From: Blue Dragon <kablooey@sharyl.mailstop.com>
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 00:47:45 -0700
Subject: Tourney Results: Gambol in Los Gatos
Message-id: <343897A1.4053@sharyl.mailstop.com>

Gambol in Los Gatos

Winners

Expert (18 players)

1st    Dave Wiegand     14-0   +1169     $325
2nd    Chris Lennon     11-3    +457     $200
3rd    Robin Levin       9-4-1  +376     $125
4th    Jerry Lerman      8-6    +416     $ 50
Class1 Ellis Willson     8-6      +5     $ 75 
HighGm Lester Schonbrun          583     $ 20

Intermediate (26 players)

1st    Maggie Morley    10-4    +811     $300
2nd    Carlene Wallis   10-4    +612     $175
3rd    Bruce Ward       10-4    +565     $100
4th    Brian Wagner     10-4    +394     $ 50
Class1 Marilyn Gage     10-4    + 25     $ 75 
Class2 Gina du Mez       8-6    +205     Trav. Scr.
HighGm Gina du Mez               523     $ 20

Recreational (20 players)

1st    Matt Hesson      12-2    +980     $150
2nd    Lurlene Tweith   10-4    +939     $100
3rd    Irene Averell    10-4    +474     $ 75
4th    Pat Burnham       9-5    +326     Deluxe Scr.
Class1 Alan Whitman      9-5    +239     $ 50
Class2 Gloriosa Agdeppa  7-7    +346     Trav. Scr.
HighGm Alan Whitman              488     Trav. Scr.

Closest Play to GAMBOLING

   Brian Wagner (GAMBOLS 72)      silk tile bag + $20

Sorry, I don't have full results.

I screwed up one word lookup in the second-to-last round, and I was using All Words; so don't say it can't be done. I still don't know what I did (I do know that I was looking at the wrong place in the book for some reason). I switched back to my tattered and falling-apart OSPD2+ for the last round. Apologies to Robin Levin, who overcame our greatest efforts to stop her, and managed a brilliant 3rd-place finish on her birthday weekend. And thanks to Lester Schonbrun, who showed that he's a true Scrabble gentleman.

Each division had one or two "class" prizes that were available only to those rated in the bottom halves of their respective divisions.

Jim Barker's tile bag sponsors (darnit, I forget their names) donated one of their wonderfully smooth silk tile bags as a prize. Rich also found a $20 bill on the floor which nobody claimed. These two were combined into a "GAMBOLING" prize awarded to the play coming closest in the dictionary to the word GAMBOLING. Brian "BigDoggy" Wagner snagged it by first surrounding AMBO to form GAMBOL, and then hooking it with a bingo to form GAMBOLS.

Thanks also to Elizabeth Wood and Karen Merrill for helping with the scoresheet checking on Saturday night, a task I somehow managed to escape this time around.

There's been some debate about prize money funds on this list. Not only do Rich and Polly not pay themselves for any of their work in putting on this tournament, but for some reason, they're running it at a loss. Maybe it's poor management, but I suspect they're just a bit too kind-hearted. In any case, I hope those that attended appreciate their efforts.