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54 °F 5 Day Forecast Friday, November 28, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend October 12, 2003 Next stop on the Reading Railroad Deanna Vest desperately wants to avoid going directly to jail this week. Sadly, if the truth be known, cooling her heels in the clink is nothing new to this periodic jailbird. She knows full well the slammer may be just a roll of the dice away. Yet, like many of her ilk, she shrugs off the good chance she will likely land behind bars real soon. "It’s really a lot about luck," she readily confesses. Advertisement But she is no threat to society, unless you count her conviction about the fun to be had studying a Monopoly board game, the one with the wretched jail on the corner. Deanna and her husband, Glenn, who live in Klamath Falls, are among 48 Americans competing in the 2003 Parker Brothers National Monopoly Tournament. Come Thursday, the Vests will hop aboard a chartered Amtrak train, dubbed the "Reading Railroad," at Chicago’s Union Station bound for Atlantic City, N.J. En route the players will compete in elimination rounds as the train rumbles along, stopping at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Station, Washington, D.C.’s Union Station and Philadelphia’s Train Station. Once in Atlantic City, the birthplace of the famous board game in 1935, the four finalists will play on Saturday. The best board-game baron will walk away with $15,140 in real cash, matching the amount of funny money found in a standard Monopoly game. The championships have been held every four years since 1973. The above-board Vests have a family monopoly on the competition this year: Son Brad Vest in Beaverton is also playing, along with Deanna’s brother Matt Parsons and his wife, Audrey, who live in California. To qualify for the championship, Monopoly enthusiasts must have either competed in a previous national championship or scored at least 90 percent on a quiz that tests their game-playing savvy and Monopoly trivia. These are the kinds of folks who can inform you faster than you can Pass GO that a player makes about $175 every time he or she goes around the board. The three most-landed-on spaces? Illinois Avenue, Go and the B&O Railroad, of course. The crime-free family represents a broad section of America: Deanna, 48, works for the U.S. Forest Service; Glenn, 51, is director of the Klamath County Juvenile Department; Brad, 22, is a salesman and the Parsons operate a family farm. They have Park Place-like style when it comes to winning ways, having collected a combined six Monopoly state championships since they began playing professionally in the late 1980s. Deanna competed in the national championships in the Big Apple in 1995, albeit she was polished off early. But Brad made it all the way to the national championship round in Las Vegas in 1999. That crown was won by Matt Gissel of St. Albans, Vt., who will be playing to be the top tycoon again this year. Gissel finished tenth in the 2000 World Monopoly championship in Toronto. All but four players will be flat broke — of play money, at least — by the time the train rolls into Atlantic City. Basically, the goal is to bankrupt all opponents, even if it includes son, husband, brother or sister-in-law. Like all players, Deanna has a method to her monopoly madness. "You have to get the feel for each game, for who is willing to trade with you and what set you can win with," she explains, then adds, "I like the orange set." That would be New York, Tennessee and St. James. Others might prefer the green set of Pennsylvania, Pacific and North Carolina. The railroads and utilities also have a devoted following. And ownership of Park Place and Boardwalk are always coveted. Deanna, who figures she first started playing 42 years ago, is looking forward to the challenge of playing beyond the family circle this coming week. "We’re hoping that at least one of us gets to the finals," she says. "Of course, when you get to go on something like this, you’ve won the prize already." Even if you Go Directly To Jail. You can reach Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times