United States - It is summer, and the sweet scent of Nertz is bit easier to smell for most players. However, four players in particular are making sure they get a heavy whiff. Sara Paseka, Steven Wingfield, Cathy Anderson, and Jill Younker-Sny are awaiting their final table match in the NNA's current Online Nertz Tournament. The match, as of now, will be held on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. CT in the NNA Members Room on the AOL Solitaire Race page.
The Breakdown - This is expected to be the tightest match ever played in a NNA online tournament. For the most part, match winners have easily won by a sizable margin, but this final table has brought a higher level of competition.
Sara Paseka the 1st ever Online Nertz Tournament champion remains undefeated in her NNA online Nertz tournament span. She is averaging 16.05 pph(points per hand) and has called "Nertz" 10 hands and won 12 hands out of her 20 lifetime tournament hands
played. Her undefeated match record is 3-0 giving her a 107 ppg(points per game) average.
Cathy Anderson has only played 5 tournament hands lifetime but has nerted and won 4 out of those 5. She is averaging 21.40 pph. Cathy also had a Quick Nertz that resulted a Full Table Set which was only one of two had in the current tournament. A Full Table Set (or Set-back) is when all of your opponents at the table receive a negative score for that hand.
Steven Wingfield, the only male left in the competition, has played 7 tournament hands lifetime. He has nerted twice but only won one of those hands in his first tournament match in which one of his opponents was Sara Paseka. Steven finished that game closer to Sara than any other opponent of hers, only losing by a margin of 35, which gave him 81 points total. After just one tournament match Steven is averaging 11.57 pph.
Jill Younker-Sny has faced Sara Paseka more than any other opponent to date, which is not a lot(twice). In both matches Jill finished second to Sara. Jill has nerted 4 times against Sara and has 6 lifetime tournament "Nertz" calls. Jill is averaging 9.11 pph and 54.67 ppg in 18 tournament hands played.
What to watch for - Jill will be wanting revenge. Watch for a better performance from her.
Newcomers Steven and Cathy may have an effect on Sara. If Steven has a good hand and then Cathy follows, it may result in less points for Sara, making it a tighter match.
There will be quicker hand times. Quick Nertz' are key. Getting Sets and making opponents receive negative scores is the best way to build a bigger margin. These players will be taking advantage of any easy-flowing hands that they might receive.
Damage control. We will see lesser point margins between players. Players may not always get the best hands, so it will be up to the players to try to limit the damage when the hands are not flowing as well as they would like. These players have shown to be better at this than most and that is why they are in the final.
What is on the Line? The winner of this final table will receive the title of Online Nertz Champion, an Official Nertz Scoring Pad, an entry into the "Tournament of Champions" at the 2009 year's end, and finally (just announced) a free copy of the Nerts High Speed Card Game compliments of Ronnander Games.
It seems that these final four players just seem to do it for the pride and trill of victory and not for the spoils. Although, the extra incentives shouldn't hinder their competitive spirits.
The anticipation is mounting. Who will rise and who will fall? Who will bask in the sweet scent of Nertz victory?
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