Steve Sax - USA

    Steve Sax of the USA started out young in backgammon following the footsteps of his mom, Ricky, an American tournament player that won the U.S. Open Women's Backgammon Championship held in Reno, Nevada in 1980. In fact, Ricky and Steve won the Doubles event together at the Gammon Associates 43rd Invitational Tournament back in 1998.

    Sax, who resides in the state of California, has studied backgammon zealously since he got involved with the game and has often shares his knowledge in articles written for online websites or print newsletters.Steve never played much at Beginner or Intermediate levels skipping these early in his career to compete at the higher Championship level, where he has seen much success - he is rated as the #5 player in the All-Time American Backgammon Tour (ABT) Standings from 1993-2007 – and he won the title of ABT Player of the Year in 2002.

    Nicole Kidman Crazy about Backgammon

    Back around that same year, Steve Sax gave backgammon lessons to actress Nicole Kidman! Interesting little story here... while she was making a movie in Montreal, Canada a personal assistant of the famous actress contacted Michael Strato, an international backgammon consultant who lives in Montreal, asking him if he could give Nicole some private lessons. Although Strato agreed, he never hooked up with Nicole for those lessons because of her busy schedule. However, upon her return to California, Nicole's staffer contacted Strato again asking him to refer her to a top player near Los Angeles for lessons, and Strato recommended Steve Sax. A short time later, US magazine said Nicole Kidman was crazy about backgammon showing her in a photo carrying a roll-up backgammon board.

    Sax has won many Doubles events over the years, often partnering with other well-known players – he won the Doubles with Bob Glass at the 54th Indiana Open Backgammon Tournament in 2006, with Patrick Gibson at the California State Backgammon Championship in 2005 and with Ray Fogerlund at the Gammon Associates 43rd Invitational in 2000.

    Sax's Doubles Partner Gets Breast Implants

    Probably Sax's most significant Doubles victory was with another partner, Brian Zembic, at the American Doubles Championship in Las Vegas in 2007 where 14 teams each paid an entry fee of $8,000 to participate. (Zembic himself is infamous for being ready and willing to bet on anything - Zembic once bet another backgammon player $100,000 that he would get breast implants and keep them for one year, which he did, winning the bet.)In addition to other victories and money wins in Championship flights, Sax has been especially efficient at winning many Super Jackpots and Masters competitions over the years.