German wins PartyGammon.com tournament
GIBRALTAR – (PRESS RELEASE) -- 33-year-old German Andreas Maertens is celebrating after winning the
inaugural PartyGammon.com Million at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas
(21st-25th January), scooping a world record US$600,400 payout for a
backgammon tournament. Maertens beat 36 year-old Danish backgammon ace
Lasse Hjorth Madsen 23-22 in a thrilling final in front of Matchroom
Sport's television cameras. Both players were online qualifiers from
PartyGammon.com in a field that featured 10 former World Champions and
25 of the top 32 'Giants of Backgammon.' The total prize pool exceeded the
guaranteed US$1 million and hit over US$1.2 million. Maertens qualified
online for US$440, while Madsen reached the tournament from a US$35 online
satellite.
A PartyGammon.com spokesman said: "We saw the huge rise of the internet
qualifier in poker and, remarkably, at the very first attempt we have seen
online qualifiers compete and beat the world's best players at backgammon.
Like poker, the entrance of the online aces promises to change the game of
backgammon forever."
Maertens, from Bielefeld, Germany, has form in both backgammon and
poker, winning the German Backgammon Open in 1996 and regularly playing on
the poker circuit. He was blown away by his win: "When I came here I hoped
I had a chance but never ever really thought that I could win as there were
so many strong players in the field. I'm not sure what I am going to do
with the money, I'm certainly going to play more high stakes backgammon but
I am also going to buy my girlfriend Monica a car."
Asked what he thought of becoming a backgammon superstar from its
biggest ever tournament he said "It doesn't get much better than this. How
am I going to top this? I certainly didn't count myself as the best player
here - I think I would be in the top 100 though." This concurred with the
views of bookmakers http://www.PartyBets.com , who placed Maertens middle of the
field pre-tournament with France's Francois Tardieu and Denmark's Sander
Lyloff the favourites.
The fact that the final was Germany v Denmark didn't' surprise the
players watching on the Dragon's Patio at the Atlantis Resort or even the
winner, backgammon's new superstar Maertens: "Germany and Denmark were the
strongest countries represented in terms of numbers and had excellent
players. There are more skilful individuals from other nations but in terms
of quantity these countries are the superpowers."
Maertens built up a huge lead in the final and it seemed like his win
would be inevitable but Madsen, a Research Executive from Copenhagen, who
scooped US$144,096 for finishing runner-up, made a huge fight back and was
pragmatic about his failure to clear the final hurdle after coming back to
just one point away from victory. "In backgammon you can be almost there,
then all of a sudden far away from the winning post again, it makes the
game so thrilling. I am disappointed but I will be back to fight another
day."
A PartyGammon.com spokesman continued: "This tournament has taken
backgammon to a new level and taken a previously unknown community into the
mainstream. There were plenty of characters around from groups that
enhanced their sports betting by using a doubling cube, to Victoria
Smirnoff, an attractive Russian player who was staying in the suite James
Bond occupied during Casino Royale. One thing is for sure though, the
internet qualifiers have arrived and are here to stay."
PartyGammon.com is a popular member of PartyGaming Plc's growing suite
of online games that includes PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com,
PartyBingo.com, PartyBets.com, Gamebookers.com and EmpirePoker.com.
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