Mary Hickey, the winner of Play65 US Open satellites, is the second US Backgammon Open Champion. After beating backgammon giant Falafel 7-6 at the Play65 satellites final, Hickey, also known as Mamabear64, fought Dorn Bishop at the 17-point US Open championship final, not minding even a 9-point lagging – and won.

US Open Championship is Mary Hickey’s highest backgammon achievement so far, and it awards her with about $9,000 first prize, free entry to the next World Backgammon Tour event (the Swedish Open, in Stockholm, Sweden on September 2010) and a chance to win over $50000 at the tour grand finale. And it all begun with a $60 Play65 tournament…

The fact the US Open is won for the second time by a woman backgammon player is also worth mentioning. Last year, the US Open backgammon tournament was launched with the winning of Carol Joy Cole, who beat former World Backgammon Champion Joe Russell at the final, and this year - Mary Hickey, who overcame a field of 44 players including some past and present giants (not including the giants she beat on Play65 to free enter the event). My guess is that next year the field will be filled with backgammon giantesses.

Play65 has completed its first successful collaboration with Backgammon in London, the largest backgammon club in London and is heading up for the next one.

Backgammon in London tournament

Play65 and Backgammon in London first joint event held on 4th May 4th, with Play65 contributing extra £200 to the total prize fund, which grew up to a sum of £2869 that was shared between the winners of the evening Swiss tournaments, knockouts and jackpots ( while the small time winners were awarded with Play65 backgammon boards).

Sean Williams (?) playing backgammon on Play65 board

The next backgammon tournament in the series will be held, again, on the first Tuesday of the next month, on 1 June at the Lockside Lounge on Camden, starting at 18:00 with Swiss tournaments and continuing with knockouts for latecomers and the traditional "Camden auction", Backgammon in London answer to Play65’s online backgammon satellites.

Play65 US Open final qualifier held today on 20:00 Pacific Time after more than one week of sub qualifiers. And the winner, who earned $600 entry to the 2nd US Open Backgammon Championship and 4 nights accommodation in San Francisco, is no other than Mary Hickey.

Also known as Mamabear, Mary Hickey is one of the most outstanding women in backgammon in the US. She has been playing backgammon for over 20 years, writing series of backgammon columns and winning the ABT Ohio Masters Championship for at least four times during the last decade. To win Play65 US Open qualifier, Hickey had battled with the undefeatable Falafel, also known as Matvey Natanzon, but eventually beat him 7-6.

The 1st US Backgammon Open, held last year in Arlington, Virginia, was won by one of the top female players – Carol Joy Cole, who is also a backgammon club director, backgammon magazine editor and supplier of backgammon equipment. This year, the US Open is part of the American Backgammon Tour (ABT) and the World Backgammon Tour (WBGT), so the winner would accumulate ABT points as well as a free entry to the next stop in the 6-stops tour - the Swedish Open on September – where a final $50,000 prize pool is expected. .

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