2025 Cherry Blossom Players Cup Results

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Miami Open Players Cup BMAB: Subtropical Backgammon at Its Finest

The  Miami Open Players Cup BMAB delivered a thrilling day of backgammon  action, with 38 players—many of them surprise walk-ins—gathering for the  second-to-last Players Cup event of the year. The tournament began with  four rounds of random draw, followed by a final round of Swiss  pairings.

After three rounds,  five players stood undefeated with a 3-0 record: Melissa Shin, Steve  Waller, Joe Urso, Turker Eflanli, and Bob Azari. However, only three  would remain with a chance at an Iron Star after the fourth round, as  Shin and Azari fell short. Urso, Waller, and Eflanli continued winning  and advanced to the final round with hopes of securing an Iron Star.

In  the final round, Eflanli was paired against Urso, while Waller faced  Malcolm Hutson, who held a 3-1 record. With three undefeated players  still in the mix, there was a 50% chance that someone would walk away  with a full Iron Star.       If Waller had won his match, there would have  been two players sharing the 5-0 record, and each would receive half  Iron Star credit. 

The match  between Joe Urso and Turker Eflanli was a hard-fought battle, with  Eflanli ultimately coming out on top. All attention then turned to the  Waller-Hutson matchup. Waller won the opening point, but Hutson  responded with a 4-cube to take a 4-1 lead. Hutson extended his  advantage to 6-1, but Waller mounted a comeback, narrowing the score to  6-5. Despite Waller's valiant  effort,  Hutson held on to win, securing a  share of the second-place prize.

Congrats to Turker for this lifetime acheivement in acheiving Iron Star #006.

With  Hutson’s victory, it was confirmed that Turker Eflanli had earned Iron  Legacy Star #006 and the cash prize as the sole winner of the large  field. Eight players with 4-1 records tied for second place, each  claiming   a portion of the prize pool.

Alfredo  Unes became the second Brazilian of the year to win the Unlucky Dice  award, with a negative luck of -13.20. Alfredo took home a consolation  prize of $150 for his misfortune.

Notable Performances and Stats:

• Iron Star #006: Turker Eflanli (FL) 5-0

• Prize Pool: Joe Urso, Steve Waller, Dennis Culpepper, Bob Azari, Alec  Izzo, Irina Litzenberger, Malcolm Hutson and Ron Szlaifer (4-1)

• Best PR: Dennis Culpepper (VA) with an impressive 4.35.

• Master 1-Level Play:: Karen Davis (FL) 4.54., Joe Urso (NY) 4.57,  Tomy Levy (Argentina) (4.70)

•Unlucky Dice Award: Alfredo Unes (-13.20)

The  Denver Wild West Players Cup BMAB was a wild shootout! Out of the 28  participants, only Gerry Tansey, Irina Litzenberger, and Roberto  Litzenberger remained undefeated at the end, each walking away with a  share of the loot.

After three rounds, Kit Woolsey, Gerry Tansey, Ken Bame, Irina Litzenberger, and Roberto Litzenberger were all 3-0.

In  the fourth round, Irina Litzenberger faced off against Ken Bame, while  Kit Woolsey played against Roberto Litzenberger. Gerry Tansey (3-0)  played down against Marc Emrich (2-1).

In  the end, Gerry Tansey, along with the Litzenbergers, emerged  victorious. All three players received 1/3 of an Iron Legacy Star. Irina  adds this to the 1/6 star she earned in Atlanta, bringing her total to  1/2 star so far.

Iron Legacy  Stars, or fractions thereof, are awarded to the players who win the  event. These stars are cumulative, meaning fractions never expire, and a  full star is awarded once a player reaches a full star total.

On  the PR front, Gerry Tansey dominated with a 3.20, while Roberto  Litzenberger posted the best cube PR at 3.55 and finished third overall  with a PR of 3.73. John O'Hagan was second with a PR of 3.63.

Sean Garber became the unlucky dice winner with a negative luck of -13.46.

The  2024 Players Cup Star Race has gotten even tighter at the top, with  most of the leaders in attendance. Julius High extended his lead with  additional stars, while Kit Woolsey and Frank Talbot are neck-and-neck  for second and third place. With her shared win, Irina Litzenberger  jumped into 4th place for the year.

The  leader at the end of the year will be crowned 2024 Players Cup  Champion. The top two finishers will share a $1,000 prize, while the top  three will receive trophies. The rest of the top ten will receive  certificates.

Top 10 in the Annual Stars Race (after 10 events, with two remaining):

1  Julius High             250.50

2  Kit Woolsey            191.39

3 Frank Talbot            191.11

4 Irina Litzenberger    184.26

5.Marty Storer            173.62

6 Neil Kazaross         142.03

7 Rob Crase              141.69

8 Phil Perelmuter      135.67

9 Gerry Tansey          128.34

10 Roberto Litzenberger 123.95

Twenty people participated in the Players Cup event at the St. Louis Gateway. Five people obtained 4-1 records and shared the full prize pool amount themselves. After four rounds only Ben Friesen had a perfect 4-0 record.  Ben was paired cup with a 3-1 Ray Fogerlund in the final round.  Ben had his shot at obtaining a complete Iron Legacy Star, but in the end Ray prevailed. 

The other 3-1 match ups were Marty Storer vs David Stein, and Neil Kazaross vs Julius High.  Marty took home his match and added enough valuable circuit stars  to push him into second place for the year. Neil continued his dominance by defeating the red hot Julius High. Julius remains in the lead for the year with three events remaining. The last match up for the prize pool was a 3-1 Sean Garber vs 2-2 Mark Kaye. Sean won to seal the five way split. Each winner receives .2 Legacy Iron Star credit towards obtaining an Iron Star.

Gerry Tansey absolutely crushed it  on the PR front. Despite playing a 4.95 in one match Gerry managed to average 2.17 over the 5 matches. 

Carl Sellers playing in his second event, continued at a Super Grandmaster level with a 2.38 PR throughout his recorded matches.  Marty Storer played at a 3.06 PR. Kent Goulding stood out with a very strong 3.77. Neil Kazaross rounded out the under 4 PR team with a 3.88

 Garry Kallos upgraded his BMAB title from Advanced 2 (A2) to Advanced 1 (A1)

Bob Ellis (00950) obtained an Intermediate 1 (I1) title. Congrats!!

The unlucky dice prize was a very close call between Tom Rebelo, Irina Litzenberger and Rob Crase.  Rob ended up a fraction of a hair “unluckier” according to XG at -9.33.. compared to -9.30 and -9.22.  As bad luck would have it, Rob won $125 for being so unlucky.

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The current top 6 in the annual stars race after seven months and 7 events are:

1.     Julius High - 232.50

      2.    Marty Storer- 173.62

3.     Frank Talbot - 173.11

      4.    Kit Woolsey - 155.45

      5.    Neil Kazaross 142.03   

      6.    Rob Crase - 137.69

The top three players will receive trophies. The Player Cup Champion will also have their name added to the Players Cup Perpetual Trophy.  The top two players will split the inaugural year $1000 added cash.

The next upcoming events are the Players Cup Denver Wild West on Oct. 16th Players Cup Miami Open on Nov 20th and California Players Cup on Dec. 11th in LA.  See you there!

Thirty Two people participated in the Players Cup event at the Viking Classic. After four rounds Marty Storer, David Todd and Eric Barr held onto perfect 4-0 records.  When the draw came through David Todd was paired with Gregg TripleG Trunnell and Eric Barr was paired up with Marty Storer.  If DT would have won his match there would have been two people tied at 5-0 and only fractional Iron Stars would have been awarded.

Trunnell prevailed  against DT to share a piece of the prize pool.  The match Barr vs Storer match started out as a tight 3-2 game in favor of Eric until the 5th game in which Eric won a gammon on a 4 cube to win the match.  Eric was playing in his first event since before the Covid shutdown. 

Carl Sellers from Canada dominated on the PR front.  Carl played a stellar 2.38 PR throughout his recorded matches. Gerry Tansey continued his outstanding play with a 2.78 Tourney PR, matching his running average of 2.78.  Shout out to circuit newcomer Jeremy Krieger who played to a party friendly 4.20 in his first event.

Minneapolis player Eddie Farhadi was unfortunate enough to go 0-5 and post a negative luck factor of -16.73 to win the honors of “unlucky dice” and receive his entry fee back.

Sharing the prize pool with a 4-1 record were were TripleG, DT, Marty, Andrew Lundeen, Dan Minardi and Julius High.

Julius has continued his impressive run at Players Cup events. Julius cashed again and he had increased his race star lead for the title of 2024 Player Cup Champion.

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The current top 6 in the annual stars race after seven months and 7 events are:

1.     Julius High - 208.75

2      Frank Talbot - 173.11

            3     Kit Woolsey - 155.45

            4.    Marty Storer- 132.37

            5.     Rob Crase - 127.69

6     Albert Steg - 123.36

The top three players will receive trophies. The Player Cup champion will also have their name added to the Players Cup Perpetual Trophy. 

The next upcoming events are the  Players Cup St. Louis on Sept. 26th and Players Cup Denver Wild West on Oct. 16th. Hope to see you there!