Wednesday June 2 2021

 Despite the wintery conditions and temperature, 25 stalwarts rocked up to play last night.

 

First order of business was to draw the Giantslayer challenger who has the chance to relieve David Reitzin of 226 of his hard earned points.

 

Rafael Chattah accepted the offer -  results later in the month.

 

The jackpot player was drawn as Albert Erfan , but he was not successful.

 

Final results were:

 

1st     Jim Bean

 

2^nd     Jenny Saunders

 

3^rd      Kee Yio Wan

 

4^th      Andrew Scarf

Angelo Voulgaris takes on Kee Yio Wan with Mahnaz Rostami and Mohammad Nejati watchng intently from the sideline

Jackpot hopeful Albert Erfan drew Ned Marootians in the first round

TD Gary Stavrou looks quietly confident in his match with a frazzled  Breck McCormack - Giancarlo is a bit bemused.

Wednesday 26 May 2021

Again a bumper crop of 26 backgammoners rolled up to play – the slightly later starting time seems to be popular!

 

 Giancarlo Yannoulis was picked for jackpot hopeful but did not pull it off this week.

 

 

The final placings were:

 

 1^st     Andrew Scarf

 

2^nd   Hammon Mans

 

3^rd     Breck McCormack

 

4^th     Garry Byrne

 

Well done all – see you all next week!!

Giancarlo Yannoulis wears his ususal happy smile as he demolishes Steve Clarry

Fresh from his victory in the latest SBOT, Hammon Mans had a MUCH easier opponent in Carol Wakelin

In the foreground we welcome back Alex Ivanovski as he takes on Mohammed Nejati and in the background Garry Byrne battles Simon Strum

Wednesday May 19 2021

The chilly conditions did not deter all the regulars from turning up for a 22 person tournament tonight.

The jackpot player was Giancarlo Yannoulis but he left the pennies in the bank tonight.

 

An announcement was made that, due to the changing hours of opening in the bistro, we will now start a little later at 6.40 so that those who wish to dine before hand don't have to demolish their dinner in 15 minutes!

 

The final results were

 

1^st   David Reitzin

 

2^nd   David Stubbs

 

3^rd   Jim Bean

 

4^th   Angelo Voulgaris 

 

See you all next week!

The last match of the night between John Symon and David Reitzin drew a big crowd who came to see David's famous underarm dice-rolling technique .... it all came down to the last roll and the double one was just one pip short for Mr S.

David Stubbs and Hammon Mans in an early match with Gary Byrne and David Reitzin watching from the sidelines.

Mahnaz Rostami takes on newcomer David MacDonald.

 

Wednesday May 12

  

 

A very passable 22 players tonight – not a record roll up but a great turnout.

 

However, we did welcome another new player and David McDonald did very well on his first night, finishing in 6^th place!

 

Breck McCormack was drawn as the jackpot player and as the evening progressed it looked more and more possible that it would be claimed.

 

The results of this months Giant Slayer Match between reigning champ David Reitzin and Angelo Voulgaris are in, and David managed to retain  his points – again!

 

Final results were:

 

1^st   Andrew Scarfe

 

2^nd  Mahnaz Rostami

 

3^rd  Breck McCormack

 

4^th  Jim Bean

 

Just a housekeeping note – it is very helpful to Gary if you turn up with the right money, $10 and $2. Also please ensure all fees are paid before play starts and that Gary is aware of who has paid – thanks !!

David Reitzin is trying keep hold of his points in the Giant Slayer match- Angelo Voulgaris is hoping to claim some  - Garry Byrne is treating it as a learning experience.

Jenny Saunders is trying to win another game off Breck McCormack - there is an ongoing battle between these two!

Now this is a VERY crucial match - TD Gary Stavrou is in the box seat against jackpot player Breck McCormack who was perilously close to claiming the pot.

An ever exuberant Steve Clarry  was paired with newbie David McDonald in the 1st round.

A lot of body language to unpack here ..Hammon Mans has his hands on his hips and Gary Stavrou is ....asking for divine intervention or perhaps returning to his days as orchestral conductor?

Wednesday May 5

The inclement weather seems to have kept a few of our regulars at home tonight, with only 20 rolling up to play.

The first order of the night was to name the player of the month and refund his entry fee for tonight.

 

David Reitzin scored the honour and pocketed his $10.

 

Next, Angelo Voulgaris was drawn to play the Giantslayer match and try to knock David off his perch – we await the results with interest – watch this space!

 

Susan Wan was the night's jackpot nominee but a first round defeat by her husband left her behind the eight ball and the jackpot unclaimed.

 

Tonight was the first night of our new 4-prize structure and, just to add to the fun, Andre Marootians donated a bottle of wine for 5^th place which went to Kee Yio Wan (6^th place getter) as Andrew Scarf  had left. 

 

Final results were

 

1^st    Breck McCormack

 

2^nd    David Stubbs

 

3^rd    Andre Marootians

 

4^th    Angelo Voulgaris 

 

5^th    Andrew Scarfe 

 

6^th    Kee Yio Wan

 

See you all next week !

Mahnaz Rostami and David Reitzin in the final round.

Another for the Wan family album - Susan and Kee Yio Wan were matched in the first round.

Another for my happy chappies file as TD Gary Stavrou and Angelo Voulgaris enjoy their tussle.

Andre Marootians contemplates the field of play as Jim Bean tries dropping the dice from a great height  - it appears to have worked!

Wednesday April 28

Today we had an amazing turn out – 26 players for the first time ever and yet more new members to join the group.

 

Albert Erfan, one of the new players, was drawn as the jackpot player but was not successful.

 

Because of the increase in numbers, Gary has changed the prize structure to add an additional prize – see part of his email below..

 

With 24 or more players we can expect all three prize-winners to have won all three of their matches.
That means that anyone who has lost one match has no chance of winning a prize.
I don’t like that situation as these people would lose incentive.
I want the one-match losers to have a chance at a prize (as was the case when our numbers were below 24).
Therefore as of next week there will be four prizes instead of three.
To achieve this there will be two changes.

1. The jackpot will be reduced from 10% to 5% of the pot.
With more players the jackpot will go off less frequently so it will still accumulate well.

2. 5% will be shaved off 1st prize, bringing it to 45% of the pot.
Again, the pot being larger will hardly affect the prize total.

So, to summarise, the top four scorers will receive 45-25-15-10% of the pool and the jackpot will be 5% of the pool.
Gary

 

Final results were:

 

1^st    Jim Bean

 

2^nd   Hammon Mans

 

3^rd   Andrew Scarf

Three happy chappies -Alec Barr and  Kee Yio Wan in a friendly battle, with David Reitzin on the sidelines

Ben Anderson and a very chuffed Steve Clarry - that double one must have been pretty special

Jenny Saunders and Peter Koorey in the first round

Hammon Mans and Andre Marootians arm wrestle for the match - maybe- maybe not.

Wednesday April 21

 Tonight's draw started with 21 players, which meant a bye – always unpopular.

 

The bye player, David Stubbs, was then selected as the jackpot player, meaning he only had to win his next two matches with a good margin to be in contention to take the pot....

 

However we then found that one  registered  player had not been put in the player list – balance restored!!

 

After an intense 3 or so hours, we had a result.

 Jackpot was safe...

 Placings were :

 1^st    David Reitzin

 2^nd    Angelo Voulgaris

 3^rd    Steve Clarry 

This week saw the start of an inter-club challenge between us and Bucharest, Romania. Each club is represented by a team of eight players. The tournament consists of four rounds. Running results will be posted on our Online Tournaments page.

Garry Byrne is in a spot of bother with two on the bar aginst Angelo Voulgaris

If Gary Stavrou leaves a blot Mohammad Nejati is all set to pounce, and David Reitzin is on  hand to see the carnage

In a re-run of their battle at Castle Hill on Monday night Kee Yio Wan and John Symon

A four for one shot with Jim Bean and Giancarlo Yannoulis competing at the rear and Steve Clarry taking on Susan Wan in the foreground.