A Dacula man recently became the first to win the annual Peachtree City Monopoly Tournament twice when he pushed all the local players into finalist positions at the seventh annual gaming event.
Players came from New York, Michigan, Indiana and 20 different Georgia cities to attend the tournament on Saturday, April 18, at the Due South restaurant in Peachtree City. But Peachtree City players dominated the play until 27-year-old Brian West used skill and cunning to out maneuver everyone.
He won first place and the $100 cash prize.
Other finalist, all of Peachtree City, included second place winner of $50, Osman Faruqi; third and fourth places went to Sarah Toussaint and Reggie Root, each winning $25.
More than $1,800 in cash and prizes were given away during the tournament.
The official Hasbro event included 30 tables for each of the two qualifying rounds. Additionally, four wildcard spots were used to produce a quarter final round of 64 players on 16 tables. The semifinals consisted of 16 players on 4 tables resulting in the four finalist.
Each game in the tournament was timed for 75 minutes.
The championship table had the most exciting finish in the tournament’s history. All four contestants had monopolies with hotels and it came down to the final three roles of the dice for each of the players. West was fortunate to have two of the other players land on his Red group monopoly. This forced the unlucky players to sell their hotels. West came from behind as he had only four properties of different color groups midway through the game but was able to convince his opponents to make trades that eventually led to his win.
His experience in prior years paid off.
Average age of the 100 contestants was 33. Some are serious enthusiast while most come out for just plain fun, socializing and a chance to win one of the many door prizes.
Organizers plan to field 128 players on 32 tables next year at Partners II Pizza in Peachtree City on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Those interested in playing next year should send an email now to PTCMonopoly@gmail.com to get an automatic invitation. Contestants this and prior years will automatically get an email invite.
