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77 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds 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 Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 19, 2003 Vest family monopolizes national tournament By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Deanna Vest did not go directly to jail Saturday. But the Klamath Falls resident is coming home with $5,000 in cold cash after taking second in the 2003 Parker Bros. National Monopoly Tournament, held in Atlantic City, N.J. This year’s champion was Matt McNally, an Irvine, Calif., graduate student who won $15,140 in real cash, matching the amount of funny money contained in a standard Monopoly game. "Deanna is the luckiest player I’ve ever seen in my life," said George Brown, tournament spokesman. "She didn’t have a real estate monopoly, but she was so remarkably lucky." Advertisement Every time she came around the board in the championship round, she landed between Park Place and Boardwalk on Luxury Tax, avoiding what ultimately could have been a game-losing rent to McNally, he said. Brown estimates Vest circled the board some 20 times in the two-hour game. "Not only was she lucky, but she played extremely well," Brown said. A Winema National Forest employee, Vest, 48, was among three Oregonians in this year‘s tournament of 48 players. The other two included her husband, Glenn, director of the Klamath County Juvenile Department, and their son, Brad, 22, a salesman in Beaverton. The Vest family monopoly included Deanna’s brother, Matt Parsons, and his wife, Audrey, who operate a farm in MacDoel, Calif. When all the points were tallied, Matt Parsons tied for fifth place, Glenn and Brad Vest tied for 16th and Audrey Parsons tied for 35th place in the nation. To qualify for the championship, Monopoly enthusiasts must either have competed in a previous national championship or scored at least 90 percent on a quiz that tests their game-playing savvy and knowledge of Monopoly trivia. With this year’s win, the extended Vest family has collected a combined six Monopoly state championships since they began playing professionally in the late 1980s. Deanna Vest competed in the national championships in the Big Apple in 1995 but did not place. Brad Vest made it all the way to the national championship round in Las Vegas in 1999. In an interview before the tournament, Deanna Vest discussed her strategy. "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 said. Although she preferred the "orange set" of New York, Tennessee and St. James, she didn’t win those but did obtain a monopoly of the railroads, which kept her alive financially, Brown said. The players began play Thursday after hopping aboard a chartered Amtrak train, dubbed the "Reading Railroad," at Chicago’s Union Station bound for Atlantic City, where the game was born in 1935. As the train rumbled along, stopping at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Station, Washington, D.C.’s Union Station and Philadelphia’s Train Station, all but four players were eliminated by the time they arrived in Atlantic City. The championships have been held every four years since 1973, but this marks the first time the elimination rounds have been held on a train. For more information about this year’s tournament, check out the Web site at www.monopoly.com . Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities