BACKGAMMON GAMBLING

Gambling on backgammon takes luck or skill ?

A good question, particularly where money is involved; backgammon is enjoying a new lease of life and perhaps one of the reasons for this is the ability to be able to gamble for money. Another reason is the internet, which offers a platform of opportunity for the would be backgammon gambler that they don't get with other games such as poker or roulette.
 

Why? because in many ways backgammon is about the individual, even if playing against a machine it is a case of one against one, or mano v mano. In Poker, players are often pitted against four or five other gamblers in a hand, so already backgammon has that element of individualism attached to it. So what is the real truth? In law the game is given the status of a skill game rather than a game of chance, this follows the landmark case of Barr vs. The State of Oregon in 1982, where backgammon tournament director and writer Ted Barr was alleged to have been promoting gambling through backgammon. The judge pronounced in his verdict that 'backgammon was a game that needed skill and was not a game of chance', and Ted Barr was not only acquitted but took on the mantle of vindicator having now set the precedent for the game for generations to come.

The judgment declared that backgammon was a game that involved strategy skill, and the ability to assess your opponent throughout the game with mathematical skills, and probability. Poker and other games of chance are not the same, as more luck is required to win. Backgammon therefore is not seen as gambling game; but here lies the dichotomy of the situation, because when you play for money it is? If backgammon online is played by two players competing against each other, and both are wagering on their skill rather than their luck this is why it is no longer a game of chance. Other gambling online depends on the randomness of the draw, as in the case of Poker or Roulette which generates a particularly sequence of events from a specific program allied to that game. In other words the destiny of your game does not reside in your skill, but in the skill of the programmer who put the sequence together, a bit unfair that don’t you think?

This is where the divide between backgammon and these other online games becomes more definite, as the only random element of the game is the dice themselves. How you react to the play or decide to move, that is down to you and your skill.

How you arrive at those skills is a matter of practice and natural ability; oh and a little bit of luck!

By Backgammon gambling.