|
68
Entries, 10 Tournaments, 45 Players, £1090 Prize Fund,
Jon Barnes wins Jackpot 1 and Paul Lamford wins
the Quiz.
It's was sunny April day though there was a bit of a wind and this evenings
Champions league matches did not involve any British teams. I expected a
high turnout so I got to the Lockside Lounge early to put backgammon
boards out on tables and thus nab as many tables as I could. However there
were already quite a few in use. I thought about growling at the occupants
but decided they might just leave of their own accord before 7 o'clock.
As per usual we only had a few Players present at 6.45 but by 7.15 I'd
lost count and couldn't see further than my nose for Backgammoners and
boards. Those diners were still occupying "their" tables.
To cut a long story, that happened very quickly, short by 7.30 pm we had
40 Players playing. 8 in a £50 Jackpot, 8 in a £25 Jackpot, 16 in a
£10 Entry and 8 in another £10 Entry. The problem was tables. There must
have been about 20 non-backgammoners in the bar and they still were not
looking like moving off "our" tables. Some Players found chairs and tables and corners to
play in but we still had a couple of matches that were short of tables or
chairs or boards. The staff produced some more tables and chairs from
somewhere out back and these were slotted in where they could be. Disaster
just avoided.
We had another 8 Player Tournament, but then in view of the fact we
overran last month I kept Tournaments 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 to 4 Player events
but with varying Pools and match lengths. This worked a treat with all but
1 Tournament played by 11.15. The straggling Tournament was the 16 Player
which had a shortened final.
This months
Quiz by our Quiz Master Phil Simborg was a good one. 2
positions with 4 questions and a tie-breaker. Instead of having it posted up on
the wall I printed off copies for Players to fill in at their leisure. The
Quiz was won by Paul Lamford who enjoyed a glass of wine as his reward and
Players were given copies of the answers and Phil's lesson.
So who won what ? Jon Barnes took Tournament 1 - no surprise there, this
has been on the cards for a while now. Mourad took Tournament 2 - that was
in the pipeline too. Adam took Tournament 3 in a shortened final over Jon
K. The shortened final was a great shame because I rate both these Players
highly due to the considerable study both have put into the game. Paul W
took T4, Stef took T5, Danny of Croydon Bg Club took T6, T7 was won by
Mick V, Paul Lamford took the 3rd Jackpot (T8), Phil C improved his
evening of waiting by taking T9 and Simon M took T10.
Not only did we have 8 new Bg in Camden Players this evening, they also
came from far and wide. A special mention must go to Bill C who, and get
this, flew over from Colorado to be with us this evening! Not to be
outdone, Georgiou G came up from Lyon, France. I love the power of the
internet! From closer to home we also had Lucy, William, Duncan, Helen,
James P join us in Tournament play. Down the far end we also had the
French Freddie Female Fan Flub playing some casual games. Welcome to
yee all and please if you have any comments or questions, do not hesitate
to
email me.
We also had 3 Jons this evening - Jon B. Jon K. and Jon S.
Further the Jon S. is not Jon Sharpe who is as far as I know still up
north. Are we heading for a Jon Round Robin Tournament ? You're all about
the same ability.
|
|
Summary:
2 Players phoned in to say they were on the way at 10 to 7 and asked to be
put in the Jackpot. I'm kicking myself here because last month I said it
would start strictly at 7.00 pm. What I didn't consider was what would I
do if I didn't have 8 Players in situ interested in the Jackpot. So I
stalled. While I stalled others arrived and loads of things happened at
once. The net result was we had a slightly late start and, what with having
a 2nd Jackpot, the 16 Player didn't get started until 10 - 15 minutes
after it should have which contributed to the final being a shortened
match. So, here I go again, next month The Jackpot will start at 7.00 pm.
prompt. London traffic problems are late Players problems not in situ
Players problems. In all likelihood there will now be a second Jackpot as
a matter of course so I don't see that turning up after 7 o'clock is going
to be a major problem - those Players that do will just be not playing for
the maximum possible money.
Sorting 30+ Players within 15 minutes in no easy task so next month I
intend to do the Jackpot Tournament Auction as per usual but then hand the actually money
taking and draw over to somebody else while I get the next Tournament
started. Who's that somebody else ? Actually they are not aware of this
"ask" yet so I'll not say who yet but suffice to say the person I have in
mind has prior experience in this role.
As I said above the 16 Player Tournament Final was a shortened from a 5
Pointer to a 1 Pointer. In view of this and considering this is not the
first time this has happened I think it might be a wise idea to
next month make that 16 Player Tournament into 2 x 8 Player Tournaments and have a
Winner versus Winner match if they have time and wish.
Table space. Ok. this is the area I really need to address and have sorted
out by next month. Basically it's quite simple - I want the entire bar
given over to backgammon. Non-backgammon playing diners and drinkers -
sorry there just isn't room for you in The Lockside Lounge during a
Backgammon in Camden Evening. Ok - summer is coming and there are another
10 tables outside so seating capacity will be increased. But if Backgammon
Player numbers continue to rise as they have been we are going to have
more Players coming along in the warmer weather wanting to play outside as
well. I fully and reasonably expect 60 Players in June and July. I'll have
a meeting with The Lockside Lounge management probably next week.
Meanwhile we still need more Players. This is because Players will come
and Players will go. Sure, many are coming back every month but new blood
is always needed. So please keep bringing along your backgammon friends. London is one of the biggest and best cities in the world -
it deserves one (if not more) of the best Backgammon Clubs in the world.
When the mailing list gets up to about 250 I'll consider stopping to asking yous to do
your bit !
Next Bg in
Camden:
Will be on Tuesday 9th May
NOT
Tuesday 2nd May
(Mayday Bank
Holiday is on Mon 1st May so most of you will already have had a long
weekend and probably won't be able to go out on Tuesday 2nd. So let's
shift it back a week and have a higher attendance.
June's date will revert to the first week in the month - Tuesday 6th
June.)
Other
Forthcoming Events:
|