vegas showdown   

Updated Feb. 19, 2015

2014 WBC Report  

   2015 Status: pending 2015 GM commitment

Michael Kaltman, PA

2014 Champion

  

Event History
2008    Andrew Gerb    56
2009     Eric Freeman    67
2010     Randy Buehler    67
2011    Steven LeWinter    94
2012    Redie Smith    68
2013    Doug Faust    93
2014    Michael Kaltman    75

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Randy Buehler      WA    13     54
  2.  Doug Faust         NY    14     49
  3.  Eric Freeman       PA    10     48
  4.  Steven LeWinter    NC    14     42
  5.  Mike Kaltman       PA    14     39
  6.  Nick Page          on    11     36
  7.  Andrew Gerb        MD    09     33
  8.  Redie Smith        NC    12     30
  9.  Sceadeau D'Tela    NC    13     26
 10.  Cary Morris        NC    13     24
 11.  Andrew Drummond    on    14     18
 12.  Lachlan Salter     on    12     18
 13.  Max Jamelli        PA    13     16
 14.  Rob Flowers        MD    11     12
 15.  Matt Peterson      MN    10     12
 16.  Scott Chupack      IL    09     12
 17.  Kevin Brown        GA    08     12
 18.  Rob Kircher        RI    12      9
 19.  Jeremy Oppenheim   VA    11      9
 20.  Lexi Shea          CT    10      9
 21.  Robb Effinger      on    08      9
 22.  Matthew Craig      NC    14      6
 23.  Curt Collins II    PA    12      6
 24.  Mark Love          MD    11      6
 25.  Geoffrey Pounder   on    10      6
 26.  William Herbst     NY    09      6
 27.  Chris Robbins      UT    08      6
 28.  Steve Cuccaro      MD    13      4
 29.  Greg Thatcher      CA    14      3
 30.  Eric Monte         NY    12      3
 31.  David Duncan       PA    11      3
 32.  Mike Kaltman       PA    10      3
 33.  Anne Murphy        MA    08      3

2014 Laurelists
Repeating Laurelists:

Andrew Drummond, on
2nd

Steve LeWinter, NC
3rd

Doug Faust, NY
4th

Matthew Craig, NC
5th

Greg Thatcher, CA
6th

Past Champions

Andrew Gerb, MD
2008

Eric Freeman, PA
2009

Randy Buehler, WA
2010

Steven LeWinter, NC
2011

Redie Smith, NC
2012

Doug Faust, NY
2013

Michael Kaltman, PA
2014
     

You can almost hear the slots ringing in the background ...

Umm ... young man - are you old enough to be in a casino?

The Streak is Over ...

In Vegas Showdown players are challenged to bid for and place basic and specialty rooms in an effort to build the best Hotel/Casino on the Vegas strip. In the preliminary rounds, 4-player games were the preference; with 5-player games employed only if necessary.

In the three preliminary heats there were a total of 27 games played. This year only Kate Fractal managed more than one win in the heats. In one of her wins, she managed to do so with only one slot room and was the only game winner to pull off that feat this year. Kate also managed to win the closest overall preliminary game this year (which wasn't particularly close compared to previous years) with 69 points over 65, 64, and 61 from Redie Smith, Kyle Smith, and Nels Thompson, respectively.

The highlights of the preliminary rounds included:

~ The GM, Eric Freeman, racked up an impressive 90 total points in a game which included purchases of three high end rooms (Theater, Five Star Steakhouse, and Dragon Room) in his final display.

~ Kyle Smith won a game that included two former finalists (Mike Kaltman and Redie Smith) without purchasing any of the "Fancy" rooms. His victory was fueled by a rare two Nightclub builds.

~ The GMs son, 10 year old Alex Freeman, became the youngest player to play in the tournament and managed a respectable third place to former finalists Cary Morris and Rob Flowers. The GM thanks the two of them for helping guide Alex through his first game.

~ The title of "Diamond King" this year went to John Corrado with a tournament record 15 diamond points - blasting past Rod Spade's previous record of 13 set in 2012.

~ The "lounge king" this year with a tournament record five lounges on his winning board was former champion and 2013 finalist Randy Buehler. His winning casino in this 5-player game was also noteworthy in that it contained a total of ten of the basic tiles and only three advanced rooms (Fancy Lounge, Fancy Restaurant, and a Buffet).

There were 26 different winners, but three opted not to advance, admitting alternates Andrew Drummond and Matt Calkins to the semifinals. Andrew injected a bit of flavor into the tournament this year, by dressing in a leisure suit and sunglasses for every one of his games. 2013 finalist Max Jamelli would have returned to the semis if a conflicting event had finished on time. Alas, the perils of multiple attractions at WBC.

In the semifinals, Doug Faust won his table by six points to advance in his quest to defend his 2013 title. The grouping (Eric Freeman, Kate Fractal, Scott Saccenti, and Jim Fry) behind Doug was all within two points of each other. Eric was caught at the game end with $47 waiting for a Theater drop that never came.

Mike Kaltman cruised to an easy 10-point win over Craig Trader, with John Corrado, Kyle Smith, and Joel Lytle further behind.

"Leisure Suit" alternate Andrew Drummond punched his golden ticket to the Final with a 5-point win over 2013 finalist Cary Morris while also prevailing over Loc Nguyen, Luke Koleszar, and James Denam.

Doug Faust wasn't the only player looking to "defend his title." Steve LeWinter returned back to the WBC for the first time since winning the Vegas title in 2011. His "title defense" would extend to the Final after a 2-point victory over Greg Thatcher with Paul Guy, Dana Champion, and Matt Calkins taking the third-fifth spots, respectively.

Matt Craig took the last spot in the Final with a 2-point margin over Greg Crowe, with Randy Buehler, Winton Lemoine, and Don Tatum finishing third-fifth respectively.

The Final included three folks who wrote about their WBC experience (while including Vegas Showdown) on Boardgamegeek.

You can find their accounts as follows
Doug Faust - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/177437/wbc-2014-jump-starting-just-short-or-not-fancying
Andrew Drummond - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/178046/newbies-wbc-game-recaps
Mike Kaltman - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/177348/wbc-2014-or-how-i-learned-stop-worrying-and-love-c

Some of the highlights of the Final include:

~ Turn 12 - The Theater flops out early and no one has a Fancy Lounge yet. Andrew buys the first Fancy Lounge this turn for $21
~ Turn 13 - The second Ad campaign comes out and only Mike and Steve have the capital to trade $10 for five points.
~ Turn 15 - Andrew get the Theater for a bargain $29
~ Turn 16 - Mike gets the Dragon Room for $33
~ Turn 19 - Mike buys a second Restaurant that allows him to complete his Hotel section
~ Turn 20 - Game ends

Final Fame on the board at the end of the game: Mike 46, Andrew 48, Matt 27, Steve 49, Doug 40

Andrew finished with the highest Population (19) for five points, Doug 2nd (18) for three points, and Mike 3rd (16) for one point. Matt and Steve finished with 13 and 9 population, respectively.

Steve and Mike tied for the highest revenue (16) for four points each. Matt finished 3rd (14) for one point. Andrew and Doug finished with 13 and 12 revenue, respectively.

Matt and Steve filled both sides and connected for 13 points. Doug filled both sides for ten points. Mike and Andrew completed only one side and connected for eight points total.

Mike scored a tidy sum of nine in diamond points, with Andrew at six points and Doug with one.

Doug, Matt, and Andrew scored 2, 2, and 1 point respectively for leftover cash.

Final scores

Mike 68 (with nine leftover cash), Andrew 68 (with no leftover cash), Steve 66, Doug 56, and Matt with 43

Mike's tableau at the end contained a Lounge, two Fancy Lounges, four Slots, two Fancy Slots, a Dragon Room, two Restaurants, and a Fancy Restaurant.

This was Mike Kaltman's 20th appearance at a WBC Final. In none of the previous 19 attempts did Mike manage a win. The string of near misses was approaching infinity - or so it seemed. After a double check of the scores confirmed that the Vegas Showdown title would finally break his streak, Mike broke down in tears of joy and relief. It was an emotional moment, and I, for one, am glad to have been one of the people present to witness it.

GM Eric Freeman with a little too much oversight of finalist Mattew Craig.

GM Freeman and his five finalists - including the lounge lizard - Andrew Drummond.

 GM     Eric Freeman (6th Year)  NA 
   freemaneric@comcast.net   NA

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