1st Charles Reinke went 3-1 +266 and didn't score below 400 in any of his games, good enough for first place. He started off with a big win over Bryan Benwitz, 452-367, where Bryan's late bingo of OCREATE was immediately met with an out-bingo of REVIVES from Charles (to go with his RIALTOS and CATENARY played earlier in the game). The time-tested strategy of playing three bingos to win was again put to good use against Gail Salm, as Charles bingoed thricely* with IMPASTED, FERMATAS, and the nine-letter DESTINIES on his way to a 464-347 win. Gail played HOOFERS and LIVENERS to ensure that the margin wasn't too catastrophic. Charles' third and final win was against James Frankki, 416-348; ENTANGLE and OKAYING were Charles' bingos, while James had TOONIES. Hopes for a perfect evening were dashed, however, by Mary Becker in round 4, as she emerged victorious in a close endgame, 410-406. Her high-scoring bingos of BISECTED (89) and POACHER (86) easily outclassed Charles' lower-scoring plays of PINTADO (72) and RAINLESS (59).

(*THRICELY is phony - don't study words using these writeups!)

2nd Thomas Reinke tested out his newfound Collins knowledge with a four-game series against Mark Kenas using the international dictionary, and it didn't turn out so bad, with Thomas going 3-1 +88. The single loss came in the first game: Thomas fell 348-413, playing DILUENTS against Mark's FANCIES. Thomas rebounded in the second game to win 436-379, playing LEANNESS, DOUGHIER, and NANOBEE#. Mark countered with his own Collins knowledge, playing TOOLMEN# in addition to TRAJECT. Thomas' best game came next when he won 494-418, again playing three bingos: CHOLENTS, WEASAND, and INCAGED. The final game was another win for Thomas, but it was a bit closer at 424-404. More Collins bingo knowledge was on display from both players: Mark played BAINITE#, but Thomas got down the fancy VILLAGIO# for maximum style points.

3rd Mary Becker claimed third place by nineteen spread points, her 3-1 +9 record beating out Bryan's 3-1 -10 record. Her first game was a low-scoring 324-313 win - we can all imagine the torments that both players faced. Mary did bingo with ANTSIER to ease the discomfort somewhat. She had another close game, this time a loss, against James Frankki, 354-361. The only bingo on that board was James' phony SHIVING*. If you thought those first two games were closely-contested, think again; Mary's third game of the night, this time against Helen Flores, ended in the slimmest of margins: just one point, 319-318. The trend of nailbiters continued into the fourth and final game, where Mary clinched a spot in the top three with a higher-scoring 410-406 match against Charles Reinke.