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Sega's Derby Owners Club Tournament Deemed a Success!
Sega Amusements Europe has said its Derby Owners Club May Derby tournament has proved the success it had hoped for with the month long national tournament, held across nine locations in the UK, boasting many hundreds of entrants. According to Sega, with a prize fund of £4,500 there were prizes to win right up until the final home straight on midnight of May 31 with players battling out to the end. Sega's Justin Burke said, "It was a ‘win - win' situation where players were getting the enjoyment of the competition locally and nationally with the added chance of winning cash and at the same time operators were seeing an increase in income". Locations reported a strong increase in income with some up to 70%: Leisure Exchange Director Peter Petrou said, "We are extremely happy with the effect of the tournament." All entrants had to register by text message to Sega in order to appear on the web page that coordinated all sites scores. The 75% increase in hits to the dedicated web site during the month demonstrated that it was an important tool and aided players to establish their position constantly in the national league. The final National Winner was ‘Peter' Chee Wung Chung from Sega Park Colindale, with the aptly named horse "Winner" who passed the 100 million score just before midnight on the final night. Peter happily received a cheque for £1,000, which he said, "might just cover his spending during the month on the machine!"
Second and third place National Winners came from Southend's Monte Carlo's and Funland Trocadero respectively. Southend player Darren Surridge was only one million behind the winner but still picked up £750 for his efforts. "The high scores seen at the end of the month were phenomenal in such a short space of time, clearly emphasising the amount of game play that had occurred. To date in the UK the highest is 107 million since the game was introduced two years ago and globally around 130 million; so the winner with 100 million in one month is mind blowing" Mr Burke said. All sites had their own local winners sharing £2,500, which ensured that everyone had the chance to win something whether they were new or old players. According to Sega, it was evident from the scoreboards at each location that many players were travelling around various locations to play at different venues. Southend's Monte Carlos Amusements Karl Vanner said, "the tournament raised the profile of the machine and introduced Southend to many new customers".
PICTURED: Peter collecting his £1,000 from Sega's Justin Burke.
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