(1888PressRelease)
February 09, 2007 - Andreas Märtens of Germany, a former billiards player who switched to backgammon, won $600,400 last Friday afternoon at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas by defeating Lasse Hjorth Madsen of Denmark 23-22 in the final match of the 128-player tournament.
Both finalists secured seats in the event with qualifier packages won in online tournaments offered for as low as $2.50 - a package included the entry fees plus hotel and travel expenses.
The event drew most of the world’s top experts including the legendary Paul Magriel “X-22”, a famous author and former World Champion, Nack Ballard, the #1 ranked player in the world, 25 of the top “32 Giants of Backgammon” and some 10 former World Champions.
Martens received half of the $1,200,800 prize pool along with a backgammon-themed timepiece worth over $20,000 custom-made by sponsor Marc Rouah of Time-Wise SA, a bespoke watchmaker from Geneva, Switzerland.
Lasse Hjorth Madsen took home $144,096 for second place and 10 other players that made it to money rounds received prizes of between $24,000 and $120,000 from the remaining $456,304 in the pot. The event was filmed for post-production of an upcoming series to be aired on TV channels in over a dozen countries.
“It was by far the most glorious time for the game of backgammon. Nobody has ever seen so many giants of this wonderful game under one roof. We are honoured to receive so much praise from the players attending
Player International is now focused on the preparations for its proposed $2million event where this time the winner will take home $1million at the end of 2007.
Stephen Pearson, managing director of Player International stated “Compliments are pouring in from people around the world, the emails and telephone calls are non-stop, and this is the shot in the arm our game needed, from here on anything can happen. I would like to personally thank and salute players everywhere and I must commend Susana Major and Michael Strato of the Player International Team for their tireless assistance in accomplishing this gargantuan feat.”
Coverage on this event can be seen online at www.GammonLife.com including photos of the first public appearance by Stephanie Kardos of Canada, Miss Gammon 2007.
More articles and photos will soon appear in other backgammon publications around the world.
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