Wednesday March 24

 Once again we had 18 starters for the night – a few less than last week but still a good roll up.

 

Garry Byrne was drawn as the jackpot player but did not manage to capitalise on the opportunity.

 

Final placings were:

 

 

1st Gary Stavrou 

 

2nd Steve Clarry

3rd Jenny Saunders

Giancarlo Yannoulis tussles with KeeYio Wan and Rafael Chattah watches from the sidelines

Susan Wan and Garry Byrne in a an early game

Serious stuff - Hammon Mans battles Andre Marootians with observers Daivid Reitzin and Mohammad Nejati watching on.

Wednesday March 17

 And our growth continues – another night with a roll-up of 22 players, including two new members – Simon Strum and Robert Coote, and Simon managed to score a prize , but possibly not what he was expecting!

 Hammon Mans was drawn as the jackpot player but was not to scoop the pot on this occasion.

 

During the night the Club drew their usual raffle and Andre Marootians picked up a very large chocolate rabbit, which he then donate as an extra-ordinary, (or should that be EXTRAORDINARY) prize for the 4^th place holder at the end of the night.

 

When the placings were finally calculated, they too were extraordinary – 3 equal 1^st placers and 3 equal 

"4^th"placers.

Now we have a problem- how to divide the rabbit!!

 

Problem was solved by a roll of the dice – the only logical solution!

 

 Final placing were:

 1^st equal ;      Breck McCormack

                      Jim Bean 

                      Angelo Voulgaris 

^4th equal;      John Symon

                      David Reitzin

                      Simon Strum

Don't know what the topic is - but John Symon is sure he's correct - David Stubbs is sceptical but happy to look at options

Quad shot - in the foreground Andre Marootians and Peter Voulgaris and in the background George Avramides and Hammon Mans battle on the boards

Serious stuff as Breck McCormack and Raffael Chattah study the state of play

First night success for Simon Strum...joint 4th place getter

The boys in blue - Gary Stavrou takes on newcomer Simon Strum with another 1st nighter, Robert Coote watching with interest

Wednesday March 10

 Apologies for the delay , but I was out of Sydney for the weekend.

 

We finally cracked 22 players for the night – a significant milestone for the Sydney Backgammoners!

 

Mohammad Nejati was picked as the jackpot player, but missed out on the pennies due to a 2nd round loss .

 

The final results were:

 

1st :  Jim Bean

 

2nd: David Stubbs

 

3rd: Hammon Mans

 

See you all next week – maybe we can get to 24 – an even two dozen!

Carol Wakelin takes on TD Gary Stavrou in the final round

Garry Byrne  and Jim Bean seem pretty serious

Angelo Voulgaris  and Jenny Saunders both look pretty happy with their games

Wednesday March 3

 A standard 18 players arrived for the first playdate of the month.

We had a lot of  housekeeping to attend to before play began... we now have a “Player of the Month” bonus for the person who earns the most points in the previous calendar month – they get a free game as a reward!

 

Freebies are always welcome .

 

The jackpot player was drawn – Gary Stavrou, tournament director extraordinaire – to a chorus  of “rigged”!!

 

All good Gary – we know its legit!!

 

Next on the agenda was the selection of a Giant-slayer contender who would have the opportunity to try and relieve David Reitzin of almost 100 of his well-earned points.

 

Jim Bean accepted this opportunity with alacrity!

 

Final results were:

 

1^st     Garry Byrne

 

2^nd    Ned Marootians 

 

3^rd    David Reitzen 

Two happy faces as Ben Anderson and Andre Marootians enjoy a game

Just for something different ... a triple shot as Susan Wan, Carol Wakelin and Hammon Mans have some fun in the last round

A situation always fraught with danger as brothers Angelo (left ) and Peter (right) face off