Editing Backgammon (section)

== Social and competitive play ==

[[Image:Wurfzabel.jpg|thumb|200px|Medieval players, from the 13th-century ''[[Carmina Burana]]'']]

=== Legality ===

In ''State of Oregon v. Barr'', a 1982 court case pivotal to the continued widespread organised playing of backgammon in the US, the State argued that backgammon is a game of chance and that it was therefore subject to Oregon's stringent gambling laws. [[Paul Magriel]] was a key witness for the defence, contradicting Roger Nelson, the expert prosecution witness, by saying, "Game theory, however, really applies to games with imperfect knowledge, where something is concealed, such as poker. Backgammon is not such a game. Everything is in front of you. The person who uses that information in the most effective manner will win." After the closing arguments, Judge Stephen S. Walker concluded that backgammon is a game of skill, not a game of chance, and found the defendant, backgammon tournament director Ted Barr, not guilty of promoting gambling.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Backgammon Times|title=The Trial (and Tribulations) of Oregon Promoter Ted Barr|volume=2|issue=2|year=1982|url=http://www.bkgm.com/articles/BackgammonTimes/LuckVsSkill-TrialOfTedBarr/index.html}}</ref>

=== Club and tournament play ===

Played ''ad hoc'' in cafés and bars, clubs throughout Europe also host backgammon with informal gatherings to play throughout the day or in the evening as well as by way of social interaction.<ref name="sydney">{{cite news|title=Tribes of Sydney—Sydney Backgammon Club|work=The Daily Telegraph (Australia)|date=June 24, 2006|page=95}}</ref><ref name="bray1">{{cite news|last=Bray|first=Chris|title=Backgammon|work=The Independent (London)|date=June 29, 2002|page=50}}</ref> A few clubs offer specialized backgammon services, maintaining their own facilities or offering computer analysis of troublesome plays.<ref name="bray2">{{cite news|last=Bray|first=Chris|title=Backgammon|work=The Independent (London)|date=November 25, 2000|page=19}}</ref> Around 2003, some club leaders noticed a growth of interest in backgammon, and attributed it to the game's popularity on the internet.<ref name="laverty">{{cite news|last=Laverty|first=Roy|title=Backgammon warriors—columnist, club member square off as board game's popularity grows|work=[[Alameda Times-Star]] (Section: Bay Area Living)|date=May 16, 2003}}</ref>

A [[backgammon chouette]] permits three or more players to participate in a single game, often for money. One player competes against a team of all the other participants, and positions rotate after each game. Chouette play often permits the use of multiple doubling cubes.<ref name="robertie-winners"/>

Backgammon clubs may also organize tournaments. Large club tournaments sometimes draw competitors from other regions, with final matches viewed by hundreds of spectators.<ref name="magriel-nyt">{{cite news|last=Magriel|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Magriel|title=Backgammon: Before Planning Big Attack, Be Sure to Cover Your Rear|work=The New York Times, Late City Final Edition|date=June 1, 1980|pages=50, section 1, part 2}}</ref> The top players at regional tournaments often compete in major national and international championships. Winners at major tournaments may receive prizes of tens of thousands of [[US dollar|dollars]].<ref name="maxa">{{cite news|last=Maxa|first=Rudy|author-link=Rudy Maxa|title=Where the Rich And the Royal Play Their Games—Monte Carlo's Seven-Day Backgammon Soiree With Countesses, Princes and Other Sharpies|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 6, 1981|page=H1}}</ref>

A successful triangular backgammon tournament, devised by UKBGF,<ref>[https://ukbgf.com/2022-election-statements/ www.ukbgf.com]</ref> was hosted in 2025 by the [[Walbrook Club]] versus the [[Worshipful Company of Haberdashers|Haberdashers']] & [[Worshipful Company of Salters|Salters' Companies]].

=== International competition ===
{{See also|List of world backgammon champions}}
The first world championship competition in backgammon was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1967. [[Tim Holland (backgammon)|Tim Holland]] was declared the winner that year and at the tournament the following year. For unknown reasons, there was no championship in 1970, but in 1971, Tim Holland again won the title. The competition remained in Las Vegas until 1975, when it moved to [[Paradise Island]] in the Bahamas. The years 1976, 1977 and 1978 saw "dual" World Championships, one in the Bahamas attended by the Americans, and the ''European Open Championships'' in Monte Carlo with mostly European players. In 1979, Lewis Deyong, who had promoted the Bahamas World Championship for the prior three years, suggested that the two events be combined.<ref name="PLAY65">{{Cite web|title=World Backgammon Championships History &#124; Backgammon Masters &#124; Backgammon Articles' Categories &#124; Play65™|url=http://www.play65.com/world-backgammon-championships-history.html,%2520http://www.play65.com/|access-date=2022-12-29|language=en}}</ref> Monte Carlo was universally acknowledged as the site of the World Backgammon Championship and has remained as such for thirty years.<ref name="mindzine">{{cite web|url=http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/classic/bg/tournaments/world00report.html|title=Backgammon News—World Championships 2000|author=Michael Crane|publisher=Mind Sports Worldwide|date=July 25, 2000|access-date=2006-09-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907014829/http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/classic/bg/tournaments/world00report.html|archive-date=7 September 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Monte Carlo tournament draws hundreds of players and spectators, and is played over the course of a week.<ref name="maxa"/>

By the 21st century, the largest international tournaments had established the basis of a tour for top professional players. Major tournaments are held yearly worldwide. [[PartyGaming]] sponsored the first [[World Series of Backgammon]] in 2006 from [[Cannes]] and later the "Backgammon Million" tournament held in the Bahamas in January 2007 with a prize pool of one million dollars, the largest for any tournament to date.<ref name="partygammon">{{cite news|title=PartyGammon.com to Stage First Ever US$1 Million Backgammon Tournament|work=PR Newswire|date=July 10, 2006|publisher=[[Lexis-Nexis]]}}</ref> In 2008, the [[World Series of Backgammon]] ran the world's largest international events in London, the UK Masters, the biggest tournament ever held in the UK with 128 international class players; the Nordic Open, which instantly became the largest in the world with around 500 players in all flights and 153 in the championship, and Cannes, which hosted the Riviera Cup, the traditional follow-up tournament to the World Championships. Cannes also hosted the WSOB championship, the WSOB finale, which saw 16 players play three-point shootout matches for €160,000. The event was recorded for television in Europe and aired on [[Eurosport]].

The World Backgammon Association (WBA)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.world-backgammon-association.com|title=World Backgammon Association|website=www.world-backgammon-association.com}}</ref> has been holding the biggest backgammon tour on the circuit since 2007, the "European Backgammon Tour"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebgt.info/|title=Home|website=www.ebgt.info|access-date=2013-11-20|archive-date=2018-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307074142/http://ebgt.info/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (EBGT). In 2011, the WBA collaborated with the online backgammon provider [[Play65]] for the 2011 season of the European Backgammon Tour and with "Betfair" in 2012. The 2013 season of the European Backgammon Tour featured 11 stops and 19 qualified players competing for €19,000 in a grand finale in [[Lefkosa]], Northern Cyprus.

=== Gambling ===

When backgammon is played for money, the most common arrangement is to assign a monetary value to each point, and to play to a certain score, or until either player chooses to stop. The stakes are raised by gammons, backgammons, and use of the doubling cube. Backgammon is sometimes available in casinos. Before the commercialization of [[artificial neural network]] programs, [[proposition bet]]s on specific positions were very common among backgammon players and gamblers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.backgammon.org/articles/backgammon-proposition-week/|title=Backgammon Proposition|last=Wachtel|first=Robert|website=backgammon.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010184227/http://www.backgammon.org/articles/backgammon-proposition-week/|archive-date=2009-10-10}}</ref> As with most gambling games, successful play requires a combination of luck and skill, as a single dice roll can sometimes significantly change the outcome of the game.<ref name="magriel"/>