Thirty players completed a total of forty-four games over three rounds in the 2022 Las Vegas PBEM tournament. The tournament consisted of two rounds of four simultaneous games, followed by a single game final. Within each round, players were ranked according to a 1000-100-10-1 scoring system to determine advancement to the next stage.
Two players finished the first round with three wins: DJ Borton and Michael McKibbin. An additional nine other players won two games in Round 1. Thirteen players advanced to the semifinal, and a point total of 1210 (one win, two second-place, and one third-place finish) was required to advance.
DJ continued to lead the field in the semifinal round, winning three games again. He was joined in the final by Ray Wolff, WBC Las Vegas GM Adam Hurd, and 2021 PBEM champion Kirk Porteous, who each won two semifinal games. Kevin Wojtaszczyk edged out Grant LaDue for the last spot in the final, advancing by .06 on the tiebreaker.
After the first round of the final, Ray held a 180-120 lead over Kevin, aided by DJ and Adam canceling one another out on the 4s and awarding Ray 60 for a single die. Kirk put a dent in that lead in Round 2, earning 160 after Adam, Ray, and Kevin all clashed on the 2s to award him 80. However, Ray’s second round 100 limited the damage and continued to push his lead against the rest of the field.
Adam was able to rally in Round 3 to score 140. However, that only moved him up to 4th place. Ray continued to press his advantage, earning the second highest total again with 90. The scores heading into the last round were:
Ray: 370
Kirk: 320
DJ: 240
Adam: 200
Kevin: 170
The first three players in Round 4 all placed on the 5s, which held a single 90 card: Ray (1 die), Kevin (3 dice), and Kirk (4 dice). DJ and Adam began to battle over the other 90 on the 3s with two dice apiece. Ray thought better of trying to contest the 5s and moved on to less crowded casinos. He began placing dice on the 2s and 4s, which would net him 90 between them. Surprisingly, neither Kevin nor Kirk rolled another 5, giving that bill to Kirk and allowing him to try to eat into Ray’s lead elsewhere. Kirk placed two dice on the 6s, but his last roll turned up double 3s, which continued to be contested by DJ and Adam. DJ quickly placed a sixth die there to discourage any dreams Kirk might have had about sneaking away with the top prize at that casino. Kevin was able to get the only two dice on the 1s to take 60 there. Kirk needed some lucky rolls from his opponents to block Ray, but by the time Ray was placing his last two dice he had locked up the championship.
The top 6 finishers were:
- Ray Wolff
- Kirk Porteous
- DJ Borton
- Kevin Wojtaszczyk
- Adam Hurd
- Grant LaDue
Chris Wildes had the highest winning score with 630, while Rob Kircher achieved the lowest winning score with 370. Paul Klayder had the highest score in a losing effort at 490. Only two games ended in a tie for first place.
Regarding statistics related to the initial turn order, Seats 2 and 3 each won 13 games, followed by Seat 4 (10) and Seat 1 (8). Seat 3 earned the highest average finish at 2.40, followed by Seat 2 (2.43), Seat 4 (2.45), and Seat 1 (2.70). Seat 1 did produce the highest average score with 391, but all seats averaged between 385-391.
Once again congratulations to Ray and to all of the laurelists, and thank you to everyone who participated in the event.
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