Backgammon and poker aren’t the same


There are many analogous ties between the games that make backgammon a valuable contender to the title “King of Games”. Playing backgammon is not down to the luck of the draw, backgammon is a game of unbelievable resiliency and you are never out of it until it is mathematically not possible for you to win.

This mixture of skill, allied to mathematical probability makes it a very diverse game which offers regular battle that swings backwards and forwards from player to player, adding to the thrill of the contest.

Not like poker, the action is continuous, with head to head battles, which seldom result in quick decisions. Poker on the other hand can be ended in a matter of seconds with a bad hand and the following fold. Although these bad hands are eventually part of the way the game unfolds in poker, backgammon has none of this and there is no quiet period in the action. As every move requires a decision from the players, every dice roll is a reaction to the roll.

In poker one of the more psychological factors of the game is bluffing, in fact this is the piece de fighting of poker. In backgammon bluffing is just a part of the perceptive of your opponent's move. There is no reason to bluff in backgammon in the same way that players do in poker. The movement of the pieces determines the bluff or not.

Backgammon can be held to mirror poker in many ways, as the fortune of each play is reliant upon either the right roll of the dice, or the right turns of the card. In backgammon, games can turn around again and again as each game is much longer. In poker there are four rounds of betting that follow the dealt cards, flop, turn and river but in backgammon a typical game can be 20-30 moves with the cube in play and sometimes a lot more.

Many specialized poker players play backgammon as a diversification to their occupation, they use it a stimulus to support strategies and maintain their edge. Smart thinking is what is needed in both games and poker player's profit greatly from having that capability to be able to change their talents from one game to the other.

This switch may well become eternal with the passing of the Unlawful internet bill outlawing online payments for online poker. If this is the case, then backgammon (online and offline) is ready and able to take the title of King of Games.