The 2009 Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) Tournament   March 2009, Flemington, NJ

Introduction    (click here to skip to menu)

    The fourth annual edition of The Classic Arcade Gaming (dot com) Tournament was held at a new, and terrific, location this year - Richie Knucklez' Arcade, which is in Flemington, New Jersey.  The two-day event took place over the weekend of March 14th and 15th, with a practice session on Friday evening (the 13th) for paid entrants.  Like the first three editions of the event, it was being co-organized by myself (Mark Alpiger, administrator of this CAGDC web site), and my location partner, which is the arcade's owner - Richie Knucklez.  Of course, even with the change in venue, there were no changes with all of the great features of previous years, which were carried over for this event. 

    A record 23 games were part of the tourney, including the rare titles Monaco GP, Turbo, and Thief.  Popular titles Donkey Kong, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Robotron were also part of the event, which attracted gamers from as far away as Maine (Jason Cram), New Hampshire (Donald Hayes and Dave Nelson), Connecticut (Pat Laffaye), Pennsylvania (Bryan Wagner and son Andy), New York (Darren Harris, Jimmy Linderman), Maryland (Rick Carter), and even Canada (Dwayne Richard).  The latter gamer was the event's first out-of-country attendee.  Other records / firsts for the event included attendance, which sold out with 40 entrants, and also the amount of prize money, which totaled $400.

Picture galleries    (click here to go to top menu)

    by:  Mark Alpiger  -  covering Friday, March 13th thru Sunday, March 15th

Mark Alpiger's pictures

    Here's the picture coverage of the annual CAGDC tournament (with bonus coverage of Barcade).  For now, captions only appear on this page, but will eventually appear on the individual pages that come up when you click on a thumbnail below.  There's well over 100 pictures here, which begin the day before (Friday, March 13th) the weekend event, and continue on thru the final day (Sunday, March 15th).

It's Friday evening, the day before the tourney begins, and a few entrants are already at the arcade.  Andy Beck practices on his tourney game choice - Satan's Hollow.    Ben Falls gets in a game of Moon Patrol.   Bryan Wagner, and son Andy, pose beside Galaga.   Vic Osinaga makes his debut at a CAGDC event this year.  Here, he takes on Food Fight.   Players from New England have arrived; l-r, we have Pat Laffaye, Donald Hayes, and Jason Cram.   Even tho it's not a tourney game, Don shows off some skills on Millipede.   Tim Sczerby shows that he has skills on more than just Donkey Kong; here, he plays backwards, and blind, on Dragon's Lair.  He says he can complete the game without looking.   Pat practices on Indiana Jones.   Ben's done with his practice game, and poses beside MP.   Here are the co-owners of the arcade hosting the event - Paige and Richie Knucklez.   The arcade is a mix of Friday- night players, and contestants.   Another view of the arcade, and the mix of players.   Don checks out Jason's prowess on SH.   Charlie Ricketts watches Zack Lubow try his hand at Dragon's Lair.   John Balsley plays his fave game - Galaga.   Tim checks out Don's skill on Robotron.   Bill Holmes gives Indy a go.   Megan Livernoche, wife of Shawn (background) tries a game of Millipede.   Jason practices Food Fight.   A number of youngsters have signed up for the event; l-r, we have Jamie Cahill, Ben Giuliano, Matt Torrey, Will Rollins, and Robby Cahill.   The only female entrant, Lisa Reilly, tries her hand at Food Fight.   As the practice session for tourney entrants winds up, some of the players chat with Richie.   It's Saturday, day 1 of the event, and Jimmy decides to try a game of Pac-Mania, before getting going on the tournament titles.   Tim continues to practice on DK, as he began to, in earnest, yesterday.   Late entrant John Balsley gives Galaga a go.   Players are seen at all the games in this area of the event.   In another area, games are a bit more available.   Ron Hallett (foreground) checks out the play of a fellow entrant.   Darren Harris (center) is flanked by Andy, at left, and Shawn Howlett.   Dwayne Richard (center) checks out the great skill of Eric Ahlers as he plays Robotron.  Meanwhile, Ben is back on Moon Patrol.   Entrants continue to play hard, and go for their best score on multiple tourney games.   As Pat plays Indy (at left), a spectator looks at a skilled Track & Field player.   Paige mans the admissions and concessions area for the arcade.   Jimmy and Tim are still at it, while John Dunn, of impactstudios.biz, does media coverage of the tournament.   A young fan of mine, Julia W., wanted to pose with me.   Don plays a game on his tourney title pick - Dig Dug.   Scootie Ahlers (right) looks at his fave title, Donkey Kong II, being played by Jason, as Ben takes on regular DK.    Graham Ogilvie poses beside his favorite title in the event - Pole Position.  He picked it as one of the games to appear in the tourney.   David Nelson (left) is deep in conversation with Richie... about something important !   Come late afternoon, Tim is still at it,  as J.J. Cahill looks on...   Spectators Lauren and Erik Frankevich try a couple of non-tourney games.   Like a number of entrants, Andy tries his hand at Indiana Jones.   Donald plays a little T&F.  He ended up with the tourney high on the game, at 88,790 points.   The ever-cheerful Joel Hedge tries IJ.   Andy's on to another title now - Food Fight.  Perhaps the event shirt that he's in will give him some luck.   Bill contemplates playing Monaco GP (located just out of frame).   Rick Carter, left, is playing Galaga, while Darren plays one of his fave games - Elevator Action.   Eric Ahlers plays the cocktail Dig Dug, while master Don looks on.    Graham plays one of his many tries on PP.   Dave plays Turbo, and at event's end, he had the top score (49,606).   Darren decides to play a non-tourney game.   Rick also takes some time off of tourney titles, and plays Pac-Man.   Spectator Hank Chien gives DK a go.   Megan is back on Millipede.   Richie and Bill take a 'Bud' break.   Jimmy's back at PM.   Zack Lubow tries a game of Dragon's Lair out.  The title is one of his favorites.   Don gets in a game of EA.   Pat observes Bill playing a title liked by both - IJ.   Greg Potempa plays Food Fight, as friend, and fellow entrant, Ben G. looks on.   Bryan tries out Moon Patrol.   Vic poses next to the game he picked to be a part of the tournament - Berzerk.   Dave chats with Matt McCarthey (left) and John Jacobsen as Jason and Don 'hang out', at day's end.   Dwayne poses next to Robotron.   Sunday has arrived, and Pat plays a game of his fave title, Frogger, as Don watches.   Tim is still trying for a wr on DK.   Bryan plays hard on Gyruss, as son Andy turns in a score to referee Paul.   Lisa plays Thief, as Ben G. gives Turbo a try.   Ben F. plays some Dig Dug.   With two hours to go, Don decides to take a break, and drink in the event.   Dwayne's Donkey Kong Junior play has attracted a crowd, including the Livernoche's, and Ed Palamar.   Paige and Richie strike a pose, as Shawn Howlett sneaks into the frame, at right.   Greg is still trying to get good at FF.   Graham is working on raising his score on Indy.   Jamie proudly poses next to Turbo, where he holds a wr for an alternate settings track, at TG.   Bill played Monaco GP for quite a while, until he determined he would do better on ranking by playing other titles in the event.   Bryan checks out someone playing Food Fight (a popular event title).  He ended up with the top score at the tourney, with 335,600 points.   Zack takes a time-out from the event, and plays Mortal Kombat.   This view of the contest area shows that things are buzzing, with about an hour and a half to go.   Another part of the tourney game area shows numerous entrants.   Near the front of the arcade, and away from the tourney area, the Livernoche's view Tim's latest attempt, while Jimmy is back to play (and 'sing' with) Pac-Mania.   Dwayne give DKJ another try, while Don has at Satan's Hollow, and Dave reacts to Journey.   Ron tries a one-hour game on Galaga.  On an earlier attempt, he accomplished the contest high of 1,408,770 points.   Bryan (left) fits in a game of Robotron, while Pat plays Moon Patrol.   Entrants try to fit in one last game, as the time left is just over an hour.   Scootie (left) plays Donkey Kong II, while Andy B. plays the original.   Joel Hedge (left) plays a two- player game of Xybots with local Greg Potempa, as two of the Cahills look on.   Megan plays Joust on a cab converted to have a multi-kit.   Dave checks out the TG site for info on game settings.   OK... after a few hours of double-checking data (which will be streamlined next year !!), I'm ready to start the awards ceremony.  I let Richie lead things off.   Most of the entrants that came today have stayed for the ceremony.   They eagerly await the news.   Another shot of the crowd...   Time to pass out the awards... in third place, at 96.82%, is Dave Nelson, who picks up $50 for his efforts !   In second (97.44%) is 'come from behind' Bryan Wagner, who nets $100 for his game play.   And, in a repeat of the last two years, Donald Hayes comes in first place.  He gets $200 for his 99.21%.   Now to the 'small but nice' $10 prizes, for those who came in highest (without winning another prize) on 5 randomly picked tourney games.  Andy Wagner wins for Food Fight.   Next is Jamie Cahill, who wins for his play on Monaco GP.   Jason Cram cashes in for his Turbo performance.   Bill Holmes (who contributed the upcoming ornament prizes) wins for his score on Indiana Jones.   Local Shawn Howlett collects the final money prize, for taking top score on Crossbow (1,415,500).   Now to the 'extra' prizes; Jimmy gets a Pac-Man Hallmark Christmas ornament for making the high on the only 'Pac' game in the event - Ms. Pac-Man (he made 275,380).   Pat also receives an ornament, for being highest scorer, to not win a prize, on the randomly picked title Indiana Jones.   Richie came up with a prize to give - a Frogger metal sign.  Ben Falls won by virtue of being tops on the game at the tourney, with 209,090 points.   One final look at the crowd shows a set of tired, but content, gamers !   Another group of entrants.    And, another.   Richie thanks Paige for her part in helping to put on the event.   A final look at entrants, gathered for the awards ceremony.   The event is history, but despite being sick (I picked up something while traveling !!), I manage to make it to New York City, for the first time ever, and go with Ben to Barcade.   Jimmy's there too, and decides to play a little Dig Dug.   I pose with Ben, in front of a co-fave game of ours - Marble Madness.   Jimmy strikes a pose in front of Tetris, where he has a maxed- out score of 999K+.   Now, all three of us pose, while I point out that Jimmy's 'the man' !   Soon after beating Donald Haye's CC score of 814,180, with a mark of 838,690 points, I 'salute' him !   Now, let's have a look at all the games at Barcade.  Here, we have Sinistar, Tetris, and Galaga.   Next is Ms. Pac-Man, Pengo, and OutRun.   Another look at OutRun is followed by Rolling Thunder and Crystal Castles.   Since I'm right by Crystal, I get two screenshots; here, I show the fact that I have the top score, from maze one featuring my initials.   Here's the CC Hall of Fame, with yours truly on top... where I deserve to be !!  ; )   Back to the game tour; here we see Centipede, Arkanoid, and Q*bert.   Berzerk, Lady Bug, and the original Gauntlet are seen here.   This shot shows Asteroids, Rampage, and Ghosts 'n Goblins.   L-R, we have Marble Madness, Punch-Out!!, Moon Patrol, and Donkey Kong.   Tapper, Dig Dug, and Frogger are shown in this shot.   A final look at games in the place shows Zaxxon, 1943, and Elevator Action tucked into a corner.   What better way to wrap up than the famed 'Barcade High Scores' scoreboard !  Here's the right half...   And here's the left.

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Tourney results    (click here to go to top menu)

    CAGDC Tournament scoring results for all entrants

    Player ranking results

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Other scores of note    (click here to go to top menu)

    Not all scores that occurred outside the tournament are noted below, as some accomplishments are unknown.

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