1st Ron Malzer added his name to the illustrious list of players who have, in a single session, attained the coveted 4-0 record, finishing at 4-0 +409. He also averaged 411 points per game, more than fifty points higher than his yearly average up to that point. A first-round win against Wendy Bialek was just the start that Ron was looking for, 396-248. Another big win came against Lynda Finn, where Ron's bingos of ZESTING and NOTIONS propelled him to a 458-315 final score. Facing off against the fearsome Bryan Benwitz, who sits mightily atop the yearly standings, Ron was unaffected by the pressure, and took a close win, 395-384. Ron had STRIATED in that game, while Bryan had FALTERS. In the final round, the battle of 3-0's, Ron etched his name into the weighty golden tablets which constitute the club's official recordbooks by dismantling Sara McLaughlin, 394-287. His bingo find of SNARLING was surely descriptive of his facial expression as he laid down big play after big play.

2nd Charles Reinke finished up the club season with a 4-1 +178 outing, although he strangely did not manage to reach his season average of 445 in any of the night's games. He came close with a round one win against Mark Kenas, 444-351. Playing in the Collins dictionary as is their custom, Charles found MINDFUL and AKINESES#, while Mark had ADONISES and AGRIZES#. Simultaneously, Charles went up against Lynda Finn and won a lower-scoring game, 369-338. After dispatching Richard Lauder 434-291, Charles took on Mark again in a rematch, and Mark was out for blood, as evidenced by the 387-509 final score. Charles had a high-probability GALORES, but Mark found NEIGHED, PRUINOSE, and DELATES. Charles finished his evening with a 414-381 victory over Bryan Benwitz.

3rd Sara McLaughlin did not play a bingo in any of her four games, but still finished strong at 3-1 +28. An instructive first-round game against newcomer Milo evolved into a comfortable win for Sara, 347-249. Immediately matched up against Jane Lowy, another newcomer, Sara was challenged but eventually prevailed, 302-274. An even tighter game was played against Richard Lauder, and, despite Richard's dual bingos of LORINER and TITIANS, it was Sara's win, 355-346. Tantalized by the possibility of going 4-0, Sara went up against fellow 3-0 Ron Malzer in the last round, but sadly fell well short of a victory (and an undefeated night) with her 287-394 loss. Since Sara did have a perfect 4-0 record back in June, it was only fair that Ron take this one.

We welcomed two new players, Jane and Milo, and hope to see one or both of them again in the future!

This session marks the end of the club season, which means that final winning percentages have been tabulated and a club champion has been crowned. With a stellar winning percentage of 74.8% and a devastating average score of 438, Bryan Benwitz proudly takes the metaphorical crown and places it upon his not-so-metaphorical head, while Thomas Reinke, with his 73.4% winning percentage and 451 average score, is cast aside in second place. Charles Reinke rounds out the top three at 65.8% and a 444 average, well back of the two contenders. Bryan's triumph marks the first time in a decade and a half since a non-Reinke was at the top of the yearly stats; we're missing some data from 2006 and 2005, but Charles Reinke was tops in 2007, and in 2004 it was John O'Laughlin and his outrageous 82.3% win rate. John was likely top in 2005 and 2006 as well.

Next week begins a new club season and a fresh start for all players looking to improve their average scores, their BPG (bingos per game), their win rate, the amount of fun they're having, all of the above, or none of the above.

In unrelated statistical news, the club recently hit the 30% mark in our collective attempt to play every bingo in the dictionary (that's 56,792 seven and eight letter words, of which we have played 17,410). Of course, we have played most of the high-probability words like ETESIAN and ATONIES, leaving us with unplayable oddities like AARDWOLF and ZYMOGRAM begging to eventually be placed on the board, so our progress towards 40% will likely be a slow and multi-year process, never mind 50% or 100%.