Casino News: PartyGammon Million - a big hit

Andreas Maertens a 33-year-old German is celebrating after winning the PartyGammon.com Million at the Bahamas that took place on 21st-25th January, scooping a world record payout for a backgammon tournament.



Maertens beat Lasse Hjorth Madsen a 36 year-old Danish 23-22 in a thrilling final in front of Matchroom Sport. Both were online qualifiers from PartyGammon.com and competed against 10 former World Champions and 25 out of top 32 'Giants of Backgammon.' The prize pool was over US$1.2 million.



Maertens qualified online for only $440, while Madsen got his free ticket from a $35 online satellite.



Spokesman for PartyGammon.com 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."



And 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."



Maertens, has form in both poker and backgammon, in 1996, he won the German Backgammon Open and is regularly playing on the poker circuit. He was shocked by his win and he said: "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."



When he was asked what were his thought of his becoming a backgammon superstar of the biggest backgammon tournament ever 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."

The players that were watching at the Atlantis resort was not surprised that the final was Germany vs Denmark, backgammon's new superstar Maertens said: "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."



Madsen, a Research Executive from Copenhagen, got $144,096 for finishing in second place.