Mr. Laz
10-28-2009, 09:45 AM
Norwegian teen wins Monopoly world championship
<!-- START Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. --> <!-- END Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. -->From correspondents in Las Vegas | October 23, 2009
<!-- // .module-subheader --> Article from: Agence France-Presse
NINETEEN-year-old Norwegian student Bjorn Halvard Knappskog has been crowned the 2009 Monopoly world champion, outlasting his rivals to walk away with a cheque for US$20,580 ($22,200) - in real money.
That sum is, as most aficionados know, the total amount in the "bank'' of the American edition of the game.
Mr Knappskog bankrupted the American, Russian and New Zealand champions in the finale after two days of horse-trading to become the youngest-ever title holder.
The student from Oslo was among 41 national champions competing for the world title, the first global championship in five years.
All of the competitors had won Monopoly tournaments in their home countries to qualify and earned an expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas for this week's event.
Mr Knappskog was attending his first world final.
"It was fun just to be here,'' the Norwegian said.
"I was really happy to be here whether I won or lost, but I'm also very happy to have won.''
Mr Knappskog emerged the swaggering tycoon when, after the American and Russian players went bankrupt, his Kiwi rival landed on Mr Knappskog's North Carolina Avenue, which had two houses on the property.
The New Zealander, Geoff Christopher, did not have enough cash or assets to pay the $1600 dollars in rent and the game was up.
Monopoly's maker, Hasbro, holds world championships sporadically, with the last times in 2004 in Tokyo and 2000 in Toronto. It's about the furthest thing from the homey kitchen-table play that most conjure up when they think of the 75-year-old game.
For one thing, this year's competition took place in a mammoth ballroom at Caesars Palace with hundreds of spectators, official judges and bankers, plus language translators to facilitate deals between the far-flung opponents.
A man dressed in a tuxedo and top hat with a huge handlebar moustache stalked the scene as the game's "Mr Monopoly'' mascot, the New Zealand champion brought 15 of his college friends for a cheering section and a crew of film-makers was on hand to film every dice roll for a documentary about the game, Under The Boardwalk, expected out next year.
The event also offered an opportunity for players to compare "home rules'' that have developed in various countries.
In the tournament, however, the official rules are strictly followed and the language barriers made it more challenging to negotiate deals or even to develop a rapport with other players.
There have been 12 Monopoly kings crowned since the first world championship tournament took place in New York, in 1973.
<!-- START Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. --> <!-- END Dummy ad code - real code to be inserted instead. -->From correspondents in Las Vegas | October 23, 2009
<!-- // .module-subheader --> Article from: Agence France-Presse
NINETEEN-year-old Norwegian student Bjorn Halvard Knappskog has been crowned the 2009 Monopoly world champion, outlasting his rivals to walk away with a cheque for US$20,580 ($22,200) - in real money.
That sum is, as most aficionados know, the total amount in the "bank'' of the American edition of the game.
Mr Knappskog bankrupted the American, Russian and New Zealand champions in the finale after two days of horse-trading to become the youngest-ever title holder.
The student from Oslo was among 41 national champions competing for the world title, the first global championship in five years.
All of the competitors had won Monopoly tournaments in their home countries to qualify and earned an expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas for this week's event.
Mr Knappskog was attending his first world final.
"It was fun just to be here,'' the Norwegian said.
"I was really happy to be here whether I won or lost, but I'm also very happy to have won.''
Mr Knappskog emerged the swaggering tycoon when, after the American and Russian players went bankrupt, his Kiwi rival landed on Mr Knappskog's North Carolina Avenue, which had two houses on the property.
The New Zealander, Geoff Christopher, did not have enough cash or assets to pay the $1600 dollars in rent and the game was up.
Monopoly's maker, Hasbro, holds world championships sporadically, with the last times in 2004 in Tokyo and 2000 in Toronto. It's about the furthest thing from the homey kitchen-table play that most conjure up when they think of the 75-year-old game.
For one thing, this year's competition took place in a mammoth ballroom at Caesars Palace with hundreds of spectators, official judges and bankers, plus language translators to facilitate deals between the far-flung opponents.
A man dressed in a tuxedo and top hat with a huge handlebar moustache stalked the scene as the game's "Mr Monopoly'' mascot, the New Zealand champion brought 15 of his college friends for a cheering section and a crew of film-makers was on hand to film every dice roll for a documentary about the game, Under The Boardwalk, expected out next year.
The event also offered an opportunity for players to compare "home rules'' that have developed in various countries.
In the tournament, however, the official rules are strictly followed and the language barriers made it more challenging to negotiate deals or even to develop a rapport with other players.
There have been 12 Monopoly kings crowned since the first world championship tournament took place in New York, in 1973.