1st Bryan Benwitz edged out the #2 finisher by fifty spread points, going 4-1 +482. A first-round matchup against Richard Lauder ended squarely in Bryan's favor, 409-301. There were just two bingos total played in that game, but both of them were impressive finds: Richard's SYLVITES to Bryan's word-of-the-week SAYONARA. The next game, against Charles Reinke, was not quite as favorable for Bryan, as he recorded his only sub-400 score of the night, 355-389. The pairings ensured that Bryan had a chance for redemption, as he was pressed into an emergency two-on-one (something about desperate times calling for desperate measures) and won both matches by large margins. A game against Helen Flores ended at 508-282, while a game against Dennis Lloyd ended 471-327. Bryan's bingos in those games were CHOICES, EPILATE, RELIEVED, and a monster 123-point ACQUITS. The two-one-game also opened the door for a first-place performance thanks to the additional game, and Bryan seized the opportunity, beating repeat opponent Charles Reinke in the fourth and final round, 431-393. His bingos in that one were INERRANT and the 98-point double-double DIARIST, while Charles had OUTSMILE and OVERSIZE.

2nd Charles Reinke was tantalizingly close to the glory of the first paragraph, but fell slightly short, going 4-1 +433. He opened up the action with a two-on-one match, which, like Bryan's, was an unqualified success; 464-376 was the score against Dennis Lloyd (who played LOUNGES to Charles' BITTERER, FOLIOED, and DATABASE), while 459-267 was the final against Gailm Salm (Charles had EMETINE to Gail's CONGERS). The winning ways continued in a 389-355 win over Bryan Benwitz (again with just two total bingos, Charles' SAINTLY and Bryan's ENLARGE). After a 472-315 triumph over Richard Lauder which saw Charles play a trio of bingos (ATISHOO, PROBERS, and HAIRLESS), he would have been smart to duck out early and keep his 4-0 record intact, but in his foolhardiness, he elected to stay, and that proved to be his downfall. A 393-431 loss to Bryan Benwitz ensued, and the shards of his perfect record lay sundered and irreparable at his feet.

3rd Dave Gilligan made a difficult but wise decision that the player above him in the standings was unable to commit to, leaving after the third round to maintain his solid 2-1 +7 outing. His first game was, if not an unmitigated disaster, then a disaster of the commonplace kind, as he lost a bingoless contest to Helen Flores 251-338. After that disappointing showing, many players would have abandoned ship right then to join the Magic the Gathering players at the adjacent table, but Dave persevered, winning his next game against Dennis Lloyd 433-397. Dave had three bingos in that one: MANNERS, OUTLEARN, and OBVERSE. Dennis got down MONITOR and the phony OUTAWED (OVERAWED is good). Dave then took down Gail Salm in what would end up being his final game, 429-371. HANDILY and SERIALS were Dave's two bingos (he still is incredulous that RESAILS is a valid anagram of SERAILS - wait til he hears about SERAILS), while Gail had AEROBES.