On the evening of the 9th of April 2024, something special was occuring in a small, economically deprived corner of West Yorkshire. Something that would change the lives of all involved (albeit in an infinitely minor way). The stage was set for the very first match of the very first Yahtzee League. We were not yet the BHO, we were just eight people wanting a longform competition with the promise of a bit of cash at the end for the winner and the runner up.
Obviously I'm not gonna bore you with a roll by roll account of every single match in League one. But I thought it was important to at least document the league that was to start my, dare I say, obsession, with competitive Yahtzee.
The league began in spectacular fashion. The self proclaimed "Yahtzee Master" (me) lived up to his name and came in first place, followed by Claire and Kerrie. Dawdling at the very bottom of the league was Faith. Not unsurprising as she was not at all accustomed to Yahtzee. She had been thrown in at the deep end with not many friendly games under her belt.
The Yahtzee Master had started strong, it continued with a win in the second match, securing top place for a second week. Claire and Kerrie switched places in the league as Kerrie usurped her for 2nd place. Faith had risen to the dizzy heights of 5th, which required a decent performance, this meant 8th (bottom place) was open. It was promptly filled by Millie who gave a rather pathetic outing.
In the third match, the "mouth" was born. From relative obscurity and average scores, rose Lee Hoggarth. He pulled off a spectacular win and rocketed in to second place. Claire maintained third, but a poor showing from Kerrie cost her dearly and she plummeted to seventh. The Yahtzee master took a severe blow to his confidence, finishing seventh in the match but still managing to maintain top spot in the league (so far). What followed was a weeks worth of shameless gloating and baseless illusions of grandeur from Lee. And it wouldnt stop there.
The fourth match saw a changing of the guard. Lee once again finished in top spot, but this time he stole 1st place in the league, dislodging yours truly. His mouth was also beginning to grow. It wasn't all due to Lee's prowess that I lost the top spot. The chinks in the Yahtzee Master's armour were beginning to show, demonstrated by a dismal score, finishing seventh in the match and falling to third in the league. Claire had clawed herself up to second. Kerrie fell further, falling to the bottom of the league. Millie had made quiet progress and risen to fourth in the league. Faith had fallen to seventh. We were still to hear from Russell and Miles who had been quietly coasting up to this point.
There was more shuffling to be had in the top 3 of the league after the fifth match. I managed to steal top spot once again. Although the recent setbacks I had suffered had served me a healthy dose of humility and I had dropped all pretenses of being the Yahtzee Master as it was getting embarrassing. Lee dropped down to second leaving Claire in third. Miles made a healthy account of himself, improving his position and securing himself a fourth place spot. Meanwhile, Kerrie remained cemented to the bottom.
After match six there was devastating news for your not so humble narrator. Another dismal score saw me drop to third. The lowest I've been so far. Lee, once again (yawn) got the win and pilfered top spot. And boy didnt we hear about it! Claire was once again in second place, proving her consistency. The rest of the league had not budged. Miles maintained fourth, Kerrie lounged in the doldrums and we were still waiting for Russell to do something... ANYTHING!
INTERMISSION- We were now half way through the league. It was looking to be a three horse race. The competitors were convinced it would be either Lee, Claire or myself that would walk away with the crown. But how would events actually transpire? Well, what are you waiting for? Proceed, dear reader...
Lee secured top spot for a second week after match seven. I had managed creep up to second, displacing Claire and sending her in to third place. Miles was still clinging to fourth like the limpet that he is. Kerrie seemed quite content to languish at the bottom. Russell manged to lollop into sixth place sending Millie down to seventh.
Claire knocked Lee off his perch and stole first place after match eight. But that was just the start of it. Miles played a blinder, boosting him into second, knocking Lee down to third and me into my lowest position yet, fourth. Russell gained himself another step up finishing fourth, followed by Faith, Millie and... obviously... Kerrie was last.
There was no change to the top four in week nine. Lower down, Millie stole fifth place off Russell, sending him to sixth and Faith from sixth to seventh. Kerrie... well... y'know.
Week ten saw a night of arenaline fuelled excitement. Claire maintaned first spot, however, Miles rose to second place and Russell rose all the way from sixth to third. A belated, but stunning achievement. All this movement was detrimental to Lee who was now fourth, but it was even worse for myself, who had plummeted to fifth. Another new low. Millie replaced Russell in sixth place, Faith slumbered along in seventh and the less said about Kerrie the better.
It was the penultimate match, match eleven. And WHAT A MATCH! Russell showed exactly what he was made of by thieving top spot from Claire. And what a time to do it. Claire, as a result, fell to third. Miles managed to keep his sweaty grip on second place. Lee maintained fourth, and would you bloody believe it, Kerrie pulled a blinder and usurped fifth position from yours truly, relegating me to sixth, ANOTHER new low. Due to Kerrie's miraculous performance, last place was open, but Millie was available to ungraciously fill it. Faith was largely absent, but she managed to avoid the drop, remaining in seventh.
And finally, on the 5th of July, we had reached the finale, match twelve. We collectively decided that there was only one way to mark this auspicious occasion. And that was to go to the pub. And we did. Our final match would come to an end in the local boozer and the champion would be crowned. After a few libations, we got underway. It was a tense affair. I had pretty much given up thinking I would make it and Faith as well as Millie had little to no hope. The match was a jovial, upbeat affair, but you could tell, under the surface, that those in the top four at least, really wanted it bad, and to be honest, any of them could have walked home with a victory that day. But ultimately there could be only one champion, and fate would decree that it was to be Claire, a woman whom I had severely underestimated before the start of the league. How wrong was I? She had walked away with the prize, the money and the glory, and kudos to her. Miles walked away with second place and a portion of the prize money and again he truly surprised me. Russell came in third, another shock as he hadn't done a thing until the last few matches. Fourth place went to Lee, he would tell you he was robbed, but he's full of poo poo baba. Fifth place was taken by faith, which was annoying as she'd been practically glued to the bottom two for most of the league. Then something interesting happened. Kerrie and myself came in joint sixth, which, due to the way we chose to score the first league, I (wrongly) assumed was highly unlikely. I'm not too proud to tell you that I felt like punching someone, but there was no-one that looked weak enough around. Sadly, eighth place ended up being occupied by Millie, but someone had to be there, right?
So, folks, that's the story of BHOF0001's inaugural league. Hopefully I didn't bore the pants of you, but, like I said, I think it needed to be told. We are currently running three championships in our faction right now; League #2, Team Championship and Core Championship. I will give a brief rundown of each in due course (they won't be nearly as long) and from then on I will post match summaries for each. Anyway, that's it for now and I hope you continue to follow the exploits of my faction and any potential future faction.
Much love,
Chris
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