Andreas Martens wins PartyGammon Million

So the first million dollar backgammon tournament, PartyGammon Million, is now finished. The winner was Andreas Martens (Märtens) from Germany, who beat his Danish opponent Lasse Hjort Madsen in a very tight final with points 23-22. Märtens received over $600,000 and the unique backgammon watch designed by Marc Rouah for his victory. Madsen, as the runner-up, received $144,000. The tournament was a success with a few interesting surprises and plenty of glamour.

The games

The tournament was kicked off with 120 players. There was a big surprise right in the very beginning when the ruling world champion Philip Vischjager was knocked out by Tino Lechich who in turn lost his second round match. It was a little sad to see Philip depart from the main flight, surely many expected him to advance to later rounds. The 2004 world champion Peter Hallberg was also eliminated on the first round, but his concentration was hindered by the fact that all his luggage got lost on the way to the Bahamas. Very unfortunate indeed.

There were a lot of great pairings in the early rounds, such double world champion Jörgen Granstedt playing agaist James Vogl on the first round. Granstedt, however lost as did Bill Robertie, another double world champion. Perhaps some of these heavy-weight duels that eleminated a few big names made it a little easier for Andreas Märtens to advance to later rounds, but it doesn’t diminish the fact that Märtens did play well.

Iakovos Iakovidis from Greece created a temporary “what the heck” effect when he beat backgammon giant Malcolm Davis in the second round. The reason for this slight sensation is that Iakovidis is a PartyGammon online qualifier and had never played in a live tournament before PartyGammon million! His achievement is therefore admirable although he lost his 3rd round match. Had it not been Andreas Märtens playing against him, who knows how far he would’ve advanced. Anyway, Iakovidis’ performance was great promo for online backgammon and gave an indication of the level of online backgammon at its best.

Nack Ballard, who has been the world’s No. 1 backgammon player for the past years played very well. It was therefore sad to see him loose in the semi-finals against the finalist Madsen. The $60,000 he earned should help in getting over the loss, though.

The Glamour

The backgammon World Championships were organized at the Bahamas before they moved over to Monte Carlo in the 1970’s. It was therefore that a very festive atmosphere was evident when PartyGammon Million began. Atlantis Resort provided a glamorous venue for the event; the resort is renown for its high profile arrangements. Coincidentally, at the same time that PartyGammon Million took place at the Atlantis Resort, the Michael Jordan Invitational Golf Tournament was being held on the floor below. It was a private event but at least Kurt Russel, Michael Douglas and Goldie Hawn were spotted to participate in it - not to mention the host of the even Michael Jordan, of course.

Our very own Miss Gammon 2007, Stephanie Kardos from Canada, was also present at PartyGammon Million. She was promoting backgammon and meeting the biggest names in backgammon. An avid backgammon fan herself she could’ve not been in a better place - PartyGammon Million had attracted 27 of the world’s top 32 players!

PartyGammon Million was filmed and will be broadcasted on many TV channels around the worlds. A tournament highlight DVD is also to be released at a certain point. Unfortunately the details of when and where you will be able to see tournament replayed on TV and when the DVD will be available for purchase. We are very much looking forward to those, after all PartyGammon Million was an unprecedented backgammon tournament and a milestone in the history of backgammon!