1st December 2009

58 Entries, 10 Tournaments, 45 Players, £2222 Prize Fund,
Ali Shimiri wins Jackpot.

 

There were 5 players in The Lockside Lounge by 6.00pm so I decided we were on for a busy night. By 7.00pm we had 2 Swiss Tournaments on the go, 7.10pm and Jackpot 1 was underway, 7.15pm and Mini-Jackpot 1 was underway and 7.20pm Swiss 3 was underway. This just left 2 players waiting for others to join the £10 Jackpot which kicked off at 7.35pm.

The population of new players seems to be getting younger. 20 - 35 year olds I'd say. When asked how they found us the answer is now often Google backgammon london. Even better they seem to be coming back time and time again. This I put down to the Swiss Tournaments we run. A £5 or £10 entry fee gives them a guarantee of 3 x 5 point matches (enough backgammon for the evening) with the carrot of if they win 2 or of their 3 matches they get their entry fee back. Having such a large number of up and coming players demands that they be given more attention and care. This is happening via our monthly Workshop Evenings the next of which is on Tue 15th December.

Of course we're still catering for those more experienced players who wish to play for larger sums of money and this was borne out by 8 players playing for £150 a head, 4 at £120 a head and a further 4 at £70 a head. Those established big players of ours better watch out too - there's a new player in Town - Ali Shimiri has recently come over from Holland to live in London, came along this evening and won Jackpot 1. In between matches the old mix with the new and tips are handed down.
 

Bg in London has worked upon the maxims of "We don't care how much you want to play for, we just want to see you play backgammon" and "It does what it says in the tin." These are working.

We've one other date in December - our End of Year / Start of Year Party on Tue 29th December. This will not be a regular Tournament or Workshop evening - as it says on the tin - it'll be a party, a backgammon party with some crazy games being played and probably far too much festive cheer. We also hope to be in the position of letting everybody know our 2010 dates and what we and others will be laying of for yous.
 

Mike Main