Almost twice the size
of the Buffalo Regional (1,166 tables vs. 628) with nearly twice as many
players earning points (821 vs. 431). Point collection at the top wasn't as big,
though (115.31 in Buffalo vs. 75.82 in Niagara Falls).
Niagara Falls was
better for the top Buffalo player – Saleh Fetouh, who earned 60.63 points
(fifth overall), vs. 52.34 in his home town (ninth overall). What made the
difference were 18.64 points from a second-place finish in the Sunday Swiss
team game with some top-flight teammates – David Hemmer, Chris Urbanek and Bud
Seidenberg. (The same team was third in the Buffalo Swiss, earning 10.04.) Chris
was second-best Buffalo player and eighth overall with 58.41 points.
What's also impressive
is that they came so close to first, only 2 victory points behind the team of
Jonathan Steinberg, Alex Hudson, Mark Itabashi and July Ratley. Three pros! Until
John Ziemer mentioned it at the club game on Monday, I didn't realize that Jonathan
Steinberg is a pro, too. A full recap of the week's games and winners can be found here.
I looked at that Swiss
team game as my last hope for being among those 800-plus point winners, albeit
winning maybe only one round, like Judy Padgug or District 5 Ruby Life Master
Mini-McKenney leader Sue Lan Ma.
Next time I'm lining up partners early, not
relying on last-minute twists of fate. And then there's that suggestion from
David Hemmer, who follows this commentary. His comment after Blog 996: "Dale,
have you considered some lessons?"
I think it unlikely John Ziemer is correct about the financial arrangements on the winning team.
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