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Riviera Cup Backgammon CanceledThe Riviera Cup backgammon festival in Cannes, originally scheduled to July 20-25, 2010, has been canceled due to poor hotel bookings. The official cancellation announcement has been published only a month prior to the planned date, after the rumor has already spread around the international backgammon circles. Potential participants were invited to contact the tournament director and organizer, Eric Guedj, the retiring half of the World Series of Backgammon management team.
The 7th Riviera Cannes 2010 was planned to introduce a new backgammon tournament format, called Cash Play, based on the model used in poker tourneys, where series of money games replace the long backgammon matches. The tournament was also supposed to include the Nations Cup, where the top delegations of each country are associated to compete in a unique team’s event. Teams from 43 different countries have taken part in this event since its launch in 2004 (with the surprising victory of the Mexican backgammon team).
The Riviera Cup cancellation might impact the attendance rate of the World Backgammon Championship in Monte Carlo, which has lost its prestige recently, possibly because many backgammon pros prefer investing their entry fees in poker tours. What brought the organizers to close the championship with a poker tournament in €6000 entry fees and correspondingly large prize pool. For the moment of writing, the World Backgammon Championship is planned to take place from 11 to July 18, at the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
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