Rd, Circleville,OH 43113
   mullet16952000@yahoo.com   740-474-7635

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