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72 Entries, 9
Tournaments, 41 Players, £1520 Prize Fund,
Jon Barnes wins Jackpot.
London was suffering a tube strike - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday - I'm not sure (nor interested) what sort of point the strikers
are trying to make but so many days of London transport being in ruins was
bound to have a negative effect on attendance on the Tuesday evening. I
considered starting the Jackpot Auction slightly later than usual but this
thought didn't stay long in my head - break my strict rule on this topic
once and I'd be breaking it forever. And I was right to stick to my guns
because at 7.00 pm there were 16 players who were present and correct with
their names forward for the Jackpot.
Once again the Jackpot went up and over the £100 entry fee - to £110. This
was followed by a £30 entry Jackpot. The high rollers are in town and in
Camden these days! Next up we had the £10 entry Tournaments swiftly
followed by a nil entry Tournament so to cut a longish story short by 7.30
pm we had 30 players at boards and playing. Eat that you tube
non-workers strikers! Another 11 players would join us over the next hour
or so to make a good house of 41 players. Not a bad turnout but not as
good as Sept '06 when (without transport problems) we had a record 60
Players.
There were 6 new Players this month and as such we had enough Players to
hold not just one but two nil money entry Tournaments. Excellent. Like any
living organism new blood is needed to replace old blood that will expire.
My thanxs also to Zoe and Sean who not only entered these Tournament but
also gave considerable over the board tuition to the newbies.
In the Jackpot it was that Mr Jon Barnes that triumphed yet again - he's
now won 5 Jackpots. The big surprise Jon gave me this week was by
not winning (having got to the semi-final) the Backpacker @ Biba event
that had been held in Coventry over the weekend - that honour went to Tom
Duggan who I was sorry to note didn't make it to this evenings event so I
could publicly congratulate him.
Jackpot 2 went to Martin Barkwill who those that know him quite rightly
fear him when he's across the board from them. Mourad went down as the
winner of Jackpot 3 though I gather the match was a flip of a coin so that
Fintan could retire early and Mourad played a chouette. In T4 the final
was between Simon M. and Regina. On the basis that I know Simon and
respect his play and had never met Regina I would have back Simon (where
is the science in that I ask myself!) but I would have been quite wrong to
do so for it was Regina (who was on her second visit to Bg in Camden -
previous being May '07 when she won also a Tournament) who won the match.
The Lady claimed she was very lucky in all three of her matches. I must
say I've heard this sort of statement more from quality players than I
have from weak players so I take such speak with a pinch of salt these
days. I sincerely hope it won't be another few months until Regina joins
us again. T5 was won by first time Bg in Camden player Pavlin. Also
welcome aboard and hope to see you again even if you would like to carry
on playing for nil money. T6 was won by Daniel - a good regular who was
due a win and happy that it came too. T7 was won by a player who hasn't
been in Camden for far too many months but might well be encouraged to
return next month due to her win - Miranda. A father cannot be outdone by
his son so in was Michael F. who won T8 though it must be said that, due
to time constraint, it was a shortened from 5 points to 1 point final. In
T9 it was Zoe who won over new Bg in Camden player Steve P. who is more of
a poker player than Bg player but enjoyed his evening and says he learnt
loads. Cool.
There was only one T.D. decision for me to make during the evening. This
concerned the use of a baffle box. First of all what is a baffle box I
hear some ask. It's a contraption that sits on the side of a board to
tumble the dice though - a dice tumbler if you like. A player asked me if
their use was allowed at Bg in Camden. I replied that if a player objected
to their use then Bg in Camden rules stated that they should not be used.
The player who owned the baffle box then came to me and challenged my
decision saying that he had read the Bg in Camden rules and that there
were permitted. So I checked my rules on my laptop. Woops. I'd just made a
TD error. Their use IS in the Bg in Camden rules.
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