Any of you guys play it? Been playing off and on for years. Just wondering if anyone else here likes it.. and where the F did you get your board?
Backgammon
- Thread starter HiGhPeR
- Start date
Never played.
Been interested for a long time though. I remember years ago when I was really getting into poker it seemed a popular skill-based betting game with pro gamblers. I think Dan Herrington mentioned playing it on a pro level.
Do you play for money?
Been interested for a long time though. I remember years ago when I was really getting into poker it seemed a popular skill-based betting game with pro gamblers. I think Dan Herrington mentioned playing it on a pro level.
Do you play for money?
I play for money 90% of the time. The other 10% its just for fun when I play with friends that aren't very good.
You can't play backgammon for "nothing" or for "fun" because of the doubling cube. A huge part of the game is understanding when to double the stakes.. and if you aren't playing for money you have nothing to lose so you just take the double and "gamble".
Shit I want to play now. I'm gonna have to learn me some... since this whole poker crackdown all the fish dried up so I've been aching for something new to get my kicks.
oh no hyper lost all respect... you play shuffleboard in checkered pants in Orlando during the winter?
Backgammon is awesome. I started playing 24 years ago as a kid when my family moved from Vancouver to Costa Rica and we lived on the beach. There wasn't much else to do.. you know.. without cable TV, internet and all
Nah, don't play.
However, you did make me miss roulette and baccarat. Stupid fucken Thailand with its illegal gambling laws. I think a trip to Macau or Singapore is in order.
However, you did make me miss roulette and baccarat. Stupid fucken Thailand with its illegal gambling laws. I think a trip to Macau or Singapore is in order.
My grandfather played, my parents played. I grew up on the game - and from it grew a healthy obsession.Backgammon is awesome. I started playing 24 years ago as a kid when my family moved from Vancouver to Costa Rica and we lived on the beach. There wasn't much else to do.. you know.. without cable TV, internet and all
My bible: Backgammon, The Cruelest Game, by Barclay Cooke, Jon Bradshaw - as it happens it was the one book our family had on the game and I read it cover to cover probably 10 times - I certainly applied its principles to my game.
In downtown Manhattan before "Zucotti Park" was world famous for Occupy douchebags (and before 9/11) - that concrete park was open air chess & backgammon. Pros/hustlers everywhere, general public could step up and play them.
I probably watched 10 games (very entertaining) to every 1 played. It would have made a phenomenal documentary. A specialist from the American Stock Exchange who played daily was rumored to be about the best in the world. I remember a Polish kid who worked for UPS or FedEx who was awesome, a fat repulsive slob who was brilliant and taunted his opponents - I heard he moved to Thailand, everyone said he was a molester - I don't know about that, but he was hated so they could have made it up.
I tended to play the black hustlers on the fringe of the action and I won more than I lost, absolutely. Backgammon is the only gambling game (golf, horses, dice, sportsbooks, casinos, anything else I'm leaving at) that I'm on the plus side of the ledger.
Post 9/11 those games moved a few blocks away - indoors into the atrium of a building that doubles as a subway entrance. It's only a fraction of what it was - sort of like Manhattan's financial district itself.
And the beauty of backgammon is the doubling cube - a game within a game.
Backgammon is a skill game - the better player always wins in the end. You'll find more luck in tennis.
I've played from time to time on Yahoo games, but it's ... not that great. I like the dice, a paper/pad, the cube, and some banter. Sometimes I still call backgammon my favorite sport.
Cheers, HighPer!
In the end, we're all dead. Games like poker and backgammon are as much about dicipline as skill.
Firstly, I was addressing match play, not life itself.
Secondly, poker and backgammon are two very different games. I believe discipline is a primary virtue in poker. Its role in backgammon is a little more nuanced and not as regularly needed in decision making.
I haven't been in real backgammon for years and I'm sure my game has gone to shit. I miss it.
I'm not anywhere as good as I was 10 years ago. If you ever want a game, let me know. I believe Skype has backgammon. But I'm the same way as you I like the dice, the board, being able to roll the dice.. I hate playing on a computer.. but I'll still play a few matches
Pretty cool story about that park in Manhattan! I've love to show up and play those guys a few matches to see where I truly stand.
PM me if you'd like a game on skype.
