The 2019 World Championship Domino doubles final came down to the wire, but Michael Lambert III and Eddie Ruban were victorious.

In the final game of the match, Lambert thought that his opponents laid down their dominos. The opposing team thought that Lambert passed his turn, and then there was a lot of confusion resulting in Lambert and Ruban giving up 50 points.

Mackey Barnes and Louis Bostick, the second place finishers, were only five points away from the championship, but Lambert and Ruban came back to win the overall final.

“I really just got in my head,” Lambert said. “Earlier that round I tried to play out of turn and called out that I could put down 20 points and honestly I was still thinking about that.”

Ruban said that he was angry when the mistake happened, but did not let it faze him.

“I knew that we just couldn’t give up,” Ruban said. “We fought hard and beat them in a nickel hole.”

Lambert, who has participated in the World Championship Domino Tournament for 22 years, will have his name engraved on the trophy just like his grandfather and uncle.

“I have been coming down here since I was eleven,” Lambert said. “I actually made it to the finals once in the singles tournament, but ended up in second place. This is the first time that I won a category. It feels great. My grandaddy’s name is on there twice and my uncles name is on there twice.”

Andalusia Rotary Club President David Clark said that there were more participants this year than last year.

“I think this year turned out to be a great success,” Clark said. “This is the first time that we have given out this much prize money. So, I think that was a pretty obvious reason why we had more people show up this year. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to increase the number of participants and we did that. We really couldn’t have done it without our sponsors, FOX 107.7, Outlaw Realty and Mr. Mattress. Hopefully we can continue this upward trend.”

The club has awarded more than $980,000 in prize money and trophies since the Domino Tournament began in 1976. This year’s tournament featured a $5,000 first place prize to the winner in the singles competition, and $2,500 each to winners in doubles, with more than $20,000 in cash prizes guaranteed.