Rules

Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Each player has fifteen stones of one color (light or dark) that are placed along the board's 24 points. At the start of each game, each player chooses a set of stones and the objective of the game is to move all stones of your color off the board.

Playing the game

Movement is decided using dice rolls, and each roll allows the player to move one of his stones over a number of points equivalent to the face value of the die.

• Stones can only be moved forward, and only to points that have fewer than 2 opposing stones. If the point is occupied by one opposing stone (called a blot), the opposing stone is hit and moved to the centre bar. If a player has any stones in the centre bar during his turn, he must make it a priority to move that stone from the bar to the opponent’s home board.
• Two dice are used, and each die constitutes a separate move.
• If a player rolls 2 of the same number, then he receives 4 moves instead of 2.
• A player has to use every move if legally possible, and in the case that only 1 move can be legally made, then the higher one must be used.

The home board refers to the board on the right, and a player may begin removing stones from the table only when all his stones are on his half of the home board. Moving stones off the board is called ‘bearing off’.

To start the game, each player rolls a single die. If equal numbers come up, then both players roll again until they roll different numbers. The player who throws the highest number moves first according to the number displayed on the dice. After the first roll, the players throw both dice and alternate turns.

Doubling Cube

The doubling cube is a larger die displaying the current stakes of the game. In certain circumstances, a player may use the doubling cube to raise the stakes of a game if the doubling cube is in his possession. The doubling cube starts at the middle, during which both players have access to it.

• At the start of your turn, before rolling the dice. If a player is confident about winning the match he may propose to double the stakes, and to reject such a proposal means conceding the game on the current stakes. Accepting the double would raise the stakes, and also place the doubling cube in your possession.
• If you choose to accept a double, you may immediately propose another double but still retain possession of the doubling cube. This is called a ‘beaver’, and otherwise follows the same rules as ordinarily proposing a double.
• Automatic doubles. This means that the stakes in a game will double each time a player rolls the same value on both die. Thus, a 3-3 roll, followed by a re-roll of 5-5, followed by a re-roll of 1-4 that begins the game in earnest, will cause the game to be played from the start with 4-times normal stakes.

Backgammons and Gammons

In the event that a player loses the game with any stones on the bar and has not cleared a single stone off the board, he loses by‘backgammon’, and the winner receives thrice the value on the doubling cube. If the losing player does not have any stones on the bar but has not cleared any stones off the board, then he loses by ‘gammon’, and the winner receives twice the value of the doubling cube.

The optional ‘jacoby rule’ negates any win by gammon or backgammon if neither player has offered a double during the game. This encourages leading players to end a game early by offering a double, instead of extending a one-sided game in the hopes of a gammon or backgammon.

Crawford Rule

When a player is one point away from winning a match, the Crawford rule removes the use of the doubling cube on the next game, called the ‘Crawford game’, as extra points gained from doubling would not benefit the leading player in any way. Without the Crawford rule, losing players would have the advantage of proposing doubles with no increased risk.

Euchre is played using A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 of each suit, for a total of 24 cards.

Euchre can only be played if 4 players are present, and they are split into blue and red teams, with 2 players on each side.

Game Progression

A dealer is selected randomly for the first round; it is rotated clockwise for subsequent rounds. Each player is then dealt 5 cards, and one card is dealt face up on the table.

Beginning clockwise after the dealer, players may be offered the following options:

• Order it up - The suit of the up card is named trumps, your team plays as the "Maker". The dealer takes the up card and discards one card from his hand.
• Make suit - Select trumps from the 3 remaining suits, the suit of the up card cannot be selected.
• Pass - Take no action.
• Go alone - Your partner’s hand is taken out of play and you play against the opposing team on your own. This will grant you 2 points if you win, and 4 points if you take all 5 tricks.

Trump refers to the suit of cards chosen to be the highest ranked for a particular hand. When named trump, the 9 of a suit is ranked higher than an ace of any other suit. Furthermore, there are 2 special exceptions, the right bower and left bower. The right bower is the highest ranked card and is played using the J of the trump suit. The left bower is second highest ranked and is played using the other J of the same colour as the right bower. As an example, if hearts was trump, the right bower would be Jh and the left bower would be Jd.

A trick begins with the player with the right to play the first card, known as the lead. The lead plays a card for that trick, and all players will need to play cards from that suit if available. The highest trump wins the trick, or if no trumps were played, the highest card from the starting suit wins.

The "Makers" refer to the team choosing trumps, and they will need to win 3 out of 5 tricks during a hand to score a point. If they do not succeed, the defending team, known as the "defenders", are awarded 2 points. If a given team manages to win all 5 tricks during a hand, they receive twice the score for winning. For example, if the defenders won all 5 tricks, that would be accorded 4 points. For the makers, winning would give them 1 point, and they would receive 1 more for winning all 5 tricks.

The first team to score a total of 10 points over a game are considered the winners.

Poker hands in order of rank.

1. Royal Flush - A, K, Q, J, 10 of the same suit.
2. Straight Flush - Five cards of the same suit in sequential order. The highest card is used as the tie-breaker.
3. Four of a kind - Four cards of the same rank.
4. Full house - 3 cards of the same rank, and a pair of different rank. The 3 card rank is used as the primary tie breaker. If players have the same 3 card rank, then the pair will be used instead.
5. Flush - Five cards of the same suit. The highest card is used as the tie breaker.
6. Straight - Five cards of different suits, in sequential order.
7. Three of a kind - 3 cards of the same rank.
8. Two pair - Two pairs of different ranks. The highest pair is used as the primary tie-breaker. If players have the same high pair, then the low pair is used instead.
9. Pair - Two cards of the same rank, highest pair wins. If players have the same pair, then the highest card will be used as a tie breaker.
10. High card - A hand with no valid combination, strength is determined by the highest ranked card.

Poker Rake

Our rake ranges on a percentage of the pot according to the scale below. We also have a "No flop, No drop" policy, whereby we take no rake if the hand ends before the flop.

All Real Money Games will be raked according to:

Limit Games up to $1 / $2

Limit Games $2 / $4 and above

No Limit / Pot Limit Games

Backgammon Rake

All Real Money Games will be raked according to:

Objective:

Alternative win:

Betting Structure:

Game Progression:

Objective

Betting Structure

Game Progression

Video Poker variations: