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1st Bryan Benwitz put together a perfect 4-0 +327 record and has now won seven of his last eight games. He kicked things off with a decisive 442-343 victory over Thomas Reinke despite losing the bingo battle 2 to 3. The victor played MIAOWED and INTRUDER while the loser played MESOGLEA, TABERING, and GORINESS. Bryan followed that up with a low-scoring 335-315 win against Dave Gilligan in what might very well be Bryan's lowest winning score this year. Dave did get to play the word-of-the-week QUIXOTE (after phonying with OUTMIXES* the turn before) in his losing effort, so that served as some consolation for the defeat. Bryan, meanwhile, played TEMPTED. In round three, Bryan went up against Charles Reinke and improved his record against Reinkes to an unblemished 2-0 with a 430-401 win. His bingos of NERVATE and PASSADES (played after BADASSES was blocked) outshone Charles' BURNERS. An undefeated night was locked up when Bryan soundly beat Helen in the final game by a score of 475-296. Helen got down BETAINES, while Bryan played URINALS and TRAMLINE.

2nd Mark Kenas finally started getting revenge on his Collins-playing foes who have been getting the better of him as of late, going 4-0 +161 and averaging a mind-numbing 483 points per game. He took his first game against Aaron Bader 468-421, playing PANFRIED and WATERAGE. In round two, another high-scoring game ensued, with Mark again the victor, 461-447. He upped his bingo count as well, playing DIARIZE#, RAVINGS, and SEICENTO. A very high-scoring game (even by Collins stanards) followed, a 527-510 win for Mark. Mark once again upped his bingo total, playing four of them (OUTSHONE, FORERANK, PLICATE, and INFLATER). Aaron didn't slouch in that regard, getting down AEGROTAT, SQUADDIE, and STAMPEDO#. For the fourth game, Mark changed opponents, but it didn't matter, as he defeated Thomas Reinke with relative ease, 476-393. His bingos per game for the night ended at a solid 3 per game thanks to three additional bonus plays in the final round: TOLEWARE, MISDONE, and MINIATE#.

1st Thomas Reinke manipulated his tiles in a way superior to all other attendees, coming in first place at 4-1 +495. His tile-manipulation took a while to really get going, as he lost 474-525 against Charles in the first round, despite playing UNDERSEA, PEDOLOGY (n. the study of children) and INSHORE for 103 points making 7 overlaps. That game fell one point short of the magical 1000-point threshold; we demand a recount! In the next round, he faced Dennis on one board and Dave on another. Against Dennis, he bingoed late with REBAITS, stymying Dennis' bingo aspirations, and eventually won 475-363. Against Dave, he simply bingoed late, early, pretty much all the time, and won 513-253. His bingoes that game were OCTROIS, TRANSECT, BORDELLO (n. a brothel) , OVERDYED. His lowest scoring game of the night came against Michael in the third round. Luckily, he held Michael to a fairly low score, and still won 380-327. In the last game, he played Bryan and came out on top, 458-337. He had the fancy bingo of UTRICULI (n. UTRICULUS, a saclike cavity in the inner ear), which is one of two 8-letters words that starts with a U and ends with an I. The other is UMBILICI.

2nd Charles Reinke finished with a 4-1 +372 record and came in second place. He had a big win ("big" in terms of points scored, if not margin of victory) in the first round, beating Thomas 525-474. He double-double early with INSOITE, and later added MANICURE. He bingoed four times against Michael in the next game, and when that happens, a win is likely soon to follow. It did in this case, as he won 548-298. His bingoes were STARRIER, ENGINES, STUIVER (n. a formerly used Dutch coin, also STIVER), and TOLUIDS. In the third round, he lost big against Bryan, scoring 413 but letting his opponent score 549. Remember: the point of the game is to score MORE points than your opponent. Not fewer. Even experts sometimes don't know all the intricacies of this wonderful game. In the last game, he faced Helen and Gail. He only bingoed once against each of them, GOONIEST against Helen and TEMPERS against Gail, but still won by a combined 200 points.

3rd Bryan Benwitz was rudely denied the chance to play five games and thus came in third with his 3-1 +312 record. He began his night with three straight big wins, the first against Dennis, 455-288. Dennis bingoed with SCALING, while Bryan got down STEADIER and DERATION (v. to free from rationing). Following that, he beat Helen 441-311, playing FRONTED and UNMITER (v. to depose from the rank of bishop). Props go out to him for using the correct American spelling, instead of playing UNMITRE. Against Charles, he opend with QUOIT for 48, then immediately used that Q to play EQUATION for 89. That quick start led him to a 549-413 win. He was not so lucky in the final round against the other Reinke, as he suffered his only loss of the night, 337-458.

1st Dave Gilligan played the role of "welcoming committee" (a committee of one is still a committee, right?) by playing three new players and sweeping them, going 3-0 +237. The first play of his first game, against newcomer Ronna, was a bingo of LURKERS, and he later added on a bingo of TAMPERS (proving the usefulness of looking for -ERS bingos whenever possible) for a 428-300 victory. His next game, against first-timer Bruce Miller, was a tightly-contested 342-327 win for Dave. His bingo of PIERCES (eschewing a possible third -ERS bingo, PIECERS) was surely crucial in such a close game. Dave finished up his undefeated run at glory with a 331-237 win over Sam and his exquisitely handcrafted custom equipment. The independently-rotating playing surface and tile-holder, while not tournament-legal, were dazzling to all who were blessed enough to fix their gaze upon it.

2nd Aaron Bader played his customary four-game series against fellow Collinser Mark Kenas and came out ahead with a 3-1 record (albeit with a startling -3 spread total). Their first bout was a classic Collins slugfest with Mark taking the win, 543-478. Aaron had a double-double POOLSIDE and a triple-triple UNEDITED (for 140 points!), but Mark had four bingos: BEGLAMOR, PYRONINE, RECTITIC#, and SNASHED#. In game two it was Aaron's turn to get four bingos: he played TRICKERS, ABROSIAS, APOGEES, and ADMITTEE en route to a 431-423 win. The bingo situation equalized in the third round: both Aaron (MONOCRAT, THERMEL) and Mark (LAWINES, ENTROPIC) had two bingos, but it was Aaron's win, 468-423. They finished their night with another high-scoring affair, a 471-462 victory for Aaron, the result being that both players scored at least 400 in all their games. Collusion has not been ruled out.

3rd Thomas Reinke went 2-1 +143 for a third-place finish. His first game was his best as he clobbered Michael David by a score of 475-292. Thomas got down bingos of ABSENTED and BANAUSIC. Against Bryan Benwitz, Thomas notched another convincing victory, 473-385. POUTINE, GALACTIC, and DEUTERON were Thomas' bingos in that contest, while Bryan had AWAITERS and HOARIER. Thomas' aspirations of an undefeated evening, however, were callously crushed by enemy-since-birth Charles Reinke: Charles won their game 538-410. Thomas' bingos (LECTERNS, ABSORBED, WOODSIA) were equal in number to Charles' (LESSENED, APANAGE, ERUMPENT), but it was still a decisive loss for the good guys. Or is it the bad guys?